Zottman curls

form http://www.vegsource.com/talk/athlet...ges/57578.html

1. Zottman curls or curls with your palms semi-facing each other is one option. The EZ-curl bar, with the bar zig-zagging (for lack of better description) was designed by another weight trainer because of the elbow pain he experienced from regular straight BB curls. Ironman magazine used to have interviews with the inventor of the EZ curl bar (can't remember his name) back in the 80s (this was when the Raders owned the mag and it wasn't a semi-porno rag) and his layman insight on working out was fascinating. Even in his 60s and 70s, this gentleman had close to 18" arms which he attributed to his famous bar. On Zottman:

Mar 8, 1867 George Zottman born. The man after whom the Zottman curl is named, and though several variations have appeared through the years under the guise of this exercise, the manner in which Zottman zeroed in on it was in general terms: Using a dumbbell in each hand with the arms hanging in front of the thighs, begin a curl with the right hand with the dumbbell describing an arc with the near end of the dumbbell almost grazing the abs and pec as it nears the right shoulder. At the shoulder turn the wrist so that as the descending half of the circle continues, a reverse curl is being performed as the bell goes away from the right side of your torso and continues to the starting point. BUT. When the bell reached the shoulder, then begin the left hand curl inward grazing the abs and pec on its ascent. Both arms 180 degrees out of phase with each other- as one hand is at a shoulder, the other is at a thigh. Zottman curls are impossible to perform while seated, or on an incline bench. A useful tip if using adjustable dumbells is to butt the plates all the way to the end of the bar that will be grazing the torso, thus allowing the bell to remain close to the body and preventing a forwarding of the hand away from the body which would bring the shoulder into more involvement.

from: http://www.cyberpump.com/features/ir...00000014.shtml

2. SuperSlow curls will very effectively work your entire bicep muscle...drop the weight you're using by 20 - 25% and use a 10 second up/3 second contraction/5 - 10 second negative for 4 - 8 reps.
3. Static contractions are another option since you're only using a short ROM and won't be aggravating the area.
4. Also, do carpal tunnel exercises and wrist curls to stretch & strengthen your forearm muscles. Many times, weak or tight forearm muscles can lead to elbow problems.
5. Make sure you're using good form on your other pulling exercises--rows & pulldowns. I've learned to keep my arms semi-locked and only 'pull' with my back & not 'break' my arms, that is, let them go to full stretch. The Precision Training folks & Larry Scott made a good point on pulling exercises: with pulldowns, for example, if you're going to full stretch with your both arms & back, your back muscles don't get fully engaged until your arms are semi-contracted. Because they're the weak part of your pulldowns, you need to find a way to minimize them hence the focus on your back's ROM, not arms

Nice, that's a new one for me to give a go!

:hello:

The second link doesnt work. And how can you make one go up and one go down at the same time? Or do you raise one palm up switch to palm down, lower it and repeat w/ the other arm? Its late and I may have read it wrong.

I do a slight variation of a zottman curl that kills like nothing else!
Start off with light weight in both hands. (I use 8kg for my working sets!)
Instead or curling up and down i curl through a clockwise motion, so starting from the bottom, starting with a hammer grip my right hand sweeps across my abs, by the time it reaches my upper chest i rotate my grip with my palms facing down keep with the colckwise motion till my arm is about chest height (but away from my chest)then rotate back to a hammer grip. My other hand is following the same movement, so when one hand is near the body the other is away from it. Once you have done 10 reps clockwise, then repeat anti-clockwise. Burns like nothing else.