Curated By Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S.
One of the finest arm-growing exercises out there is the hammer curl. Not only does it challenge your biceps and blast your forearms, but it also trains your brachialis, a muscle that essentially lies between biceps and triceps in your arm. Building your brachialis gives your arms a truly three-dimensional look.
Thing is, it’s easy to do hammer curls sloppily, especially when you use too much weight. So avoid these three mistakes so you can get the most out of your hammer curl work. Aim for 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps with good form.
MOVING YOUR ELBOWS
(Elbow shifting hammer curl error)
It’s convenient on hammer curls to shift your elbows behind your torso, subtly incorporating your midback muscle into the motion and trying to make this a row. Avoid letting that happen by pinning your elbows to your torso. Aim to move only at the elbow joint on all hammer curls.
ROCKING AT THE HIPS
(Hip rock hammer curl error)
When the weight gets heavy, very often, you’ll try to use momentum to drive the weight upwards, relying on hip power instead of your forearms and biceps. The dead giveaway: If your hips shift backwards slightly before each rep. Avoid this by squeezing your glutes and abs before every single rep; that’ll force you to use only your arm muscles to make each rep happen.
SKIPPING THE NEGATIVE
(Too fast hammer curl error)
The lowering portion of the lift is critical to getting max muscle gains, so don’t simply let the weight pull your arms straight. Your goal after you curl up is to resist the load as you lower. Focus on taking 2 to 3 seconds to lower the weight on every rep.