Best Techniques & Practices to Do Scott Bench Curls

Scott bench curls can complete your biceps training, or be the last movement on your back day. The development of your biceps will increase significantly.

Scott Bench Curls – Technique

Starting position

• It is important to adjust the height of the bench stand for yourself
• While seated, the shoulders should lie freely on the stand, with the armpits resting against the edge of the bench
• The body leans forward a bit so that it is convenient to take the bar
• The back remains straight, palms looking up. Starting position – with slightly bent elbows

Movement

• On exhale, you need to raise your arm to your shoulders, and linger statically at the point of maximum bending of the arms
• On inhale, the bar drops down, while the elbows do not change their position, and do not expand into a «dead” position
• The required number of reps is performed, then the bar returns to its original position

Common mistakes

• Detachment of arms from the stand. The athlete chooses too big of a weight, and instinctively tears his arms from the stand to lift it
• The inserted elbows. At the lower point of the amplitude, the athlete fully extends his arms, and then tries to pull the weight out of the dead center.
• Displacement of the elbows inward during curl. This is another sign of the wrong barbell weight. The concentration decreases, the strain on the ligaments of the elbow joint increases

Scott Bench Curls – Guidelines To Increase Efficiency

• There is no need to do the exercise in full amplitude. This can lead to joint injury
• It is better to take the bar from the racks with the help from another person. It also helps to return the barbell to the racks in order to avoid the insertion of the elbows and overstretching of the ligaments of the elbow joint
• The width of the grip depends on the position of the joint, there should be no discomfort and pain
• The movement occurs when the triceps is pressed to the stand. No need to tear them from the surface and bring your elbows up. The meaning of the exercise is in isolation of the biceps, and not to raise elbows as much as possible
• No need to twist the wrists to the shoulders
• During the exercise, arching of the lower back is allowed

Variations

1. Depending on the type of equipment, you can do the exercise with a barbell or with dumbbells. The bar allows you to save time, space and take more weight, but dumbbells develop both biceps equally
2. Bar can be both straight or curved
3. A bench allows to bend your arms while standing or sitting
4. Dumbbells can be lifted one at a time, providing maximum isolation, or both at once

Analysis of the Scott Bench Curls

This is the most isolated movement among all biceps exercises. A similar effect is achieved only by a concentrated bicep curl. This is movement that allows you to build a vivid definition of your biceps and tighten them.

The exercise allows you to work on the short biceps head to a greater extent, and the long one to a lesser extent. Brachialis and brachiradialis work a little less. They need to be further worked out with hammer curl or other movements. Round pronators also work in the exercise, but the biceps take up most of the strain.

The main advantage

The most important advantage of the movement is that it must be done completely without cheating. Even if the athlete raises his arms above the stand, he will not be able to seriously swing the body, and shift the strain on the back muscles and abs. Therefore, the movement is great for beginners who cannot do barbell bicep curl properly. But in this case, you need a very light weight, and constant monitoring of the position of the upper body.

Including the exercise into workout

If an athlete does concentrated curls, Scott bench curl may be the penultimate exercise in a workout. In this case, you can do the exercise like any other one for biceps, 3-4 sets 8-12 reps each. Some believe that it is better to work for 6-8 reps with a little more weight. It varies, because arms of each athlete respond to the strain individually.

In case when the training ends with this exercise, you can do one warm-up set, and right after – a working one, but until failure.

Weight should be chosen so that it would not compromise the correct technique of exercise performance. Isolated movements are not a field for competition in strength. If you overestimate your capabilities, there is a risk of not holding the bar at a neutral low point and lowering it too quickly. Then the arms might bend over and injury to the elbow joint is possible.

Scott Bench Curls – Details

• The wider the grip, the more the arm outer surface is involved, the narrower – the more the arm inner surface is involved, rather logical. But the grip width should be more determined by comfort in the elbow joint and, to a lesser extent, by the need to shift the strain
• Complete bending of the arm at the elbow is not the goal of the exercise. The upper part of the amplitude of this exercise is “empty”, a person cannot additionally contract muscle in it, and therefore it is worth stopping not at it, but at the point of maximum tension
• Slow execution of the negative phase helps to improve the effectiveness of the exercise
• Hammer curls with dumbbells on Scott bench develop brachialis to a greater extent

Warnings

1. The movement is not quite suitable for those who have inflamed ligaments of the elbow joints, or the elbows themselves are injured
2. Exercise cannot be performed in a non-controlled swing style. Bending is required to be performed to the point where the maximum tension of the biceps is felt, and during extension, the elbows should not be inserted completely
3. The displacement of the arms on the bench during the curling is not allowed. Instability in the elbows demonstrates that a grip that is not suitable for the width is chosen

An Interesting fact

Larry Scott came up with an exercise, because he was dissatisfied with the shape of his biceps. He wanted impressive peaks, and was able to achieve them by performing a lot of isolated work, including the bench. The exercise went down in the history of bodybuilding as a “legacy of the golden age”, and is performed by quite a lot of athletes. It is suitable for beginners, it is only important to choose a moderate weight.

Scott bench barbell/dumbbells bicep curl provides for quick progress in shape and definition of biceps.