Weight Training

Have you ever wondered, what’s the difference between using a straight bar and an E-Z bar? Well, pertaining to muscle growth, a straight bar works the biceps a little better than an E-Z bar. But, if you’ve tried both types of bars, you might have taken a liking to the E-Z bar. And the reason for this preference has to do with your anatomy.

The structure of the elbow varies from person to person. This is why using a straight bar can be outright painful for some lifters. Maybe this applies to you as well. This pain has to do with the natural positioning of your elbows. The structure of your elbows determines the likelihood of you feeling discomfort when using a straight bar.

Here’s a way to test if your elbows rotate more than the norm: Stand with your arms hanging down at the sides of your body. Rotate your arms so that your palms are facing forward. Now, do your forearms stay close to your sides? Or do they angle outward, away from your body? If your forearms stay close, then you’re in the green to use a straight bar.

However, if your forearms angled away from your body, this means that you have what’s termed as ‘valgus of the elbow’. This is when there is a wide angle at the elbow between the upper arm and the forearm. A valgus angle is more common in women than in men.

Why does a valgus angle of the elbow make using a straight bar painful? It has to do with how the extreme angle turns the forearm outward, away from the body. When someone with this type of elbow anatomy tries to do a bicep curl with a straight bar, the positioning of the wrist is compromised. And the more weight on the bar, the greater the risk of pain and injury because of the additional stress to the wrist.

So, which is right for you: Straight bar or E-Z bar?

Tags: Weight Lifting, weight lifting equipment, Weight Lifting Exercise, Weight Training, Weight Training Equipment

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 30th, 2008 at 9:02 pm and is filed under Weight Lifting, Weight Training Equipment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.