The Barbell Curl is the king of bicep exercises. You want big biceps, you do barbell curls. But when you get to a certain level of development, the standard strict barbell curl doesn't always give your biceps enough growth stimulation to get the job done.
That's where the Barbell Cheat Curl comes in. Here's the key...you're not cheating just to use more weight. Anybody can fling heavy weights around...the key here is to use the small cheating movement to put MORE tension on the biceps.
Basically, you're cheating to make the biceps work HARDER, not to make the exercise easier just so you can put bigger plates on the barbell. Ego lifting is not what we're looking for here.
We're only going SLIGHTLY heavier than normal and we're only using a small bit of body movement to help move the weight. The Barbell Cheat Curl is NOT a license to thrust your hips around like you're trying to a ring a doorbell with your hip bone.
Definitely watch the video on this one to get an idea of much body movement you should be using.
So in order to properly perform a barbell cheat curl, you want to use body movement to add some momentum to the bar to get it past the sticking point of the exercise where the elbows are bent 90 degrees.
Here's what it looks like:
First, you grip the barbell with a shoulder-width grip. Keep your knees slightly bent through the entire movement to act as shock absorbers. This is very important! You also want to be sure you're not rounding the back but that you keep an arch in your lower back and keep your abs tight to support the core and spine.
From the start position, bring your hips back and lean forward a bit. You're going to be using a quick forward thrust from your hips to help get the weight moving.
So use your hips to push the barbell forward and get some momentum. Not a lot but just enough to help get the bar moving and complete the rep. At the same time, start the curling movement with powerful contraction.
As you get towards the top, lean back a bit. Be VERY sure to keep your knees bent and your core tight here!
As you bring the barbell to the top, bring your upper body back to vertical. You're now in the "normal" top position of the barbell curl. Lower the weight back down and repeat!
Like I said above, this is NOT a license to start flinging the weight around and using massive cheating movements. This is a technique to actually make the exercise HARDER and put MORE tension on the biceps. Too much cheating will take tension OFF and defeat the purpose of the exercise.
Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of BetterU, Inc., an internet-
based personal training company. He has been training for
more than 14 years and has been a personal trainer for more
than 8 years. He is the author of the training eBooks "The
Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of", "Gluteus to the
Maximus" and "Specialization Training". Go to
his Web site for more
information on these books.
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