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Thread: Bicep Curls really aren’t necessary after all

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    6

    Default Bicep Curls really aren’t necessary after all

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    Hi All,

    So I’ve been doing the Starting strength program since November of last year, doing LP for about 6-7 months (with Covid in the middle of it until I got my own weights), then moving onto the Texas Method. I’ve done nothing but the big 5 exercises and chins since I started. Went from 180 up to 220 in BW, and added 200 lbs to squat and DL, and in general am enjoying very much the modest strength increases and larger body size.

    Just an observation, I’ve never done a barbell curl before today, but decided to do them with my friend who started working out with me in my home gym. He’s been doing general curling/benching type exercising for years, and grudgingly I decided to give them a whirl. I wound up doing 100 lbs bb curls for a double, 30 lbs more than he could do. Not super impressive on my part but I’m pretty proud for getting 100lbs for the first time ever doing them.

    So I guess Rip is right, barbell curls probably aren’t necessary when starting an LP, chins did just fine for that.

    Anyone else had a similar experience?




    BW: 220
    Height 5’11
    Sq: 345
    OHP: 145
    BP 205
    PC 115
    Chins: 3x5

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    New York, NY
    Posts
    649

    Default

    Yep. That's why chins are in the program.
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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Lakeland, FL
    Posts
    3,112

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Thepenguinman View Post
    Hi All,

    So I’ve been doing the Starting strength program since November of last year, doing LP for about 6-7 months (with Covid in the middle of it until I got my own weights), then moving onto the Texas Method. I’ve done nothing but the big 5 exercises and chins since I started. Went from 180 up to 220 in BW, and added 200 lbs to squat and DL, and in general am enjoying very much the modest strength increases and larger body size.

    Just an observation, I’ve never done a barbell curl before today, but decided to do them with my friend who started working out with me in my home gym. He’s been doing general curling/benching type exercising for years, and grudgingly I decided to give them a whirl. I wound up doing 100 lbs bb curls for a double, 30 lbs more than he could do. Not super impressive on my part but I’m pretty proud for getting 100lbs for the first time ever doing them.

    So I guess Rip is right, barbell curls probably aren’t necessary when starting an LP, chins did just fine for that.

    Anyone else had a similar experience?




    BW: 220
    Height 5’11
    Sq: 345
    OHP: 145
    BP 205
    PC 115
    Chins: 3x5
    While you may be correct, depending upon what you mean by "necessary", your "test" of your hypothesis is nonsense.

    An decent test would have been to test your curl before dropping them to do LP and then testing them again later.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Posts
    194

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Thepenguinman View Post
    Hi All,

    So I’ve been doing the Starting strength program since November of last year, doing LP for about 6-7 months (with Covid in the middle of it until I got my own weights), then moving onto the Texas Method. I’ve done nothing but the big 5 exercises and chins since I started. Went from 180 up to 220 in BW, and added 200 lbs to squat and DL, and in general am enjoying very much the modest strength increases and larger body size.

    Just an observation, I’ve never done a barbell curl before today, but decided to do them with my friend who started working out with me in my home gym. He’s been doing general curling/benching type exercising for years, and grudgingly I decided to give them a whirl. I wound up doing 100 lbs bb curls for a double, 30 lbs more than he could do. Not super impressive on my part but I’m pretty proud for getting 100lbs for the first time ever doing them.

    So I guess Rip is right, barbell curls probably aren’t necessary when starting an LP, chins did just fine for that.

    Anyone else had a similar experience?




    BW: 220
    Height 5’11
    Sq: 345
    OHP: 145
    BP 205
    PC 115
    Chins: 3x5
    Not my experience at all; I've found my curl strength to be independent of chin up strength, pull up strength, or my strength on any other movement. I'm poor at them, always have been and I'm weaker on them now than I was when I trained them weekly as a bro-splitter in my 20s even though I couldn't do as many chin ups then as I can now and even though I am much heavier and have added sizeable amounts to my main lifts. I rarely train them now, maybe twice a week for 6 weeks at a time, once per year.

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