Let me start out by saying this. The Incline Dumbbell Curl is one of the best exercise for training the Biceps in a Lengthened range...
However, often time people set this exercise up incorrectly. Leading to excessive stress on the shoulders.
Let me Explain
Depending on your setup of an incline dumbbell curl, you might be adding extra
stress on the front deltoid (FD).
When preparing for this exercise, aim to for the smallest lowest angle that allows your arms to hang straight down and be perpendicular to the ground.
For me that’s around a 45 degree incline (used in example A) For you that might be more or less
With this angle the upper arm is perpendicular to the ground when at a dead hang. This set up allows all the tension to stay on my bicep during each rep.
Taking a look at Example B.
Here the angle is set lower at 30 degrees. Due to this the upper arm is no longer perpendicular to the ground, but slightly forward.
Once weight is added, that weight is going to pull the arms back.
Making it perpendicular to the ground.
The consequence of this is going to be extra stress on the shoulder.
Now this isn’t a bad thing, yet it could lead to an over fatigue of the front delt overtime depending on the training program.
One thing I notice when people have their arms over extended (due to an excessive low angle) is as fatigue starts to set in. They tend to compensate by initiating the movement with the shoulder. Using that momentum to then curl the weight up. This defeats the purpose of keeping tension on the bicep.
Another bad habbit I see is initaiting the movement by pushing the upper arm forward then curling the weight up. Again this is done because they are trying to compesate for the extended arm / shoudler.
What i'd recommend doing is starting with the bench at a 90 degree incline. Then lowering it down 1 notch at a time. Testing the Dead Hang meathod until you find that "optimal angle" for you.
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