Goal reached

[Roark]

After warming up with the empty bar,

80, 100, 120, 140, 160 lbs for 6 reps each

in the wrist curl, tried 180 for two reps, felt

very light, so jumped to 200 and got the six reps

that I was hoping for by Jan 29th!

Then went back down to 180 for 7, and 160 for 6.

New goal, without a calendar date, is 225 for 6.

Bodyweight 203 lbs, though hopefully by the time

I reached the new goal my weight will be 195.

Realizing full well that this is a light wrist curl for

many of you, it is not for me.

[Bill Piche]

Good job Joe!

[Clayton]

Nice work!!  This is exactly what I'm talking about, setting your goals up, and knocking them down one at a time!  Congradualtions and keep up the good work!

[Guest woody36]

Joe, You inspire me!

[aatu]

Congratulations on a job well done, Joe.

And, since you seem to be one of the best wrist curlers on this board, I thought

I'd ask you a question regarding that particular exercise.

I am also trying to work my way to wrist curling my weight (I weigh 80 kg, and now I'm at 60kg +bar).

Lately, though, I haven't really done much progress.

So, I thought I'd ask; do you perform any other wrist exercices that you have found helpful in reaching

your goal?

Thanks for the help

[Roark]

aatu,

My mainstay is simply wrist curls. I go heavy only

once per week, but may go to 80% of my max (at

the moment 160 lbs) for a set of six  on off days. And on

off days, I have been adding the standing wrist curl

behind the back- hold the barbell with arms hanging at the sides and palms facing rearward, then curl the weight

for 10-15 reps in good form, no body swing. I warm up with the empty bar. I may do three sets increasing the weight-

and I use higher reps for this.

Sometimes for variety I do wrist curls off the

bottom pulley of a crossover machine, though our gym's

machine doesn't have enough weight to go heavy- about

150 'real' pounds by the time half the weight is cancelled

due to the second pulley.

But the workhorse that has brought me increase is

the wrist curl over knees- I straddle the bench, placing

the barbell on a pad, which gives a better starting

position. I see no need to go higher than six reps

for wrist curls- it may work for others but so long as

I am progressing I will not change. If it ain't broke...

Plus if you straddle the bench, then when you fail you simply

let the bar rest back on the bench- as opposed to sitting

at the end of the bench.

Two things: thorough warmup, and go as heavy as

you can in good style for six reps. I have no idea

how heavy a single rep I can do now, probably 215

or so, but that is a guess, and single reps in this exercise

for me are too dangerous. Wrist injuries require a month

or more to heal, and I don't want to spare that.

I am not dogmatic about this- it is just what is working

for me right now. The only dogmatic thing about it would

be to use ALL the weight you can for the six reps. I re-

member years ago when I got my first rep (single rep)

with 95 lbs, I was strutting proud. Of course, I had hair

in those days too.

Also I do reverse curls (not reverse wrist curls) on the

Nautilus machine this way: I use a wrist strap around

the back of my hand and over the machine handle,

then grab the loose strap end with that hand- so my

hand is NOT holding the metal handle- the strap is, and

the resistance is against my wrist. I do hammer curls

this way and reverse curls. Talk about isolation!

Hope this helps. Right now my forearms feel as

though Richard Sorin used them as a wrist roller-

beat up! Next goal 225 for 6. I suspect David Horne

warms up with that, but then we each move at our own

pace.

[aatu]

Thanks for the answer, Joe.

I have one more question to ask you about wrist curls; how many times a week do you perform

that exercise?

Thanks for your help

[Roark]

Three weekly sessions usually, but only one of

those is heavy. In the other two going only to

80% max for wrist curls, but with emphasis on

reverse curls and reverse wrist curls. Only go

heavy when my forearms are totally recovered

from the previous heavy session, and generally I can

determine this by how 160 x 6 feels. For example

today, 24 hours after reaching my goal. the forearms

feel as though as class of judo masters has been

chopping on them. So I probably won't do wrist

curls at all until Tuesday, and not heavy until Thursday.

It takes me about 4 to 5 days to get ready for the heavy session.

But anything less than one's heaviest in wrist curls

doesn't stimulate growth- guess that's true of all muscles.