The Body Sculpting Bible for Women (99 page)

Standing E-Z Bar Curl

Do not underestimate this exercise because of its name. E-Z bar curls are versatile exercises that allow you to use a decent amount of weight while being much easier on your wrists than straight bar curls. If you have a pending strain such as tennis elbow or tendinitis, we would recommend this exercise over straight bar curls. The two-curved hand positions on the bar allow you to do both close- and wide-grip curls. The inner grips will enable you to develop the outer biceps, and the outer grip will enable you to develop the inner biceps. You can truly develop the sculpted arms you desire with the help of this great exercise.

PROPER ALIGNMENT

First, decide what hand position you will take on the bar. Remember what we discussed earlier about assessing your body and focusing on the unbalanced or weak body parts to create muscle balance and symmetry. Look at your biceps muscles and assess the inner and outer muscle heads. Decide if one head needs more work then the other. If you find a weakness or imbalance in one of the two muscle heads, then address that problem by simply using the hand position that will bring the smaller portion of the biceps muscle up to par with the others.

Hold the bar across your thighs with your palms facing away from your body.

Position your feet shoulder width apart and point them straight ahead. Next, bend your knees slightly.

Slightly contract the abdominal muscles.

Stand straight up and stay that way throughout the movement.

Stick your chest out and keep your shoulders back, which will help you maintain a straight back.

Keep your head level and do not move it from that position for the rest of the exercise.

TECHNIQUE AND FORM

With the bar across your thighs, lock your elbows to the sides of your body and begin curling the bar up towards your shoulders in an arc-like motion.

Keep the elbows pointing directly to the ground as you curl upward to avoid using the shoulders in the curling motion.

As you curl upward to the shoulders with an arc-like movement, concentrate and focus all of your attention on the biceps muscles. Feel the muscles contracting as you curl the bar upward.

As you reach the top of the movement with the bar close to your shoulders, contract the biceps muscles as hard as you possibly can.

Hold this position for a count of one to two seconds.

Slowly begin lowering the bar while making sure that the biceps endure the negative resistance on the way down to the bottom position.