This Double Duty Biceps Curl Superset Will Blast Your Arms to More Muscle Growth
No matter how you slice it up, building a sleeve-busting set of biceps requires curls—lots of them. But if your routine consists of nothing but the same stale standing curl movements that give you a chance to cheat and let other muscles get involved, are your biceps getting the proper isolation they need to grow and swell?
If you want a properly punishing biceps squeeze rep in and rep out, this preacher curl to spider curl superset is the perfect one-two pump finisher to your arms training. While these exercises might appear to be very similar in the way that you execute the curl, each of these variations makes you work for your pump from different areas of the movement, says Men's Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S.
For the preacher curl, you’ll notice that the hardest portion of the movement comes when your arms are extended as you begin your curl. This is the opposite of the spider curl, in which the difficulty level increases toward the final contraction stage of the curl. Together, both the preacher curl to spider curl eliminate your ability to depend on other muscle groups (namely any shoulder momentum you’s inevitably get from barbell curls) and instead force you to focus on creating a strong mind-muscle connection with your biceps.
“During preacher curls your biceps work hardest at the beginning of each round,” Samuel says. During spider curls your biceps work hard at the end. The combination of the two moves pushes your biceps to the edge and leaves you with a solid pop.”
Benefits of the Preacher Curl to Spider Curl Superset
●Plenty of arm training volume, which is needed for muscle growth
●Allows for total biceps isolation, which is needed for muscle growth
●Position of the exercises eliminates your ability to cheat
●Each exercise works a different aspect of the curl movement
How to Do the Preacher Curl to Spider Curl Superset
●To start preacher curls, use either an EZ-curl bar or a pair of dumbbells and a preacher bench or incline bench.
●Keep your armpits tight to the pad, then squeeze your biceps to curl the weight up. Lower back to the point where your forearms are just about perpendicular with the ground. You don’t want to hyperextend at the bottom of the movement, so don't go all the way down.
●Maintain the tension on the biceps as much as possible during each curl.
●Aim for 10 solid reps
●For spider curls, grab a pair of dumbbells and get into position with your chest firmly on an incline bench. Keep your core tight, squeeze your glutes, and make sure your upper arms perpendicular with the ground.
●Curl both dumbbells up, squeezing your biceps.
●Pause momentarily as you maintain that squeeze, then lower back to start.
●Repeat for as many technically sound reps as possible.
Because this curl combo is a constant challenge for your biceps, two to three total sets to finish your workout will be more than enough to get that elusive pump.
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