ExRx.net

I purchased a preacher curl today and am anxious to use it tomorrow to develop my biceps.

How effective is this exercise? can I use it as the ONLY bicep exercise in my routine to develo well-rounded biceps?

Thank you

In my opinion preacher curls are the best bicep workout to do because of how strict they are.

preacher curls are good, you can use them to really hit the brachialis if you focus on the bottom of the motion (read here: http://www.exrx.net/Muscles/Brachialis.html) but they are also good for hitting the biceps brachii itself.

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In my (hopelessly biased) opinion, isolation exercises build muscles that are functionally useless. Compound exercises build muscles that you can use in real life.

true, but the girlies like big biceps :) and at my age that is an important factor.

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I stand corrected. That definitely qualifies as functional training. ;-)

on of the best and most effective bicep exercises (fact).

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Muhammad

Age: 15 Height: 5'9'' Weight: 153 lbs

I'm with Stephen on this one. Use basics. To gain in your arms, you have to gain weight all over. Nothing beats Rows, curl grip chins (which also build the large back muscles) and THEN maybe add a bicep movement or two. Preacher curlsare fine every now and then, but in my opinion, way to0 isolationist to rely on them as your sole movement.
Tim

I think you should switch it up and not always get stuck using the same exercise. The more you use an exercise the less effective it will be if that is all you do.

Small variations can be a great way to change it up so I am not saying you have to completely drop your favorite bicep exercise. Once in a while though, you should step away from even the greatest exercises (including squats and deadlifts) and do something you are less experienced with. When you come back to those exercises in a month, you will be refreshed mentally as well as physically and you have probably gained strength in areas that those exercises don't develop that well.

for all the main muscles there is a "meat and potaots excersize"
for the biceps it is the straight bar cur
however hitting the muscles with isolation excersizes is imperative to well rounded development
i love the preacher bench i inorporate it into every bicep workout in some form or fashion
good purchase
there are many uses for it other than preacher curls
if other benches in the gym are full i use it as a back support for alot of excersizes

good luck

that was supposed to be potatos

I still think that most trainees will get better results in their arms by focusing on compound torso exercises first and isolation arm exercises second. The easiest way to get bigger arms is to get a bigger body. Unless you do steroids, it's hard to get bigger overall with isolation exercises.

Taking compund exercises into account, would it be more effective to superset bb rows/chin-ups/etc with the preacher curl? that way I can work the back, while putting extra emphasis on the biceps, which are my weakest point at the moment...?

After spending several months reading on here and other sites I've largely scrapped bicep/tricep isolation work in favor of stimulation through other exercises (supine grip for rows and chins for bis, tris get plenty from pushing exercises) and I only have 3 sets of one exercise for each as an afterthough on my leg/oly day.

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If by supersetting them you mean doing one after the other, I would advise against it. The arms are the weak link in torso exercises. If you tire the arms out, the torso won't get fully exercised.

A better strategy would be to do a few sets of arm work after the torso exercises. For example, for back/biceps, do 3-5 sets of pulldowns (supinated grip), and then do 2-3 sets of preacher curls.