Tips To Build Bigger Biceps, Ever Heard Of George Zottman?

Who doesn’t want bigger biceps? Right, no one. If your progress has stalled or if you just want to add some more exercises or variation to your workout, read on for tips and workouts.

Switch your grip

When using the barbell to curl you can use regular, narrow and wide grips to perform the exercise.

The grip is considered narrow when you use a shoulder width grip, this grip will pretty much put an even stress on the long biceps head, short biceps head and the brachialis.

With a wider grip you will put more emphasis on the short head of the biceps brachii.

With a grip narrower than shoulder width you will put more more emphasis on the long head of the biceps brachii.

Make grip changes during your bicep workouts to get the best out of it.

You can also try a few exercises you might not be doing yet, read on to find out.

The Zottman curl

Known for his impressive arm strength, George Zottman was a 19th-century (born 1867) strongman from Philadelphia who invented the Zottman curl. As the strongest man in the US during the 1890’s he set numerous records, such as a 175 pounds clean and press with a dumbbell while sitting on a chair.

Give the Zottman curl a go and see what effect it has on your biceps and forearms.

The way to do it is to hold a dumbbell in each of your hands and curl them up at the same time like a normal bicep curl while holding your elbows close to your body.

At the top is where you make the change in movement, instead of going down the same way, you will have to rotate your wrists 180 degrees so your palms are facing downwards, right before you lower the dumbbells in a controlled fashion.

Try to keep your elbows stationary, close to your body and don’t start out too heavy since the second part of the movement will be much heavier. Depending on your flexibility you might not be able to rotate your wrists completely 180 degrees.

Here is a Youtube video showing the movement.

Gironda Perfect Curls

While using a straight bar or EZ bar at shoulder width, have your elbows resting on your pelvis or hip bones. Arch back to the point where your shoulders and head are just past your hips with your arms extended.

Curl the weight up and have your shoulders and head move forward past a vertical position, so you are slightly bending over. At this point the barbell will have been curled up so you can lower it and repeat.

Here is a Youtube video showing the movement starting at 0:30s.

Hercules Chin-Up

Start from a full hanging position and pull yourself up by using an underhand grip. Make sure that your chin is over the bar and hold this position for two seconds. After that, descent halfway down and hold again for two seconds and repeat until you reach your required reps. End in the starting position. The point of this exercise it to have the biceps handle heavy weight at its peak position.

The Youtube video below shows you how it’s done.

One-Armed Eccentric Barbell Curl

A lot of people don’t pay much attention to the eccentric movements of exercises, this exercise will change that.

• Sit or stand behind a preacher curl station.
• Rest your upper arm on the pad in front of you with your arms supinated.
• Start at the top position of the curl.
• Slowly lower the bar for a count of eight seconds to full extension.
• Briefly pause at the bottom.

If you’ve got a spotter let him help you get the weight back up, otherwise use your other hand.

Try a different biceps routine

Why not switch up your biceps work out and try Arnold Schwarzenegger’s pre-contest or off-season routine below.

Off-season:

Cheating Barbell Curl

“The cheating barbell curl stands alone for building mass. I start the movement with the barbell at the thighs, with a shoulder-width grip, and nudge it into motion with a slight body movement. This gives me sufficient momentum to pass any sticking points as long as I keep concentrating. I go to full biceps flexion, then lower the bar slowly to the starting position. Since the palms face up, I get the benefit of supination, which peaks up the outer head of the biceps during full flexion, as well as developing thickness through the central section of the muscle.”

Incline Dumbbell Curl

“I lie on a 45-degree incline bench. I prefer the low incline because it permits the biceps to fully extend at the bottom of the movement and remain under this tension during the entire movement upward. One of the rules of muscle kinetics says that the greater the initial tension on the muscle, the greater the number of contracting fibers during flexion. Therefore, when you have a lot of fibers contracting all at once, you are building mass. I strive for full extension and full contraction.”

One-Arm Concentration Curl

“This one is done in a standing bent-over position using the free arm for support against a bench. Form during this concentration curl movement becomes highly critical. The tendency prevails, even among the most experienced bodybuilders, to draw the elbow in toward the chest during this movement. The elbow must not move from the vertical plane of the curling movement. The upper arm must remain vertical, and the dumbbell must be curled to the shoulder. Although it seems like a restricting uncomfortable movement, it remains the secret to peak biceps development.”

Standing Alternate Dumbbell Curl

“As the dumbbell is curled, the hand is supinated as though trying to touch the little finger to the outer head of the biceps at the peak of the contraction. With this movement, you get that famous little burst of muscle that peaks up the outer biceps head and lends the ultimate touch to any kind of biceps pose. So you must remember to twist the hand as you curl. The biceps come into play quite strongly to supinate your hands, as well as to flex the arms. This little twist gave me separation, brachialis development and lower biceps thickness.”

Pre-contest:

“Three months before a contest, I would change my arm routine completely,” says the Oak. “My goal now was to zoom in on chiseling in all the cuts and shape possible. I’d cut down on my sets and go to a superset style of training and try to get a maximum pump each workout.”

“When I was zeroing in for a big contest, I’d stand in front of the mirror between sets for biceps and flex my arms, holding the flex for a minute, maybe two, even three minutes. I’d do that because contest posing is hard. Having muscle is one thing, but having control over it and endurance are two others.”

There you have it, give it a go and let us know in the comments how well these exercises worked for you or if you have any other tips.