- July 26, 2018
- Home workouts
- Yana Yanovskaya
If you don’t have enough free time to go to the gym, this is not a reason to give up a healthy and beautiful toned body with sculpted muscles. You can also train at home.
Performing exercises with a curved bar allows you not only to pump up your muscles, but also has a good effect on the body’s stability, significantly increasing it. Using basic loads for several months will give noticeable results.
Bench press
It must be performed with a narrow grip. This exercise has a good effect on the development of triceps and increases the level of endurance. Experts advise performing three sets of five or six exercises with heavy loads. Of course, novice athletes need to start with smaller standards, but over time they need to quickly increase the mass so that the muscle groups feel it.
The process will involve three fascicles of triceps, the pectoralis major muscle and deltoids. The exercise should be performed on a bench or lying on the floor. Pancakes can be placed on a support. Bend your legs and rest them on the floor, lean your chest forward a little, but not too much, so that your body feels supported. Technique for performing an exercise with a curved bar:
- you need to take a narrow grip;
- press the triceps upward as much as possible;
- lower, touching the chest with the bar, but do not squeeze it; your hands should feel the load in the lower position.
The lowering phase should be different from the lifting phase. Its duration in this case doubles. For greater comfort, you need to take a short rest between lifting and lowering.
Expert advice
Performing biceps exercises with an EZ bar will bring more benefits if you combine them with loads on the pedeck or upper row. Working out muscles requires an integrated approach and a high number of repetitions. The convenience of the bar lies in the ability to perform different loads with it.
You don't need to change equipment to pump up your muscles, just change your technique or body position to activate the desired area of the body. To gain muscle mass, you need to combine several exercises in a super series and at the same time take the shortest possible breaks.
Working at different angles and in different projections will help increase the effectiveness of the load.
French version
In this case, the load during execution falls on the triceps and shoulders. The use of a special bar during the process reduces muscle resistance and provides maximum comfort when moving.
To perform an exercise with a curved bar, you need to grab it with an overhand grip. A convenient option for bench presses. As you inhale, lower the projectile behind your head, but at the same time it is good to keep your distance and not touch the floor. It is advisable to stay in this position for a few seconds to add stress to the muscles.
As you exhale, quickly push the projectile back to its original position. For a good result, you should perform several takes in each approach. For beginner athletes, there should be no more than three approaches; for more experienced athletes, their number can reach up to five.
When performing the exercise, you need to watch your hands. Try not to let your elbows go to the sides, as this reduces the pressure on the muscles and reduces efficiency.
Pros and cons of training with free weights
Every modern gym or fitness center has the most popular exercise equipment and areas for working with free weights. These areas contain rows of dumbbells, squat racks, bench press benches and platforms for performing deadlifts.
But if for each muscle group there are exercises with both dumbbells and barbells, and specialized machines, then what should you give preference to?
The main advantages of training with free weights include:
- the widespread availability of dumbbells and barbells, which are required in every gym;
- the ability to individually select the trajectory of the projectile, one’s own position in space with equipment and the ability to move with it around the gym;
- the most effective use of the help of a belayer or training partner, who can only connect at the dead point of the movement;
- Almost all basic, multi-joint exercises are performed with a barbell, which significantly increases their training effect on the body.
Disadvantages include:
- relatively high risk of injury, since the training person must maintain balance and balance, which can lead to damage, especially in the initial stages of training;
- a thorough study of the exercise technique and its features, since the trajectory of the projectile is not set by anything from the outside;
- When performing heavy, low-repetition approaches, you must definitely use the safety net of other people.
Standing barbell exercise
Promotes the creation of relief and is effective in increasing mass. The delta and triceps muscles are active in the process. The projectile is lifted from a classic rack. When exercising with a curved bar, grasp the base with your palms forward, place your hands shoulder-width apart and squeeze over the top of your head.
During the lifting process, it is important not to spread your elbows, but to direct your joints towards the body. At the moment of lowering the load, it is necessary to apply the arc trajectory until the forearms touch the upper chest.
Next, you need to tense your triceps and use it to return the bar to its original position. To simplify the execution, you can alternate approaches with a seated press, in which case the load is transferred from the back to the hips. Perform several approaches with breaks in the process.
To avoid stretching the tendons in the process, you do not need to get carried away with this exercise. Although the result appears quite quickly after execution, it is necessary to alternate this type of load with the others so that the muscles receive an even load. For beginners, a load weighing 10-15 kg is suitable; for those who have been practicing for a long time, you can use a weight of up to 20 kg. Girls should not take a projectile heavier than 10 kg.
Study of load changes depending on the shape of the bar
This, as well as how the load will change with different degrees of external resistance, is what Krzysztofik decided to check. To do this, he involved 12 male students in the experiment, each of whom regularly engaged in strength exercises (age 26.9 ± 3.8 years, body weight 100.2 ± 10.5 kg). The average length of experience in resistance training for participants was 3.3 ± 1.3 years.
The subjects had to perform a bench press with a regular barbell and a barbell with a convex bar with different weights. At the same time, they were given time to familiarize themselves with a curved bar for a horizontal press, and testing of two types of presses was carried out with a difference of one week, at the same time of day. Electrodes were attached to the participants' skin in the shoulders, chest and triceps, which measured how hard the muscles underneath were tense.
The load was changed progressively (50%, 70% and 90% of one-time maximum RM), and with each change in load the peak activity of the anterior deltoid muscle, pectoralis major muscle, lateral head of triceps, long head of triceps was recorded using electromyography. Participants did not perform any additional exercise for 72 hours before testing to avoid the influence of fatigue.
Back shrugs
An ideal version of a modeling exercise. It has a good effect on the development of the neck muscles and actively pumps them up. When performing an exercise with a curved bar while standing, the emphasis is on the trapezius muscle, a little less on the shoulder blades and forearms.
Dumbbells provide an optimal range of motion without restricting your arms, making them easier to perform. The bar simulates this movement and makes the lift uniform, giving the same load to all muscle groups on both sides. Thanks to this, a clearly defined relief is formed.
During the exercise, the body should be kept straight, knees slightly bent. Grab the barbell with an overhand grip, holding the barbell below your gluteal muscles. Push your chest forward as much as possible, but at the same time breathe freely, without cutting off your oxygen. To do this, the brushes are placed widely.
Pull your shoulders back and pull your stomach in. Squeeze as high as possible and tighten the trapezius muscles. As you exhale, lower your shoulders along with the apparatus. Repeat several times, alternating with chest raises. You can perform these exercises with a curved bar at home.
Body fitness practice
To perform the exercise well, you need to take the widest possible stance. Experts call it “sumo”. This stance effectively relieves tension from the lower back, hips and buttocks. The exercise works well on the quadriceps and hip adductors.
The program is included in the complex for girls, since the load works on the area on the inside of the leg and tightens the skin well.
Squat down to the level to grab the barbell without bending your body.
Take a deep breath and use your leg muscles to lift the apparatus. After this, exhale at the midpoint of the movement trajectory. Return to starting position and repeat. For greater effectiveness, power loads should be performed while inhaling. During the process, you need to maintain the most even position of your back. You can perform exercises with a curved bar at home. There is nothing complicated here; you need to adhere to step-by-step implementation tactics.
Bar Row
Strength loads in combination allow you to work out the necessary muscle groups to form a relief. Exercises with a barbell with a curved bar allow you to work out all the muscles. They use both large and small muscles.
To achieve maximum results, you must adhere to the execution technique. Take the starting position, holding the bar in front of you, lower your pelvis in the same way as with a deep squat. Hold onto the base with a wide grip with your hands spread out to the sides (ideally, the grip should be wider than the shoulder line).
Lean your body forward and lift the barbell. This must be done without jerking. Pull up to your shins, then exhale and gradually lower. After this, take the starting position and repeat the execution. This is a good version of the biceps exercise with a curved bar, which can be performed not only in the gym, but also at home.
To prevent your hands from being overloaded and your muscles to hurt less later, you can wrap your wrists with an elastic bandage, thus reducing the load on your hands.
Common mistakes
Body rocking . In some cases, you can observe how athletes try to bend their arms holding a curved bar by swinging their torso. This does not need to be done, since the load will not be applied to the biceps normally. It is better to perform fewer repetitions, but without losing quality.
Raising your elbows to the side . This mistake occurs especially often among beginners, since they do not master the technique of this exercise. Raising the elbows leads to a decrease in the amplitude of flexion, so the biceps contract poorly. It is very important to keep your elbows pressed to your body, they should not swing or move.
Bouncing the barbell off your hips . This technique is often used by weightlifters to simplify the exercise. However, beginners who work with light barbells do not need to use this technique, as it will prevent them from using their arms properly.
Execution on straight legs
Suitable for tightening the lower part of the body. Good for thighs and buttocks. This should be done by girls who want to correct their figure. Although deadlifts on straight legs are included in the complex of male loads, this type of execution is considered more feminine.
The bar stretches due to the load on the body, which must be kept straight during the exercise; isometric tension falls on the muscles of the lower extremities. It is necessary to lift from an inclination of the body. Some trainers advise doing the exercise from the middle of the thigh.
Squats with a bar
A universal type of load that is used for high-quality pumping of the lower part of the body. The focus of the load directly depends on the position of the lower limbs. If the feet are located as close to each other as possible, the load will shift to the front of the thigh, if far away - to the inner thigh.
With crossed arms, raise the bar to your chest. The option is ideal for working with light weights; in addition, the arms do not slip and the hands are not overloaded, although the effectiveness for the muscles is enormous. Exercises with a curved bar at home can be performed using this method.
In the starting position, the bar should rest on your shoulders. Pull your gluteal muscles as far back as possible, as when trying to sit down, then return to the starting position. Perform several approaches.
For high-quality performance, it is better to look at photos of exercises with a curved bar at home. This will help to avoid mistakes during execution, injuries and achieve maximum effect.
Features and characteristics of the EZ variant
Exercises with a curved bar at home
A barbell with a curved bar was invented to make it comfortable to hold while performing some exercises. A feature of a number of movements is that with a straight bar, the hands “break” and the planned trajectory of movement is disrupted. A person becomes painful or uncomfortable at a certain segment of the amplitude, and the load can go to secondary muscle groups, increasing the risk of injury.
People often ask how much a curved bar weighs and how long it is. So, most often in gyms there are specimens 120-140 cm long, their weight varies from 6.5 to 8 kg, but this does not take into account locks. Since models in different gyms may vary, it is best to ask the instructor on duty, he will tell you exactly.
On the issue of selecting weights. For the purpose of building muscle mass, the optimal weight is one with which you can do 3-5 sets of 10-12 repetitions each. The rest time between sets can vary from 1.5 to 5 minutes.
