Becoming an Eagle Scout is the highest rank you can achieve as a Boy Scout. It’s a badge thousands work hard to earn for years.
When it comes to the gym, the equivalent to the Eagle Scout badge is having massive biceps.
Biceps are a calling card, a symbol that you workout, and the one muscle you’ll flex every time someone asks if you’ve been working out. Not to mention every time you see your own reflection. Don’t deny it bro, we all do it.
Chasing that vein popping, I can barely touch my shoulders, perma-pump is the only thing any right minded bro wants from the most holiest of gym days.
Though dumbbell curls, hammer curls, preacher curls, and concentration curls are a great way to bulge the biceps, there are a few variations you may not have tried that can deliver the type of pump that Arnold talked about in Pumping Iron.
Spider Curls
Preacher curls are great but they don’t allow full extension of your arms nor do they allow a full contraction of your biceps either.
Spider curls however fully extend your arms and allow a full contraction of your bicep muscles. Take a half second or one second pause at the top and squeeze your biceps as hard as you can during that pause.
Start with a light to moderate weight and perform 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
Zottman Curls
This exercise is a creation devised by legendary strongman George Zottman back in the 1880s. Talk about old school tactics that build massive amounts of muscle, the Zottman Curl will blow your biceps and forearms up.
While holding dumbbells with a supinated grip (palms facing the ceiling), curl the dumbbells towards your shoulders. At the top of the curl, rotate your wrists to a pronated grip (palms facing the floor) and slowly lower the weights back to the ground. Rotate your wrists back to the supinated position and begin your next rep.
These are best for either getting blood pumped into your arms before your arm day begins or at the end as these will toast your forearms.
Hydra Curls aka 21s
This exercise is more commonly known as 21’s. However, these badass bicep blasters need a better name, Hydra Curls. Where’d I get that name from?
One I love Greek Mythology and in Greek Mythology, Hercules was tasked with killing a multi-headed serpent called the Hydra.
The real reason I call these Hydra Curls is because Hydra is Captain America’s nemesis. Captain America is the effing man and Chris Evans built some freaking astounding biceps for that role.
You may have never made Eagle Scout as a kid but you workout hard and you give it your all on arm day. If you’re not building the arms you’ve always wanted throw in a few of these curl variations into your arm day and make your biceps your badge of honor for the rest of your life. Happy curling bro!