I’ve never really discussed heavy bicep curling that much here on the site. It hasn’t seemed to be something that was all that Diesel.

All I have really done with any consistency over the last five years for my biceps has pretty much been Reverse Curls with an E-Z Curl Bar.

That is one of the lifts I do week in and week out in order to fend off and negate any connective tissue inflammation near the elbow. I mentioned this for the first time in the Card Tearing eBook in the section on injury prevention, I believe.

Recently, when I got the Grip 4orce handles, I added in Alternating Dumbbell Curls because I absolutely love the way it hits deep in the thumbs.

When I am feeling Ultra Napalmish and want to not only blow up my biceps but also work my wrist radial deviators statically, I will hit some Scale Weight Hammer Curls. I might do these once a month if that.

But lately I have added one other Bicep Execution into the fray. Here’s the story.

The Rob Vigeant 100-lb Dumbbell Curl Challenge

I was looking through my YouTube subscriptions the other day and the name Rob Vigeant caught my eye. If you don’t know who Rob is, don’t worry, because I am going to tell you. Rob is now a professional arm wrestler, but in 2003 and 2004, Rob was probably the best Grip Athlete in the United States, bar none.

I’ve watched him nearly beat Steve McGranahan at the first Grip Contest I ever competed in, and I watched him beat the likes of Dave Ostlund, Shane Larson, and myself in Minnesota in January of 2004. And then he came to PA again in the Fall of 2004 and wreaked havoc one more time, taking the title at the Global Grip Challenge, beating Clay Edgin, Dave Morton, and Tommy Heslep, among others.

So this dude is built like a Diesel Truck from the shoulder down. He might however, have a smaller lower body than me, which is damn hard to do… (Sorry, Rob. With all the ass kissing I am doing for you, I need to take a shot somehow)

Since Vigeant has not been involved in Grip since pre-2005, any time I see his name come up in the title of a new video on YouTube, I am damn sure going to watch it.

The video was by Josh Dale, the People’s Dietitian, and he talked about a challenge that came from Rob Vigeant. As it turns out, several years ago Vigeant had made the statement that he did not think there was a man alive who could curl a 100-lb dumbbell in a strict curl fashion.

To put aside any speculation, let’s watch the only video that I can find of Rob Vigeant performing his strict curl:

Rob Vigeant: 85+ Lb Curl

Now, there may indeed be a set of rules somewhere in the USAWA handbook or some other listing that details a different set of requirements for the “Strict Dumbbell Curl,” but I am honestly not going to look for them.

Josh did post a curl at the end of his video and he did an impressive 75-lb Curl, as you will see below…

Josh Dale: 75-lb Dumbbell Curl

This challenge seemed very interesting to me for many reasons. First and foremost because I know Josh Dale well and have competed with him many times, but also because I have seen Rob Vigeant’s power up close and so thought it would be a good way to compare my abilities against one of the strongest lower arms out there.

So I gave it a try and during my first set of attempts, I got up to 70-lbs.

Jedd Johnson, Dumbbell Curl with 65 & 70 lbs

A few days later, I gave this another try while waiting for a friend to come to the house and train, and I ended up getting a 75-lb Curl for a couple of singles with each hand.

Jedd Johnson: 75-lb Dumbbell Curl

Notice at the end of the video, 100-lbs is not going ANYWHERE.

Of course, since I am putting up videos of curls, there is somebody out there who put up a Thumbs Down on one of my videos. Tough guys. Oh well.

So, I stand at 75-lbs right now. And that would be the end of the post, but Josh has thrown down the gauntlet and topped me by about two pounds, with the following submission to the challenge.

Josh Dale: 77+ lbs Dumbbell Curl

Ohhh no he didn’t!!!

So it looks like I will have dig out and dust off my loadable handles and give this a try with it.

Incidentally, I think I still have some gas in the tank to call upon, some turbo boosters if you will, as back in 2002/2003 or whatever the following video was shot in, I did perform a seated curl with a 90-lb Dumbbell in each hand.

Jedd Johnson: Seated Dumbbell Curl with 90-lbs

If you want to give this challenge a try, go ahead and jump in and then send the video link to Josh on YouTube. His channel is FeatCheater. Also make sure that you subscribe to my youtube as well: Jedd Johnson’s YouTube.

All the best in your training!

Jedd

P.S. I know there are probably tons of guys out there that can curl more than this. So please don’t go overboard when you see the titles I put on my videos. This is just my Napalm Psychology at work against Josh.

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Tags: bicep curl, dumbbell curl, standing curl, strict curl

This entry was posted on Friday, November 4th, 2011 at 11:08 am and is filed under accelerated muscular development, feats, feats of strength, Grip Sport, grip strength, strength training muscle building workouts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.