Most people who spend a lot of time working out and want to have a fit and toned body ask a very common yet important question “what do barbell curls and dips have in common. Well! Starting with the fact that both of these are arm exercises that mainly target your biceps and forearms in a very effective way. These also help to shape your muscles and help to build the mass around muscles to add inches into them. This article will explain to you the common points between barbell curls and dips and what is the main play of these exercises in your arms.
What Do Barbell Curls Do?
Barbell curls are mainly considered as an isolation exercise that works primarily for your biceps but also trains the forearms and shoulders muscles to some extent. It strengthens the entire arm, grip strength, and upper body mass to increase strength and fitness. If you are in dire need of a specific exercise that will allow you to build muscle mass and increase the size and shape of your arms then there is no better exercise than heavy barbell curls.
In addition to focusing on biceps, barbell curls also incorporate various muscles of your shoulder, back, and chest including various stabilizer muscles. The involvement of these muscle groups in the weight move through the course of this exercise helps in getting bigger muscle groups in your upper body. This whole anabolic movement where upper body muscles will be working together helps you to have bigger arms in no time.
How Dips Workout Serves You
Dips are considered an upper body exercise that helps to build better and bigger triceps along with targeting your chest, shoulder, and back muscles. This exercise is considered superior for building strength and burning calories as it is a compound exercise. For example, this movement incorporates multiple muscles at once instead of isolating a few smaller muscle groups. It is called compound exercise since it provides more functional movement and elicits a greater energy expenditure leading to more calories and fat burn compared to smaller isolated movements like a bicep curl
Barbell curls and Dips
In a nutshell, barbell curls mainly involve elbow flexion. It means you are decreasing the angle between joints (angle between the forearm and upper arm) and it is like a pulling movement. Talking about its effectiveness, then it’s pretty good if you want to do great at lifting things from waist height to chest height. The main muscle involved is the “Flexor group” It includes brachialis, biceps brachii, and the brachioradialis. Compared with this, dips are a mixture of elbow extension and shoulder flexion. These are harder than the former exercise since it involves multiple muscle groups.
What Do Barbell Curls and Dips Have In Common
Here are the common benefits you can gain from both these exercises
- You can have a well-defined upper body since both of them target arm muscles so you can expect a bigger and more muscular upper in no time with your consistent hard work
- You get noticeable results with a straight bar as both exercises can be done with the help of bars.
- You become used to lifting heavyweight. Both of these exercises require you to lift the weight of your choice on bars. You can always make a transition from a lower weight to a heavier one as soon as you get enough strength.
- Heavier weight lifting helps in building your muscles. A lot more benefits come with this single statement. Weight lifting not only helps in building muscles but also in burning body fat, strengthening your bones and joints, reducing injury risk, and improving overall heart health. So, the extra you pain, the much more you get.
- A wide grip (any grip beyond shoulder-width) places more emphasis on the short head of biceps brachii leading to building inner biceps. This helps you in acquiring perfect inner arms.
- A closed grip (where you keep your hands closer than the shoulder width) helps in building outer biceps. This position targets the outer head of the biceps. So, you can build your bicep head, and peak.
- You can build a great amount of muscle mass on the forearms. Lower arms muscle mass stretch fully in barbell curls and in dips. Focusing on the forearms muscles helps you in building overall strength and hypertrophy, get bigger grip strength, and even manage or reduce the wrist, elbow, and hand pain.
- You need to follow it consistently in order to get effective results. Try to do this with other pushing exercises as it can train your triceps as well.
- With the right strategies for both of them, you get a perfectly toned body. You can also have a flexible body with both these exercises. You just need to spend time on them properly.
- You work on stabilizing muscles which can be great not only for having strong joints but also minimizes the risks of injuries.
There are many people who believe that barbell curls do not help in developing a great amount of stability. However, in the end, it all depends on the right strategies, tips, and tricks to get the most out of this exercise. If you are consistent in your daily workout session, then soon you will be able to have a fit body. Barbell curls are the heart favorite exercise of bodybuilders as they help them to develop good biceps and bigger arms. However, if you are a fitness freak then you need to add this to your daily gym session. For barbell curls, you need to be an expert to add them to your list since some unnatural positions may cause wrist pain. On the other hand, dips also help you to have a good upper body but the same point is applicable here that the right execution strategy can help you to get the most out of the exercise being performed and achieve whatever you have in your mind. Basically, barbell curls and dips are the arm exercises that help you to achieve your bigger and more attractive arm goals in one or another way.
