Song: Parmalee – Hotdamalama

Exercise Tips

Exercise Overview

• The hammer curl means you’re going to use a neutral grip.
  • Your palm will face the middle of your body.
• Hammer curls hit the biceps and brachioradialis very well.
  • You’ll feel this exercise in the bottom of your biceps (towards your elbow) and down into your forearm as that is where the brachioradialis is located.
• You can lift heavier on hammer curls compared to traditional curls because of the involvement of the very strong brachioradialis.
• The seated concentration curl is amazing to maximize stability when curling.
  • You’ll feel a tremendous stretch at the bottom of the rep as your release the dumbbell lower and lower.
  • Don’t go too heavy and let your ego prohibit you from taking advantage of the deep stretch this exercise offers.
• If a bench is not available for you to sit on, kick someone off of a bench.
  • Fight them.
  • Throw hands.
  • Jk… just perform standing hammer concentration curls if you still want to do concentration curls.
  • For me personally, if I can’t do this exercise seated, I prefer not to do it.
  • The stability the seated version offers is incredible and ensures you maximize the stretch every rep.
• The added stability and guaranteed fantastic stretch gives the seated variant of this exercise an A+ for potential gains.

Movement Tips

• When you lean over, tighten your core to minimize any excessive arch in your back.
  • Naturally there will be some arch as the weight is pulling your shoulders down to the ground.
• Plant your elbow inside of your knee for stability purposes.
  • Placing your elbow/triceps area on your inner knee really helps you focus using the mind muscle connection to aggressively flex your biceps and maximize the stretch each rep.
  • Do not rest your body weight on your elbow.
  • If your elbow moves, it will be minimal.
  • If your elbow moves, you’re still in full control of the weight, and there is no uncontrolled swinging of the dumbbell.
• Make sure your legs are wide enough so you don’t hit your opposite knee with the dumbbell when you curl it.
• Make sure you don’t lean over too far and hit the dumbbell on the ground when you attempt to lower it at the bottom of the rep.
  • At the bottom of the rep I sometimes lean my torso back a bit more to ensure I get the deepest stretch possible as the dumbbell approaches the floor.
  • This can be especially useful for people with longer arms.
  • If you use this subtle rock back, really be mindful of your core engagement.
• Curl the weight to your face.
• Flex your biceps and brachioradialis as you curl the weight up.
• Control the weight as you release it back down.
  • Feel your biceps and brachioradialis stretch.
  • Don’t just catch the dumbbell at the bottom of the rep.
  • Fight the release down.
• Release your arm until it’s relatively straight (near 180°).
  • Do not lockout your elbow in an aggressive manner at the bottom of the rep.
• You can eyeball your arm as you curl but the head rotation will not be excessive.

Dropset Options

• At the end of a workout, it can be advantageous to perform a dropset on your weak arm only to help correct muscle imbalances.
  • You can implement dropsets on the last set.
  • A little more overloading work can help your weak arm “catch up” to your dominant arm.

Traditional Dropset

• When you reach failure with a heavy weight, immediately switch to a lighter weight and go to failure using the lighter weight.

Negatives (Partner)

• Negatives – you get assistance to perform the concentric portion of the lift but you perform the eccentric portion of the lift by yourself.
  • You get help lifting the weight up.
  • You control the weight as you release it and it stretches your muscles.
• Your partner helps you lift the weight up and you control the weight as you release it down.
  • Partner negatives would be awkward on this exercise unless the bromance is strong or it’s your significant other.

Negatives (Training Alone)

• When you reach failure on the last set with your weak arm, use your dominant arm to help lift the weight up and continue to crank out more reps.
  • Your weak arm still controls 100% of the weight as you release it.
  • Your dominant arm helps assist your weak arm to lift the weight when it cannot lift the weight.
  • You don’t reduce the weight. You simply get assistance to continue lifting the heavier load.

Mechanical Dropset

• Mechanical Dropset – changing the angle we lift at in order to give ourselves a biomechanical advantage to continue lifting the weight.
  • We adjust our body position rather than change the weight.
• When you reach failure with seated concentration hammer curls, stand up and perform single arm hammer curls or cross body hammer curls.