hey vince, my legs are my weakest body part so im defiantly going to try some of them.
Also it would bhe great if you could do a video of a good leg workout with just some light dumbells as many people like my self have very limited equipment at home.

Vince- Bicep curl is strongest at 90 degrees not weakest as your depicting and saying. Anywhere above or below 90 is a weakpoint. Try again. Thanks

Vince- Train the curl from the bottom to 90. OR Do a neg from the top to 90. Then you will be doing what your trying to demonstrate.

Hey Vince,

Can you please come up with some other ways to stimulate muscle when going light while coming back from an injury? Thanks!

David,

Actually it is weakest at 90 degrees, meaning it takes the most power to approach and keep the weight at 90 degrees. Due to basic mechanics, once you are no longer at this angle, the leverage is less demanding on your arms. Basically, as you move past the 90 degree point on the way up, your forearms become more vertical thus less strength is needed to keep the weight moving. When you drop below this 90 degree point, your forearms are again becoming more vertical, and less strength is needed. So Vince is right on this one, 90 degree is going to be the weakest point, i.e. the weak link throughout this exercise. Sorry Dave, perhaps you misunderstood what Vince was explaining. Peace!

Actually it is weakest at 90 degrees, meaning it takes the most power to approach and keep the weight at 90 degrees. Due to basic mechanics, once you are no longer at this angle, the leverage is less demanding on your arms. Basically, as you move past the 90 degree point on the way up, your forearms become more vertical thus less strength is needed to keep the weight moving. When you drop below this 90 degree point, your forearms are again becoming more vertical, and less strength is needed. So Vince is right on this one, 90 degree is going to be the weakest point, i.e. the weak link throughout this exercise. Sorry Dave, perhaps you misunderstood what Vince was explaining. Peace! -Lage

@David Morgan -

saludo solo hablo epañol me gusta los ejercicios

Yeah, the examples are not apporpriate. The weakest point in these examples ALWAYS is when the weight is moving directly against gravity. In the curl, it’s not necessarily at 90 degrees because of the mechanics of the arm – it’s because the weight is directly moving against it’s opposing force, GRAVITY. Which pulls straight down. The movement arm is circular, the resistance is linearly straight down. The biceps will get stronger at that 90 degree point because it is the highest degree of direct resistance. BUT, it is always the sticking point doing standing curls because it’s the moment of highest resistance due to gravity.
Same in the pull over: the highest resistance is when the weight is moving directly against gravitational pull and once it starts moving laterally (over the face) it’s easier to move. (in fact the lats are no longer in play and chest takes over) the sticking point is always in those first 30-60 degrees of movement when it is moving against its opposing force – gravity, again. And using a Nautilus pullover machine for example usually will show a different position of weakness.
For those that have done standing curls all the time, you’ll find you are stronger at those 90 degree points and weaker after that.
Strength curves end up matching resistance curves, but you’ll always SEEM weaker at those points because of the very exercise you’re doing.

Hi Vince,

Great video information/inspiration, but what about if you are restricted with some exercises due to left knee & left shoulder injury due to a whole 14 steps stairs fall? Do you have any advice or recommendations training for it?
Thanks for keeping us posted on your blog.

Lagius- You need a course in kinesiology. The biceps femoris is strongest at 90 degrees. TW is on the money with the strength curve [moment arm] vs the line of resistance. Try holding the same weight at 3 different angles. 130/90/45. Your optimal power position will be 90 degrees. Try doing a neggie at anything more than 90- You won”t be able to hold ther weight. WEAKEST POINT!!

Vince- I see your not a science trained guy. What you are describing is just the opposite of what you should be doing. If you want to increase your weakest point you could do isometric/static holds or work the low end of the biceps curl by starting out at the bottom and finish just below 90.

Even better, try and explode during the concentric phase, then do a 4-count on the eccentric phase. So, go up fast, then a 4-count going down. Squeezing the muscle the whole time. Add 1 minute rest periods and strict form and you WILL bust past a lagging body part in no time. You have to use lighter weights with this technique, but is is VERY effective. Been doing this for a month now on all my lifts and it is still making me sore along with a killer pump.

For biceps, try the preacher bench with DB’s on the 90 degree side using the 4:1 count. Do one arm at a time so you can really concentrate on your form. You can also switch with a triceps exercise and no rest between sets. It is the antagonistic muscle approach. Done right, it is brutal. ;-)

I was kinda sceptical at first but it looks interesting! Thanx Vince, gonna try this one out myself!

Cheers

Vince,

Great post, I like the technique. What are your thoughts on explosive concentrics–even cheat curls–and then very slow negatives of up to 5 or 6 seconds? I’ve been using this with a few of my clients.

What we have seen is pretty impressive strength gains, and a lot of carryover to pull-ups and chin-ups.

Any thoughts?

Hey vince, i wanted to increase my shoulder mass….My shoulders are weak!!!

hey John,

first off, for those of you who don’t know, John Romaniello is a bad ass fitness stud – one of the coolest and funniest guys I know – right after me of course.

I like explosive concentrics, assuming the client is experienced with quality form so he doesn’t crap out his spine… ha

When I’m with a training partner, like our training session in Tampa, I always utilize forced reps… makes me forget how much of a pump you can get when you train solo for so long.

Those are my thoughts until another time.

Hi Vince,

Often a while doing a bench press, many lift good weight but cannot – cannot connect there chest with the lift,whoch eventually results into shoulder injury.Can you make a good chest video and give some advice on how to improve on the bench press progressively.

Arkad

hey it looks like ur doing hammer curls while doing this one and 1/2 and i was always taught keep ur elbows pinned to ur side and when your elbow goes out thats when you know you are cheating and now you are using more then just biceps to do this exercise is this correct?

What a killer workout did these when training biceps and triceps. Awesome pump.

I dont know about anyone else but i want to see more videos with lee hayward like you did in vegas.