I am a hypocrite

I stand by Rippetoe firmly in our shared belief that bicep curls are retarded.

They don't hit that many muscle groups, so the hormone response is small.
It's not an especially functional exercise.
And bicep curls have the 90's small connotation.

And yet today, there I was, doing them in the mirror like some sort of 90's small tiny-armed douche.

Why was I doing this?

Because the local power-lifting competitions have stupidly substituted the "strict standing bicep curl" in place of the squat. I have a couple ideas why.

-Easier to judge. Curls don't have the depth issues that squats do.

-Draw in new participants. By picking a popular exercise, one lots of people think they're good at, you might pull in new contestants.

Sure these are tangible benefits. BUT AT WHAT COST?

Dios mio.

Workout today was:

Back Squat: 300 x 5s x 5r
Bench: 190 x 5s x 5r
Bicep Curl: 82.5 x 5s x 5r