Standing Curls

Can someone help me out on what I need to do to move up in weight doing
standing Curls ? Im a weakling and started out doing 40 standing curls a
day of 50 pounds... Im now doing 40 standing curls of 105 pounds... but have
been stuck at this weight for 6 months now. I cant move up with
curls...but am moving up in weight with bench pressing easily. Its driving
me nuts why I cant move up anymore with curls.

Should I do other kinds of excersizes to help this ? maybe curls while
sitting ?

(by the way, when I say "a day" I mean thats the total for the day...but I
do this weight lifting once every 4 days... so im standing curling 105
pounds 40 times a session...once every 4 days)

On Jan 14, 4:52 pm, "john" <john111111_2654spammen...@yahoo.com>
wrote:
> Can someone help me out on what I need to do to move up in weight doing
> standing Curls ? Im a weakling and started out doing 40 standing curls a
> day of 50 pounds... Im now doing 40 standing curls of 105 pounds... but have
> been stuck at this weight for 6 months now. I cant move up with
> curls...but am moving up in weight with bench pressing easily. Its driving
> me nuts why I cant move up anymore with curls.
>
> Should I do other kinds of excersizes to help this ? maybe curls while
> sitting ?

Exercises performed while seated are much harder than those same
movements performed on one's feet, due to leverage helping out.

> (by the way, when I say "a day" I mean thats the total for the day...but I
> do this weight lifting once every 4 days... so im standing curling 105
> pounds 40 times a session...once every 4 days)

How much are you benching? Not that there's a direct relationship
between the two exercises, but it's possible to excel at one movement
and not another. My flat bench 1RM is 335-lbs. but my squat 1RM is
only 315-lbs.!!

I'm not sure how you determine that you're "not moving up" in curling
poundage...I'm sure if you add little 3 or 5-pound plates you'd hardly
even notice...BTW, how many reps do you curl for any given set? How
many sets at once? Those would be more useful metrics than daily
totals.

Prisoner at War , I can bench over 250. Not sure of the exact number as
i'll have to go to the gym for that. (I only have a 120 pounds in weights
at my house where I work out)

To substitute for the bench pressing, I do alot of push-ups and standing
presses.

Is it possible im maxxed out at 105 pounds with standing curls ? I'd feel
like such a weakling then.. I weigh 230 pounds... 6' 2" .

Its been driving me nuts that I cant do more then that EVER.. Anybody
recommend some legal supplements to give me a boost ? I already have
creatine and the protein stuff.. Im thinking about buying some more
L-Leucine as I think that helped me a year ago while I was taking it.

On Jan 15, 9:24 pm, "john" <john111111_2654spammen...@yahoo.com>
wrote:
> Prisoner at War , I can bench over 250. Not sure of the exact number as
> i'll have to go to the gym for that. (I only have a 120 pounds in weights
> at my house where I work out)
>
> To substitute for the bench pressing, I do alot of push-ups and standing
> presses.

Good deal. Just be advised that push-ups are more about endurance
than the kind of explosive strength bench presses are supposed to
develop (though one could go light on the poundage and turn the bench
press into an endurance exercise, too).

> Is it possible im maxxed out at 105 pounds with standing curls ? I'd feel
> like such a weakling then.. I weigh 230 pounds... 6' 2" .

105-lbs. on standing curls ain't bad. I wonder what you're comparing
yourself against....

Yes, it's possible you've maxed out at that weight, but I doubt it. I
think it's a mental block you've developed somehow...I can't believe
that an extra 2.5-lbs. on each side would mean the difference between
a go and a no-go. I bet if someone were to do that secretly to you
you'd lift it like it was 105 instead of 110.

> Its been driving me nuts that I cant do more then that EVER.. Anybody
> recommend some legal supplements to give me a boost ? I already have
> creatine and the protein stuff.. Im thinking about buying some more
> L-Leucine as I think that helped me a year ago while I was taking it.

Listen, last year at this time, I felt like I couldn't ever break 265-
lbs. on the bench press...now I'm doing 335-lbs.

The main thing to work on is your psychology. Unless you have a
messed up elbow or something like that, you should be able to progress
some more without any other ergogenic aids.

How many reps and sets are you doing, anyway? Give an exact
description of your routine, at least as it relates to this particular
lift. But I think the main issue is likely "psychological."

>The main thing to work on is your psychology. Unless you have a
>messed up elbow or something like that, you should be able to progress
>some more without any other ergogenic aids.

I think alot of people would look at that part of your post and think your
nuts. Like how could psychology affect whether you can lift more or not.

But in a weird way, I agree with you. I think its also important to be very
relaxed the days after you work out, so that you muscles can heal and the
supplements and protein can get to your muscles adequetely. (spelled wrong
probably) If your all tense and hyper the days after, that usually means
increased metabolism...and alot of that nutrition may prematurely get burned
off instead of working to your muscles more. That may sound silly, but I
think its true. So many little psychological things could affect one's
workout and the outcome.

For instance, I can lift for longer periods of time if I completely relax
my mind and think of no stress. Its a deep kind of relaxation , meditation
I do while lifting...that helps me get done with my workout quicker. If I
was at a gym, I probably couldnt reach that level of calm.. so much easier
at home.

But its weird...I've tried all of this and still cant curl more... I shall
try harder. as Mr. Myagi would say.

"john" <john111111_2654spammenott@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:RuOdnVzYKp0wRBbanZ2dnUVZ_ruqnZ2d@ptd.net...
> Can someone help me out on what I need to do to move up in weight doing
> standing Curls ? Im a weakling and started out doing 40 standing curls a
> day of 50 pounds... Im now doing 40 standing curls of 105 pounds... but
have
> been stuck at this weight for 6 months now. I cant move up with
> curls...but am moving up in weight with bench pressing easily. Its
driving
> me nuts why I cant move up anymore with curls.
>
> Should I do other kinds of excersizes to help this ? maybe curls while
> sitting ?
>
> (by the way, when I say "a day" I mean thats the total for the day...but I
> do this weight lifting once every 4 days... so im standing curling 105
> pounds 40 times a session...once every 4 days)
>

Stuck for 6 months? Have you tried switching up your routine (especially
curls)? I.E.: if you're doing barbell curls switch to dumbbell (or vice
versa), do them at a different part of your workout, etc... It sounds like
your muscles have adapted to your routine and you need to mix it up. With
limited knowledge of your routine and what you've tried, I'd suggest
switching to 3 sets of 8 at 110lbs. (even if it requires some spotter
assistance on the last set) for a couple weeks. FWIW, I'd also suggest
reading the articles on the hypertrophy-specific
(http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/hst_index.html). The basic principles
are sound and can give you some ideas on how/why you should "mix it up". (I
realize that your goal is strength more than size but that doesn't
invalidate the underlying principles)

Good luck!

On Jan 16, 6:49 pm, "john" <john111111_2654spammen...@yahoo.com>
wrote:
>
>
> I think alot of people would look at that part of your post and think your
> nuts. Like how could psychology affect whether you can lift more or not.

Believe it or not, "mind over matter" is actually the conventional
wisdom!

My own most impressionable recent experience of this was last year
this time, when I had a training partner. One day, he didn't show up,
so I went through our usual workout on my own. After a little over an
hour, I was tired and figured I'd go home, when the guy suddenly shows
up! So I went through our routine again, but performed as if we'd
just started then and there! I was so happy he showed up that it
instantly re-energized me -- and we do like twenty sets of ten reps
for each body part, real old-school style: that night I had done forty
sets of bench presses at 5-14 reps!!

> But in a weird way, I agree with you. I think its also important to be very
> relaxed the days after you work out, so that you muscles can heal and the
> supplements and protein can get to your muscles adequetely.

Yes, that's the other thing I learned last year: I've made more
progress on my own than I did with my training partner, who eventually
bailed out, because this guy was always trying to increase the weight
every week and even though we only worked out three times a week,
evidently I was still overtraining! So now, I try to take days off if
I know that I won't be able to focus 100% on the workout -- for
example, having just started bicycling to work again has surprisingly
drained a lot out of me, such that once back home all I want to do is
take a shower and relax (I commute almost 10 miles each way), and so I
haven't worked out this week since Sunday! But I'm not too worried
because I know I'd rather give it my all than show up and only go
through the motions....

> (spelled wrong
> probably)

Mozilla Firefox now has an auto-spell check feature (see, I'd just
written "spellcheck" and was informed that it's really "spell check").

> If your all tense and hyper the days after, that usually means
> increased metabolism...and alot of that nutrition may prematurely get burned
> off instead of working to your muscles more. That may sound silly, but I
> think its true. So many little psychological things could affect one's
> workout and the outcome.

Indeed -- and you still haven't answered, in all this time, how many
reps and sets you do. That could have something to do with it. You
might be like me, who does a fairly heavy load of warm-up sets.
Naturally our 1RM would go down as a result!

> For instance, I can lift for longer periods of time if I completely relax
> my mind and think of no stress. Its a deep kind of relaxation , meditation
> I do while lifting...that helps me get done with my workout quicker.

Interesting...I also think of lifting as a kind of meditation -- such
that I'm often doing yoga-like stretches for my legs in-between sets!
-- but if anything my workouts take longer as a result! Working out
with a training partner had always been much "quicker"....

> If I
> was at a gym, I probably couldnt reach that level of calm.. so much easier
> at home.

I would love to have a home gym, but I would probably also take out a
membership just to show up once in a while for a change of scenery and
"pace" (psychology, again).

> But its weird...I've tried all of this and still cant curl more... I shall
> try harder. as Mr. Myagi would say.

Or, as Yoda would, "do, or do not. No 'try.'"

I could almost guarantee that if there were a million dollars at the
end of a 110 -- even 125-pound -- curl, you'd be able to do it.

On Jan 14, 4:52 pm, "john" <john111111_2654spammen...@yahoo.com>
wrote:
> Can someone help me out on what I need to do to move up in weight doing
> standing Curls ? Im a weakling and started out doing 40 standing curls a
> day of 50 pounds... Im now doing 40 standing curls of 105 pounds... but have
> been stuck at this weight for 6 months now. I cant move up with
> curls...but am moving up in weight with bench pressing easily. Its driving
> me nuts why I cant move up anymore with curls.
>
> Should I do other kinds of excersizes to help this ? maybe curls while
> sitting ?

Maybe cheat curls for 5x5 and twice a week.

Maybe not.

--
Curt

On Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:28:34 -0800, Prisoner at War wrote:

> On Jan 14, 4:52 pm, "john" <john111111_2654spammen...@yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>> Can someone help me out on what I need to do to move up in weight doing
>> standing Curls ? Im a weakling and started out doing 40 standing curls a
>> day of 50 pounds... Im now doing 40 standing curls of 105 pounds... but have
>> been stuck at this weight for 6 months now. I cant move up with
>> curls...but am moving up in weight with bench pressing easily. Its driving
>> me nuts why I cant move up anymore with curls.
>>
>> Should I do other kinds of excersizes to help this ? maybe curls while
>> sitting ?
>
> Exercises performed while seated are much harder than those same
> movements performed on one's feet, due to leverage helping out.
>
>> ...


That is only true if the exercises are done incorrectly. When doing
standing curls, many people have a tendency to sway a bit and bring their
upper body into the movement. That is incorrect form, and the reason why
standing curls seem easier than sitting curls. If You take care to keep
the rest of Your body perfectly still, standing curls will be more
difficult than sitting curls. If You can not keep the rest of Your body
still on Your own, try pushing Your back into a pole or some other
vertical object.

Standing curls, if done properly, will also work the core and other
muscles involved in posture and stability.

If You want to make curls (or shoulder press, ...) really really hard, and
give Your core a good workout simultaneously, try doing them with perfect
form while standing on a Bosu. Be very careful if You try that.