How it’s used depends entirely upon whether you’re shooting for size or beauty. Let’s use the supine triceps extension as our example.
How To Pack On Mass with The EZ Curl Bar
If you have one … lie down on a bench that’s just 6 inches off the floor.
This will allow you to lift the bar and set it down again between sets without help. The normal 18″ bench is too high. You can’t get the bar up or set it down yourself.
Ok here we go. Reach over your head and grasp the bar with your hands on the curves about 8 to 10 inches apart. Your hands should be on the side of the curve that keeps the butt of your palms higher than the thumbs when your arms are straight over your chest. This is the “power grip”.
Use plenty of chalk. You won’t be doing this exercise strict at all. It’s more like a cheating, close grip, bench press. Because the bench is only 6 inches high you can bridge up when the triceps start to get tired which will allow you to use lower pecs along with the triceps and frontal delts to help get the weight up.
Remember, the goal on this movement is to use heavy weight. The heavier the better. I like to use 225-275. Don’t try to keep the elbows up at all. If you do, not only will you have to use lighter weight but you’ll wipe out your elbows in nothing flat.
How To Build Beautiful Triceps With The EZ Curl Bar
Use the same 6″ bench but a much lighter weight. (I use 135). Be sure you don’t use a weight that is so heavy, the pain or the fear distracts you. Reach over your head and this time grasp the bar on the curves that keep the thumbs higher than the butt of the palms when the arms are extended over your chest (it will feel a little awkward).
Slowly, take 20 seconds to lower the bar, all the time trying to keep the elbows as close together and low over the chest as possible. As you lower the weight, close your eyes and discover the part of the tricep that’s doing all the work. It will be your lower tricep. It seldom gets worked. This is your chance to extend the frontiers of the nerves enervating these lazy tricep fibers. It takes concentration but you can find them. When you do find them, you’re actually building nervous system which rounds up Satellite cells to make new muscle tissue.
Once at the bottom, find “new lower bottoms”. This is where a lot of Satellite cells are hovering, waiting for your call. Once at the bottom and … especially right at the very bottom, slowly start up, take 20 sec to return to arms extended position. Then right at the top flex the triceps harder than you’ve ever flexed them before in your life. Not only does it hit another area where lazy muscle fibers hang out but it introduces you to the world of new muscle cell creation.
How To Build The Top Of The Forearm – Notice How The Extra Weight In The Forearm Adds Balance To The Whole Arm
Forearms are wonderfully impressive. For some reason all that weight out at the end of the arm gives the whole arm an aura of power big biceps alone can’t achieve.
I know you’ve seen ’em. Huge upper arms and little spindly forearms that make you wonder. If you haven’t, next time you look through a muscle magazine, take notice. You’ll be surprised.
That’s why, I’m always on the lookout for new and better ways to build forearms. The best exercise by far for building the belly of the forearm is done with a forearm bench designed to help you use much more weight. The extra weight will pack on mass. But extensors (the top of the forearm) … that’s a harder problem. Anytime you try to work the top of the forearm, all you’ve got is your little old thumb to keep the bar from dropping. A few reps with even a light weight and it feels like it’s going to break off.
Lean Forward On The Way Up To Get More Strength
Here’s a Better Way…
First, you’ve got to use lots of chalk because once the bar slips out of the fingers and down to the thumb, you’re done. Reach over grasp the bar, palms down, thumbs wrapped around the bar at about shoulder width. Start off in a semi-squat position, place the forearms on the thighs with just the wrists hanging over the end of the knees. As you raise the weight, squat lower and raise up on your toes. This will allow you to use a heavier weight. The raising up on the toes gives you enough assistance on the concentric movement to use a substantial weight for the eccentric part of the exercise.
Do 15 reps about 1 second up and 1 second down. Don’t use 20 second reps. (Slow movements don’t seem to work as well on red muscle fiber (forearms) as they do on white muscle fiber).
This exercise when done in this fashion gives forearm thickness from top to bottom which adds beautiful balance to the whole arm.