Concentrate on developing stronger biceps with this isolated exercise. But keep with me to know all about this bicep movement!
If you want to exercise your biceps with nothing but dumbells or free wight, then, try bent over concentration curls! This simple bicep concentration curl works the whole brachialis muscle.
The posture of this exercise almost prevents cheating with curls, and because you’ll be exercising each arm separately, it also prevents your weaker side from allowing your stronger arm to perform more than the weaker arm.
Moreover, this exercise’s slow and steady speed of lifting allows for an increased time under pressure, which allows you to truly crush your bicep’s long head and short head muscles.
This post will detail how to perform this exercise efficiently, including all necessary pros and cons, and some benefits!
How To Do A Bent Over Concentration Curl Correctly
This exercise focuses entirely on biceps isolation. Rather than doing the exercise while sitting on a bench and supporting your arm against your knee, you will perform it in a standing position!
You can watch the video to perform the exercise with the right technique.
Step 1
Choose the dumbbell with the appropriate weight from the rack and stand in a bent-over position
Meaning bending your back forward and your chest out and also slightly bending your knees. but try to avoid hunching or bending your back in an unnatural position.
Note: This exercise is best performed with one-handed dumbbells or kettlebells. Avoid using a huge or unmanageable weight such as a barbell, you must be able to manage it with a single hand.
Step 2
Place your feet level on the floor and slightly spread your knees to create a “V” shape with your legs.
Grab the dumbbell with your right hand and use the other hand to support your body and gain some stability by putting it on a bench or something else.
Step 3
Curl the dumbbell toward your chest (upward) by only betting your elbow, keep raising the weight until your torso or your chest
Then, squeeze your biceps at the top for 2 seconds.
While performing this, keep your upper arm and shoulder steady because. allowing them to move will not engage your biceps for optimal fiber rip.
Step 4
Lower the weight gradually down towards the floor.
If you ever get pain in the lower back, you need to stop right away.
Step 5
Continue lifting and lowering the weight in this technique until you reach 8 to 12 reps
Avoid taking short pauses at the start or end of each repetition, this will reduce the exercise’s muscle-building effect.
Reps:
| For Muscular Strength | 1 – 8 reps with very heavy weights |
| For Muscle Hypertrophy | 8 – 10 reps with heavy weights |
| For Muscular Endurance | 12 – 18 reps with lighter weifgts |
Bent Over Concentration Curl Pros And Cons
Pros:
1- Target The Biceps More Than Other Exercises
Compared to the standard bicep curl, the bent over concentration curl exercise targets the biceps in a way that no other exercise can since it eliminates the effect of body momentum.
This is one of the most important advantages of all concentration curls variations like cable concentration curls.
2- Easy To Do And Only requires One Dumbbell
The bent-over concentration curls is simple to do and require relatively little gym equipment. You may even perform this exercise at home using adjustable dumbbells to exercise with progressive loading, which is the optimal technique to increase biceps strength or muscle development.
3- Increased Mind-Muscle Connection
Bent-over concentration bicep curls will improve your mind-muscle connection. This is because it is simple and easy for your brain to concentrate on extending and squeezing your biceps with just one dumbbell and one arm at a time.
This will definitely help you in maximizing the growth and performance of your biceps muscles.
4- Fixe Your Muscle Imbalances
As you know, unilateral pulls are exercises that focus just on one side of the body, in our case one arm at a time.
Due to the fact that the concentration curl is a unilateral exercise, it can help you to resolve muscle strength and endurance imbalances.
You can adapt to the imbalance in size and strength by doing more reps or lifting heavier weight with the weaker arm.
Cons:
1- Can Be Hard To Perform For Some Newbies
This centration curl is one of those exercises that appear to be really simple to do but could be extremely difficult to master. It may take some time to adjust to this biceps workout, especially if you are a novice weightlifter.
Additionally, each variation of this workout affects the mechanics of the lift, pushing you to start over.
2- Can Cause Some Back Pain
Bent over concentration curls are not always a terrible workout for your back. but if you have this issue, you can always switch to the hammer curls or reverse curls in a standing position to shift the impression into your legs.
Of course, that is depending upon how they are performed. Indeed, any exercise performed incorrectly will cause injury or back discomfort.
The goal here is to gradually increase the load rather than starting with your heavier weight.
For instance, if someone is experiencing low back discomfort while performing bent-over concentration curls, I prefer to start with only the seated concentration curl and see whether you can complete the exercise without experiencing any difficulties or not.
If you are unable to do so, you can change your body posture or add a different bent-over curl variation.
Related Article: Standing EZ Bar Curl To GROW Your Biceps Faster
Bonus Tips:
FAQs:
Are Bent Over Concentration Curls Good for Mass?
Concentration curls on their own are not a reliable technique to grow muscle mass, but when combined with other exercises, they may significantly increase the size of your biceps and forearms.
If you want to gain muscle mass, you should concentrate on the load (how many weights you lift) and the frequency (how many reps and sets you perform).
What Muscles Do Bent Over Concentration Curls Work?
This biceps curl workout primarily targets the biceps brachii. moreover, the forearm flexors, short biceps head, brachialis, and brachioradialis are all engaged during this exercise.
How Much Weight Do You Need For Bent Over Concentration Curls?
You’ll find that using weights as low as 5kg and increasing your rep range to roughly 8 – 15 repetitions each set will yield the best results.
I recommend starting with something really light (3 kg) to allow you to master the exercise technique and engage in a full range of motion.
Summary
Bent over concentration curls with a dumbbell are a very popular workout for increasing bicep size, form, endurance, and strength.
However, the focus bicep curl is extremely practical, making it excellent for at-home workouts. Because all you need is one dumbbell, this muscle-building exercise can be performed whenever you want and wherever you want!
Now, you have no excuse to start your biceps home training, you have all the information from reliable resources in your hand.
Did this step-by-step guide help you? Let me know in the comment section below!
References:
- Peterson, Mark D et al. “Progression of volume load and muscular adaptation during resistance exercise.” European journal of applied physiology vol. 111,6 (2011): 1063-71. doi:10.1007/s00421-010-1735-9
- Wikipedia contributors. (2021, May 9). Muscle imbalance. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 11:53, April 14, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Muscle_imbalance&oldid=1022264071
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