Top 3 Exercises to Avoid at the Gym. Part 3: Preacher Curl

   There have been a few documented cases of biceps muscle rupture while doing the "preacher curl", but that is not the only reason I think it is a poor exercise. As a general rule, one should not "isolate" a specific muscle to develop it. In reality, muscles never work in isolation, so why train them that way? As someone who has been a regular at various gyms and health clubs for 30 years, I have seen one thing to be consistent. In every new gym I go to, there is always the one guy who sits at the preacher curl bench for way too long, doing way too many reps and sets. It has been no surprise to me to see that usually, this person has a scar on one or both shoulders. The scar is usually from a shoulder surgery. As a general rule, I know that getting accurate medical history from a guy in a gym is not likely, so I rarely ask questions about it. But it never surprised me. 

   The whole purpose of putting the arms on such a device is to "stabilize" the elbow joint. But in "stabilizing" the elbow joint, we can expect that the shoulder and back muscles, which usually aid in such stabilization under normal circumstances, will be inactive. This is the perfect example of someone whose main purpose of going to the gym is for visual appearance. Excessive emphasis on the muscles most commonly desired such as chest (pectoralis major), arms (biceps brachii) and stomach (abdominus rectus) is the hallmark of someone more interested in muscular development for the sake of muscular development.  They are not really interested in overall health, strength, or athletic capabilities. 

   Integrating all of these muscles together will help protect one from injury. Only without injury, and with muscular balance, can someone achieve optimal physical capabilities. Isolation for the sake of visual muscle appearance will eventually lead to injury. If you are looking for a replacement exercise, try literally any other biceps exercise, where the elbow is not stabilized on a pad, bench or your knee.