Muscles Targeted: The seated dumbbell hammer alternating curls targets the biceps muscles primarily but also works the forearm muscles and the often neglected brachialis muscle. This is a great exercise to include in your overall biceps workout routine to develop big and impressive arms. By not twisting your wrists as you lift the dumbbells up, you place more tension on the outer part of your biceps which helps to build this area up and provides a thickness to your arms which makes them look much fuller and bigger. It’s always good to incorporate many different angles into your bicep workout routines in order hit the muscle from all different angles and stimulate growth.
Exercise Advice: Grab two dumbbells and safely position yourself on a bench in the seated position with your feet firmly on the floor. Let the dumbbells hang at your side with your palms facing in towards you. Slowly raise one dumbbell up to the top position while making sure to avoid any curling or twisting motion of your wrist during the entire range of the exercise. Keeping your wrist and the dumbbell in a fixed position is the key to the hammer curl and will really hit the brachialis and forearm muscles very well. Repeat the movement with your other arm to complete one full repetition.
Things To Avoid: Make sure to avoid swinging the weight up on this exercise. By not curling your wrists, it has a little different feel and it might be a bit more difficult to perform than a traditional curl. Always practice strict exercise technique and use a slow and controlled tempo during the entire range of the movement. Also, make sure not to relax your biceps muscle at the top of the exercise. You may have the tendency to rest the dumbbell at the top and this is something you want to avoid since your goal is to apply constant tension on the biceps during the entire range of motion.
Reps and Sets: Focus on 8-12 reps per set for a good repetition range for building muscle in your biceps on this exercise. You might even want to go a little lighter on the weight and higher on your reps if you have not performed this exercise before. You want to make sure your technique is spot on in order to get the most out of this exercise. Total overall sets for the seated dumbbell hammer alternating curls will be around 2-3 sets and you want to combine this movement with a few other exercises in order to place a maximum amount of stress on your biceps in order to shock them into growth. Try not to go over 4-6 total sets for your biceps workout since it’s a smaller muscle group and you want to avoid overtraining them.
Other Exercises To Use: A few other great exercises to combine with the seated dumbbell hammer alternating curls exercise are the Cable Rope Curls and the Barbell Curls to really hit the biceps from all different angles and really shock your arms to make them grow!