Monday Madness:
Change the Angle for Gains
When you are trying to grow changing things up is important. For many people that just means changing exercises or the order of the exercises. I am going to show you how you can change the angle and get major gains. We are going to use a simple biceps workout as the example, but you can apply it to any muscle group and see the same results.
The Workout(s)
Week 1
| Exercise | Sets | Repetitions |
| Standing DB Curls | 4 | 10-12 |
| Standing Hammer Curls | 3 | 10-12 |
| Standing Preacher Curls | 3 | 10-12 |
| Standing Cable Curls | 3 | 10-12 |
Week 2
| Exercise | Sets | Repetitions |
| Incline DB Curls | 4 | 10-12 |
| Incline Hammer Curls | 3 | 10-12 |
| Seated Preacher Curls | 3 | 10-12 |
| Incline Cable Curls | 3 | 10-12 |
Week 3
| Exercise | Sets | Repetitions |
| Lying DB Curls | 4 | 10-12 |
| Lying Hammer Curls | 3 | 10-12 |
| One Arm Preacher Curls | 3 | 10-12 |
| Lying Cable Curls | 3 | 10-12 |
Analysis
This is the same set of exercises, but the angle changes each week. By changing the angles you are going to stress the muscles in very different ways. This is what you need to keep the muscles guessing. By doing the curls from a standing position you get a full stretch and have a longer positive movement. When you move to an incline bench and do the same exercise it instantly becomes more difficult. The intensity increases. Moving the same exercise to a flat bench (perhaps something you never thought of) will stress the muscles in an extremely different way. It is all about hitting the muscle hard and keeping the muscle guessing.
The sport of building your body is all about trying new ways of hitting the muscles. Back in the day of Arnold and Lou they didn't always know how an exercise effected a certain body part, so they would do extremely high repetitions and then see what got sore. Not the most scientific method, but it worked. The same can be said for this workout. You may think it is odd to do curls lying on a flat bench, but it works if you do it correctly. Remember, it is all about the squeeze. Getting that no matter what angle you are at is the key.
If you have a method for fooling the muscles please share it below in the comments.
