Forearm Pain When Doing Bicep Curls

January 14, 2009 7:09 AM

When I do bicep curls, my forearms feel like they're going to snap in two. I suppose I should rest them, but how best to work my upper body without stressing my forearms?
posted by mpls2 to health & fitness (16 comments total)

I would suggest pull-ups or chin-ups. Try different variations on grip until you get something that doesn't stress your forearms. Works the same muscles as your bicep curls, plus many, many more.
posted by nameless.k at 7:17 AM on January 14

Are you overgripping? It sounds like you are. Remember you want to hold the weight with a secure grip, but not a death grip.

Also, you can try medicine ball work. Working with an open palm may release the forearm.
posted by 26.2 at 8:00 AM on January 14

nameless.k, what would you suggest for someone incapable of a pull up?
posted by valadil at 8:03 AM on January 14

valadil: a lat pulldown machine will allow you to do a pull-up type exercise but setting the weight to something less than your own body weight. Also a "dip" machine looks like a pull-up bar except you kneel on a pad that has a counter-weight, so there again you're not doing pull-ups against your whole body weight.

OP: You might consider doing biceps curl with a bar instead of dumbells, and use a bench that supports your upper arm (you kind of sit in front of it, and rest your upper arms on the bench, if you know what I mean). It's made to help isolate the biceps which might address your problem. Also consider doing more, slower reps of lighter weights, focusing on control and maintaining good form. It ought to be just as effective as doing fewer reps of a bigger weight, at least for someone who is still building strength.
posted by drmarcj at 8:27 AM on January 14

It sounds to me like a form or weight issue. Are you holding your wrists straight? Are you curling your wrists? The latter will stress your forearms more and leads into what 26.2 says. You don't indicate whether you're doing this with barbells, dumbbells, or a machine like a preacher curl. If you're doing it manually, how does it feel on a machine? If you move to a sit-down machine, make sure you adjust seat height for maximum comfort.

Perhaps the weight is too much for the entirety of your arm. Look at it this way: If your forearms are screaming in pain, then the energy is focused there instead of where it should be, on the bicep. It's very easy to get caught up in the idea that if you can do the form, your lifting weight is fine. But form is subtle. It doesn't take much of a shift to make an exercise harmful. Low-impact exercises -- even less weight -- are very beneficial for shaping, maintenance, and even gains in cases when your muscles simply aren't responding to the larger lifts anymore.

Another possibility is you may be injured. I can tell if I'm injured under the following conditions:

1. The pain never really goes away. It's just less at times.
2. During the lifts, the pain feels as if it's emanating from deep within the muscle as opposed to a burning feeling along the surface.

In those cases, you really have to rest the muscles. Taking time off doesn't mean you're going to lose your gains. You may notice a softening of the muscles as you take time off, but they'll harden back up when you come back from injury and, more often than not, you'll see quicker gains... until the next plateau! ;-)

Hope this helps!

m
posted by tcv at 8:36 AM on January 14

i know working your guns gets results fast, but you really shouldn't be making bicep curls a big part of your workout program, especially if you're beginner-intermediate. Your biceps get hit when you do the big compound exercises like the bench press or the pull up. Could you be over-doing the curls and thus over-working your forearms?
posted by sid at 8:42 AM on January 14

FYI, I'm using a barbell.
posted by mpls2 at 8:54 AM on January 14

Thanks, guys. My guns thank you. ;)
posted by mpls2 at 9:01 AM on January 14

I agree with sid. You can probably get enough indirect work for your biceps if you are training your back muscles hard enough (which really should be a higher priority than the arms, if they aren't already). If it hurts you can probably stop curling altogether without much of a difference.
posted by PFL at 9:11 AM on January 14

what would you suggest for someone incapable of a pull up?

This article is stellar. Written by Krista Scott-Dixon, originally from Stumptuous, which is a site theoretically for women but really one of the best workout sites on the whole wide 'net regardless of your chromosome types.
posted by Shepherd at 9:27 AM on January 14

Another thing to consider is the amount of weight you are using. It may be that your forearms haven't adapted properly to the weight. You might consider dialing the weight back and working your way up again. Also, I have found that an e-z curl bar helps with the forearm pain a little, but is not as effective at working the bicep. Dumbbells might help the pain too.

Charles Poliquin says that for every inch you put on your arms (biceps) you have to put on 15 pounds of overall body weight. So if you want your biceps to be bigger, don't forget to squat and deadlift ;).

sid, having been a beginner-intermediate for a while and curling very little, I have seen a corresponding lack of growth in the biceps. My triceps, back, chest and legs all look great from the squats, deadlifts, pullups, benches, etc. But my guns are still .22s. Benches and pullups do not make biceps.
posted by Barry B. Palindromer at 9:29 AM on January 14

Chinups (palms toward you) involve more bicep than pullups (palm away from you). You can do weighted chinups when the unweighted ones get too easy. Mark Rippetoe, author of Starting Strength, recommends weighted chins over curls. Remember not to do your curls in the squat rack.
posted by ludwig_van at 10:49 AM on January 14

voladil: In many gyms they have the pull-up/dip assist machine that 'push you up' by an adjustable weight. Also, you can start from a bar that is lower and jump from the ground to assist you. As the bar gets further away, they become more difficult. [This may be easiest to do by doing jumping pull-ups from a step or pliobox . . whatever is around so you can adjust the height differential). Last resort, using the lat pull-down machine works!
posted by nameless.k at 11:47 AM on January 14

Use lifting gloves if you're not already.
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 8:53 AM on January 15

Use lifting gloves if you're not already.

For what? Curls? What's that going to accomplish, besides making you look silly?
posted by ludwig_van at 10:17 AM on January 15

For preventing death grip.
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 10:33 AM on January 15