You train your legs, arms, abs, glutes, and just about every other major muscle group in your body. But if you neglect your mitts, you could be holding yourself back in the weight room. "Grip strength is essential to lifting power and stamina," says James Sjostrom, owner of CrossFit NRG in Salt Lake City, Utah and creator of the 4-Week Body Fat Detonator. "If you can't grip it, you can't lift it." That's why Sjostrom recommends adding the dumbbell hammer curl to your exercise arsenal. Instead of your palms facing forward like they do with a standard dumbbell curl, your palms face each other. "This simple tweak doesn't allow the weight to rest in your palms, so your fingers have to work overtime to keep the weight in your hand every rep," he says. It'll bump up your biceps while taxing your grip, for a one-two punch that'll help you lift more weight in every exercise.
Ready to try it? Watch the video below to learn how to perform the hammer curl with perfect form.
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