Incline Hammer Curls
A hammer curl performed lying back on an incline bench, so the arm hangs behind the torso with a neutral grip. It stacks two things that usually appear separately: the brachialis emphasis of a palms-facing grip and the stretched shoulder position of an incline curl.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Set the bench to 45 degrees and sit back with your whole spine and head against the pad.
- Keep both feet flat on the floor and close together so you are not braced to twist.
- Let the dumbbells hang straight down at your sides with palms facing each other.
- Set your shoulder blades back against the pad and let the arms hang behind your torso before the first rep.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — Exhale on the way up, inhale on the way down. One second up, one second held with the forearm vertical, three seconds down.
Sets, reps & load
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
Take about 25% off your standing hammer curl — around 8-12 kg per hand for a trained lifter, 5-8 kg for a beginner. Add 2 kg per hand only once every rep begins from a fully straight, hanging arm. If the bottom is getting cut to keep the number, the number is wrong.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Keep both thumbs pointing at the ceiling for every rep and watch the final two reps of each set, which is where the twist appears.
Cut it by about a quarter. Choose a load you can lower over three seconds to a fully straight arm for 12 reps, then build.
Keep both shoulder blades pinned to the bench and stop the set the moment one comes off. That rep is a trap-and-delt rep.
Pause for a beat with the arm hanging dead straight before each rep. If the pause is impossible, the weight is choosing your range for you.
Why bother
A neutral grip hands elbow flexion to the brachialis and brachioradialis rather than letting the biceps use its supination advantage. Doing that on an incline means those muscles work from an arm position hanging behind your body, and the elbow travels through its full range with no help from a shrug or a lean.
The brachialis is worth this attention. It sits between the biceps and the humerus, so building it pushes the biceps up and widens the arm when viewed from the side. It also responds to elbow work in every grip, which is why a lifter who only ever curls palms-up leaves an easy chunk of arm size on the table.
Where it fits
Slot it in as your second arm movement, after a supinated curl or a heavy row. Three sets of 8-12 twice a week is enough. If your elbows are sore from pressing, this is the version to keep — the neutral wrist is far more forgiving than a fixed supinated bar.
If this one isn't it
No kit, too hard, or too easy — here's where to go instead.
Same job, different kit
Asked and answered
How is this different from a standing hammer curl?
The bench puts your upper arm behind your torso, which lengthens the elbow flexors before the rep starts and removes any chance of swinging. You will use noticeably less weight for the same reps. Standing hammer curls are for load; this version is for range and strictness. Most people benefit from running both across a week.
Why do my forearms give out before my arms do?
The brachioradialis is a small muscle doing a share of the work in every neutral-grip rep, and grip fatigue arrives on top of it. Usually the fix is order, not grip: run these after your supinated curls rather than after rows and deadlifts that already cooked your forearms. If it persists at any point in the session, chalk up, keep the wrist dead straight, and drop 2 kg per hand.
Should the elbows stay tucked to my sides?
They should stay under the shoulder, hanging, not squeezed tight to your ribs. Pinning them to your sides on an incline forces the shoulder to roll forward and undoes the stretched position you sat down for. Let them hang naturally and stop them travelling forward.
What bench angle should I set?
45 degrees. Flatter than that and the shoulder is dragged into an aggressive extended position for very little extra range at the elbow; steeper and the arm stops hanging behind your torso, at which point you have a seated hammer curl with a backrest. If 45 pinches the front of your shoulder, go to 60 and accept the smaller stretch rather than shrugging off the pad to escape it.