Gironda's bench & curls

R

robefc

New Member
Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone else had tried any of Vince Gironda's exercises? Or maybe I should say tried doing any exercises the way Gironda advised.

I tried doing bench to the neck rather than to the chest the other day and I could really feel it in my chest...was annoying that my first 10 rep increment felt like my 10rm though!

I also tried doing barbell curls by dragging it up my chest and that felt very strange during the actual movement although it did seem to hit my bis nicely. As I want an alternative to incline curls to use I might persevere with this and see how it goes.

any thoughts?

cheers

rob
 
Gironda had a weird way of doing many exercises, but they tend to be effective. His bench to the neck, especially with your feet off the floor, certainly seems to create more stretch across the pecs, which is a good thing. I always felt bench presses more in my frontal delts until I did them his way. His body drag curls also get you more resistance in the contracted position, which is good for metabolic work but probably not as effective as incline curls over all. His version of sissy squats provides the most stretch I've ever felt in my quads. I'm not sure the reasoning behind what he suggested was always sound, but he certainly created a fair number of well built guys in his gym.
 
I do Gironda dips...i'll swear by them now. The first time I did them, my chest hurt for 2 weeks! great concepts, you really need to study up on them and do it EXACTLY like its described. Good stuff!

Do you by chance have a link to the Gironda bench description?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (mathey @ Sep. 27 2005,1:28)]I do Gironda dips...i'll swear by them now. The first time I did them, my chest hurt for 2 weeks! great concepts, you really need to study up on them and do it EXACTLY like its described. Good stuff!
Do you by chance have a link to the Gironda bench description?
Click to expand...
Haven't tried the dips actually, will do next time!

I haven't got a link for the bench but the only difference to a usual bench as far as I could tell was that you bring the barbell straight down to your neck as opposed to down to your mid chest and therefore the motion is a straight up and down motion as opposed to curving back from the chest to the shoulders as you go up.

Has that helped or just made things worse?!
 
That's a brilliant link, cheers mate
thumbs-up.gif


did you get that from a website about gironda?
 
actually no...but my thoughts are that there maybe more...I'm still checking to see what I can find...I'll keep you posted!
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (mathey @ Sep. 28 2005,1:58)]I'll keep you posted!
Click to expand...
Like it! :D

I was looking at a cable row exercise he designed the other day, I'll see if I can find it.

The putting your knees up during the bench is interesting, I tried that recently because I was reading a lot about pilates and was trying to get the correct posture, I don't like the feeling of an arched back when I put my feet down...feel very unbalanced though!
 
This wasn't what I was looking for but is a twist on chins...sounds particularly streneous!

'A man named Vince Gironda made this exercise popular. Thankfully for us he did. They have been dubbed by many as the single best lat exercise ever invented! Hold on to your hats!

Implementation: This involves leaning back throughout the entire movement. In this variation, the lower portion of the chest should touch the bar.

(A) Begin by grasping the pull-up bar with an underhand grip, approximately shoulder width apart. Now hang with your arms fully extended. (B) As you pull yourself to the bar, have your head lean back as far away from the bar as possible and arch your spine throughout the movement. At the upper end of the movement, your hips and legs will be at about a 45-degree angle to the floor. You should keep pulling until your collarbone passes the bar and your lower chest or sternum area touches it. By the time you've completed the concentric portion of the movement, your head will be parallel to the floor. This is the king of back exercises! It not only works the lats, but the entire lower back!

1. The beginning of the movement is more like a classical chin.

2. The midrange resembles a pullover motion.

3. The end position duplicates the finishing motion of a rowing movement. '
 
I used to do that for a period about a year and a half ago. I had some shoulder trouble at the time, and this exercis was easier on the shoulders than regular chins (or pullups, I believe there still is some confusion about which is underhanded and which is overhanded). I did this one underhanded, which felt strange at first, but once I got the hang (no pun intended) of it I liked it a lot. I felt it really focused on the back instead of hitting the bi's.

Come to think of it, I'm not sure why I stopped doing it.  :)

Regards,
/ R
 
I tried it today and it felt pretty good afterwards, although I wasn't sure when I was actually doing it. Need to get the weight and the technique right but as I'm doing rows and pull ups in my other sessions and pullover as a stretchpoint in all sessions then I'm willing to try this for a bit and see what I think (as I'm doing 3 separate sessions).

The barbell drag curls really hit my biceps too and again I'm doing incline curls in my other sessions so I'm going to use them for a while and see how they go, less weight though
sad.gif


If I carry on benching then I'm going to continue going to my neck...I can't have my legs up though, I feel completely unbalanced!

I'm not a great fan of his upright row but that might be cos I have elbow trouble, for side laterals I'm going to use heavy upright rows to belly button and cable raises as stretch point.

Cheers

Rob
 
I agree about feeling unstable with my feet up...I think the whole point about the "legs up" was to keep your back flat against the bench. I read somewhere (possibly a Stuart McRobert book) about actually inclining your bench in the lowest position, then as you do your normal arch, you're actually benching flat...make sense? That's what I've been doing anyways.

I tried these the other day, and you have to remember to keep your upper arm out and perpindicular to your body, I must not have as I felt it somewhat in my shoulders as well. With the dips, make sure your feet are out in front of your face to minimize the use of the triceps and shoulders.
 
I've read in a lot of places that a slight incline is best and Bryan advocates it as well...basically so the sternum is level with the ground.

The main point about having your legs up is that you can't then use other muscles to help in the lift, I think its the terres major in the back that is used by arching the back more...there should still be a natural arch in your back with your feet up though.

I'm trying to do that with the dips, its annoying me cos its harder!
tounge.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top