What Is the Difference Between a Straight Bar & Curl Bar? The main differences between a straight bar and curl bar are in their weight, shape and the hand positioning you can utilize when using them for different exercises. These are two of the most common pieces of exercise equipment you will find in a gym that has a resistance training section. These bars can sometimes be used interchangeably, which is beneficial if the particular bar you want to use or the bar type you want to use is unavailable; however, there are some things to consider when using the bars as substitutes for each other. Straight bars and curl bars are available is a variety of weights. This is important in determining how much weight you are actually lifting. The total amount is the bar weight added to the amount of plate weights you've mounted on the bar. It was a variation on the french curl using the floor pulley again but I’ve found something even better which I’ll do an article for. Muscles Targeted: Alternating dumbbell curls are excellent for adding size and strength to your biceps and for overall arm development. This exercise primarily. Using a close grip, lift the EZ bar and hold it with your elbows in as you lie on the bench. Your arms should be perpendicular to the floor. This will be your. An Olympic straight bar typically weighs 4. A curl bar usually weighs 2. The discrepancy in weight is mainly due to the curl bar being smaller in length than the straight bar. A curl bar allows for a more natural hand position. Photo Credit Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images. As its name implies, the straight bar, also called a barbell, is a cylindrical rod with a straight shape. On each end of the barbell are two attached rods that are also cylindrical and straight. This is the area of barbell where the weight plates are put on to increase the resistance. The curl bar is smaller in size and has a cambered “W” shape. On each end of the cambered bar are straight rods where the weight plates are added to increase resistance. The reason for the difference in the two bars ultimately boils down to how the hands are positioned on the bars. Because a standard barbell is straight, you can assume either an overhand or underhand grip. The angle of your wrists with a standard barbell is straight; however, your wrists are slightly rotated when using a curl bar meaning your wrists will be slightly angled. A curl bar allows you to grip with an underhand based “natural” grip with your wrists slightly supinated, or turned out. You can also use an overhand based “reverse” grip on the curl bar with your wrists slightly pronated, or turned inward. The curl bar is traditionally used for exercises that work smaller muscle groups such as your bicep and triceps. These muscles normally require less weight than exercises that use the straight bar such as the chest and legs. Because the curl bar already weighs less, it makes it possible to select a weight between 2. Also realize that the curl bar has a more natural hand position for exercises that require bending of the elbows. The straight bar increases the amount of torque in the wrists because you must actively hold your wrists in a straight position when they want to naturally turn outward or inward depending on the exercise. This can lead to pain or injury in the wrists if you are unaccustomed to using a straight bar or have poor wrist strength. Standing Dumbbell Curls. This exercise is similar to the barbell curl. It works the biceps and forearms. Grab a pair of dumbbells. Stand with your feet shoulder width. To perform this movement you will need a preacher bench and an E-Z bar. Grab the E-Z curl bar at the close inner handle (either have someone hand you the bar which is. EZ bar spider curls are excellent for developing size and strength in the arms. This is a biceps exercise that involves a piece of equipment called a standing. EZ Curl Bar vs Straight Bar(Sometimes a reader will email me a question that needs a full article to answer properly, and sometimes it’s an answer I think others will benefit from hearing. This is one of those times.)QUESTION: Do you think it’s better to do biceps curls using the EZ curl bar or the regular straight bar? I’ve heard people say the straight bar hits your biceps a lot better but the EZ curl bar is safer for your wrists and elbows. Which do you recommend and why? ANSWER: Just to make sure we’re all on the same page, let me start this answer off with what I like to call a quick “misunderstanding- preventer.”As I mentioned in my triceps guide a couple of weeks ago, the majority of your biceps/triceps growth will come as a result of getting stronger at compound exercises like various chest presses, shoulder presses, rows and pull- ups/lat pull- downs, which is why this type of stuff should always get your primary focus. However, as I also mentioned in that same triceps guide, compounds alone will not produce the best results possible in terms of building muscular arms. For this reason, I highly recommend that everyone trying to build muscle (with the possible exception of beginners) put a smaller, secondary focus on direct arm isolation work like triceps extensions and biceps curls. We’re all clear on that? Potential misunderstandings prevented? Now let’s answer the question. Bonus: you can do it in the squat rack!! With the EZ curl bar, you’re in more of a semi- supinated position between supinated (palms up) and neutral (palms facing each other) which likely brings the brachioradialis into the movement a tiny bit more (and thus the biceps a tiny bit less). On the other hand. In fact, I truly doubt you’d see any meaningful difference whatsoever. But What About The Other Way Around? Meaning, is the difference in safety and injury prevention more significant than the difference in biceps activation? I would lean towards yes. So using that same imaginary group of 1. I DO think you’ll see that more of the group who did straight bar curls would end up developing some form of wrist, forearm and/or elbow injury at some point than the group who did all of their curls with an EZ curl bar. In which case it’s more likely that the straight bar group would have had to make some “oh- no- I- have- an- injury” style changes to their workout over this period of time (like reducing the amount of weight being lifted, completely avoiding affected exercises like curls, rows, pull- ups/pull- downs in the short term or long term, taking time off to let things heal, etc.). Which means indirectly, the healthy people from the EZ curl bar group could potentially end up with better biceps results than the injured people from the straight bar group. They might even potentially end up with better overall results in general, since more than just biceps training could be affected. This is one of the many things that suck about being injured and why you should do everything you can to make sure it doesn’t happen. Yes, even if it means a very minor reduction in the amount of activation of the muscle you’re trying to train (which is likely to be insignificant in the grand scheme of things anyway). Safety and injury prevention will always play a bigger role in your success or lack thereof. So Then, Which Is Better? I actually have a good perspective on this one, as I exclusively did all of my barbell curling with an EZ curl bar during my first few years of training, but then switched exclusively to the straight bar (after hearing it was “better” for the biceps than the EZ bar) during the next bunch of years after that. And at some point during those straight bar years, I developed an injury (that darn medial epicondylitis I mentioned before). Now granted, it’s impossible to say that straight bar curls were the one and only cause of this injury. It was most likely a combination of factors, with another being heavy chin- ups which also happen to involve that same supinated grip a straight barbell curl involves (this is not a coincidence? I’ll worry about it then, assuming it ever ends up being a problem for me which it might not ever be.”This is 1. But, as someone who has been there and done that with straight bar curling, and as someone who has heard from a lot of other people who have been there and done that with straight bar curling, all I can tell you is that my recommendation would be to completely avoid it. Instead, stick with the EZ curl bar and/or various dumbbell curls (in terms of injury prevention, dumbbells are probably the best option of all). Simply put, the potential CONS of straight bar curls (injury) easily outweigh any potential PROS (the “better” biceps activation it provides, which is likely to be so insignificant it won’t actually matter in the first place).
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