When doing curls do you fully extend your arm when you let the weight down?

[rudolph]

Is this harmful for the ellbow?
I noticed that when I'm doing curls and when I fully extend the arm and take the tension of the biceps and let the weight down then I feel something in my ellbow as if there's something moving in the ellbow. It feels strange but I cannot say what it is. Maybe it's a tendon or something in the ellbow. Because of this I ask myself if it's even good to extend the arm completely or if you should always keep tension on the biceps and not extend the arm completely. What do you think? The only problem is see here is that the biceps might become shortened if you never make curls over the full range of motion and when you're always stopping the weight at a certain point without extending the arm completely.

[DJAuto]

Is this harmful for the ellbow?
I noticed that when I'm doing curls and when I fully extend the arm and take the tension of the biceps and let the weight down then I feel something in my ellbow as if there's something moving in the ellbow. It feels strange but I cannot say what it is. Maybe it's a tendon or something in the ellbow. Because of this I ask myself if it's even good to extend the arm completely or if you should always keep tension on the biceps and not extend the arm completely. What do you think? The only problem is see here is that the biceps might become shortened if you never make curls over the full range of motion and when you're always stopping the weight at a certain point without extending the arm completely.

The decline part of the curl should be controlled. Don't slam it down on your elbows or you will suffer injuries. That being said, I personally don't take the tension off the bicep. I go as low as I can, and then back up for another rep. Try to keep tension on the muscle throughout the set.

[rudolph]

I don't let the weight down in an uncontrolled manner. But even if I let it down slowly and then extend the arm I feel something in the ellbow.
No idea what that is.

[stealth_swimmer]

You don't have to forcefully extend at the bottom. Just get a good stretch in the biceps then curl back up. Just be careful and feel the muscle. I've had the same happen to me where I recklessly warmed up with light weight and my elbow was naggin me the whole workout.

[Tyciol]

It should be very controlled, but once it's just lying there contracting the triceps to give them a good stretch doesn't seem like that bad an idea. Pavel Tsatsouline says locking out is important.

Besides, people have straight arms when they deadlift.

[lolinternet]

locking out is important for triceps but jus dont slam all the pressure onto your elbow. i personally keep all the tension on my bis so i dont fully extend but its pretty close.

[illriginalized]

It should be very controlled, but once it's just lying there contracting the triceps to give them a good stretch doesn't seem like that bad an idea. Pavel Tsatsouline says locking out is important.

Besides, people have straight arms when they deadlift.

That's how I do my curls... I fully extend my arms so that my triceps flex then bring the weight back up... the whole time I keep my bicep flexed. I notice if I DO NOT fully extend my arms, I get this stupid look where my arms are bent a little when relaxed and I don't really like that.

[Veteq]

I would recommend not fully extrending your arms at the bottom of a curl (and of course lower your weight under full control). fully extending your arms can lead to hyperextending your elbow/bicep and that can mess up your training for a long time. I know this from personal experiance, as well as discussing it with other lifters I know. I wouldn't extend beyond 10-15 degrees short of full extension.

Also, not letting your arms fully extend keeps constant tension on your biceps.

If you're doing light weight it's not going to be as critical as when going heavy, but it's not a good idea to start any bad habits.

[Bigbruiser79]

The decline part of the curl should be controlled. Don't slam it down on your elbows or you will suffer injuries. That being said, I personally don't take the tension off the bicep. I go as low as I can, and then back up for another rep. Try to keep tension on the muscle throughout the set.

exactly what he said. you dont want to lock out if you what the best bicep pump. keeping tension on the bicep will work them a lot better. and also remember that the more control that is used on the lowering part of the exercise the more tension that is emphasized on the triceps.