Incline Hammer Curl

How to Perform the Incline Hammer Curl

Set an adjustable bench to a 45-60 degree incline and sit back with a dumbbell in each hand.
Let your arms hang straight down at your sides with a neutral grip — palms facing each other — allowing a full stretch on the biceps and brachialis.
Keep your upper arms stationary and pinned against your sides or slightly behind your torso.
Curl both dumbbells upward simultaneously while maintaining the neutral (hammer) grip throughout.
Continue curling until the dumbbells reach approximately shoulder level and you feel a strong contraction.
Squeeze at the top briefly, then slowly lower the dumbbells back to full arm extension over 3 seconds.
Maintain the neutral grip from start to finish — do not rotate your wrists during the movement.

Swinging the upper arms forward during the curl

Pin your upper arms to your sides and only move at the elbow joint. The incline position helps enforce this but you must still focus on it.

Rotating the wrists into a supinated position

Keep a strict neutral (palms facing each other) grip throughout to properly target the brachialis and brachioradialis.

Using too heavy a weight

The stretched position makes this harder than standard hammer curls. Use 20-30% less weight and focus on the stretch and contraction.

✓Targets the brachialis and brachioradialis along with the biceps for complete arm development.
✓The incline position maximizes stretch under load for greater hypertrophy stimulus.
✓Builds forearm thickness and grip strength through the neutral grip.

●This exercise is one of the best for developing the brachialis, which pushes the bicep up from underneath for a thicker arm appearance.
●Focus on the deep stretch at the bottom of each rep for maximum growth stimulus.
●You can alternate arms or curl both simultaneously depending on your preference.

Strength

4-5 sets of 5-8 reps at 75-85% 1RM

Hypertrophy

3-4 sets of 10-12 reps at 60-70% 1RM

Endurance

2-3 sets of 15-20 reps at 50-60% 1RM

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