Wrist Injury – Do Hammer Curls
August 11, 2009
You have hurt your elbow, hand or wrist and are worried about continuation of your exercise regime due to your inability to do barbell curl. Hammer Curl is the answer for you.
Hammer Curls is the muscle building exercise for biceps. It is preferable for the persons who are suffering with hand, elbow or wrist injury but still want to continue with their exercise regime.
Hammer curl is performed with the palms in front of each other. It’s both arm dumbbell curl. In hammer curl, dumbbells are held the way hammer is held in hand keeping the wrists straight. Reps are performed in the same position, thus keeping the wrist straight and putting minimum strain on the injured wrist. Be careful to not to deviate your wrists radially or in ulnar position by tilting the wrist in upward position or in downward position respectively.
Hammer curls are not the ideal substitute for the barbell curl as the bicep muscles targeted by both the curls are different. Barbell curl builds the lower biceps, wrist muscles and the brachii of the biceps. It also develops the bicep muscles beneath the shoulder. Hammer curl develops the forearm muscles. This muscle can be located by extending the forearm with you palm facing the floor. This muscle is positioned at the inner top area. This muscle bends, flex and gyrates the wrist.
Perform the hammer curls by curling the dumbbells concurrently or alternate it. If you have decided to curl the two dumbbells at the same time, then be cautious of putting excess strain on your back. Do not bend your back too much that it starts aching.
If you feel a sudden wave of pain in your back, slowly get back to the original position without putting further strain on back. Posture maintenance is necessary during hammer curls or else you will end up adding to your injuries. Keep muscles of your abdomen in high tension to avoid the excess pressure on the back.
If the hammer curls clicks with you, you can continue doing them along with standard curls once you have recovered from wrist injury. However, add the hammer curls gradually in your exercise regime and remember to follow the caution described above.
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