George Zottman was a famous American bodybuilder of the 1880s. Besides the fact that he maintained his physique and strength well into his fifties, Zottman was known for his very powerful arms, particularly the forearms. Some documented evidence suggests that, even at 57, long after the peak of his career, he had forearms that measured more than 14.5 inches! Now, I'm not suggesting you try and achieve the physical dimensions of that 19th century strong man but Zottman had invented an exercise that could work wonders if incorporated into your exercise schedule. It's called the Zottman Curl and is designed to work out both, your biceps as well as your forearms-the first is one of the most-exercised parts of the body in gyms and the second, the least. Nevertheless, the Zottman Curl is probably one of the best arm workouts that I've come across. It exercises every part of the front of the arms-the biceps brachii (the part of the biceps that pops when you flex your arm), the brachialis (the lower part of the upper arm that flexes the elbow joint) and the brachioradialis (the muscles along the forearms).

Here's how it's done. Stand up with your back straight and hold a dumb-bell in each hand. Begin with your hands hanging by the sides of your body. Now curl up both arms as you would in a normal biceps curl, keeping both your hands in an underhand grip-i.e., the palms should be facing your chest at the top of the curl movement. At this stage, pause and squeeze your biceps. Then, slowly rotate your wrists so that your palms now face outward; return to the starting position. That's one repetition. Unlike the typical biceps curl, you will feel the effect of the Zottman Curls on your biceps as well as your forearms. Build three sets of the Zottman Curls into your biceps routine and see the difference in a couple of weeks.

Zottman, a Philadelphia native, is believed to have done the curls that bear his name with a 50 pound dumb-bell in each hand. I and, I daresay, most of you, are neither professional bodybuilders nor are we aiming to become one of them but Zottman's curls with a twist can add an uncommon touch to a boring biceps routine. Try it.

Next time, Treadmill will talk about another great "inventor" of exercises and some of the twists he's added to otherwise mundane routines. I'm talking about the former Terminator and the current governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Yes, old Arnold has left his mark on weight-training. But more on that next time.
Muscles Mani
write to musclesmani@intoday.com

Caveat: The physical exercises described in Treadmill are not recommendations. Readers should exercise caution and consult a physician before attempting to follow any of these.

FIVE TESTS FOR A BETTER YOU
The following check list can help keep you in shape for a long time:

Spot Stress. A stress test, sometimes called a treadmill test, helps a doctor find out how well a heart handles work. Says Dr Roopa Salwan, Senior Consultant, Max Hospital, New Delhi: "The test can show if the blood supply is reduced in the arteries and is ideal for those over 50."

BP Check. Says Dr Salwan: "Your doctor should check blood pressure at least once every year and more often if it's high. A typical blood pressure reading for an adult is 120/85 mm Hg, but readings vary depending on age and other factors."

Diagnose Diabetes. Routine screening, especially after the age of 40, can help detect early stages of Type II diabetes. "The easiest way to diagnose diabetes is to measure your fasting plasma glucose (FPG)-that is, the amount of sugar in your blood after you haven't eaten for several hours. An FPG value of 126 mg/dl or more means that you have diabetes," adds Dr Salwan.

Lung Power. Says Dr Vikram Sarbhai, Senior Consultant, Max Hospital: "The Pulmonary Function Test can tell a doctor about the quantity of air a person breathes with each breath, and how well the lungs are delivering oxygen to the bloodstream. To prepare, do not smoke for several hours before the test. And eat a small meal before the test."

Catch Cholesterol. A lipid profile involves the measurement of the total cholesterol in the blood-High-Density Lipoproteins (HDL) or good cholesterol, Low-Density Lipoproteins (LDL) or bad cholesterol. Cholesterol levels of 240 mg/dl or more in the blood increases the risk of heart disease. Avoid solid foods or drinks except water for 9 to 12 hours before taking the blood sample for the lipoprotein analysis.

-Manu Kaushik

PRINTED CIRCUIT
A Really Nice Phone

The SonyEricsson W880i packs in functionality with aesthetics.

Excuse the simplistic headline, but using superlatives while doing reviews is something that should best be avoided. But the new SonyEricsson W880i is genuinely one of the nicest phones that I have played around with in a long time.

Everything about this phone seems so functional, right from its packaging, which comes with a bit of space-great for people like me who are pathetic at repacking things. And then you see the phone, and you are taken aback at how attractive it looks. After seeing the Nokia factory near Chennai last week, one realised how commoditised mobile phones are, with machines churning them out at an alarming rate, but the new W880i shows that the mobile phone industry has not become all about just functionality or just form, and that once in a while, manufacturers can get both parts in perfect harmony.

It isn't just the "slim" factor that strikes you; Motorola's slvr and Samsung's Ultra series phones are slimmer. And it isn't that those are non-functional. In fact, I quite like some of the Ultra series phones; but they're just too plastic. And this realisation is hammered in even further when you see the SonyEricsson W880i with its beautiful brushed metal finish front and the matt-rubber finish rear. The small keys might put off some people, but thanks to the generous amount of space between the keys, they're surprisingly easy to use, even for a person with largish fingers.

We are now done with the aesthetics part. So, how is the phone to use? I mentioned earlier that this phone mixes form and functionality in equal measure and despite looking "cool", this phone is very intuitive, and one can figure it out very quickly. In fact, SonyEricsson actually spent a lot of time playing with its user-interface, and it's really only now that it has started playing around with exteriors. This is a music phone, and everything is one-touch; getting around your music is almost as easy as on an iPod.

Even though the Rs 25,499 that it costs can get you other phones with a lot more capacity, the W880i sales kit comes with a 1 GB M2 MemoryStick. And what the Disc2Phone software allows you to do is select the bitrate at which you want to transfer your music to the phone; and at a reduced bitrate-say, 96 kbps-you can fit a lot more music on to the phone. As far as phone software goes, installing the software for this device was surprisingly easy. Not very clunky, but slow, it took over a half an hour to load about 100 songs, which, considering the fact that the phone is "offline" while you're doing this, is way too long.

The camera is functional, and unlike in the earlier W750i, the W880i does not have a flash, but operating the camera is still quite easy and image quality is fairly good. Battery life is not too impressive, but it isn't half-bad, and if you don't use the W880i as an iPod substitute, it will be even better. Compared to say, other music phones in the market, such as Nokia's N-series 'Music' Edition, this is positively the best looking device, and despite the Nokia's being good devices, the new "Walkman" scores on the user-interface front.

But I have a couple of grouses about the phone and they have to do with tangled headphone cables almost strangulating me and the SonyEricsson connectors-those need a serious aesthetic upgrade. Otherwise, I will go as far as to say that this is one of the best mobile phones in the market right now. Period.

-Kushan Mitra