Barbell curls , EZ curl or straight bar ?

[ball22]

Which bar gets better mass building results ?
Thanks guys,
Jim

 

[big ferrigno]

I've been doing ez bar curls for a little while now and i find its awesome!

 

[Thompson]

i like the straight bar more, because i feel it more in my biceps, and less in my forearms. also you might want to try the e z bar curls with your hands rotated slightly past palms up, this way hits the biceps real hard, and works expecialy well on preacher curls. PM me if you want some pics of how this looks.

 

[jackcity10]

i do barbell curls. make sure you keep your elbows in front of your body, not behind you or at your sides.

 

[daan69]

"The first exercise in any biceps-repertoire has to be the standing barbell curl. Many people advocate you do this with an EZ-curl bar, to save the wrists and put the hands into a more ergonomically correct position. Bullshit I say. By doing this you bring the hands into more of a hammer grip which shifts the focus outwards more. To do a correct barbell curl you need a straight bar because this will twist the hands in in the point of contraction and ensure more fiber is stimulated in the inner head. Since the inner head is the bulk of the biceps this makes perfect sense. Whichever way you do it (you may not wish to accentuate the inner head and opt for the EZ way out) you'll need to be standing straight up and stay that way throughout the movement. The barbell should be held shoulder-width apart and resting comfortably against the upper legs. Your elbows are by your side. Your hands face forward naturally. As yopu curl the weight up you have to watch two things. The first is that you keep the elbows pinned to the side and that they under no circumstances move behind the body which takes the pressure off and involves the traps and lats. The second thing to watch is that your back stays straight, it shouldn't move forward or backward to create a more advantageous position. If you find that you cannot avoid this, you are using too much weight. If need be stand against a wall and make sure you keep your back against it. I'd like to think you have enough self-control to manage it without the wall. Curl the weight up as far as you can, then and only then let the elbows move forward to create an even bigger contraction, hold for a count, lower the elbows to the side and then lower the arms gently so you feel the negative portion of the exercise. Elbows should never flare out and when you move them forward be sure that the forearms never reach a perpendicular position which will take pressure off as well."

straight out of one of Big Cat's training articles.... i believe he is right. I find barbel curls give me a much better work out than EZ bar curls.

 

[70w30]

Camber bar curls put my wrists in a better position ....this is just me though

 

[ssmla123]

Standing curls with a straight bar, preacher curls with a EZ bar. My wrists start to hurt when I do preachers with a straight bar, but I'm ok standing.

 

[rjx]

I have been making great gains from regular bar curls, and reverse ez bar curls. Thats all I do. And 1 set of pull downs with an under grip and I use my bis on the movement.

 

[big ferrigno]

Try suppersetting with exersises, i find this helps to put some beef on those arms. But i was bulking at the same time too so...

 

[aikido_dragon]

I've always liked, and seen good results, with incline bench dumbbell curls to start with. It gives me perfect range of motion, and keeps me from cheating to much with my body weight.

I feel the burn every time.

I'll then do e-z bar, top half seated curls to finish them off.

Another great workout is a superset of line curls. What I'll do is line up in front of me 20 - 45lbs dumbbells do a set of 10reps starting at 20lbs and the second I'm done with 20lbs I'll drop it and do the same with the 25lbs and so on and so on up to 40 or 45 If i can bare it. Then I'll rest of 30 to 60 seconds and work back down the line. I do one line up and down and that's it. It's a fun way to mix things up. And man does it hurt.

 

[Tryn2]

I like straight for most, at the top it just nails me. But ez curl I do every once in a while I can really squeeze and feel those. I likem both I gues..

 

[Golden_Muscle]

Thanks for posting this thread. Now that I think of it, I think straight bar curls hurt my outer elbow tendon.

Time of the EZ bar again! I miss that bar...

 

[pumpchaser]

For me, E-Z curl bars are excellent for tri's, for bi's they fail to supinate the hand and thus i don't get anywhere near the burn using an E-Z curl bar for bi's. Too bad because they're definitely more comfortable.

If there's a problem doing straight bar curls i'd suggest dumbells or cable curls instead.

 

[daan69]

For me, E-Z curl bars are better for tri's, for bi's they fail to supinate the hand and thus i don't get anywhere near the burn using an E-Z curl bar for bi's. Too bad because they're definitely more comfortable, but... Better to use dumbells or a straight bar..

agreed... i find the only thing EZ bar works well for are skull crushers.

 

[DADAWG]

i would definately prefer a cambered bar if my gym had a 6 foot bar but we only have the shorter bar and its to damn narrow . i cant get my hands wide enough on the short bar so i use a standard olympic bar

 

[rubberduckyo]

I am gonna buck the trend and say this.......

If you are not comfortable (meaning it's awkward for you) doing a movement you are not going to maximize on it and reap the best rewards.

Barbell is fine for me. After the 3rd set I find my wrists hurt. EZ bar? I love. My wrists are comfortable and feel naturally positioned and I always complete my sets.

If something feels awkward (out of line. uncomfortable wrist position) you are less likely to increase the weight and maximize the excercise imo.

 

[bob marley]

I've been doing ez bar curls for a little while now and i find its awesome!

ditto

 

[Bast]

Straight bar for development.
Ez curls are better on the wrists.

 

[Chips]

try changing it up every now and then, but personally I prefer staright bar. you feel the squeeze so much more.

 

[bigbuffstaples]

I think you should switch it up every now and then, but try to stick with the straight bar more,,, gets more to the belly of the bicep and creates more mass. With the EZ Curl bar, your hands are twisted a bit and your working the outter bicep and forearms more.