Exercise Comparison
Brachialis-SMR vs Zottman Preacher Curl




Side-by-Side
Muscle Analysis
Shared
Only in Zottman Preacher 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 Preacher Curl
Grab a dumbbell in each hand and place your upper arms on top of the preacher bench or the incline bench. The dumbbells should be held at shoulder height and the elbows should be flexed. Hold the dumbbells with the palms of your hands facing down. This will be your starting position.
As you breathe in, slowly lower the dumbbells keeping the palms down until your upper arm is extended and your biceps are fully stretched.
Now rotate your wrists once you are at the bottom of the movement so that the palms of the hands are facing up.
As you exhale, use your biceps to curl the weights up until they are fully contracted and the dumbbells are at shoulder height. Again, remember that to ensure full contraction you need to bring that small finger higher than the thumb.
Squeeze the biceps hard for a second at the contracted position and rotate your wrists so that the palms are facing down again.
Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Verdict
Both exercises target the biceps. Brachialis-SMR is a intermediate exercise using foam roll, while Zottman Preacher Curl is intermediate and uses dumbbell. Choose Brachialis-SMR if you have access to foam roll, or Zottman Preacher Curl if you prefer dumbbell.