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Strength > EZ Curl Strength Routine

I like using the EZ curl bar. Mine is only four feet wide, but I can add enough 45-pound plates to get a good workout. It will go all the way up to 370 pounds. A definite advantage of the short bar is that it doesn't take up much space. It doesn't get in the way and it's not a tripping hazard. A seven foot Olympic bar is just too big in a small room. In addition, the curved grips help you place your hands in exactly the right spots to keep the bar balanced.

Listed below is an EZ curl bar strength routine.

Deadlift and Shrugs: Keep your feet about shoulder width apart, and your arms outside your knees. Grab the outer curved grips of the EZ curl bar. Remember to keep your back straight throughout the lift. Never round or hunch your back. Push your heels against the ground as you lift. Envision yourself pushing the earth away from you. Use your mind to direct the burden of the pulling movement away from your lumbar region to the shoulder blade areas of your back. Use the exact same form when setting the weight back on the ground.

Once you've deadlifted the weight to a standing position, try to shoulder shrug it a few times or attempt to lift the weight as high as you can towards your chest. Once the weight starts feeling too heavy, set it back on the floor. After one deadlift and several attempts to pull the weight up towards your stomach or chest, you’ll need to rest. The advantage of this approach is that you will do less deadlifts than if you were simply lifting the bar to a standing position and then setting it back down. In so doing, you are getting the benefit of doing deadlifts, but not putting as much strain on your back as you would be by doing multiple deadlifts at a time.

Hack Squat: The Hack Squat (named after the great Russian wrestler George Hackenschmidt) is similar to the deadlift, except that the bar is behind you. The lift stresses the quads.

Reverse Grip Rows: At this point, you will probably be ready to lighten the weight by removing some plates. Bend over at an incline. You don't want to be parallel with the ground. Instead, you want to be somewhere between parallel and a standing position (closer to standing). Grab the outer curved grips of the bar with your palms facing forward and lift the bar towards your stomach.

Shrugs: Do some more shrugs with the lighter weight. Stand up straight with your arms down holding the EZ curl bar across your thighs. Lift the bar by shrugging your shoulders. For a variation, hold the bar behind you while shrugging.

Bent-Over Rows: You may need to lighten the bar some more. Bend over with your back straight and lift the EZ curl bar to your chest; only your arms should move.