Hi I'm new to this forum and hope someone can give me some advice here.
I'm doing a 3 day a week split routine and have been training proplerly for about a year.
I have two problems when doing bicep workouts...
1. The first is my lower back. I am 6 foot 7 inches tall and bicep curles kill my lower back. any advice?
2. When doing bar or dumbbell curls I get a real intense burning pain right at the point of my elbows. The day after my workout the pain is still there. This isn't just a sore muscle feeling, it feels like a hot needle in each elbow
Any advice or ideas would be great. thanks in advance
Ben
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\"Barricades - I run right thru em\"
How's your form? I can't see bicep curls being rough on your back unless your form is a little loose. Less weight and better form might take some of the pressure off your elbows too. Tendonitus, maybe?
well, you could do heavy compound exercises for your back (rows, pullups). Those work you biceps enough. isoltaion exercises aren't important to let those biceps grow. Don't know if this helps you with the back thing though.
Originally posted by Alchemist101: I've taken a lot of care with my form. I trapped a nerve in my spine about a year ago so its that that gets sore.
Is there any way of working biceps thats easy on the back??
Yes, Barbell or Dumbbell rows, pull-ups with palms facing you...
I would stop the isolation for you bi's and focus on compound movements like the ones above for your arm work. That is where you will see more gains and shorter workouts.
Not sure about your elbow pain, but I would really watch it.
Why don't you try seated curls? That would probably provide max isolation to your biceps.
However, I don't think it's a great idea to completely neglect your back. I don't know much about your medical condition, but could you do light weight compound exercises to strengthen your back a little bit?
Have you talked to your doctor about this back pain?
I would tend to think that if curls make his back hurt then you guys are gonna kill him... Try supported rows, machine rows, machine pullovers, lat pulldowns, and pull ups to work your back. Use a machine to work your bi's.
Originally posted by JMR: I would tend to think that if curls make his back hurt then you guys are gonna kill him...
I would agrue that isolation training has created the weak back problem and balance issues. By moving to compound movements, he will address that and also see improvements in his arms. There is a reason his back hurts and I assume it is lack of training unless he has an injury that he has not brought up yet.
Compound movements are those that use more than one joint and work several muscle groups with one movement.
You could try these. If you're talking about the paiin on the inside of the elbow I had the same problem. I think it was the the smaller arm muscles (Brachialis) muscles weren't strong enough to handle the curl weight. I gave up doing curls and did the seated rows. Becasue of the heavier weights moved I was able to build up total arm strength so the curls don't bother me anymore.
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I don't have any medical knowledge to address the issues that you bring up causing you pain. That said, I'm just suggesting different forms of the exercises that aren't that common and may target differently.
Was reading about a variation of bicep exercises. I think it was referred to as "the beast" or something made famous by the beast? Anyway, the idea was to take the low pulley on a cable machine and lay on the ground, face up, and do curls that way. I've never actually done them but I would imagine they would have less stress on the back. Whether or not someone 6'7" can fit between the two stands is another question...
As for a compound exercise, try a suppinated? (hands up) barbell row lying face down on an incline bench. I believe it works the upper and middle back while also the biceps at the same time.
:p 
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