The Curl Press is a great compound exercise for building upper body strength for wrestling.
Please keep in mind that if your shoulders don’t/can’t tolerate pressing overhead, then this obviously isn’t a good fit for you.
If that’s the case, send me an email at dickie@wrestler-power.com. Let me know and we’ll work on some alternatives.
The last thing you want to do is grind through certain lifts that are ultimately causing further breakdown and not actually benefiting you.
Does this make sense?
Anyway, on to the lift itself.
It’s pretty self explanatory. It’s just a curl into an overhead press.
Here’s a video of a standing variation.
In this video I show rotating my hands.
You can also keep your palms facing you the whole time (shown in the seated video below).
It’s really up to you and what you prefer.
Regardless, like anything else, try to maintain fairly strict technique with the Curl Press.
If you do feel yourself using your hips and legs a little more than you should, consider the seated variation.
Here’s a quick video of me demonstrating what I mean:
I prefer this seated variation because there isn’t a back support to drive against. This eliminates the extra leverage you’d gain by using an overhead bench with a back support.
Hi, I’m Dickie (the author of this blog). Here I am with my good buddy, Kyle Dake. While he doesn't have a nice coat like me, he is pretty good at wrestling. Here's what he said about my training system:
Before I began lifting using Dickie's system my wrestling skills were getting slightly better. I've now been lifting under his guidance for more than 5 months and I have begun to dominating ALL of my competition. At first I had little faith in Dickie and his program, but now I would run into a wall if he told me I would get stronger! I know it sounds insane, but I would. The bottom line is Dickie is an expert and knows what he is talking about. If you want to defeat those kids whom you've always lost to and reach a level you never thought possible, I suggest you start lifting using Dickie's system immediately.
-Kyle Dake, 4X NCAA Division 1 National Champion