How do I do bicep curls effectively?
I'm 17 years old and I have been working out for about a year and a half. I have done bicep curls before but fear I am doing it wrong. Let me explain: When I do them I use 1 30lb dumbbell at a time in one hand. I start palms up and pull as far up as possible. But when going down I only go until half-way down (90 degrees to my body when standing straight) then pull up again. Is this effective or can I do it differently. I have tried going all the way down and flexing my triceps but after that I only can manage a little and my form is way off (elbows moving and shoulders shifting). When going half way I also get a bad pain in the pinkie side of my wrist. Any help would be nice and some tips for working out in general as well as how to do bicep curls is great. Thanks so much!
Comments
Sounds to me like you need to reduce your weight. You shouldn't have trouble moving the weight all the way down. By stopping half way down, you're not benefitting from the full extension.
It's more important to have good form than it is to lift heavier weight. You should back off about 10 pounds each and then work your way back up again. If a weight is difficult to manage, then it's too heavy.
I alternate between 30 lb dumbbell curls and 60 lb barbell curls. That seems to work for me. Of course I'm not trying to get huge, I just want to be strong.