So What is a Zeller Curl?

In our last post, we gave you Marvin Eder's favorite arm routine for breaking through "ruts." One of the exercises he recommends is the "Zeller Curl." These days, most bodybuilders probably don't know what a "Zeller Curl" is. So here is some background. This curl is named after Art Zeller - the famous physique photographer - who in his early years, was a classic physique builder (i.e., a bodybuilder before the advent of steroids) who popularized this curl.

The curl is basically a "cheat & negative rep" curl with dumbbells. Here is Marvin's description of it (as told to Barton Horvath) from Joe Weider's Your Physique Magazine (Dec. 1951 issue):

"Zeller Curl. This curl is named after Artie Zeller who popularized it some years back, and is now widely used by New York City bodybuilders. Take a heavy dumbbell, heavier than you can curl to the shoulder in good form, and swing this weight to the shoulder. Hold the elbow against the side, on the hip if possible. Now, lower the weight, leaning back while doing so, fighting the downward movement of the weight every inch of the way. When it is down all the way, swing it up to the shoulder again and repeat... It may take a little practice to master this movement, but since Marvin feels that it is one of the very best, it will be worth a little special attention."

So there you have it - the "Zeller Curl" - another gold nugget from the Golden Era of Classic Physique Builders! - Classic Physique Builder

(Above photo: Art Zeller on the cover of Joe Weider's Muscle Builder Magazine, Jan 1955 issue)

Classic Physiques in Magazines from the Golden Age of Natural Bodybuilding

If you are looking for inspirational classic physiques in today's mainstream bodybuilding magazines, then good luck! They and few and far between. You might see an occasional article about a Golden Age bodybuilder. You might find a regular "natural bodybuilding" column (maybe) in some of the mainstream mags. You might even stumble across one of the modern day natural bodybuilding magazines like Natural Bodybuilding & Fitness or Fitness & Physique - which are geared toward contest competitors and which most stores and bookshops don't carry. In any of these cases, what you won't find are magazines filled with classic physiques from the Golden Age of Drug-Free, Natural Bodybuilding.

So aside from coming here to Classic Physique Builder, where can you go to find that inspiration? Well, you can go to some of our recommended sites. You can also still find back issues of the major bodybuilding magazines of the Golden Age of Natural Bodybuilding (1940-1959) at such places as ebay.com. At Ebay, all you do is search on the magazine name, and whatever is available will pop up.

What were the major bodybuilding magazines of the Golden Age (as we define it)? There were actually quite a few. Joe Weider published most of them: Your Physique, Muscle Power, Muscle Builder, and Mr. America. Other publishers put out IronMan, Strength and Health, Health and Strength, and The Reg Park Journal.

Between the years 1940 and 1959, these magazines portrayed the best of natural bodybuilding. All bodybuilding was natural then because this was the time before the introduction of steroids. It was also a time when a proportionate, classic physique was highly valued rather than "freaky size." So not only do these magazines, during this time, provide a source of inspiration, but the training info is not bad either - since it worked well enough to produce classic physiques like those of Steve Reeves, Reg Park, John Grimek, Clancy Ross, Armand Tanny, Marvin Eder, George Eiferman, Jack LaLanne, Vince Gironda, Leo Robert, Leroy Colbert, Harold Poole - just to name a few!