How to do the Hammer Curl
Step by step
- Stand tall with a dumbbell in each hand, arms down and palms facing your thighs.
- Keep your elbows tucked close to your sides.
- Curl the dumbbells up while keeping your palms facing inward the whole time.
- Bring the weights toward your shoulders and pause briefly.
- Lower slowly back to straight arms, keeping the palms facing in.
The thing people get wrong
Palms stay facing each other the entire rep - that neutral grip is what makes it a hammer curl.
Coaching cue
Keep your elbows glued to your ribs so the weights travel straight up, not forward.
Make it easier or harder
- Harder: Take three seconds to lower each rep.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Biceps
- Secondary: Upper Back, Forearms
What to do instead
Same job, different movement — useful if you don't have the equipment or it doesn't feel right today.
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.