Because with the simple nervous system "hack" I'm going to show you, you can literally be 10-15% stronger in your dumbbell curls RIGHT NOW.

The technique we're going to make use of is called "Contralateral Antagonist Nervous System Activation"

How does it work?

I've got the science for you...

Approximately 10% of the nerves that cross over at the medulla oblongata (the brainstem) reciprocally innervate both agonist muscles and contralateral antagonist muscles.

In practical terms this means, for example, when you do a curl with your left bicep, doing a pushdown with your right tricep at the same time will give you about 10% greater muscle activation...and you'll be about 5-10% STRONGER because of it. That particular exercise is known as a "Scapjack" after its creator, Mark Scappaticci.

 

Next Level Muscle Activation

I've done that exercise and found the concept to be very effective...so I worked with it, applied it somewhat differently and made it even BETTER.

We're going to not only take advantage of this contralateral (opposite side) nervous system activation, we're going to BLOW IT UP by using a heavy, partial-range movement on the opposing side.

Partial-range training done with heavy loads activates high-threshold motor units...they're the strongest motor units you've got and they only activate when the loads are VERY heavy. These are the motor units we want to activate on the working side as well.

Doing this strategically will makes weights you normally couldn't even complete a rep with FLY up on your working side.

How to Do Contralateral Curls

All you need for these is a pair of dumbbells. Take a weight you normally could only get 2-3 reps with...we're looking for something fairly close to your max.

This is going to be an eye-opener for you...

I want you to start by doing one NORMAL rep on each side (one arm at a time) to get a baseline feel for your strength level with that weight. Set the weights down and take a short rest (30 seconds to a minute is fine).

Now the fun begins...

Pick up your dumbbells again, holding them at your sides with a neutral grip (palms facing in). I'm using a pair of 50 lb dumbbells here.

Now start the curl with your right arm.

At the SAME time, bring your left arm back behind you in a partial-range kickback type of movement. It's a heavy weight for a kickback. This activates the high-threshold motor units of your left tricep, which sends a strong signal straight over to your right bicep to fire more strongly.

As you continue the curl all the way to the top, keep forcing your left arm back and squeezing your left tricep HARD. We want a maximum contraction out of that left tricep.

One thing you will also notice as you're doing these is the counterbalance effect.

Normally, when you're doing a heavy curl, the weight moves out in front of you, outside of your base of support. It's more pronounced with barbell curls but happens with heavy dumbbells as well. This forces you to lean back somewhat to compensate.

In this exercise, when you bring the other dumbbell back behind you, it completely counterbalances the weight that's in front of you, allowing you to maintain a more vertical body position. This allows you to curl heavy without torque on the lower back.

 

Repeat on the Other Side

Lower both dumbbells slowly until you're back in the start position.

Now, the other beauty of this setup is now you can, without ANY interruption or change in setup, do the exact same thing for the OTHER arm. It's simple and efficient and will pump BOTH of your arms up like crazy.

I recommend doing sets of 2-5 reps on each side. Keep the reps fairly low when using this technique. The nervous system activation is not as effective when you start getting into higher reps...the nervous system "drive" starts to fade as you use the energy and you won't get the same boost out of it.

Take 2 minutes rest in between sets and do 2-3 total sets. Don't push to failure on any of the sets as this will fatigue the CNS (central nervous system) without adding to the benefit of the technique.