Hammer curls

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randomsue
randomsue Posts: 179 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey mfp,

My question is about hammer curls. Today at the gym there was a guy that was telling a few women working out to stop doing the workout they were doing for arms and to do hammer curls. The only thing is he insisted on doing them as fast as you can in 1 minute increments. Over and over . Pumping your arms with the dumbbells like you were sprinting, He tried to get me to join but nope. I wanted to know, is that a real thing?

Replies

  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,715 Member
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    Unsolicited advice at the gym is never a good idea. Why was he doing this? Just to talk to the ladies? Hope no one else listened to him. Hammer curls are an option, but certainly the ONLY one you should do. Weird. Glad you didn't join in. I'd keep an eye out and see if this is just something that guy goes or what. Then I'd ignore him.
  • VegasFit
    VegasFit Posts: 1,232 Member
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    WTF! I hope no one listened to him.
  • pondee629
    pondee629 Posts: 2,469 Member
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    I thought Hammer Curls, like other curls and other weight lifting movements, were to be done slowly, deliberately and methodically. Keeping your muscles under stress for a while. No? Or is this something else I learned in school that is now disproven?
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
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    Yeah, not great advice by any means. The hammer curl just add a different stimulus to the biceps muscles that's all. There is validity in doing regular barbell curls, db curls, or hammer curls. Doing them as fast as possible for a minute straight... I don't know what the purpose would be in that. Perhaps he's trying to equate some relationship between time under tension and growth. It's rather silly though. With that exercise I would typically, maybe not always, use a weight that I could do for 8-12 reps with a controlled eccentric movement and possibly a 2 sec hold at the peak of the movement. There are many ways to skin-a-cat, not sure his is one of the better ways though.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    randomsue wrote: »
    I wanted to know, is that a real thing?

    Yes, it's a real thing.
  • randomsue
    randomsue Posts: 179 Member
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    It all seemed crazy. But, I am definitely an amateur. He asked them if they could feel it in their biceps. They said no, just their shoulders. There was no form but to hold in their tummy. I am glad I didn't join in that fiasco. It seemed a recipe for injury. I'm going to learn to ignore the crazy I guess.
  • randomsue
    randomsue Posts: 179 Member
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    VegasFit wrote: »
    WTF! I hope no one listened to him.

    Some actually did. He wasn't super fit either.
  • randomsue
    randomsue Posts: 179 Member
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    Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »
    Yeah, not great advice by any means. The hammer curl just add a different stimulus to the biceps muscles that's all. There is validity in doing regular barbell curls, db curls, or hammer curls. Doing them as fast as possible for a minute straight... I don't know what the purpose would be in that. Perhaps he's trying to equate some relationship between time under tension and growth. It's rather silly though. With that exercise I would typically, maybe not always, use a weight that I could do for 8-12 reps with a controlled eccentric movement and possibly a 2 sec hold at the peak of the movement. There are many ways to skin-a-cat, not sure his is one of the better ways though.

    Gotcha good to know. Thank you :)
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    It probably burns more calories than regular curls. Which might be a good thing for some people. Not everyone's goal is maximal growth.
  • oilphins
    oilphins Posts: 240 Member
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    The most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. You can do more reps with a lighter weight if you want to tone or slowly with heavier weight to get bigger but in 20 years of working out and doing weights, I can't say I've ever seen that before. Good way to possibly tear your bicep muscle. If you see this guy again, don't take anymore advice.
  • mikedenali
    mikedenali Posts: 181 Member
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    BZAH10 wrote: »
    Unsolicited advice at the gym is never a good idea. Why was he doing this? Just to talk to the ladies? Hope no one else listened to him. Hammer curls are an option, but certainly the ONLY one you should do. Weird. Glad you didn't join in. I'd keep an eye out and see if this is just something that guy goes or what. Then I'd ignore him.

    ^^^^ This. And yes hammer curls are a thing.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
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    some of the exercises in my program are as many reps as possibly per a certain amount of time, 30 seconds or a minute or whatever, for a certain movement. But thats just one exercise , combined with many others over a whole training cycle. AMRAPS have their purpose in the gym, whether they are hammer curls, DB press or ball slams or whatever. If you aren't a program that incorporates them occasionally, you can always throw some in just for fun but everything in moderation and along with a good variety or other exercises. I would never do just one movement AMRAP, nor would i listen to anyone at the gym except my trainer.

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