Since this video in February of 2017 I can likely count on a few hands (my hands and one or two others hands) how many times I’ve done curls in just about any capacity…
There was a couple weeks of daily curling, a short feeder run, and occasionally testing if I could hit a 135 strict curl.
I’ve only been able to curl 135 on one to three occasions since that video…
Today (10/14/18) I got the urge to try, and hit singles at 95, 115, and 135 late in a high volume back workout.
I got 155 to the 90° sticking point, lowered it, and got it with the smallest amount of momentum with a “cheat” curl. Based off of the 135lb rep I thought I’d have a good shot at a strict 185lh curl.
(Also backed off with an easy 5×115, I think curls are meant to be 5rm-8rm.)
I’ve written before on “contrarian arm training” ie just letting compound movements get your arms stronger.
Presses for triceps, tire flips, and likely underhand rowing for biceps.
My curl is up (and my pullups easily maintained at 5 reps) from a steady training regimen of mostly hang cleans, a goodly volume of bent rows, and tire flips to end every session be it 2x or 7x weekly.
Sets of 5-8 on barbell curls feels very old school. I’m thinking if non-specific work is doing this well, a bit of curling will push me quickly up to repping a plate, and hitting 185.
Today showed me I have serious potential to “win the gym” at curling…the gym thing I’ve near wholly neglected over the years.
Aside : “Win the gym” – I was told by this petite college chick that I win the gym at flipping the tire. Expanding on the concept I generally win the gym at anything involving putting a barbell overhead, oly variants, and likely soon to be barbell curls. Fat bar stuff is my forte, there’s no argument I win the gym there, and cold lifting is where I not only win the gym, but rub loser faces in it as I’m so many levels above them it’s sad…for them.
A lot of old timers had seriously heavy max curls, maybe it is ok to train arms…as long as you’re progressively getting bigger and better 1rm-8rm.
•Hang cleans for forearms.
•Tire flips for biceps.
•Heavy pressing variants for triceps.
What you want more?
Ok, I’ll feed you fuckers.
I’ve never been big on doing curls.
Effectively I’ve never done an “arm day”. Hell, I’ve always viewed such things as laziness. An “arm day” isn’t a day at all. It’s undeserving of your post workout shake and meal and dessert and McDonalds and Gatorade, etc.
What arm development I have has come solely from compound movements.
I view most as having or going for an overdevelopment of the arms in relation to the rest, I prefer say the torso to overpower the arms.
My 17″ish arms aren’t small mind you, but my torso makes them look it.
I’ve built myself the way my leverages combined with compound movements will.
I say choose the compound to hit your arms vs the isolation.
Hammer curls, “cheat” curls, reverse curls, high rep heavy wrist curls, and JM presses the only “arm” work I’ve liked anyway.
(I do like grip work. I hate most curls for the biceps always prefering overload “cheat” curls or more forearm centric variants. Still arm work is usually byproduct of a compound exercise.)
Currently my biceps are growing as everytime I hit the weights I end with tire flips.
As my pressing moves up so will my triceps.
Forearm growth will occur by doing hang cleans regularly with metal not bumper plates. Pauses, no dropping with that “rough” catch from the drop at knee or waist height, oh yeah, forearm growth.
Fin.
-J
(I wrote this about 2 weeks back, but it expands out well to what I just wrote today.)
I’m talking with this kinda light skinned mixed race with hauntingly shaded white-blue eyed 50 year old bodybuilder about the tire.
“It’s not as hard as it seems. I could teach just about every male here how to do it. The effort done right is equivalent to a speed deadlift, 60-65%, for a triple. You know continentals, strongman?”
“Yeah”
“Done wrong or heavy enough, it’s like a pseudo continental.”
I tried to talk him into flipping it. Described the steps in a theatrical manner. Sadly he wasn’t game.
It did give me a laugh his opening with “You ever do that fresh, at the start?”
“No, I like using it as a finisher. It’d be too easy then. The tires not big enough. My high school had a bigger one.”
And he was yet another person to think I’m a Midwesterner.
“Well you do have those big tractors in the Midwest.”
“I’m not from the Midwest.”
A chick recently guessed I was from Minnesota.
Iowa has been a popular choice for “guess my back home”.
I guess I just seem country boy.
Easily flipping that tire must just be part of that image.
What do you do with the last 2 minutes before you walk out the door?
A feeder session seems the obvious answer. Shoulders. Why? Because they’re more badass than curls.
1 quick set of lateral raises.
It works exceedingly well despite only using a pair of 10s.
The fact your traps take over is a ok.
Traps activated feel good, improve your posture, and make you feel more animalistic.
That’s exactly what you want before opening the door and stepping out into the world.
Shoulder feeders always do good things for me.
Last year a month of them upped my press, both military and bench.
7-10 days of them this time around brought my shoulders up a level. Once I got back into the weight room the frequency dropped to 2 or 3 days a week.
I needed them this morning. It gave a solid boost. Any time I go out aside from the gym it makes sense to do.
There are short term and long term benefits.
Shoulder Feeders For Carrying Yourself With Confidence
(the recent rewrite)
It takes about a minute, and a pair of 10lb dumbbells will do.
A moment before you put on your shirt and step out the door you’ll take those dumbbells and do one high rep set of lateral raises.
I usually do 50-60 reps, and hold the last rep at the top for a few seconds.
It pumps the traps and the deltoids, and helps you stand a little straighter.
Placebo or not, on “work” days doing this before stepping out the door has made a noticeable impact on how I feel, how I get shit done, and the responses I get from the world.
I’m standing tall, unphased by bullshit, and look damn good.
I notice and am noticed.
-J
Postscript (which includes some funny anecdotes from today) :
I felt like throwing em both up as I unintentionally wrote it out a second time. Try it. You will carry yourself better.
Fuck it, may as well throw up some music.
Was banging my head to this between lever squat sets, and this Native American looking chick on another leg machine was looking at me, head banged for a moment, and smiled at me. Gave me a good laugh.
Also I had the funniest broken equipment thing happen.
So the gym has essentially no clips, hang clean and press without clips is best using only 2 plates per side for everything over 135. I started to load the bar with a pair of 45s, realized I’d need 3 plates a side with this, saw the 25kg plates, realized a 25kg+10lb each side would give me the 175lb I wanted and pulled the plate off. The rotating sleeve came with it. Look at the end of a barbell, for it to rotate there’s a nut there screwed in. That was very loose to say the least. And up to the desk it was… “y’all got a wrench” while presenting the sleeve and nut. My asking the gear head at desk if he wanted me to bring up the rest of the barbell too caused a PMS like outburst from him. There’s so much I could say cause of that. “My Impressions Of Roiders” sounds like an article for another time.
Okay. It’s still boggling my mind, but people at this gym view flipping the tire as this object of Herculanean effort.
I likely could make a post every week on this subject as it comes up that frequently.
Yesterday : I somehow talked a dude into giving the big one (cause who gives a shit about smaller size tires) a shot.
It’s my opinion just about every male at this gym could get it…that dude at 5’10” 185lbs got it simply being talked through how to do it.
Took him til his 2nd attempt.
Today this petite and curvy little college chick told me that I win this gym at the ability to flip the tire.
(Picture a 5′ pretty faced latina with curves, it’s a close enough description.)
Hilariously she’s apparently seen big dudes fail to get it over, even seeing tears from said big dudes who had failed to do so.
There’s this crazy odd object mental block to everyone in the building but me.
(And the dude who was game yesterday, but I removed his mental block, and talked him through it.)
A 275lb roided out bodybuilder made a big deal of it, suggesting only some 300lb+ strongman competitor was the only one on location to ever do so…
Yet I talked a normal 185lb male into flipping it. Hell, I’ve heckled a 165lb buddy into doing so with a larger tire with more worn down tread.
165lb male, flipping a bigger and harder tire. Perspective.
It’s amazing how a small amount of ribbing and 30 seconds of technique how to makes so much difference.
The 185lb dude yesterday told me that the story of my 165lb buddy flipping a harder tire caused a mental switch in his brain as to it’s possibility for him.
I told the chick today that I could talk/heckle almost any male at this place into flipping it.
As she was 5′ and petite I don’t think I could get her to flip it successfully with my 30 seconds of coaching, I do think there’s at least one female at this place that could.
I’m serious. There’s some diesel females here.
I’ll just start taking the compliments. I am after all King Of Awkward Strength.
Any decently strong man should have no issue flipping any tire they have access to.
I repeat : the tire isn’t big enough that you can’t flip it.
Specificity : I’ve found it matters and effects my ability to flip tyres something fierce.
Well two weeks of specific adaption later has me flipping the gym’s bigger one almost explosively (it may qualify as explosive), and for reps if I feel like switching sides back and forth.
(Space issue, sometimes you can flip it a ways, sometimes only back and forth.)
I imagine in another week or two I’ll practically be getting it over caber toss style.
Looking roughly like this, but with a tire.
At this point it’s like an ugly Yate’s row with a regrip or two depending on if it needs a bit more height before being pushed over or not.
It’s terribly easy at this point and people are still making a big deal of it.
Paraphrased :
“I’m going to flip the tire.”
“If you can flip the tire.”
“Why does everyone here make a big deal over flipping this tire?”
…I flip the tire…
“Well I guess you can flip the tire.”
There is something effeminate in the attitudes common in most gyms.
Like :
•The discussing of injury as if it’s a badge of honor.
•The obsession over perfect programming.
•The obsession over perfect diet.
•Worrying about loss of gains.
The Worry Over Loss Of Gains :
People who lose gains when life tries to fuck with them have something very weak deep in the core of their mentality that they need to destroy and replace with inner power.
Imaginary characters like him, he’s only real if you believe in him. If you do though he’s coming to take your gains. Look he’s even reading up on how to do so.
Whatever equipment you do or don’t have access to, you can always progress forward.
All the fitness rules aren’t.
You can lose weight, significant amounts, and keep your strength.
Maybe I’ll do that cut down 70ish lbs to 185 just to prove this.
You can bulk like a motherfucker and still have calisthenic and cardio ability.
This would be me going up to superheavyweight. I picture about 330lbs.
It comes down to a matter of belief.
Would the ideal training be doing partials in a power rack at home with a blonde and redhead having loud moaning lesbian sex at the same time, in the same room?
Yeah probably, but you can still make do with pushups alone on your living room floor, or anywhere for that matter.
What equipment your gym doesn’t have doesn’t matter.
What equipment you don’t have doesn’t matter.
Calisthenics can be enough.
Calisthenics and feeders with a pair of light dumbbells can be enough.
Highly infrequent heavy training can be enough.
Working labor can be enough.
Any and all of it will work. It’s the mindset you approach it with.
Hell, a blank mind can work and does more effectively than a mind believing weak gym rules.
