How to Do a Cross-Body Hammer Curl + Benefits and Alternatives

Cross-body hammer curls are a variation of the traditional hammer curl exercise. In this variation, you curl one dumbbell diagonally across your body towards the opposite shoulder, then switch to the other side. This dumbbell curl variation uses a hammer grip. That means your palms are facing toward each other. This is also referred to as “neutral grip” in other exercises, like the neutral grip pull-up. Using a hammer grip means less stress on your wrist joints compared to a traditional bicep curl. This is a move that can help improve upper body strength and build stronger bicep muscles.

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How-to

Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing toward you.
Curl one dumbbell up and bring it diagonally across your torso toward the opposite shoulder. Rotate your wrist slightly as you bring the dumbbell up.
Lower your dumbbell back down with control. Repeat on the other side.

Muscle Worked

Primary Muscle Groups

Biceps

The biceps are muscles that sit at the front or your upper arms between your elbows and shoulders

Secondary Muscle Groups

Forearms

The forearms help you grip objects and move your hands, wrists and fingers

Shoulders

Your shoulders are ball-and-socket joints which connect your arms to your torso

Pro Tips

Think about bringing the dumbbell in an X-shape across the chest. This will help you move diagonally rather than straight up and down.
Don’t swing your dumbbells or use too much momentum to lift your weights.
Make sure your wrists are engaged and aren’t dropping backwards. Keeping your wrists stable allows you to maintain the integrity of this movement to build stronger biceps and bigger forearms.

Benefits

Cross-body hammer curls promote better grip strength.
This exercise may help you grow your forearms to create more balance between upper arm and forearm size.
Easier on the wrist for those who have wrist strength problems or pain in the wrists.

Variations

The following exercises target the same primary muscles using the same equipment:

What Is the Bicep Stretch

Alternatives

The following exercises target the same primary muscles using different equipment:

Alternating Incline Dumbbell Curl

How to Do a Single-Arm Lat Pulldown

What Is the Barbell Row

What Is the Preacher Curl

Warm Up & Cool Down

Warm Up

To warm up before cross-body hammer curls, try arm circles. These involve rotating your arms in circles to energize you, increase blood flow and wake up your shoulder joints.

Roll each arm at the shoulder joint in circles. Start small, increasing the size of the circles until you are making wide arm circles.
Reverse the direction of your arm circles, starting with big circles and getting smaller.

Cool Down

Try a wrist flexor stretch. This helps you stretch your forearm and wrist to relax and work on your joint flexibility.

Stick one arm out in front of you with your palm facing up. Use the other hand to pull your fingers back towards you until you feel a stretch in your forearm. Hold it for 10-30 seconds, or as long as you need, then switch arms.

How to Do a Cross-Body Hammer Curl

How-to