Easy curl bar vs straight bar question

[Traildoggie]

Cathe, hope you can counsel me on this.
We have 2 easy curl bars, no straight bar. Bought them ages ago when I was told the angled sections are easier on the wrists.

Anatomically, I think my lower arms are rotated somewhat inward. It's very hard-impossible for me to hold dumbbells straight or level. they are tipped so the inner side is lower than the outer.

I'm using weights a whole lot. Should I replace the easy curl bars with a straight bar? I'm wondering about how the angle will affect wrists,biceps,triceps etc. I'm doing Power hour 3x a week right now and am using the easy curl bar for all barbell moves, only 15 lbs. It seems comfortable to me but I've never used a straight bar. What do you think?

 

[nancytucaz]

I don't profess to being even an amateur let alone an expert in this arena, but I thought I would share my experience, for what it's worth.

We had both a straight bar and a curl bar when I started with Cathe. I elected to try using the curl bar because our straight bar is longer than I'm comfortable with and trying to move it around and change things out on it (does not have spring collars) was just too much trouble. After awhile I ended up buying the Troy Lite system that was recommended here because the curl bar was not comfortable for me at all. I guess my point would be that if the curl bar is comfortable for you then it may be working just fine--I knew within a short time that it was not the best option for me for several exercises, although it was fine for others.

 

[LauraMax]

Hi there--not Cathe either & hopefully she'll correct me if I'm wrong, but hoping even more she's too busy to answer you b/c she's making sure we all get our new DVDs! :+

So here goes--as I understand it, the different angles of the EZ bar hit different parts of your muscle. I believe if you use the close grip angle it hits the outer bicep, the wide grip hits the inner bicep.

That said, I can see how the EZ bar would be easier if you have wrist problems. Straight bars most definitely put a lot of pressure on my wrists.

Have you tried using dumbells instead? You can do much w/dumbells that you can't do w/barbells, w/the added advantage of evening out weaker sides.

Also, if you want input from others, you could try posting on Open Discussion. None of us are very shy about giving advice.

 

[Traildoggie]

Thanks for your thoughts. stange, I didn't get any notification that there were replies.

Also, our bars are threaded so it's a big deal to change weight. lots of unscrewing and re-screwing to change.

I do use dumbbells but I can't keep them level and I was thinking that a straight bar might force me to stay in "proper" alignment. I don't know how important that is, if it's important at all! I'll take your advice and copy/paste on over to the open discussion.