Hey so my back and bicep routine Is weighted chin ups, cable rows, cable curls, face pulls, shrugs and hammer curls.
Now i think the hammer curls is suppose to train your inner biceps and a muscle running along the start of your forearms, my question is am i already hitting this muscle enough with the other exercises or does it warrant its own exercise so that you hit everything?
What do you think?
[quote]buildsomemuscle wrote:
Hey so my back and bicep routine Is weighted chin ups, cable rows, cable curls, face pulls, shrugs and hammer curls.
Now i think the hammer curls is suppose to train your inner biceps and a muscle running along the start of your forearms, my question is am i already hitting this muscle enough with the other exercises or does it warrant its own exercise so that you hit everything?
What do you think?[/quote]
Do your biceps respond better to volume or weight and what is your goal?
If you want bigger arms then training your brachialis is important. Hammer curls and reverse curls will do this. I do think, however, that you should add some conventional (non-cable) curls into the mix if you are concerned with arm development
Hammer curls are just one of a million bicep accessory lifts. They’re not necessary at all.
[quote]jbpick86 wrote:
[quote]buildsomemuscle wrote:
Hey so my back and bicep routine Is weighted chin ups, cable rows, cable curls, face pulls, shrugs and hammer curls.
Now i think the hammer curls is suppose to train your inner biceps and a muscle running along the start of your forearms, my question is am i already hitting this muscle enough with the other exercises or does it warrant its own exercise so that you hit everything?
What do you think?[/quote]
Do your biceps respond better to volume or weight and what is your goal?[/quote]
I am unsure i would guess getting stronger while doing a good amount of volume would be what makes my biceps grow?
My goal is a balanced physique in regards to aesthetics and strength, so i wouldn’t want anything not being trained but i dont want unnecessary fluff either that just takes up time
[quote]Headache wrote:
If you want bigger arms then training your brachialis is important. Hammer curls and reverse curls will do this. I do think, however, that you should add some conventional (non-cable) curls into the mix if you are concerned with arm development
[/quote]
Yes it is important the question is though if its already being trained by the other exercises to a sufficient degree for hypertrophy, The reason i am doing cable curls right now is simply because i have been doing dumbbells for a good while and wanted to change it up a little
[quote]csulli wrote:
Hammer curls are just one of a million bicep accessory lifts. They’re not necessary at all.[/quote] Alright
[quote]csulli wrote:
Hammer curls are just one of a million bicep accessory lifts. They’re not necessary at all.[/quote]
Some would disagree…in most of his arm days John Meadows leads off with standing hammer curls.
[quote]UtahLama wrote:
[quote]csulli wrote:
Hammer curls are just one of a million bicep accessory lifts. They’re not necessary at all.[/quote]
Some would disagree…in most of his arm days John Meadows leads off with standing hammer curls.[/quote]
Yeah but it’s not like he couldn’t do without them if he needed to.
[quote]csulli wrote:
[quote]UtahLama wrote:
[quote]csulli wrote:
Hammer curls are just one of a million bicep accessory lifts. They’re not necessary at all.[/quote]
Some would disagree…in most of his arm days John Meadows leads off with standing hammer curls.[/quote]
Yeah but it’s not like he couldn’t do without them if he needed to.[/quote]
Fair enough.
[quote]buildsomemuscle wrote:
My goal is a balanced physique in regards to aesthetics and strength, so i wouldn’t want anything not being trained but i dont want unnecessary fluff either that just takes up time[/quote]
Yet you’re doing shrugs? 
If you removed hammer curls, you’d have just one direct bi exercise. That may or may not be enough for you, but the two exercises are definitely not “too much”. I’d say cable curls and hammer curls are both worth keeping. They’re different enough that there’s little overlap, especially if you go heavier/lower rep on the hammers and lighter/constant tension on the cables.
Hammer Curls just like other exercises work a different part of the bicep. You will not get to where you want to be without the necessary variation to your workouts.
Add them for a little while. The change may perk things up. Nothing works forever but I doubt that starting with something and progressively getting stronger with it will not be without some adaptive change
Not sure what the rest of your routine looks like, or how many days per week your hitting what, but I personally would do a bit more movements in the vertical & horizontal rowing department and just finish off with a few sets of hammer curls followed up by barbell or cable straight bar curls.
I have always included hammer and/or reverse curls in my routines. I can’t imagine going any significant period of time without them.