Do hammer curls work forearms reddit. You can only really do this with lighter weights.
Do hammer curls work forearms reddit Ill do hammer curls and reverse grip preacher curls on bicep day, and then three days a week ill do 2x20 barbell wrist curl 2x12 Hammer curls is my vote. Any type of hammer curl or the top portion of a regular curl is going to hit the brachioradialis. Hammer Curls work part of the forearm and the long head of the bicep. . If you want to skip the preacher bench use the cable machine with the low pulley and stand about a foot or two back and do curls with either the 1hand grip or a 2 hand flat bar, this will actually increase the resistance at the top of the curl since it's pulling somewhat horizontally instead of vertical. In this time my forearms recovered and I can comfortably use barbells again. Forearm muscles are like any muscles. Benefits of Hammer Curls for Biceps and Forearms Hammer curls are a great way to target your biceps and forearms for improved arm strength and size. However, they do make a nice addition if When I do bicep curls I feel like my forearms get exhausted before I get a good arm workout. Is my thinking flawed? We want the forearms flexors to be massacred before our biceps works. Dead hangs, farmer carriers, deadlifts/pullups, hammer curls, reverse curls, etc are all isometric exercises for forearms (except for the brachioradialis doing hammer curls and reverse curls). Yes, do barbell curls and dumbell hammer curls. Pain in forearms while curling I've been lifting regularly since about July, and recently over the past few weeks I have been experiencing some pain in my forearms during/after any exercise that involves curling. Reply reply Lightning14 • Oct 21, 2024 · Hammer curls provide better focus on your biceps muscles. 93 votes, 73 comments. Hammer curls only work one part of the forearm (brachioradialis) you need to incorporate wrist flexion and extension to work the flexors and extensors which also make up a large proportion of the forearm muscles. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Your forearms should grow from training your grip, which comes with doing deadlifts, rows, pullups, etc. In that case do hammer curls, and yes, lessen your grip. Former skinny guy with shit forearms: At first I would get a forearm pump from doing weighted chinups. Also trains your riser. Kinda hate when people say you dont need direct forearm work. Zottmans are a "jack of all trades, master of none" kind of situation in my opinion. By incorporating hammer curls into your workout routine, you can effectively build size and strength in both your arms and forearms at the same time. Additionally, this exercise engages the brachialis, a muscle beneath the biceps that contributes to elbow flexion, and the biceps brachii, particularly the long head, to a lesser extent. See full list on trainrightmuscle. Hammer curls are great, even safer and more effective on a cable. All will involve the brachioradialis and regular, palms up curls will hit the wrist flexors too. The best way to get them to grow is to hit them with volume. Wouldn’t recommend overhand grip, they are more of a forearm curl than anything else. I am not trying to use these for biceps as I am doing other curls for that. For the average Joe, getting very strong in these movements can win you most arm wrestling fights (assuming you're not competing). You can add wrist curls in and they will help, but I wouldnt focus on them too much. They will grow far more effectively from progressive overload in dynamic movements than isometric holds. I usually get a good pump on my forearms doing exercises for primarily biceps anyway. i got really fucking tired of failing out on deadlifts because of my grip. The muscles controlling the wrist are small compared to the deep finger flexors which make the bulk of the forearm. I prefer using Dumbbells for both This sounds like forearm splints. This small shift completely changes the muscle recruitment pattern, making hammer curls an extremely effective upper arm and forearm exercise. A very common question in the moronic/foolish threads is "why does my forearm hurt when doing curls?" and the very common answer is "use dumbells or an EZ-bar, straight bars turn your wrists out which strains your forearm" We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. And as others have said, it helps to slow it down a bit. Using static holds are great too. Either is fine to do, it'll just depend on wrist flexibility. Everyone here is talking about grip strength as though that's the be-all and end-all of gaining forearm size, but the brachioradialis is one of the biggest muscles on the forearm, is clearly visible, and is trained primarily through hammer curls and reverse-grip curls. Are regular curls with pronated grip just better and should i just do more of them instead of adding hammer curls? I do tricep work too, focusing on the long head. 40 votes, 80 comments. So the main/minor difference between using an EZ Bar and Straight bar is the amount of supination that occurs as you curl the weight. I love cross body hammer curls but reverse curls give me irritation, whereas the cable counterparts do not. But i see people recommend it to get bigger biceps. I do no direct forearm work (other than hammer curls) and my forearms are one of my best parts. Unfortunately you will need to reduce the work done by your affected arm in the gym for faster recovery. Three exercises - one for upper forearm, say reverse wrist curls; one for the belly - wrist curls; and one for grip - hand grippers. Honestly I think there are better exercises if you want to target biceps or forearms. How did you do it? How long did it take for you? Do you have before/after picture of your wrist/forearms? Archived post. The key movments are wrist curls with palms up and down 3x15-25 with each variation depending on weight, start low. Assuming that you're already doing deadlifts 1/ you can do both. Right now I do a close grip preacher curl, barbell curl, incline curls and concentration curls as part of my routine. Hope Bicep curls train your wrist statically and hammer curls train your forearms and elbow flexors like the brachioradialis. I asked a friend he told me to imagine your hand like a hook and NOT to death grip the dumbbell. That alone isn't enough volume so add in tons of hammer curls, reverse curls, farmer's walk, both wrist curls. true you dont need it, but it helps a lot with size and grip strength. Have you tried preacher curls? I've found that my forearms tend to be less of a limiting factor when I do them compared to regular/hammer curls. Form check - first time doing a Zottman curl as I read online that it targets the whole bicep rather than bicep curls and hammer curls which target the front and back (I do those too). Reverse curls do a better job engaging the brachioradialis and other forearm muscles. Is this usual or do I have wrong form? Is there something I can do with my wrist or is this just something you have to work past? Archived post. Try regular Hammer curls and also pinwheel curls. im also trying to get those larry scott forearms (one day). Additionally hammer curls and reverse curls. What is the best way to grow juicy forearms? Hand grippers, DB wrist curls/extentions? Etc Hi everyone, I am trying to implement one of these curl variations for forearms specifically and then some brachialis stimulus as well. Also, I find a thumbless grip during bb rows and lat pulldowns works them to. Do hammer curls really work the upper arm? I dont feel my biceps working at all. Hammer curls also statically train your pronation. 61 votes, 78 comments. Reverse curls are less likely to cause injury. Ive actually had much beet forearm grow by focusing more on curls, hammer curls, reverse curls, etc. I find the forearm involvement means you typically need to lower the weight from whatever you're doing for regular bicep curls. You need a vertical pull to hit the lats, whether it’s pull-ups or lat pulldowns doesn’t matter. That being said, it's likely that your forearms are very weak if this is the case and you need to strengthen them. But if yours are lagging behind, try farmer's walks, wrist curls, hammer curls, zottman curls, and reverse curls. I do those on back and leg days, and on arm days I'll do hammer curls and wrist curls (although with a dumbell, cable is probably better but I just prefer dumbells I used to use them a lot. Go for around 15 reps. Hi, ive been spamming these for a few weeks and I have DEFINITELY seen forearm growth. So in my opinion hammer curls are worthwhile. You can get beefy strong forearms without specific forearm work: grip the hell out of dumbbells when using them, do lots of pull-ups and squeeze the bar hard, do farmers walks and rows and (you guessed it) squeeze the bar/dumbbell. The latter really brings out the definition and gives an amazing pump. Jan 20, 2023 · Two curls in particular—the hammer curl and EZ-bar reverse curl — hit those areas of your forearms most neglected by wrist curls. You can only really do this with lighter weights. The brachialis and brachioradialis will be much more heavily involved in hammer curls than normal curls, and developing both is necessary to have impressive arms. Archived post. I bought some fat grips and am planning on adding reverse curls to my workouts 3x a week (although I'll probably do them 5x week) In terms of solely muscle growth / getting larger forearms what kind of set/rep Nov 7, 2022 · The hammer curl uses a simple thumbs-up position to more directly work the forearm muscles and emphasize a different part of the biceps, leading to more growth, bigger arms, and a stronger grip. Your biceps are significantly disadvantaged by design, heavier weight doesn't mean they will suddenly engage - if they were a primary mover they would engage irrespective of the weight. Lately what I have been doing for direct forearm work is Forearm Curls, Hammer Curls, Reverse Curls, and behind the back forearm Curls. To stress the short head more, there needs to be supination (palm facing up while contracting). Granted, I do all my back exercises unassisted and do suicide grip where I can, so my forearms were starting to get defined anyway. If you switch to dumbbells for your biceps, I don't see how it would harm you. Hammer curls are better suited for building both arm mass and strength. I do deadlifts, RDLs, and barbell rows, and in my opinion those do enough to grow my general grip strength in addition to forearm definition. Pronation, and lateral flexion/extension seem meh for me but you might feel like you get more out of them than me. giving you a way better quality curl Tbh I’d say wrist curls are even more important for forearm hypertrophy than for beginners since the beginners’ forearms might not be used to the amount of work required for heavier compound exercises. Back movements won’t adequately stimulate the biceps or the brachialis to grow all that much unless you’re genetically predisposed to have impressive arms. I am 225 lbs and can bullshit curl 40lbs dumbbells all day but I use 15lbs for my concentration curls. For me personally I don't do any additional forearm work and they seem to grow in proportion. trueYes certainly. The chinup pump was likely from hanging, try shrugs with a hold at the end. Don't do any movements that put great loads on the extensors and tendon (reverse curls, hammer curls, doing anything grip related basically; deadlifts, pullups) and use lifting straps. If you want to get really science-y, preacher curls provide a resistance profile that matches where the biceps have the best leverage. And as others have said, you could also try incorporating more forearm work like farmer carries to strengthen them. Twice a week if possible. There are lots of different curl exercises, and to me I just feel like I’m doing the same exercise twice? I mean the hammer curl is basically the bicep curl except the dumbell goes from horizontal to vertical right? Is it optimal to do both? Or is it better to switch one out for say a preacher I feel like during bicep curls / preacher curls (to a lesser extent) and chinups, my forearms are what stop me from doing more reps? They feel exactly like they are the muscles being engaged, and my biceps don't feel the pain nearly as much as my forearms do (my bis do get ache after each exercise though) trueI had the issue of painful forearms after a set of barbell curls so I switched to exclusively dumbbells for a few weeks or months, I don't exactly remember. I was stuck with this mindset for a long time and saw no forearm gains. And hammer curls work your bis, bracs, and forearms so they should be fine. Also, should I do hammer curls so I can get even more work on my forearms, on back/bicep day, when doing lat pull downs and barbell bent over rows, I always fatigue my forearm, but not the brachialis, and that's one of my weaker points, thus the hammer curls. It sure didn’t take much time to do 2-3 sets of hammer curls, reverse cable curls, and wrist curls one to two times per week and there’s essentially no recovery burden. You need to really squeeze the forearm during your isolation movements. trueimo this depends on how you do some back and hamstring work. I'm currently doing reverse curls with 75 pounds (34 KG) and my forearms have exploded. I find regular wrist extensions, wrist curls, supination and reverse curls + hammer curls to all work. Currently on the Reddit PPL and for curls it suggests 4x8-12 of both the bicep and hammer curl. Hammer curls can help develop the forearm, maybe aid in grip a tad, and that extra stimuli would make them superior to a standard curl from a powerlifting POV. Forearm training in general is underutilized for muscles that I think have a huge impact on aesthetics. You need to work on the mind muscle connection to your bicep, and visualize yourself trying to "pop" your bicep when you're fully contracted. What can I do to get my biceps to work instead of forearm? I do hammer curls and also I find holding heavy dumbells during shrugs and calf raises gives me a nice burn in my forearms. The farmer walks will help slightly but they will mostly help with grip strength. Share Sort by: Best Open comment sort options Top New Controversial Old Q&A DeludedOldMan • Hammer curls Reply reply JohnnyFire •• Edited In fact, you could probably do 4 sets of 10 curls for biceps 1-2 times per week and that would be enough. Learn how to do hammer curls the correct way and avoid common mistakes, as well as several great hammer curl variations with this complete guide. The hammer curl doesn't promote it as much because the bicep is in a anatomically better position (vs the regular curl) to perform the contraction, so the bicep takes the brunt of the effort away from the forearm. In my experience, the wrist and forearms give out before any upper arm muscles do whenever I reverse curl. Is it best to do reverse curls thumbless to activate and grow forearms? I've been working out for 6-7 months now and noticed my forearms are still really skinny and have barely grown. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Just lay off the curls (or anything else that causes the pain) until the pain is gone (probably 2-3 weeks). I wrote my routine in a post maybe 2 weeks ago that I was doing. Hope it gets better for you. In I personally don't think forearms need to be paid too much attention as long as your exercises are worthwhile (pull ups, hammer curls, barbell curls). Then don't just jump back to the same weight on the curls - you'll want to start lighter, and maybe do some forearm specific exercises for prehab. Concentration curls Use a LIGHT dumbbell, probably 50% or even less of the weight you typically use when you perform your regular, bouncy, worthless bro curls. com Aug 12, 2025 · Unlike a regular bicep curl, which involves turning the wrist into a supinated position, hammer curls keep the wrist neutral. For bigger forearms you want grip work not wrist movements. My forearms are good as they are, my upper arms My forearms have exploded in size recently. Fat grips and forearms workout (wristrollers) 2/ Fat grips on hammer curls are one of the biggest cheat codes 3/ Don't buy the FatgripZ, they're fatgrips alternatives way cheaper on Amazon 4/ Try fatgrips doing your triceps training, it reduces elbow discomfort/pain Reply reply abouttreefiddyy • Never tried them for Do this instead (per week): 6x hammer curls 6x wrist curls 6x reverse wrist curls In pull days and on some leg movements, your forearms will already be heavily stimulated. Agreed on the "work them harder" part. 3 days ago · Hammer curls primarily target the brachioradialis, a muscle located in the forearm, which is responsible for flexing the elbow and assisting in forearm pronation. Apr 5, 2024 · Ever Wondered, "Are Hammer Curls or Reverse Curls Better For Forearms?" Discover Which 1 of These 2 Exercises Will Give You Popeye Forearms. It’s weird every time I work on biceps, it feels as if my forearm is making all the work and getting the pumps instead of my bicep. Every time I would try to do curls my forearm would get so tight and felt like it was gonna explode due to the pump.