chadlius88's Journal, 05 December 2015

Rockin! That's a great set-up! How is your bicep tear? Can you still lift? 

HCB, I ended up doing a squat and bench press only program with no back or bicep work for about 3 months, and did some physical therapy throughout that time. At this point I'm about 90% recovered and able to lift normally again. I'm still gentle with the bicep though. Unfortunately, when I flex, my biceps are quite obviously asymmetrical. But I'll get it back, just have to do a lot of iso-lateral work to get the right bicep caught back up. 

Just wondering if you have been doing hammer curls? I've heard that's easier on the elbow insertions. Was it elbow or shoulder side? 

Glad to hear that! Did you read about David Price and the Sox? Big money! 

NM, It's on the elbow side. I use Ez-bars for barbell curls, and do indeed do hammer curls. They don't seem to bother my elbows much. The only thing that really irritates the bicep now is loading plates on the bar, so I keep the plates as close to my body as possible whenever I lift them and that does the trick. 

I heard that hammer curls are healthier for the elbow. It's what I go to when the elbow starts feeling it. I've also switched to palms facing each other on parallel bars for chin-ups and the elbows seem to feel no stress at all. That's not to say I don't do the others of all kinds, but these let me continue when I'm starting to feel it. I never allow the biceps to completely unload to the ligaments. I always keep some tension in the muscle so the ligaments never have to bear the weight alone. 

Agreed. The palms facing each other also hits a different portion of the back primarily, elbows coming back toward the waist focuses much more on the biceps and latissimus dorsi, while the palms facing out in front of you focuses less on the biceps and primarily on the rhomboids, Teres Major and Teres Minor, and also less-so on the lats. So its good to do both.