For bicep curl, is maximum range of motion best?

Question

For bicep curls, is it better to go through the maximum range of motion possible or just a portion of this? Pros and cons?

Answer 1

back when I lifted,
the best tecnique was this:
1 Don't "bounce" the weight.
Come to a complete stop before changing directions
start with your arm strait down, palm facing your hips.
as you raise, moving only at the elbow, rotate your hand so that it ends up palms facing up at the end of the lift,
reverse, control the descent, not allowing gravity to pull it down for you.

thats one rep.

plain and simple,
you build muscle by tearing it down, and when it repairs it self, it repairs itself stronger. ( builds mucsle)

the more your tear it down, the more its gonna repair.
however, you need to do the same motion every time, so it doesn't use this muscle for one rep, and that one for the next.....

also, in general, we would make sure we were having enough protein, so as to have some fuel to rebuild with, and allow a day of rest between each workout....
Doing upper on one day, and lower/legs on the second.
so the workout is every day, but the halfs are every other ....
hope that made sence....

Answer 2

I have a couple of colleagues who are competitive body-builders and they do partial-range-of-motion bicep curls when getting ready for competition, but that's designed to work on certain muscles that may not be as big as they would like -- and it's more about look than strength. You're really better off working the full range of motion with your bicep curls, and the most important thing is to lift with proper form. I see so many gym mooks doing it wrong. The only part of your body that should be moving when you do bicep curls is your forearms, and you should be standing up straight unless you're doing "preacher curls" using an assist bench. Isolate those muscles and don't use your body or the movement of the weight for momentum.

Answer 3

I personally think a full range is not required - do not drop the weight too much dwon that the elbow locks. Stop when the upperarm and forearm make an angle of 20 degrees. This has helped me lift more without hurting my joint

Also to get the "peak" for the bicep I suggest bending your wrist away from your body when your grip the dumbell

Answer 4

Full range of motion works more muscles to a greater extent. I think that if you want the bulky look, you do a shorter curl, but only posers do that.