What is a French Curl?

Answer:

The French Curl name covers a number of different exercise variations. It's essentially an overhead tricep extension done seated, standing or on an incline bench. These can be done using an EZ curl bar, dumbbells, or a small straight bar.

• Lie back on an incline bench or sit on a flat bench, or stand, holding the bar overhead at arms length.
  
• Next, bring your upper arms backwards so that they are at an angle.
  
• Lower the bar down behind your head and get a good stretch,
  
• Extend back up until your arms are straight. Keep your upper arms angled throughout the set.
  
• This exercise targets the long head of the tricep that runs along the bottom of the arm.
• Be sure to keep your elbows tucked in. Letting them flare out to the sides reduces the effectiveness of the exercise.
  
• To get into position, the easiest way is to have somebody hand you the bar from behind. This is especially true when using heavy weights.
  
• Also, you can lift the bar up into position yourself.
  
• If you're using an incline bench, you can adjust the angle of the incline that you use, just keep in mind that the higher the incline, the less weight you will be able to use but the more stretch you will get on the triceps.