You have to curl to get big guns. Or not. Why the best bicep exercise is not curls you will find out here.
Ask anyone, right now, what is the best exercise for biceps and I guarantee that 99 per cent of those people will answer it is some kind of curl, possibly the barbell curl. But that is not the case according to Sal Di Stefano from the Mind Pump Podcast.
The Mind Pump Podcast is an online radio show that talks all fitness related and, usually, is provocative. Its hosts are Sal Di Stefano, Adam Schafer, Justin Andrews, and Doug Egge. They also have a YouTube channel with more than 300k subscribers.
Di Stefano explains why the best bicep exercise is not curls.
Why The Best Bicep Exercise is NOT Curls
Why the best bicep exercise is not curls, contrary to what people believe? For that answer, Di Stefano talks about how he came up with this elucidating answer.
According to him, it all started when a gymnast worked for him as a trainer. If you don’t know, gymnasts usually have gigantic biceps although they do little bodybuilding in the gym. So Di Stefan asked him what he did for his biceps to be so big. The answer is chin-ups.
“That’s a back exercise,” Di Stefan replied to the gymnast. “He goes, ‘no it’s a bicep exercise if you do it like this’.”
According to Di Stefano, the gymnast jumps on the bar, gets a curl grip and rather than pulling his chest to the bar, “he does this kind of like compound lift for his biceps.”
The mentality of why the best bicep exercise is not curls, but rather chin-ups has a theory behind it. If you want bigger quads, you do squats and not leg extensions, if you want a bigger back you do rows instead of pullovers, if you want bigger triceps you do close-grip bench press.
If you have a pull-up bar with different handle grips, choose the one that is supinated but almost looks like an EZ-curl bar. And instead of pulling and contracting your back at the top of the movement, you pull with your biceps. It puts your body weight mostly on your biceps.
It’s not an easy movement, definitely not for beginners, but it surely will blow up your biceps. And that is why the best bicep exercise is not curls in any shape or form, but rather this chin-up variation that transforms the movement into a compound exercise for your biceps.
Click on the video below to see the hosts of the Mind Pump Podcast talking about it.
VIDEO – Why The Best Bicep Exercise is NOT Curls
If you are serious about upgrading your upper body and your biceps, check out this curated list of links that BOXROX has selected for you.
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3 Chin-Up Variations For Bigger Biceps
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