Weight Training Tips and Articles

Start Your Biceps Workouts With Cheat Curls

December 19, 2007 on 6:06 am | In Proper Lifting Form, Biceps, Weight Training Exercises, Arms |

  While you need to learn proper exercise form for all the major weight training exercises to build real strength and avoid injuries, there is one exception to using proper form you may want to take advantage of - heavy cheat curls.

  Try heavy cheat curls at the beginning of your biceps weight training workouts to get the arms pumped up fast. You can do cheat curls with a barbell or dumbbells, which ever you prefer.

  To perform heavy cheat curls use a weight that you can do with pretty good form for a few reps and force yourself to get 8 to 10 reps with it. To cheat when you curl bend forward at the waist a bit to get the weight started upward and curl the weight to the top position as you straighten your back. The trapezius muscles are likely to come into play as well when you do cheat curls during your biceps workouts as you may need to shrug your shoulders to help get the weight up. The key to doing heavy cheat curls is in the negative, or lowering part of the exercise. Lower the weight slowly and under control. Barbell and dumbbell cheat curls are 2 of those rare weight training exercises where you can take full advantage of the negative part of an exercise without needing a spotter.

  When you do heavy cheat curls, cheat within reason. Don’t try to curl a weight so heavy that you may hurt your lower back. Just use a weight that will allow you to work your biceps hard on the negative part of the exercise, not a weight that’s too heavy to control on the way down.

  After 2 or 3 sets of heavy cheat curls you should have a nice pump in your arms. After this, do the rest of your sets of curls with proper form - keeping your back straight and not shrugging the shoulders to get the weight up.