Whether you’re a bodybuilder wanting to grow your arms, or a strength athlete wanting to increase your upper body strength and resistance to injury, the hammer curl affords many benefits to supplement your arm training. While keeping the elbow under the shoulder or slightly in front of the shoulder, return the dumbbells to the initial starting position under a slow and controlled tempo.Ĭoach’sTip: When lowering the weights, think of following the same arcing path you used when curling the dumbbell up to the top position. You won’t engage the biceps using momentum. If you have to swing the dumbbells, then your weights are too heavy. Maintaining a controlled tempo throughout the rep can help improve exercise technique and increase the tension placed on the target muscle(s).Ĭoach’s Tip: You’ll feel the urge to lean back to swing the weight up. Once you have reached the top of the hammer curl, keep squeezing the biceps. Lift the dumbbell above 90 degrees at the elbow where the thumb is at shoulder height. The arc of the dumbbell should create almost a half-circle from the front of your hip to the front of your deltoid. Otherwise, you risk losing tension in your biceps. With the shoulders set, squeeze the handles and maintain rigidity in the wrist - all you want to do is flex and extend your elbow.ĭon’t let the elbows swing too far forward or too far back. ( 1) Due to the decrease in overall strength while using Fat Gripz, it’s recommended to perform additional training volume to target grip strength specifically. Keep your wrists tight, and squeeze your shoulder blades together so your shoulders lock into place - your biceps should be the only muscle engaged.Ĭoach’s Tip: If your goal is to strengthen your grip, increasing the overall grip diameter of the dumbbell - by using Fat Gripz - can help increase the muscular activity of your forearm muscles. Stand tall while holding a dumbbell in each hand. This guide covers the standard two-arm dumbbell hammer curl - a variation that allows you to line up the working arm with the resistance, increasing tension in the arms and reducing the risk of injury to the elbow and shoulder.
The hammer curl offers a simple twist on the traditional dumbbell curl, fortifying an athlete’s grip strength and allowing for heavier weight to be lifted for more overall volume.
CrossFitters perform hundreds of pull-ups in competition sometimes, and the biceps are a vital muscle group in that exercise. Biceps help a lifter pull the bar off of the floor during a clean & jerk. Strong biceps are more resilient to injury during heavy deadlifts. Though these athletes all train for different feats of strength, bigger and stronger arms help them in their pursuits. Look up a picture of Shi Zhiyong - one of China’s most dominant weightlifters - elite powerlifter Taylor Atwood, and CrossFitter Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr, and you’ll notice they all own pretty impressive sleeve-huggers.