Exercise library

How to do the Preacher Hammer Dumbbell Curl

A beginner isolation exercise using dumbbell, working the biceps.

Primary musclesBiceps
Secondary musclesForearms
EquipmentDumbbell
LevelBeginner
TypeIsolation
ForcePull

Steps

  1. Place the upper part of both arms on top of the preacher bench as you hold a dumbbell in each hand with the palms facing each other (neutral grip).
  2. As you breathe in, slowly lower the dumbbells until your upper arm is extended and the biceps is fully stretched.
  3. As you exhale, use the biceps to curl the weight up until your biceps is fully contracted and the dumbbells are at shoulder height.
  4. Squeeze the biceps hard for a second at the contracted position and repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Tracking it in OneRep

Add the preacher hammer dumbbell curl 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.