Zottman Curl

Muscles worked by the Zottman Curl

Primary

BicepsBiceps Brachii

Secondary

BrachialisBrachioradialisForearm ExtensorsWrist Extensor Muscles

Also called: bicep, biceps brachii, biceps muscle, guns.

Equipment

Dumbbell

Also called: db, dumbell, hex dumbbell, rubber dumbbell, hand weight.

How to do the Zottman Curl

1. Stand with your feet about hip-width apart, arms extended at your sides, and a dumbbell in each hand with the palms facing forward.
2. Keep your upper arms beside your ribs and curl both dumbbells toward your shoulders without swinging the torso.
3. At the top, keep the elbows bent and rotate the forearms until the palms face down.
4. Lower the dumbbells slowly with the pronated grip until the arms are straight.
5. Turn the palms forward again at the bottom and repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Form tips

• Use less weight than for a standard dumbbell curl; the palms-down lowering phase is usually the limiting part.
• Rotate through the forearms while keeping the wrists straight rather than bending them around the handles.
• Keep the elbows close to the ribs and avoid turning the curl into a shoulder swing.

At a glance

Zottman Curl in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Banded Standing Leg Curl
• Barbell Curl
• Barbell Preacher Curl
• Cable Curl
• Cable Hammer Curl
• Cheat Curl
• Close-Grip EZ-Bar Curl
• Concentration Curl

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "zottman-curl",
  "name_en": "Zottman Curl",
  "name_de": "Zottman-Curl",
  "name_es": "Curl Zottman",
  "description_en": "A standing dumbbell curl that lifts with a supinated grip, rotates to palms-down at the top, and lowers in pronation to combine biceps work with a forearm-heavy eccentric.",
  "description_de": "Ein Kurzhantelcurl im Stehen, der mit Untergriff angehoben, oben in den Obergriff gedreht und mit nach unten gerichteten Handflächen abgesenkt wird, sodass der Bizeps mit einer unterarmbetonten exzentrischen Phase kombiniert wird.",
  "description_es": "Un curl con mancuernas de pie que sube con agarre supinado, gira las palmas hacia abajo en la parte superior y desciende en pronación para combinar el trabajo del bíceps con una fase excéntrica centrada en los antebrazos.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "isolation",
  "difficulty": "intermediate",
  "equipment": "dumbbell",
  "body_part": "upper_arms",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "biceps_brachii"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "brachialis",
    "brachioradialis",
    "forearm_extensors"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "knee_safe",
    "shoulder_safe",
    "lower_back_safe",
    "no_axial_load"
  ],
  "variation_group": "bicep-curl",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Stand with your feet about hip-width apart, arms extended at your sides, and a dumbbell in each hand with the palms facing forward.",
    "Keep your upper arms beside your ribs and curl both dumbbells toward your shoulders without swinging the torso.",
    "At the top, keep the elbows bent and rotate the forearms until the palms face down.",
    "Lower the dumbbells slowly with the pronated grip until the arms are straight.",
    "Turn the palms forward again at the bottom and repeat for the desired number of repetitions."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Stell dich etwa hüftbreit hin, streck die Arme seitlich nach unten und halte in jeder Hand eine Kurzhantel mit nach vorn gerichteten Handflächen.",
    "Halte die Oberarme an den Rippen und curl beide Kurzhanteln ohne Schwung zu den Schultern.",
    "Lass die Ellbogen oben gebeugt und dreh die Unterarme, bis die Handflächen nach unten zeigen.",
    "Senk die Kurzhanteln langsam im Obergriff ab, bis die Arme gestreckt sind.",
    "Dreh die Handflächen unten wieder nach vorn und wiederhole für die gewünschte Anzahl an Wiederholungen."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Colócate de pie con los pies aproximadamente al ancho de las caderas, los brazos extendidos a los lados y una mancuerna en cada mano con las palmas hacia delante.",
    "Mantén los brazos junto a las costillas y lleva ambas mancuernas hacia los hombros sin balancear el torso.",
    "En la parte superior, conserva los codos flexionados y gira los antebrazos hasta que las palmas miren hacia abajo.",
    "Baja lentamente las mancuernas con el agarre pronado hasta extender los brazos.",
    "Vuelve a girar las palmas hacia delante en la parte inferior y repite las repeticiones deseadas."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Use less weight than for a standard dumbbell curl; the palms-down lowering phase is usually the limiting part.",
    "Rotate through the forearms while keeping the wrists straight rather than bending them around the handles.",
    "Keep the elbows close to the ribs and avoid turning the curl into a shoulder swing."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Nimm weniger Gewicht als bei einem normalen Kurzhantelcurl; die Abwärtsphase mit Obergriff ist meist der begrenzende Teil.",
    "Dreh aus den Unterarmen und halte die Handgelenke gerade, statt sie um die Griffe abzuknicken.",
    "Halte die Ellbogen nah an den Rippen und vermeide es, den Curl mit den Schultern hochzuschwingen."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Usa menos peso que en un curl con mancuernas convencional; la bajada con las palmas hacia abajo suele ser la parte limitante.",
    "Gira desde los antebrazos y mantén las muñecas rectas en lugar de doblarlas alrededor de las empuñaduras.",
    "Mantén los codos cerca de las costillas y evita convertir el curl en un balanceo de hombros."
  ],
  "met": 5.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/zottman-curl-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/zottman-curl-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "zottman-curl");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.