How To: Strengthen your biceps with rope hammer curls

Learn how to do rope hammer curls. Presented by Real Jock Gay Fitness Health & Life.

Benefits
Two-handed rope hammer curls are a great way to target the brachialis portion of the biceps.

Muscles Worked
Biceps (brachialis)

Starting Position
Stand facing a cable machine and attach a double-ended rope handle to the cable on the low setting. Take one handle in each hand, with your arms extended downward at shoulder-width apart, your palms facing each other and your thumbs up. Take a light grip; your pinkies should rest against the rope ends. Keep your elbow soft (never locked straight) and your upper arm close to your body. Try to keep your elbow slightly in front of the midline of your hip throughout the exercise to keep weight in the bicep muscle.

Exercise
1. From the starting position, bend your elbow to curl your hand up toward your upper arm. Start the upward motion of the curl with a slight scooping motion through your pinkies to engage the muscle. Keep your elbow down as you do so, and do not let your upper arm swing—it should stay perfectly still throughout the exercise. Curl all the way up to full flexion. At the top of curl, briefly tweak your hands slightly out to the sides to engage the brachialis.
2. Do not pause at the top of your motion; you should not rest at either the top or bottom of the curl. Immediately begin lowering your arm back to the starting position to complete the curl, resisting the weight of the plates all the way down.