He Stopped Bicep Curls for 2 Years and His Arms Didn’t Shrink. The Calisthenics Moves That Replaced Them Work Even Better

In a recent training collaboration video, bodyweight training specialist Tom Merrick joined forces with Fitness FAQs founder Daniel Vadnal to explore how calisthenics athletes can integrate weighted exercises into their routines.

The session revealed surprising insights about training intensity, sustainable programming, and the psychological shift required when moving from skill-based goals to long-term maintenance.

Merrick, who built his following through advanced bodyweight skills, hadn’t touched weighted chin-ups or traditional isolation work in years.

What unfolded was a masterclass in effort, progression, and honest conversation about what truly drives athletes after they’ve achieved their initial goals.

The Foundation: Weighted Chin-Ups With Purpose

Vadnal started the session with weighted chin-ups, explaining his preference for minimal warm-up fuss.

I used to in the past have a very elaborate routine, lots of mobility, lots of activation. That’s needed if you’re doing like the skills like you’re doing handstands, handstand push-ups.

For compound movements, he advocates just one or two progressive warm-up sets with genuine intensity.

Merrick, despite not performing weighted chins recently, managed 25 kilos for multiple reps after progressively working up from bodyweight. His previous one-rep max sat around 66-70 kilos, demonstrating how bodyweight variations like one-arm chin-up training preserve baseline strength effectively.

The Street Lifting Hack

Vadnal shared a clever tip from the calisthenics community: using a longer weight belt chain drops the external load’s center of mass lower, creating slightly more favorable leverage.

Small details like these reveal the accumulated wisdom from years of practical experimentation.

Training To True Failure: What It Actually Looks Like

The most striking aspect of the session was the genuine intensity both athletes brought to every working set.

Vadnal pushed Merrick through two absolutely brutal sets of weighted chin-ups, with the second set requiring visible grinding and full-body effort on the final reps.

If most people watching this gave that level of effort consistently, we would all be beasts. I think like it’s so fun talking about the theory of training and why is it working this and that. Once you know the basics and you put that level of effort in, I just don’t see how you’re not going to get big and strong.

Merrick recalled training with Vadnal in 2019, noting that intensity remained his biggest takeaway from that experience.

Dan doesn’t fuck about like every set is hard. We can always think that we’re kind of pushing close to that in the gym, but then every now and then I go like, okay, I did 12 reps here. Like take 10, 20 seconds. Yeah. Go again. If you can do like five, six, seven, eight, you know that that initial set was nowhere near.

The Two-Set Protocol

Vadnal’s current approach involves just two legitimate working sets per exercise, but both taken extremely close to failure.

This Mike Mentzer-inspired high-intensity approach contrasts with the typical three-to-five set recommendations, but the key difference is execution quality.

A lot of people tend to just go through the motions with their accessories like the biceps, triceps, shoulders. They’ll do like three half ass sets. What I’ve been enjoying is just doing two sets of those, but like legitimately hitting failure.

The psychological reframe helps: knowing you only have two sets makes the commitment to absolute effort easier than spreading intensity across five mediocre attempts.

Chest-Supported Rows: The Helms Variation

Following chin-ups, the pair moved to Helms rows—a chest-supported dumbbell row variation that eliminates lower back fatigue.

This strategic choice allows athletes to train back hard while managing overall systemic fatigue, particularly important when deadlifts or squats also feature in the program.

Merrick managed 40-kilo dumbbells for 15 reps despite minimal recent rowing practice, attributing his baseline strength to front lever training.

If you pay your dues on the basics, you can jump into this. And look, 15 reps with 40 kilos dumbbell. That’s um really solid, man.

The technique emphasis included maintaining a neutral grip, achieving full stretch at the bottom, and incorporating a few partial reps at the end when full range became impossible.

Max Rep Pull-Ups: The Ego Check

After pre-fatiguing with heavy weighted work and rows, both athletes performed maximum effort bodyweight pull-ups.

Vadnal hit 23 reps with constant tempo, while Merrick managed 13—still impressive given the accumulated fatigue.

The workout structure brilliantly demonstrates intelligent programming: heavy compound work first, followed by volume work that would be impossible fresh but remains highly effective for hypertrophy when pre-exhausted.

Accessory Work: Face Pulls And The Rotator Cuff

The session included face pulls performed from a 90-90 position—shoulders abducted and externally rotated.

Vadnal emphasized this precarious position builds robustness for heavy pulling, particularly as athletes get stronger and handle heavier loads.

Plus, Athlean X always talks about face pulls. And I’ve heard that they’re pretty good, right?

A practical tip emerged: using a hook grip (thumb tucked between palm and fingers) prevents grip from becoming the limiting factor during high-rep sets.

Extreme Isometrics: A New Experiment

Merrick introduced an intriguing concept he’d been exploring: long-duration isometric holds.

The theory suggests that muscles naturally contributing to a movement pattern fatigue first, forcing less-active stabilizers to engage during extended holds.

The pair tested this with a 60-second face pull hold at maximum weight, creating an intense mental and physical challenge.

Bicep Curls: Heavy And Supported

The final exercise was incline dumbbell curls, chosen for back support that prevents cheating while allowing maximum stretch at the bottom position.

Vadnal challenged conventional wisdom about isolation work requiring high reps.

I think there’s a misconception just because you’re doing isolation that it has to be 12 to 15 reps. I’m doing curls where I’m six to eight. Sometimes sets of five. Cuz you can progress it and play with that variable just like you would with a compound.

The emphasis on keeping elbows back created additional shoulder extension, increasing the stretch on the bicep’s long head while also contributing to positions needed for advanced calisthenics skills like the planche.

Both athletes experienced a bizarre phenomenon: unilateral fatigue where one arm failed while curling, causing the opposite arm to simultaneously give out—something neither had experienced before.

Training Philosophy: Maintenance Versus Mastery

Beyond technique, the conversation revealed deeper truths about sustainable long-term training.

Merrick openly discussed no longer chasing new skills with the same intensity, instead maintaining achieved abilities while balancing physique, general strength, and mobility.

I don’t have that fire that you have going for something the first time. So if you’re like I’m trying to unlock a one-arm chin up, a handstand push-up, you got that level of enthusiasm because it’s it’s new. You haven’t done it yet. For me, it becomes more of just a minimum standard that I can do.

This honest admission challenges the social media narrative that athletes must constantly push boundaries.

The Jack-Of-All-Trades Approach

Both athletes acknowledged no longer specializing in any single attribute, instead maintaining competence across multiple domains.

Vadnal reflected on social media’s skewed standards.

You saw me doing the 60 kilo chin-ups. You’re like, oh, that’s it’s pretty good. Well, but you just have to swipe on Instagram and there there’s people 30 percent less weight than me doing 30 percent more than me.

The real achievement, both agreed, isn’t peak performance but consistent practice over decades.

How many people can say they’re still doing what you’re doing after 10 years. How many people have started fallen off? Like that’s that’s the true achievement I’d say.

Programming Principles: Simple And Effective

The complete workout structure demonstrated elegant simplicity:

• Three compound pulling movements (weighted chin-ups, chest-supported rows, max rep pull-ups)
• One rotator cuff/posterior delt accessory (face pulls)
• One isolation movement (incline curls)

Vadnal’s tracking emphasis cannot be overstated: record numbers, attempt to beat previous performance, and avoid constantly changing exercises.

This progressive overload approach remains fundamental regardless of training style.

Key Takeaways For Hybrid Athletes

Bodyweight training builds remarkable baseline strength that transfers surprisingly well to weighted movements, even after years away from traditional gym work.

Intensity matters more than volume when sets are genuinely taken to or near failure, with two brutal sets potentially outperforming five mediocre ones.

Strategic exercise selection reduces systemic fatigue—chest-supported variations allow hard training without overtaxing the lower back when deadlifts and squats feature elsewhere in programming.

Isolation work benefits from heavy loading, not just high reps, allowing progression through the same variables used for compounds.

Long-term sustainability trumps temporary peaks—maintaining diverse abilities across decades represents greater achievement than brief specialization.

Mental frameworks matter: framing a workout as “just two sets, but they’ll be hell” creates better adherence than vague high-volume plans.

The session ultimately revealed that whether pursuing calisthenics mastery or traditional strength training, fundamental principles remain constant: progressive overload, genuine effort, consistent practice, and honest assessment of what truly motivates long-term adherence.

As Vadnal summarized perfectly, the real magic isn’t in exotic programming or secret techniques—it’s showing up, tracking progress, and making every single rep count.