In strength training, exercise variety is important. The exercise principle of SAID, which stands for Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands, states that your body will adapt to the type of exercise you do. Once your muscles become accustomed to a particular exercise, level of intensity or workout, there is no stimulus for further adaptation to occur. Unorthodox exercise can help break you out of a training rut by providing a novel training stimulus which can result in continued muscular development.
Drag Curls
Drag curls were popularized by legendary Muscle Beach bodybuilding coach Vince Gironda, author of "Unleashing the Wild Physique" and other classic bodybuilding books. The drag curl all but eliminates the involvement of your anterior deltoids or front shoulder muscles and subsequently puts a significant emphasis on your biceps muscle. To perform the drag curl, grasp a barbell with an underhand shoulder-width grip and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Without flexing at your hips or jerking your back, bend your arms and pull the barbell up the front of your body as high as you can. Keep your wrists straight and pull back with your elbows. Once your forearms are parallel to the floor, slowly lower the barbell to arms' length and repeat.
Zottman Curls
Zottman curls are designed to build your biceps and your forearms equally. Performed with dumbbells, Zottman curls are unusual and rarely performed in gyms. Stand with a dumbbell in each hand and your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold your hands by your sides with your palms facing inward. Bend your arms and raise the weights. As your elbows approach 90 degrees, rotate your hands so that your palms are facing upward. Curl the weights up to shoulder height. At this point, rotate your wrists so that your palms are facing downward. Extend your arms and slowly lower the weights down to the outside of your thighs. Turn your hands in to face your thighs and repeat. You can also perform this exercise using an alternating arm action.
Spider Curls
This unusually named exercise is designed to eliminate the use of any extraneous muscle groups so that you can focus purely on working your biceps. Grasp a barbell or EZ curl bar with an underhand shoulder-width grip. Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Bend your knees slightly and bend forward at your hips until your arms are hanging down perpendicular to the floor. Do not allow your lower back to become rounded. From this position and without moving your legs or back, bend your arms and curl the weight up to your shoulders. Pause in this position for one to two seconds and then slowly lower the weight back down to full arm extension. For added back support, perform this exercise with your forehead resting on a waist-high table or elevated exercise bench.
Power Curls
Not to be confused with cheat curls which are just regular curls performed with poor form, power curls are a kind of underhand power clean that, if performed properly, will develop the strength and size of your biceps. Grasp a barbell with a shoulder-width underhand grip. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Bend your knees slightly but then keep them rigid for the duration of your set. Lean forward from your hips and lower the bar to just above knee height -- keep your arms straight. Dynamically thrust your hips forward and use the momentum from this movement to curl the weight up to your shoulders. Keep your torso upright as you slowly extend your arms and lower the weight down to arms' length. Push your hips back, lower the weight to just above your knees and repeat. The explosive nature of this exercise allows you to lift more weight than normal, thus exposing your biceps to a greater training effect.
References
- "Unleashing the Wild Physique"; Vince Gironda and Robert Kennedy; 1984
- "Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding: The Complete A-Z Book on Muscle Building"; Robert Kennedy; 2008
- "cManocchia; 2009
- "Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength and Development" Brooks D Kubik; 2006
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