The EZ curl bar's shape--best characterized as a zig-zag--helps position your hands at more natural joint angles for arm exercises than a standard straight bar allows. The EZ curl bar is also much shorter than the 7-foot barbell one would usually use for power exercises like bench presses and squats, making it easier to maneuver around a gym and much more practical for standing or seated exercises.
Bicep Curls
The EZ curl bar allows you to angle your palms slightly in toward your body when you do bicep curls. Exercisers with chronic elbow problems may find this position more comfortable than curling a straight bar, which sometimes causes elbow or forearm pain. Simply stand with feet hip-width apart, hold the bar in front of your hips with palms facing forward, and curl the bar as high as you can without letting your elbows move away from your sides.
Reverse Curls
Much as with bicep curls, the EZ curl bar also allows you to position your hands and forearms more comfortably for reverse curls than a straight bar permits. Just hold the bar in front of you for bicep curls, palms facing back toward you, this time, and curl. Again, keep your elbows pinned at your sides throughout the range of motion. You'll need to use a lighter weight for reverse curls than for bicep curls.
Preacher Curls
You may find EZ curl bars racked on a piece of equipment that features a seat and an angled pad for bracing your elbows. Position yourself on the seat facing toward the angled pad, brace your elbows on the other side of the pad--its peak should be in, or nearly at, your armpits--and curl the EZ curl bar as if you were doing standing bicep curls. Having the pad to brace against keeps you from swinging your body back and forth, a common error in standing bicep curls.
Triceps Extension
The EZ curl bar is well-suited for two-handed tricep exercises, too. You can use it to perform a two-handed triceps extension while sitting or lying down. To perform the lie-down variation, lie down on your back and hold the EZ curl bar straight up over your shoulders in a pronated--palms facing down toward your feet--grip. Keep your elbows directly over your shoulders as you lower the bar down toward your forehead, then press it back up to the starting position.
For the seated variation, simply sit down and hold the bar straight overhead, palms facing toward the wall or mirror in front of you. Again, keep your elbows perfectly still as you lower the weight back behind your head. Stop before the weight goes below elbow level, then press it back up to the starting position.
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