Exercise library

How to do the Hammer Curls

A beginner isolation exercise using dumbbell, working the biceps.

Primary musclesBiceps
Secondary musclesNone recorded
EquipmentDumbbell
LevelBeginner
TypeIsolation
ForcePull

Steps

  1. Stand up with your torso upright and a dumbbell on each hand being held at arms length. The elbows should be close to the torso.
  2. The palms of the hands should be facing your torso. This will be your starting position.
  3. Now, while holding your upper arm stationary, exhale and curl the weight forward while contracting the biceps. Continue to raise the weight until the biceps are fully contracted and the dumbbell is at shoulder level. Hold the contracted position for a brief moment as you squeeze the biceps. Tip: Focus on keeping the elbow stationary and only moving your forearm.
  4. After the brief pause, inhale and slowly begin the lower the dumbbells back down to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Tracking it in OneRep

Add the hammer curls to a routine and your previous weight and reps sit beside every set, so the decision to add load is made by what is already on the screen rather than by memory. Exercise history and volume trends are one tap away, and logging works offline for the gyms where signal does not reach.

Because OneRep tracks food on the same timeline, a stall on this lift can be read against what you were actually eating that month — which is the difference between a programming problem and an eating one. More on that in tracking progressive overload without a spreadsheet.

Where the instructions come from

The steps above come from free-exercise-db, a public-domain exercise dataset. They are general guidance, not coaching for your body: if a movement hurts, stop and get someone qualified to look at it.