Hybrid Training is one of the the most powerful concepts you will ever use for building muscle and strength.
Essentially, instead of using just one form of resistance and getting stuck with the strength curve that that resistance provides you with, you use at least TWO forms of resistance so you can better match the specific strength curve and tension pattern of an exercise.
In plain English, it means performing an exercise where you NEVER lose tension at ANY point in the range of motion. And THAT is incredibly powerful for building muscle.
This Hybrid exercise is the Cable-Barbell Preacher Curl...you'll need a low-pulley for this one (or a band...it also works extremely well with a training band instead of a cable) and a Preacher bench.
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Set the Preacher bench in front of the low pulley (a few feet back from it). Start with the empty bar on the floor. The setup I prefer to use is an ankle strap around the bar then clipped to the low pulley. It makes it VERY easy to set up and perform Hybrid exercises.
You can also clip the cable back onto itself (just pull the cable under, around then over the bar then clip it back onto itself around the bar). That works just fine, too...just make sure and do that with no weight on the cable stack.
Once the bar and cable is set up, put the pin in the cable stack - you don't need a whole lot on the stack...just a few plates. You can always add weight if it's too light but start light the first time you do it to get an idea of how the exercise works and how dual-tension feels.
Set a weight on the barbell that could easily get 12 to 15 reps with (I've added a 25 lb plate to each side). With the addition of the cable resistance, it's going to change the tension levels significantly and you'll fatigue faster.
Next, pick up the barbell and set it on the bench supports.
Get into position on the bench and grab the bar.
Now the fun begins! You'll be performing the exercise exactly like you would with a regular Preacher Curl.
As you curl up, you're going to notice something different...in addition to adding some resistance to the bar, you're also getting the diagonal-pulling tension of the cable.
In a normal Preacher curl, as you come to the top, you lose much of the tension in the biceps because gravity only pulls down...at the top of the movement, the bar is resting on skeletal support from your forearm bones. To keep tension on, you have to consciously squeeze the biceps, which can help, but doesn't really contribute to the movement.
When you add in lateral-pulling resistance from the cable, you're not only curling the barbell weight, you're also pulling directly backwards against that cable resistance and adding tension to that top part.
You're essentially using the cable to fill in the big gap in tension in the Preacher Curl exercise.
And believe me when I tell you, this will FRY your biceps on the very first set. In my experience, you can achieve the same level of fatigue with one set of these as you would with 2 or 3 normal sets because of this continuous tension.
As I mentioned, this exericse works extremely well with a band. You get the increased tension as the bands stretches as you come towards the top of the curl.
This is my recommended source for training bands. (Note: Use Coupon Code "rbtfitstep" to get 10% off your purchase of a band package)
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Give this exercise a try in your next bicep workout. Then imagine the results you can get in your ENTIRE BODY when you put the full power of "Hybrid Training" into effect on every single bodypart.
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