Arnold press, Haney shrugs, Kang squats – chances are if you have an exercise named after you, you’ve done something right. Additionally, the body part the move refers to is most likely to be massive and defined. That certainly applies to George Zottman and his legendary “Zottman Curl.”
The 19th century strongmen were at the epicenter of some insanely creative physical feats. Zottman, at 5’11, 218 lbs. still holds a record that has yet to be matched – he clean and pressed a 175 lb. dumbbell while sitting in a chair. You probably don’t have a 175 lb. dumbbell at your gym…nor do you have 15 inch forearms like Zottman, but you can tack on this classic biceps curl variation to add size and strength to your biceps and forearms.
How to do it
Stand tall, arms straight with a dumbbell in each hand. Palms should be facing away from you. Curl the dumbbells up to your shoulder in a slow controlled manner. Rotate your hands 180 degrees. With this new grip, control the dumbbells down until your arms are straight. Curl the dumbbells back up to your shoulder (this time in a reverse curl). Rotate the hands 180 degrees again and control down till the arms are straight. You will only switch the hands at the top. An easy way to remember the method is up, flip, down…up, flip, down.
There may be additional stress on the elbows in this movement, so controlling the resistance throughout is crucial. Plus doing them right and often can put you and your jacked up forearms in prime position when there’s a casting call for the inevitable reboot of Over The Top, 1987’s most memorable film about arm wrestling and big rig trucking.
Supplement your bicep and forearm training by adding the Zottman Zapper to you arm days.
