The dumbbell hammer curl is a top-tier arm train.

Whereas it trains the biceps to a excessive diploma, it additionally emphasizes the brachialis and brachioradialis, two smaller muscle groups that considerably add to your total arm measurement.

On this professional information, you’ll discover ways to do the hammer curl with correct type, why hammer curls are so helpful, the muscle groups labored by the hammer curl, frequent hammer curl errors, the perfect hammer curl alternate options and variations, and extra. 

Easy methods to Do The Hammer Curl with Correct Kind

To grasp hammer curl type, break up the train into three components: arrange, curl, and descend.


hammer curl

1. Arrange

Rise up straight along with your ft shoulder-width aside. Maintain a dumbbell in every hand along with your arms at your sides and your palms going through your thighs.

2. Curl

With out twisting your wrist, bend your elbow and curl your proper hand upward till the dumbbell is in entrance of your proper shoulder. Permit your elbow to maneuver ahead barely because the dumbbell rises. 

3. Descend

Decrease the dumbbell and return to the beginning place. Don’t let the burden fall again to the beginning place or attempt to straighten your arm slowly. Your entire “descent” must be managed however solely take a couple of second.

As soon as your proper hand is again at your aspect, repeat the sample along with your left hand (to finish one full rep).

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Advantages of Hammer Curls

1. They maximize biceps development.

Analysis exhibits that combining compound pulling workouts involving the biceps with biceps isolation workouts just like the hammer curl maximizes biceps development. 

Doing so permits you to prepare your biceps at completely different angles and thru various ranges of movement, which produces extra balanced and full development than solely utilizing compound workouts. It additionally ensures you prepare your “bis” with sufficient quantity (units) to stimulate development with out different muscle groups changing into a limiting issue.

2. They prepare your biceps unilaterally.

The dumbbell hammer curl is a unilateral train, which implies it trains either side of your physique independently. 

Unilateral workouts are advantageous as a result of they allow you to carry extra whole weight than you’ll be able to with some bilateral workouts (workouts that prepare each side of the physique concurrently), which can assist you achieve extra muscle over time.

They’ll additionally allow you to set up a stronger mind-muscle connection as a result of you’ve gotten much less to give attention to, they’re helpful for locating and fixing muscle and power imbalance, they usually might improve athletic efficiency greater than bilateral workouts. 

3. They’re extremely adaptable.

There are a number of hammer curl variations that place your arms in various positions relative to your torso.

For instance, the common hammer curl locations your arms by your sides, the preacher hammer curl locations your arms in entrance of your torso, and the incline hammer biceps curl locations your arms behind your torso.

That is important as a result of analysis exhibits that coaching your biceps along with your arms in numerous positions is likely one of the greatest methods to emphasise the completely different heads of the biceps and construct proportional arms.

Hammer Curl: Muscular tissues Labored

The primary muscle labored by the hammer curl is the biceps brachii (usually shortened to the “biceps”). The biceps muscle groups are on the entrance of the higher arm, between the shoulder and elbow joint, and comprise two “heads:” the quick and lengthy head.

As a result of the hammer curl includes a “impartial grip,” it additionally trains the brachialis and brachioradialis to a excessive diploma. The brachialis is a small muscle that lies beneath the biceps and considerably provides to your higher arms’ measurement and circumference, and the brachioradialis is a forearm muscle that, when effectively developed, provides mass to your decrease arms.

Right here’s how these muscle groups look in your physique:


Hammer-Curl-Muscles-Worked

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Widespread Hammer Curl Errors

1. Utilizing momentum.

The issue: Swinging the weights up as a substitute of lifting them reduces how a lot work your biceps should do, lowering the effectiveness of the train and rising harm danger.

The repair: Elevate the weights slowly and with management, making certain your biceps are doing the work.

2. Not controlling the eccentric.

The issue: Permitting the burden to “fall” again to the beginning place considerably reduces the train’s muscle-building potential.

The repair: Pause for a beat on the high of the motion, then decrease the weights slowly and with management, sustaining stress on the biceps all through the motion. This managed descent ought to take not less than so long as the lifting part.

3. Attempting to carry an excessive amount of weight.

The issue: Lifting weights which might be too heavy for you’ll be able to result in poor type, which makes the train much less efficient and will increase harm danger.

The repair: Use a weight that permits you to keep good type. It’s higher to carry out the train appropriately with lighter weights than to carry out the train poorly with heavier ones.

The Greatest Hammer Curl Options and Variations

1. Incline Hammer Curl

The incline hammer curl includes performing hammer curls whereas seated on an incline bench. The incline place locations your arms behind your physique, altering the angle of resistance and rising the stretch on the biceps, which is helpful for development. It additionally limits your potential to make use of momentum, making certain your biceps do the lion’s share of the work.

2. Preacher Hammer Curl

You carry out the preacher hammer curl on a preacher curl bench, which ensures you utilize strict type and prevents different muscle groups from “serving to out.”

3. Cable Hammer Curl

To arrange the cable hammer curl, set a cable machine pulley to the bottom setting and connect the rope deal with, then seize one finish of the rope in every hand and carry out the train as you’d with dumbbells. A good thing about the cable hammer curl is that the constant resistance from the cable machine retains your biceps underneath steady stress, which can improve muscle development.

4. Cross-Physique Hammer Curl

Within the cross-body hammer curl, you curl the weights throughout your physique in direction of the alternative shoulder reasonably than out in entrance of your torso. Some imagine the cross-body hammer curl targets the biceps’ quick head greater than the common model, although there’s no scientific proof that is the case.

5. Zottman Curl

The Zottman curl combines an everyday biceps curl and a reverse biceps curl. You curl the weights up along with your palms going through the ceiling and decrease the weights along with your palms going through the ground. Just like the hammer curl, this train trains the biceps and the forearm muscle groups, enhancing grip power and offering a singular problem to the arm muscle groups.

+ Scientific References