Cross Body Hammer Curl : Benefits and Steps

Article Update On:

May 13, 2025

Published On:

October 24, 2021

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Cross body hammer curl also known as cross chest hammer curl, a muscle strengthening exercise that targets your biceps. Gym trainees usually do it in combination with other biceps and triceps workouts to develop their forearms holistically.

Page Contents

The cross-body dumbbell hammer curl targets biceps with an emphasis on curl forearms. They are different from standard bicep curl in many ways. First is the angle of lift, curl and direction that is facing your palms. Secondly, they target different muscles.

Standard hammer curl develop your brachioradialis, the muscle above your forepart. This exercise put more pressure on the muscles between your biceps and triceps.

Muscles Worked.

Primary: Biceps.

Secondary: Forearms.

How to do Cross Body Hammer Curl?

Cross Body Hammer . Video Source: Crossbody Hammer Curl

Stand with your hands downwards and your palms holding a pair of dumbbells with your body (a neutral grip). This is the starting position.
Slowly move the dumbbell of your left hand towards your right shoulder throughout the body. Touch the upper part of the dumbbell by the shoulder and maintain the contracted position for a second.
Slowly bring the dumbbell down and then move the same speed with the other hand.
Continue the same according to your capacity.

Preparation for Cross Body Hammer Curl.

It is important to prepare the above mentioned muscles for the exercise. This is for two reasons: first improve the flexibility of the muscles to avoid injuries, and the second to make the most of your hammer curl. At the end of the day, it’s not just about participating in an exercise, it’s about developing your strength and muscles and getting you the maximum benefits.

You also need to stretch your biceps, inner arms. While it may look like an exercise that will work entirely to your biceps, think about other parts of your body that will be stressed or necessary for balance and support.

Set one or two of the standard bicep curl to pump your arms using light weight (very light). Aim to do this somewhere in 15 to 25 areas so that you don’t get your muscles completely tired.

Follow it with some vertical waist bend so that you don’t stand harshly for the ‘cross body’ part of the hammer curl. When it comes to most bodybuilding and resistance training, one hand washes the other to speak.

You may not realize it, but doing an exercise can strengthen the helpful, non-targeted muscles that support action without you feel it. That is why the above mentioned warm-up will help.

You can also throw some press ups or light chest flies to heat your pecs so that you are in extreme condition when you come in the elevator.

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Cross Body Hammer Curl Benefits.

This exercise specifically target the brachialis of your forearms, which helps to push your biceps and triceps to build thick arms.
It is a shoulder flexion workout that reduces the activity of your biceps muscles and can therefore be used as a warm-up exercise.
It balances between the lower and upper parts of your arms.

Read Now: How To Do Incline Bench Press Exercise?

Cross Body Dumbbell Hammer Curl Tips.

While moving the dumbbell towards the shoulder, maintain the neutral grip position of your hand and make sure you don’t bend your arm.
Control speed and do not allow speed to contribute to the entire exercise.
Squeeze your biceps to the top of the movement to keep the muscles under stress.

Recovery From Cross Body Hammer Curl.

You have the option of heavy lifts at fewer iterations, or light lifts with maximum repetition. The latter is most effective for pumping and definition, while heavy lifts are more effective to develop your strength.

Whatever you choose, your muscles, especially your front-arms and biceps, will be pumped and beat. During your set you can change the amount of rest intermittently depending on your recovery capabilities. For example, if you want to laminate, you can reduce your rest time by one minute.

After this exercise you should avoid other biceps-targeted exercises till the end of your workout and rest for 24 hours before the second session. Growth occurs when you relax, and while high frequency exercises are effective for small muscle groups, rest is as essential as nutrition.

Your body will need protein and carbs to recover best after your session. In addition, compression will have a significant effect on both your lactic acid and inflammatory muscles.

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