How is it different from the standing Zottman curl?

The pad fixes your upper arms, so you cannot swing the dumbbells up or lean back to finish a rep, and the lower half of the range gets harder. Most lifters use a little less weight than on the standing Dumbbell Zottman Curl.

Does lowering with the palms down work the arms harder?

Not because of the grip alone. A study of competitive bodybuilders doing standing cable curls with a load matched to each grip found less biceps activity with the palms down than up on the way up, but similar biceps and brachioradialis activity between grips on the way down. The lowering here is demanding for another reason: you lower a weight chosen for the stronger palms-up curl in the weaker palms-down position.

When exactly should I turn my hands?

Turn your palms down at the top, once your forearms are close to vertical and before the dumbbells start to descend. Turn them back up at the bottom while your elbows are still slightly bent, then start the next curl.

How much weight should I use?

Choose dumbbells you can lower palms-down over 2 to 3 seconds with your wrists straight. That is usually clearly lighter than your Dumbbell Preacher Curl weight, even though the palms-up lift feels easy.

Can I do it one arm at a time?

Yes. Working one arm at a time lets you steady yourself with the free hand and watch each wrist through the rotation, which helps while you learn the movement or when one arm is weaker.

Dumbbell Zottman Preacher Curl

What Is the Dumbbell Zottman Preacher Curl?

Dumbbell Zottman Preacher Curl is an isolation exercise that primarily targets the biceps and also engages the brachialis, brachioradialis and wrist extensors. It is an intermediate-level movement performed seated at a preacher bench with a dumbbell in each hand, combining a palms-up curl on the way up with a palms-down lowering on the way down while the pad holds both upper arms still.

The defining detail is the grip change. You curl both dumbbells up with your palms facing up, turn your palms down at the top, lower all the way with your palms down, and turn them back up at the bottom. The lifting half is a standard preacher curl, where the biceps has its best line of pull. The lowering half is the lowering phase of a reverse preacher curl, a position in which the biceps has weaker leverage because it also rotates the forearm, while the brachialis, which bends the elbow in any forearm position, keeps working and the wrist extensors hold the wrists straight against the dumbbells.

The pad is what separates it from the standing Dumbbell Zottman Curl. With the upper arms fixed on the angled pad, the torso and shoulders cannot swing the dumbbells up, and the dumbbells feel heaviest in the lower half of the rep, where the arms are nearly straight. That puts the hardest part of the palms-down lowering near the bottom. The preacher position itself also leans toward the brachialis and brachioradialis: a 12-week study in untrained adults that trained one arm with dumbbell preacher curls and the other with incline dumbbell curls found the preacher arm grew more in the brachialis and brachioradialis, the incline arm grew more in the biceps, and total elbow flexor growth was similar.

Because the lifting half uses the stronger palms-up grip, and lowering a weight is easier than lifting it, the palms-down phase handles more load than the Dumbbell Reverse Preacher Curl would allow. That makes it a practical accessory for brachialis and forearm work alongside regular curls, and it usually sits toward the end of an arm or pull session with moderate loads and strict reps. Expect to use less weight than on the Dumbbell Preacher Curl, since the dumbbells still have to be controlled palms-down.

If the rotation feels awkward or your wrists bend on the way down, build up with the Dumbbell Preacher Curl and the Dumbbell Hammer Preacher Curl first, or learn the grip change standing with the Dumbbell Zottman Curl before taking it to the pad.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Biceps Brachii: Primary
Brachialis: High
Brachioradialis: Medium
Extensor Carpi Radialis: Low
Deltoid: Minimal
Flexor Carpi Radialis: Minimal
Flexor Carpi Ulnaris: Minimal

Instructions

Set the seat so the top of the pad sits just below your armpits when you sit, with your feet flat on the floor.
Sit holding a dumbbell in each hand and rest the backs of both upper arms on the pad, about shoulder-width apart.
Start with your arms nearly straight along the pad, palms facing up and wrists in line with your forearms.
Curl both dumbbells up together, keeping your palms up and your upper arms and elbows on the pad, until your forearms are close to vertical.
At the top, turn your palms to face down while holding the dumbbells in place.
Lower both dumbbells slowly with your palms down, taking about 2 to 3 seconds and keeping your wrists straight, until your arms are nearly straight again.
At the bottom, keep a slight bend in your elbows and turn your palms back up before the next curl.
Repeat for your target reps, then lift your arms off the pad and set the dumbbells down safely.

Common Mistakes

Turning the hands mid-rep
Rotating to palms down before the dumbbells reach the top, or back to palms up partway down, shortens the palms-down lowering that the exercise is built around.
Dropping the weight on the way down
Letting the dumbbells fall in the palms-down phase skips the controlled lowering and loads the elbow hard at the bottom.
Bending the wrists while palms down
Letting the dumbbells pull the hands toward the floor during the lowering strains the wrist extensors instead of keeping the work at the elbow.
Lifting the elbows off the pad
Letting the upper arms rise from the pad as the dumbbells come up brings the shoulders into the lift and removes the isolation the bench provides.
Bouncing out of the bottom
Snapping the arms straight on the pad and rushing the turn back to palms up loads the front of the elbow at its most stretched point.
Using a regular preacher curl weight
Loading it like a palms-up preacher curl makes the palms-down lowering impossible to control, so the wrists give way and the dumbbells drop.

Injuries

Dumbbell Zottman Preacher Curl is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The loads are moderate and the pad controls the arm path, so most problems build up gradually at the wrists and elbows rather than coming from a sudden injury.

The wrists take the rotation twice per rep, and rushing or forcing it is the most common source of wrist discomfort. The palms-down lowering loads the wrist extensors, which attach at the outside of the elbow, and because the weight is chosen for the stronger palms-up curl, that phase is relatively heavy for them. Lifters with tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) often find palms-down work with the elbow nearly straight aggravates it. The front of the elbow and the distal biceps tendon take the most stress at the bottom of each rep, where the arms are nearly straight on the angled pad, so dropping or bouncing into that position is the main source of elbow strain.

Start lighter than you would for a regular preacher curl, turn the hands smoothly with the dumbbells under control, keep the wrists in line with the forearms, and lower over 2 to 3 seconds to a slight bend in the elbows. If the wrists or the outer elbow are irritated, regress to the Dumbbell Preacher Curl or the Dumbbell Hammer Preacher Curl, which skip the palms-down phase, or to the Dumbbell Single-Arm Preacher Curl, where the free hand can steady you. Progress by slowing the lowering phase before adding weight.

Stop the set if you feel sharp pain at the wrist or the outside of the elbow, or numbness or tingling in the hand. Stop immediately and get it checked if you feel a pop or sudden pain at the front of the elbow.

Overview

Primary Focus: Biceps
Equipment: Dumbbell and bench
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Intermediate

Alternative Exercises

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How is it different from the standing Zottman curl?: The pad fixes your upper arms, so you cannot swing the dumbbells up or lean back to finish a rep, and the lower half of the range gets harder. Most lifters use a little less weight than on the standing Dumbbell Zottman Curl.
Q: Does lowering with the palms down work the arms harder?: Not because of the grip alone. A study of competitive bodybuilders doing standing cable curls with a load matched to each grip found less biceps activity with the palms down than up on the way up, but similar biceps and brachioradialis activity between grips on the way down. The lowering here is demanding for another reason: you lower a weight chosen for the stronger palms-up curl in the weaker palms-down position.
Q: When exactly should I turn my hands?: Turn your palms down at the top, once your forearms are close to vertical and before the dumbbells start to descend. Turn them back up at the bottom while your elbows are still slightly bent, then start the next curl.
Q: How much weight should I use?: Choose dumbbells you can lower palms-down over 2 to 3 seconds with your wrists straight. That is usually clearly lighter than your Dumbbell Preacher Curl weight, even though the palms-up lift feels easy.
Q: Can I do it one arm at a time?: Yes. Working one arm at a time lets you steady yourself with the free hand and watch each wrist through the rotation, which helps while you learn the movement or when one arm is weaker.