Are hammer curls or bicep curls better for building arms? The truth is, both. Although the name bicep may suggest two muscles, the bicep actually contains FIVE different muscles. Hammer curls and bicep curls work your muscles in different ways.
Today, we’ll be looking at each type of arm exercise, how to do them, and what makes each exercise better. Then, hopefully, by the end of this article, you’ll know which type of curl is best for you. Are you ready? Let’s get started!
Hammer Curls vs. Bicep Curls: What’s the Difference?
The main difference between hammer curls and bicep curls lies in how your forearm aligns with your upper arm during the movement. A conventional bicep curl maintains an "anatomically neutral" position, with your palm facing forward in line with your chest and shoulders. This positioning ensures relatively even recruitment across your bicep muscles.
Hammer curls, on the other hand, specifically target the long head of the bicep. This neutral grip position makes hammer curls particularly effective for building functional forearm strength and improving grip power. (Want to find the perfect bicep exercises for your goals and arm development? Our quick assessment quiz can create a personalized training plan just for you!) Our interactive exercise platform can help you determine the ideal mix of both variations based on your specific goals.
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What are Hammer Curls?
A hammer curl is simply a variation of the isolation exercise, the bicep curl. Hammer curls are largely done with dumbbells because they are easily accessible in most facilities, scalable, and slightly moveable throughout the range of motion. This allows maximum comfort in the elbow and wrist.
How to Do Hammer Curls
Here’s how to do a hammer curl:
- Maintain an upright posture throughout the entire range of Motion (ROM)
- Retract your shoulder blades back and together
- Holding one dumbbell in each hand with your thumbs facing forward in the same direction as your hips and shoulders
- Begin the movement by bending only at the elbow drawing the dumbbell toward your shoulder
- Slowly lower the weight back to the original starting position
Hammer curls are a pull exercise typically done with dumbbells. However, if you have a TRX Suspension Trainer, a kettlebell, or barbell, these can substitute as the weight.
What Muscles Do Hammer Curls Work?
The hammer curl is an isolation exercise mainly targeting the bicep. When we look closer, though, hammer curls also target the brachioradialis, a key forearm muscle. The movement of the hammer curl also builds wrist strength and stability.
Hammer Curls Benefits
- Allow for greater concentration of recruitment in the forearms muscles
- Focus on the Brachioradialis muscle to allow for greater arm thickness
What are Bicep Curls?
The bicep curl is an isolation exercise that is designed to build the entire bicep muscle area. Bicep curls are a pulling motion of only the elbow. When you think of bicep curls, you probably think of someone curling a dumbbell.
But, the truth is this exercise can be performed by a wide variety of equipment in the gym. Anything which you can get a safe and comfortable grip on will allow for this movement–especially a pullup bar. If you start at the top of a pull-up motion and lower in a controlled range of motion to a degree where you never allow your shoulder blades to separate, you are producing a phenomenal bicep curl.
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How to Do Bicep Curls
- Maintain an upright posture throughout the entire range of Motion (ROM)
- Retract your shoulder blades back and together
- Holding the barbell in front of your hips with palms remaining forward and a closed grip
- Begin the movement by bending only at the elbow drawing the barbell toward your chest
- Slowly lower the weight back to the original starting position
What Muscles Do Bicep Curls Work?
Bicep curls work on all five components of the bicep in this exercise. While you don’t work your triceps, they also help stabilize the elbow. You’ll also exercise the forearm because they help bend the elbow and contract the muscles to hold your dumbbell or kettlebell.
Bicep Curls Benefits
- Overall great exercise for upper body strength development.
- Core training achieved through proper upright posture and thoracic control
- Development of grip strength and elbow stability
- Great carry-over to aid and assist in all pulling exercises
- Stronger biceps help stabilize other exercises like bench press
Which Exercise Is Better for You?
Hammer curls and bicep curls are both effective exercises for building your arms, but each exercise is better than the other in different situations. Hammer curls are great for developing parts of your bicep as well as targeting your forearms and wrists.
On the other hand, the bicep curl is better at targeting your entire bicep as a whole. There’s a reason why this exercise is used by so many to build their arms. The bicep curl targets the entire brachii and the movement is focused on utilizing the bicep’s entire contraction.
However, there is no need to stick to only one style. Although each variation has a slightly different training effect, they are all a bicep curl at the end of the day. It is ok to do one set of each variation inside a workout.
In fact, it’s encouraged to mix in different arm workouts rather than sticking to one specific exercise. This will level up your pull day workout or whenever you choose to hit your arms.
