Sitting down to do bicep exercises

[Kerpal]

Does it matter if you stand up or sit on a bench to do bicep curls? I was thinking that sitting on the bench makes it harder to "cheat" by using your back, and may help avoid injury and improve form. What do you think?

[papi93]

Does it matter if you stand up or sit on a bench to do bicep curls? I was thinking that sitting on the bench makes it harder to "cheat" by using your back, and may help avoid injury and improve form. What do you think?

People can still use their lower back, if they are seated. Stability requirements are what changes. There are more stability demands put on the body from standing position. This is why athletes stand, during the majority, during their exercises. Bodybuilders will tend to sit because it involves less stability demands and allows you isolate a muscle group better. More resistance can be use, as well.

[cervasa1977]

Yes it takes away from swinging the weights I do these off and on along with incline curls. I feel like I get a great stretch in my biceps when doing incline curls.

[Tyrbolift]

If you want to do very heavy dumbbell curls or concentration curls, seated is the way to go, but if you're just knocking out some db curls towards the end of the workout, it's unnecessary, wastes time, wastes energy getting up and down, and hogs a bench that someone else could be using to do pressing, dipping, and other exercises that require a bench.

[$AJ]

doesn't really matter (unless it's seated low incline for more longhead work)

but both are still easy to use poor form on - most let their elbows travel forward instead of keeping them locked, whihc is piss poor form

[kojack]

Seated with a low incline definately seems more challenging for me. My hands seem to fall asleep sometimes too. Don't know if its because of the angle or what but it only seems to happen when I am curling on a low incline.

[Mike750]

Seated with a low incline definately seems more challenging for me. My hands seem to fall asleep sometimes too. Don't know if its because of the angle or what but it only seems to happen when I am curling on a low incline.

You may be pinching a nerve in that position. Just a thought.

OP: I do both standing (usually bb) and seated (alternating db). I gotta go with AJ on this in that it's possible for anyone to use poor form on just about any excercise. I comes down to concentration and not moving the elbow.

That said, with bb curls, at the end of heavier sets I may use the slightest sway to bring up the last couple reps and then slow controlled negative.

[reflexions]

Does it matter if you stand up or sit on a bench to do bicep curls? I was thinking that sitting on the bench makes it harder to "cheat" by using your back, and may help avoid injury and improve form. What do you think?

try kneeling, when doing bb curls, makes it stricter

[Tyrbolift]

You could avoid all this worry about form and cheating if you'd just go buy a "bicep belt."

[dirtydean12]

sitting takes away the tendency to use a jerk or swing to complete a rep. use a weight that you can use good form on and sit either low incline or none, definitely works better. or trying laying on an incline bench face down and letting the arms hang, kinda weird but good.

[$AJ]

You could avoid all this worry about form and cheating if you'd just go buy a "bicep belt."

or you could just grow some balls and keep proper form

[FarEastBeast]

You could avoid all this worry about form and cheating if you'd just go buy a "bicep belt."

LOL. But you can still cheat with the belt on. Seriously, seated, standing, kneeling, hopping up and down on one foot on a ball like The Cat in the Hat - the form is still up to you. The preacher bench is designed specifically for maximum isolation and minimum cheating and you see guys coming out of their shoes to hoist the weight up. It's all up to the individual from rep to rep.