Want strong arms? See the preacher...

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     This is a quick post but did you know that every gym has a preacher? No, it is not one of the trainers on a podium declaring what you should be doing to get fit. No. The preacher is a bench at the gym that is used for arm exercises and resembles a preacher's podium. I sorta laughed to myself the day Brandon said to me "meet me over at the preacher." I was like "huh?" And he points to a piece of equipment in the middle of the gym and explains that it's called the preacher bench because it resembles a preachers podium and lifters 'pray at the preacher bench for big arms.' (insert laughing emoji here)

     So for those of you who don't know this (because I didn't until recently) the preacher bench is a bench with a slanted pad that you sit behind with your arms resting on the pad and your chest up against it while doing bicep curls (or in this case known as preacher curls) with an EZ bar. You raise the bar to your shoulders as your starting position and then lower the bar until your arm is fully extended before using your biceps to curl the bar back up to your shoulders again. As far as breathing goes (because Brandon always has to remind me to do this) inhale as you extend the bar. Exhale as you raise the bar. Easy Peasy.

     So I sit down to do my curls at the preacher. To start I thought it was one of the easier exercises to do on arm day. (don't tell Brandon I said that. Haha.) That is, easier until Brandon starts adding weight. And as with many things at the gym there are variations of the movement. You can do preacher curls with dumbbells both arms together or alternating. Or Brandon had me do a similar exercise on the cables. A variation of the preacher curl. I sat on the floor with a padded board on the cable bench, I had my arms in a similar position on the board while I leaned against the bench and did curls with the cables. And apparently there are other preacher curl variations you can try..

     So the next time you go to the gym if you see someone (or maybe it's you) at the preacher bench you know they are praying for strong arms.