This upper arm muscle is responsible for pure elbow flexion and is the strongest flexor of the elbow when the grip is in a neutral position (without supination). Keeping your elbows tucked in to your sides, curl the bar up towards your chest, stopping just before your forearms reach vertical. Impact of Fat Grip Attachments on Muscular Strength and Neuromuscular Activation During Resistance Exercise.

So you know exactly what you're doing, we sought the expertise of Gymbox PT and director of FITWORKS, Ray Buckton, who was only too happy to hammer on about hammer curls.The most common mistake with this hammer curl variation is moving too fast through the reps so that the lifter doesn’t feel the tension in the muscles. The hammer curl is a classic exercise that allows athletes to isolate the biceps for increased strength and definition. And I even used their EVA foam gym flooring to protect my power rack, for a stretching area, and a place to park my wife’s spin bike.

One of the most challenging options involves a special bar with rotating sleeves that allows athletes to perform a trap bar hammer curl variation. It’s true that you want to prioritize those compound moves in your workout split, but you may want to let barbell curls ride shotgun. Pause for a 1–2 count, and then slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position at your sides. They’re beneficial to add mass to your arms and can help focus more attention on the short head of the biceps.The other one is not getting a full range of movement, so not stretching the arm out at the bottom and not getting that full extension and stretching the muscle before curling it back up. When seated, you also want to keep your shoulders back to prevent leaning forwards over the bench to maintain the safest lifting posture possible. Most people think of hammer curls as a biceps exercise — because it mainly is — but it can help you create crushing grip strength, too. A muscle that stretches from just above the shoulder joint to the elbow and helps to control the motion of both. A surprisingly affordable option, the Waful Olympic Super Curl Bar has a great variety of grip options and can hold up to 400 pounds, providing plenty of opportunity to progress your training without overworking any one particular movemen

Since it uses a cross-body motion, the alternating arms approach allows athletes to get a more balanced workout for the biceps and brachioradialis muscles.While this engages other muscles in the lift, such as the deltoids (shoulders), the more you engage other muscles, the less you target the biceps.

So, my suggestion would be instead of trying to decide between the two exercises, figure out how you can utilize both Barbell Curls and Hammer Curls in your training plan. More supinated variations (like the normal biceps curl) utilize more biceps brachii, whereas the more neutral wrist position (used in hammer curls) will utilize more of the brachialis and brachioradialis.However, the truth is, there is no reason you shouldn’t have both exercises in your strength training program.