🏋️‍♂️ 5 hammer curl variations for serious mass

Today’s newsletter is presented by Wellcore. If you’re dealing with low testosterone, take advantage of Wellcore’s hormone optimization plan today. And right now, use code BARVIP to get $150 off Wellcore's painless at-home assessment kit.

Here’s everything fit to print in this edition:

• The truth about high-carb diets

• All about the hammer curl

• Dana Linn Bailey talks about food prep

Nutrition

The Cold Carb Truth

Carbohydrates have been the villain of the MCU (macronutrient collective universe) for most of this century. And a few weeks back, nutritional scientist Dr. Layne Norton directed his YouTube lens at a recent study analyzing the effects of a carb-heavy diet and resulting tendencies toward weight gain.

Dr. Norton maintains that sugary and carb-heavy foods aren’t satiating and often result in people consuming more total calories in a quest to satisfy their hunger. While the study in question suggests greater carb loads may lead to increased body weight, Dr. Norton suspects the macronutrient profile should suffer less blame than the overall caloric density of the foods eaten.

Get all the details on carbs directly from the horse’s mouth in this article.

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Training Tips

Hammer It Home

Hammer curls work so gosh-darn well because they hit your forearms and brachialis harder than a supine curl (remember, the brachialis is what makes your arms look thick). And if you really want to hone in on your arm development, there are some key variations and alternatives to the standard hammer curls that you can do for an even better pump. And that’s exactly what we’re talking about today. 

You can impress your friends and co-workers with towel pull-ups if you want to pummel your arms from a different angle, or you can try the preacher version to isolate your biceps better than ever. It doesn't take any sleight of hand for bigger arms, just a slight turn of the hand. Check out all the major variations below. 

Diet

Gainsday Prepper

Dana Linn Bailey, the 2013 Women’s Physique Olympia champion, is no stranger to food prepping. After all, you can’t step foot onto the biggest stage in bodybuilding without knowing the right way to divvy up a week’s supply of grilled chicken and rice into plastic food storage containers. And to help you learn her secrets, Bailey recently shared her four top tips for beginners trying to get the hang of meal prepping. 

Her advice centers on creating a simple and consistent plan for yourself. If you dread eating the meals you pack, you’re much more likely to decide that Popeye’s 5-piece meal deal probably has a pretty good profile for your weight cut. So keep it simple, keep it tasty, and keep prepping. You’ll see the results in due time, and you’ll never want to look back.

Everything Else

A One-Horse Open Sleigh

• Santa may have a power gut, but his work capacity is on point from dragging his sled full of toys around in the freezing cold. Up your body’s general capacity with some sled pulls of your own.

• Thanksgiving sales are in the rearview mirror, but New Year’s fitness deals still offer value and excitement across a wide range of equipment and supplements. Check out the best ones. 

• Learn all about why magnesium is one of the most underused and over-performing additions to your supplement stack.