Super Thick Bar Concentration Curls With Lifting Chains ...

[G-Man]

Here's the final warm-up set from today: same 3"+ bar

in previous posts:

85-pounds + 60-pounds of lifting chains x 6

http://video.tinypic.com/player.php?v=5zlfvvc

Here's the big set:

85-pounds + 60 pounds of lifting chains x 10 + 1

http://video.tinypic.com/player.php?v=6biydlj

I started incorporating the chains only a few weeks ago and seem to making some good progress. At first, I really struggled with 85 + 60 x 6 and now it felt pretty easy. I think I could have gotten 12 reps had the chains been on a little more even and tighter and thereby reduced the wobble - I will try to remember to fix them better going forward.

[lifesnotfair]

That's some big weight, good stuff!

[climber511]

Nice Pants

Big curl too!!

[Alawadhi]

Big curl!

[G-Man]

Nice Pants

That's the secret - one of my heroes growing up used to wear them all the time and it gave him inhuman strength ...

http://www.worldofarmwrestling.com/index.p...iew&id=1996

[lifesnotfair]

Hahaha, so that's why you use them!!

[G-Man]

Here’s a breakdown of key training practices I will use to push my curl as high as I can get it.

I have used all three at some point and got excellent results – but I never previously used all three at the same time:

1. Alternative V-Bar pull-ups/or V-Bar pulldowns with arm work, every other week. I am not sure why, but doing V-bar back work helps get you past your sticking point for curling. If you did curls alone, your body would quickly reach its limit.

2. Thirty to forty minutes of heavy leg work prior to training arms. For me, “heavy” is 1200-1400 pound leg presses. This gets the body to produce GH and is FAR more effective than simply doing curls alone. Try doing this before doing your gripper work and see the kind of progress you make as an example.

3. Variable resistance – chains for pulling exercises and bands for pushing exercises. Here’s a good article on the importance of variable resistance training:

Both groups increased their mean strength level during the 20-week period.

– The Olympic barbell group [standard resistance] increased their strength levels from 259.5 lbs. to 285.5 lbs - a mean change of 36 lbs. Such strength gain, though perhaps having practical significance, was not considered statistically significant.

– The D.V.R exercise group [variable resistance] increased their mean strength from 252.5 lbs. to 327.0 lbs. - a mean change of 74.5 lbs., which was considered both statistically and practically significant.

http://www.strengthcats.com/VariableVsStandard.htm

Edited July 26, 2007 by G-Man

[The Mac]

259.5lbs - 285.5lbs is a change of 26lbs.

[G-Man]

259.5lbs - 285.5lbs is a change of 26lbs.

Good catch - I missed that one. That means the variable group (no pun intended) beat out the control group by a factor of almost 3X.

[G-Man]

Incredibly, while I have not trained arms in three weeks, my elbows are still slightly sore.

Today, I did about 30-minutes of heavy leg presses followed by some heavy V-Bar pulldowns. I peaked at 340 for sets of five to six and then dropped down to 220 for a final set of 12 while hyperextending the ROM (below chest line). I would really love to get a decent ROM with 400-pounds (below chin) and get it uploaded to Youtube, but since my weight dropped to 265, pulling something like that makes you feel your body is going to split (not painful - it just stretches you).

I used to love doing 220-pounds with 60 to 90-pounds of chains on the stack while attempting to hyperextending the ROM (below chest line) but because of too many problems with the cables snapping (one guy had to get stitches when the cable cross over handle hit him in the face), I believe the owner hid the plate stacker. Therefore, I cannot use my chains on top of the stack. I will therefore have to settle for exploding and hyperextending the ROM on the final few light sets.

I think I should be ready for another heavy arm training session in about a week. I will be shooting for 45-minutes of cardio (only got 25 minutes in today), about 30-minutes of heavy legs and maybe an hour plus on the arms. I will also be shooting for sets of five to seven with 65 + 120-pounds of chains (if at all possible). I also started using creatine again for the second time in about seven years so I am feeling a little stronger - but lighter too.

Edited July 29, 2007 by G-Man

[G-Man]

I think I should be ready for another heavy arm training session in about a week. I will be shooting for 45-minutes of cardio (only got 25 minutes in today), about 30-minutes of heavy legs and maybe an hour plus on the arms. I will also be shooting for sets of five to seven with 65 + 120-pounds of chains (if at all possible).

I was planning on doing arms on Sunday but declined due to lingering soreness.

Instead, after doing about 30+ minutes of heavy leg presses, I did the Rolling Thunder deadlifts for maybe first time in almost a year - the best I got was 135 x 5L/6, a few sets of 10 with 90 along with 20-second+ holds with 90-pounds (which is about where my baseline is when I don't do them).

I am taking the rest of the week off from lifting and will shoot for doing those heavy curls either Saturday or Sunday.

Edited August 8, 2007 by G-Man

[CoC#3]

Good work on the RT. A bit more training on it and you're definately good for a big pull.

[G-Man]

I did biceps again today for the first time in about a month. I could not do the heavy leg presses as a prelude because other members were using it so a did a few light sets finishing off with a set of 18 with 800-pounds going most of the way down.

I actually tried the 65-pounds with 120-pounds of listing chains - and man, what a wake up call. My workout looked like this before the bar broke:

75 x 10

75 x 10

65 + 60-pounds of chains x 7R/4L

65 + 120-pounds of chains x 1R

65 + 120-pounds of chains x 3R

65 + 120-pounds of chains x 2R

My arms feel REAL STRONG after taking that time off - I am going to try either fix my DB bar or buy a new one and shoot for 65 + 120-pounds x 5R for next weekend, get it taped and uploaded.

[DAN PRAYDIS]

Nice Pants

That's the secret - one of my heroes growing up used to wear them all the time and it gave him inhuman strength ...

http://www.worldofarmwrestling.com/index.p...iew&id=1996

you better watch out i heard he is out of retirement and the pants are ok if Superstar Billy Graham wears them

[G-Man]

Nice Pants

That's the secret - one of my heroes growing up used to wear them all the time and it gave him inhuman strength ...

http://www.worldofarmwrestling.com/index.p...iew&id=1996

you better watch out i heard he is out of retirement and the pants are ok if Superstar Billy Graham wears them

Yes, Lupkes is a monster and I heard he only trained three months and damned near won the Nationals.

I actually had a dream a few years ago that I beat Lupkes - people were telling me that it "didn't count" because I didn't beat him at his peak; but then again, I've had multiple dreams of closing the #4 and that's not going to happen any time soon ...

[G-Man]

Because my Olympic DB bar broke, I will be buying a new one.

Olympic DB bars are tough to come across by but my friend got a deal on them at WalMart - said paid like $30 for TWO Olympic DB bars plus an E-Z curl bar.

Now, these are the cheap ones and weigh only about 7.5-pounds each - instead of the 13-pounds a normal DB bar weighs - but they look sturdy enough to do the job.

Most likely, I will be leaning towards this option. Since I will have two DB's, I will leave on with a normal handle and use electrical tape to make the other handle 3"+. Then, I can alternate:

Week 1 - Super thick DB curls

Week 2 - V-Bar pulldown or V-Bar pullups

Week 3 - Normal DB curls

The collars I use when warming up are about six pounds each. So, going forward, I will have to log 70 x 10 as my warm up (7.5 pound bar + 12-pounds in collars + 50-pounds in plates = 69.5-pounds).

This will look slightly better on video in that I should be able to get more reps with what looks like the same amount of weight. Also, if I do a curl with a "normal" handle, I should be able to do more weight - I would guess up to 10% or more.

I should add that I try to do plenty of stretching as well - as this seems to ease soreness and help with recovery.

[Florian Kellersmann]

Because my Olympic DB bar broke, I will be buying a new one.

Olympic DB bars are tough to come across by but my friend got a deal on them at WalMart - said paid like $30 for TWO Olympic DB bars plus an E-Z curl bar.

Now, these are the cheap ones and weigh only about 7.5-pounds each - instead of the 13-pounds a normal DB bar weighs - but they look sturdy enough to do the job.

Most likely, I will be leaning towards this option. Since I will have two DB's, I will leave on with a normal handle and use electrical tape to make the other handle 3"+. Then, I can alternate:

Week 1 - Super thick DB curls

Week 2 - V-Bar pulldown or V-Bar pullups

Week 3 - Normal DB curls

The collars I use when warming up are about six pounds each. So, going forward, I will have to log 70 x 10 as my warm up (7.5 pound bar + 12-pounds in collars + 50-pounds in plates = 69.5-pounds).

This will look slightly better on video in that I should be able to get more reps with what looks like the same amount of weight. Also, if I do a curl with a "normal" handle, I should be able to do more weight - I would guess up to 10% or more.

I should add that I try to do plenty of stretching as well - as this seems to ease soreness and help with recovery.

I'm interested what you can do full range on a EZ curl bar. I'm working on this and my long term goal is a bodyweight (cheated, but not too much) curl, which is still a long way to go for me.

[pawel r]

http://www.worldofarmwrestling.com/index.p...iew&id=3105

[lifesnotfair]

Lupkes was a beast!!

I watched the entire interview at ArmTV... it seems Lupkes quit in 90 or so, and has not AW'ed since then. Most people had not heard of him for the past 15 years or so, and a few people even thought he was dead (!!). He says that 3 months ago he ans his wife decided to hit the weights, just to get in shape again (now he's 50) ... and he just went into Nationals to see how he'd do. Heck, even the table has changed a lot since he last entered a tourney. And he had not practised actual pulling in many many years.... and he beat some big names like Harold Owens! That was impressive. He lost to Nick Zinna but Zinna is a beast, if I'm not mistaken he beat Michael Todd a few months ago (although he then lost in the finals in that same tourney). And Tim Bresnan got 1st in this tourney, but hey, a 3rd place for the guy if he had 3 months of weightlifting and not AW'ed for 16 years, and now at 50, kinda says something about him. Amazing!!

[G-Man]

I'm interested what you can do full range on a EZ curl bar. I'm working on this and my long term goal is a bodyweight (cheated, but not too much) curl, which is still a long way to go for me.

Probably not too much as I have not done them in many years.

In the summer of 1994 at the age of 22, I did 255 x 16 - totally loose form - but all the way up and all the way down. It was an 25-pound EZ bar + two 45s on each side plus a 25 on each side plus a real light collar. The key was getting the collars on extremely tight - the weights sliding either way would kill your momentum. This was in the "Strength Room" at Salisbury University in Salisbury, MD. I made a lot of noise so a lot of people saw it, including, I believe, Dave Nettles, a 300+pound powerlifter and then a strength coach.

I don't do these now as they are horrible for arm wrestling - Dave Randall once told me that Andy Fuller could E-Z curl 295-pounds - something that Dave Randall cannot do - but Dave never lost to or had problems with Andy on the table.

[pawel r]

Lupkes was a beast!!

I watched the entire interview at ArmTV... it seems Lupkes quit in 90 or so, and has not AW'ed since then. Most people had not heard of him for the past 15 years or so, and a few people even thought he was dead (!!). He says that 3 months ago he ans his wife decided to hit the weights, just to get in shape again (now he's 50) ... and he just went into Nationals to see how he'd do. Heck, even the table has changed a lot since he last entered a tourney. And he had not practised actual pulling in many many years.... and he beat some big names like Harold Owens! That was impressive. He lost to Nick Zinna but Zinna is a beast, if I'm not mistaken he beat Michael Todd a few months ago (although he then lost in the finals in that same tourney). And Tim Bresnan got 1st in this tourney, but hey, a 3rd place for the guy if he had 3 months of weightlifting and not AW'ed for 16 years, and now at 50, kinda says something about him. Amazing!!

amazing

[G-Man]

Olympic DB bars are tough to come across by but my friend got a deal on them at WalMart - said paid like $30 for TWO Olympic DB bars plus an E-Z curl bar.

I checked out two WalMarts including a superstore and none of them had this. The staff didn't seem too bright or helpful so I decided to go the opposite direction - get the best quality Olympic DB bars I could find:

http://www.dumbbellbuddy.com/dumbbell_hand...les_ib20ce.html

I guess they weigh around 13-pounds each but I will weigh them once I get them to make sure - and round up or down to the nearest five pound increment. For the record, each 30-pound chain I use actually weighs 31-pounds because they include a collar which weighs about a pound.

I am taking a gamble by shelling out $154 on these but hope they are top quality and won't break like my last one.

It will probably be a couple weeks before I get these so it will be back to the heavy V-Bar pulldowns for now ...

[Florian Kellersmann]

If rotating handles are not important for you, the husky olympic dumbbells from ironmind may be a good alternative. They have a thick handle too.

[G-Man]

If rotating handles are not important for you, the husky olympic dumbbells from ironmind may be a good alternative. They have a thick handle too.

I saw them and the real concern I had was whether or not they fit most standard Olympic plates - this is an issue with some of the niche on-line marketers. Also, I am looking for one DB I can make 3"+ with plenty of electrical tape and a second one with a normal handle, so I can alternate back and forth between the two.

[lifesnotfair]

Weightlifter's Warehouse sells Oly dumbells, I got two from them, I think $70 or $75 a pair, half of what you're paying. They come with spring collars, but if you don't like them, they also sell like 7 types of collars, to suit your needs/tastest. I really like them, they must be like 7lbs each though, not sure. I don't think I will "break" this, not for many years, hah... unless it breaks with baby weights