What's going on Nation
I'm Scott from Muscularstrength.com and we are back with the dumbest mistake series.
Now if you're not caught up on these videos, I will link to the entire playlist during the end screen.
But today we're talking hammer curls man, if I could just pick one biceps exercise
most people not only have bad form with but use
incorrectly in correlation to building big biceps it would be this one.
But before we get started with all that guys, my full body program will be here very soon
and if you want to make sure you don't miss it you've got to click that bell.
Subscribing is step one
but that that was the only way YouTube will acknowledge your existence
as a real person who wants to make gains.
Alright guys,
mistake number one and probably the most common mistake is thinking that the hammer curl is a
biceps focused movement now
obviously, we're flexing the elbow joint which means the biceps are involved
but the hammer curl mainly targets the brachialis and the brachioradialis
But don't think you're wasting your time
developing these two muscles is very important to have thick and muscle-bound arms.
In fact if the brachialis is developed properly
it can have an effect where it helps your biceps look even bigger
because that muscle sits right in the middle of your upper arm.
So now that you know this just make sure when you're training your arms
you don't replace a biceps focus movement with hammer curls
you want to do both. Now the second most common
mistake people make ties in really well with the first one and it's not earning your reps.
This includes both full range of motion and controlled negatives
I see dudes all the time in the gym swinging 70s or 80 pound dumbbells with no control whatsoever.
Guys
zero mind muscle connection will result in your inability to flex squeeze rip and tear your muscles for growth
period, now proper form includes a fully flexed tricep at the bottom of the movement
keeping your elbows in front of your hips as you curl up and then flexing your biceps as hard as you can at the
top of the movement. Remember we're not strength training here. We are building
muscle so yes
we do need to overload but overloading with weight you can't control is a recipe for little to zero
muscle growth and a possible injury.
What you want to do is utilize mind muscle connection
and really work the muscle you're targeting so to do that
you have to come up really flex your arms forcing
as much blood as possible into the area and then control the
negative every rep counts and every rep should be aimed towards maximum muscle breakdown.
Mistake number three curling both arms times at the same time.
All right, guys, let's open up a can of worms with this mistake now
this has actually debated quite a bit because some people will actually try to have you believe
that if you curl one on at a time, your other arm is resting
thus gains are lost well my friends. Let's put this myth to bed with a little something I like to call
common sense really
resting?
Guys, you still have to grip the dumbbell tight keep the triceps flexed
for full extension at the bottom of the movement and
not to mention this is where the stretch is for the muscles
we are trying to train and if you think the
fraction of a second between alternating arms is enough to interfere with the intensity of your reps
then there's only one conclusion I can come to and that is you are hammer curling with baby weights.
I mean seriously grab a pair of the heaviest dumbbells
you can handle and start cranking out some reps
if there was too much rest due two alternating your arms.
Then in theory you should be able to crush 30 to 40 reps easy
with 50 to 60 pounds. Now if you curl both hands at the same time. Yes, it takes more core control.
Yes, you will fail a bit quicker with heavier weights
however
if the goal is muscle gain you want to be able to lift as much weight as possible and you'll be able to lift
significantly more weight with more control
performing this movement one arm at a time.
But if your circuit style training for fat loss sure double hammer curl all day long
but if your goal is muscle gain, where
overloading and heavy
negatives play a crucial role in growth then don't tell me that alternating single arm curls are not the best choice.
Mistake number four gripping the dumbbells in the middle of the handle.
Now as I mentioned earlier guys the hammer curl is an
isolation movement that's meant to target the brachialis and brachioradialis.
So if you want to maximize the hammer curl and use as much weight as possible
don't grip it in the middle. At this point
you'll be wasting too much energy on grip strength when you should be focusing on curling the weight up.
Instead grab the dumbbell handle as high as you can that way the dumbbell itself can rest on your hand.
This will allow you to use heavier weights and will still benefit from
holding the dumbbell to increase our grip strength and train our
forearms and mistake number five
performing the movement
standing so guys
this might not seem like a mistake to most of you but it goes hand in hand with mistake number three if the
goal when building muscle is
overloading then you definitely want to curl one
arm at a time and if we can take it one step
further and make it so the exercise doesn't require as much core control for stability
you'll be able to add another five to ten pounds to your reps.
So if you really want to take advantage of this exercise, you should
be performing this movement seated and to be clear
Yes, I'm basically saying that performing the hammer curls standing is harder, but not harder for the biceps
It's harder on your core.
So again, if your circuit trading for fat loss do them standing in both arms at the same time
but for muscle gain to get the most out of this exercise you should be seated and
alternating your reps now
be sure to smash that like
button, if you're pumped to finally take full advantage of this movement
and if you want to incorporate it into your next biceps routine
I would first perform six to eight sets of a standard biceps curl like a barbell curl or an inclined
dumbbell curl and then finish the workout with six to eight sets of the seated
alternating dumbbell hammer curl, and if you made it this
far and are in need of a new muscle building program
try my cheat and recover workout.
It will be one of the most intense programs you ever trained with and it's
guaranteed to help you push through a muscle building or
strength building plateau.
I'll put the link in my pin comment below or just wait for it in the end screen and as always.
More good stuff coming soon. See ya