Exercise Comparison
Brachialis-SMR vs Zottman Curl




Side-by-Side
Muscle Analysis
Shared
Only in Zottman Curl
Instructions
Brachialis-SMR
Lie on your side, with your upper arm against the foam roller. The upper arm should be more or less aligned with your body, with the outside of the bicep pressed against the foam roller.
Raise your hips off of the floor, supporting your weight on your arm and on your feet. Hold for 10-30 seconds, and then switch sides.
Zottman Curl
Stand up with your torso upright and a dumbbell in each hand being held at arms length. The elbows should be close to the torso.
Make sure the palms of the hands are facing each other. This will be your starting position.
While holding the upper arm stationary, curl the weights while contracting the biceps as you breathe out. Only the forearms should move. Your wrist should rotate so that you have a supinated (palms up) grip. Continue the movement until your biceps are fully contracted and the dumbbells are at shoulder level.
Hold the contracted position for a second as you squeeze the biceps.
Now during the contracted position, rotate your wrist until you now have a pronated (palms facing down) grip with the thumb at a higher position than the pinky.
Slowly begin to bring the dumbbells back down using the pronated grip.
As the dumbbells close your thighs, start rotating the wrist so that you go back to a neutral (palms facing your body) grip.
Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Verdict
Both exercises target the biceps. Brachialis-SMR is a intermediate exercise using foam roll, while Zottman Curl is intermediate and uses dumbbell. Choose Brachialis-SMR if you have access to foam roll, or Zottman Curl if you prefer dumbbell.