Don't Waste Time with Curls

I've never understood the benefit of the bicep curls. Being a skinny dude, this may sound like bitterness, but I've learned a lot since weight training during my sophomore year of high school. Bicep curls are pretty much useless (Bodybuilding and beach-flexing aside).

Last week in my health writing class, Matt Herring, strength trainer for the University of Florida men's basketball team, offered us a peek into the workouts he and his team designed for the players. They force the players to move laterally, rotationally and front-to-back. Each player must test his balance, strength and agility every time the training staff "tweaks" each exercise.

One of the exercises left out of the training regimen 99 percent of the time? Bicep curls. Herring referred to them "bone exercises," because the players only get to do them when the staff feels like throwing them a bone. Herring said bicep curls are ignored because they serve no functional purpose in basketball (though he hates the buzzword "functional").

Call me bitter or small, but I'm content with my 10-inch biceps, and now I can defend my toothpicks with testimony from someone who trains others for a living.