Bicep Curls and Hammer Curls

Bicep curls and hammer curls are two exercises you can do with dumbbells that strengthen your upper arms. The latter are for triceps and the former for biceps muscles. You can do curls standing up or sitting down, but I’ve found that when standing up, the routine requires more effort (we’re not trying to make these workouts easier!).

For hammer curls, for the triceps or the back of the upper arm, the dumbbells are parallel to your body and the grip used is similar to a handshake, as shown in Figure 8-11. This exercise can be combined in a compound set with bicep curls for a complete arm-strengthening exercise.

Figure 8-12 shows the well-known bicep curl with dumbbells. This uses a palms-up grip, similar to a chin-up. One option for your routine is to perform a set of hammer curls, take a short rest or do an upper-body set of another exercise, then complete the troika with a set of bicep curls. Rinse and repeat.