Incline Hammer Curls Guide

Video

Heavy compound lifts will only take your bicep development so far.

Over time adding isolation exercises will be required to continue building mass to your biceps.

The Incline Hammer Curl is a free weight exercise that will help you to take your bicep development to the next level.

It is a strength training isolation exercise. It uses a very basic movement pattern. It is a beginner level training method with a low injury rate because of the basic/simple movement it uses.

Hammer curls are also referred to as the Neutral Grip Bicep Curl and the Dumbbell Curl Neutral Grip.

In this article, we will outline how you perform Hammer Curls with a weight bench set at an inclined angle.

We will have video and image examples. Then a step by step description describing exactly how you perform it.

Using an incline helps to reduce swinging your arms to help lift the weight. The incline will also keep tension on your biceps during throughout the exercise.

The article will also cover the different muscles worked and benefits you can get by adding Incline Hammer Curls into your training routine.

Then will include some training tips to help make sure you are not performing some of the more frequent errors.

Incline Hammer Curls How to Guide

Image Example

Step by Step Description

1. Step 1: Set the adjustable weight bench to an incline of 45 degrees. Grab a pair of dumbbells with your hands. Sit on the adjustable bench, with your back flat against it. Move your arms, so they are hanging down at the sides of the bench.

2. Step 2: The palms of your hands should be facing in towards your body for the entire workout.

3. You are now in the starting position.

4. Step 3: Breathe out as you keep your upper arms stationary and bend/flex at your elbow curling the weight up as close to your shoulders as you can. Pause for one to two seconds at the top position.

5. Step 4: Breathe in and use a slow and controlled motion to lower the weight back down to the starting position. Make sure that your arms are in a full hang position before curling the dumbbell up.

Equipment Required

There are a couple of different pieces of equipment you will need to perform this exercise.

The first is an inclinable weight bench. The other piece of equipment required is a pair of dumbbells.

Muscles Worked

The Primary muscle that Incline Hammer Curls work are your Brachialis (muscle under the bicep) and the Bicep.

By CFCF - CC BY-SA 4.0

Hammer Curls also strengthen your wrist and finger flexors. Your forearms get worked, but it is to a much lesser degree.

Benefits

By being in a seated position your ability to cheat on the Hammer Curls gets reduced. Being seated with your shoulders on the bench swinging of the weight gets significantly reduced.

Having your palms facing each other is the most natural position and puts the least amount of strain on your wrists.

Hammer curls work the three largest muscles on the front of your arm. Training these muscles will make your arms bulge and become larger in size.

The Hammer Curl can help you to increase your grip strength. It achieves this by training your wrist and finger flexors.

• Variations of the Alternate Hammer Curl Exercise

• Cable Hammer Curls
• Cross Body Hammer Curls
• Preacher Curls
• Reverse Preacher Curls

Inclosing

Isolation training is more necessary to intermediate and advanced lifters. If you are just beginning with weight lifting, you should start with heavy compound exercises for several months. Then you think of adding isolation movements into your training.

Adding isolation exercises without a strong foundation of strength and muscle will give you little benefit. Heavy compound movements are essential at this point to build a strong foundation.

After awhile though heavy compound training will only take your bicep development so far.

Sooner or later you will need to use some isolation exercises to keep your arms growing. The incline hammer curl is a useful addition to a training routine at this point.

You should add it into your routine on either your arm days if you use one. Remember you need a strong foundation of strength before getting to this point.

If you do not have an arm day, then use them when you are working your back muscles. The back and biceps go together perfect. Just remember isolation exercises should get used at the end of your routine.

Using this isolation exercises will fatigue your arms and limit your ability for other lifts like rowing, pull-ups, chin-ups, and any other lift that involves your bicep.