TRX Hammer Curl
Facing the anchor with palms turned inward, you curl your body up toward the handles, loading the elbow flexors with the brachioradialis emphasized by the neutral grip. Resistance scales instantly with foot position, so it suits any level and pumps the arms with zero free weights. Slot it into upper-body or arm-focused sessions.
- Equipment
- TRX
- Type
- Strength
- Browse by muscle
- Brachioradialis, Biceps Brachii Long Head, Biceps Brachii Short Head
- Browse by movement
- Elbow Flexion
- Target
- Brachioradialis, Biceps Brachii Long Head, Biceps Brachii Short Head
- Secondary
- Deltoid Anterior
- Tertiary
- Trapezius Middle, Erector Spinae
How to do it
- 1
Face the anchor and hold a handle in each hand with palms facing each other.
- 2
Walk the feet forward and lean back with arms extended and body straight.
- 3
Brace the core and keep the elbows high and fixed in space.
- 4
Curl your body upward by bending only at the elbows, keeping the neutral grip.
- 5
Squeeze at the top when the hands reach the sides of your head.
- 6
Lower under control until the arms are straight again and repeat.
Tips
- Keep the upper arms still; only the forearms should rotate up.
- Step the feet farther forward to increase the load, or back to reduce it.
- Keep the hips and torso locked so momentum does not help the curl.
Variations
Common mistakes
- Letting the elbows sink as you tire turns the curl into a row and your back takes over. If you cannot hold them high, walk your feet back and finish the set more upright.
- Letting the hips trail behind the line of your body hands the work to the lower back and shortens the curl. Squeeze the glutes so shoulders, hips and heels stay in one line.
- Walking the feet far forward on your first session makes every rep a fight and the elbows drop immediately. Start nearly upright and step forward only once 15 reps feel controlled.
- Leaning back so little that the straps go slack means your weight lands on your heels rather than your arms. Keep enough lean that the straps are tight before the first rep.
- Pulling your hands past your head so the handles end up behind you takes the elbows out of the line of pull and the movement stalls. Finish with the hands beside your temples.
Frequently asked
- How many sets and reps of the TRX hammer curl should a beginner do?
- Three sets of 10 to 15, with your foot position set so the last two reps are hard while the elbows stay put. Because you change the load by walking your feet, use the same mark on the floor for every set and remember it, or the difficulty drifts from set to set. Progress by stepping one foot length forward once you can do 15 clean reps, rather than by adding sets. Two sessions a week fits at the end of an upper-body day.
- What can I do instead of the TRX hammer curl without a suspension trainer?
- Gymnastic rings or a pair of towels thrown over a pull-up bar give the same neutral-grip bodyweight curl, though towels demand far more grip. A band hammer curl with the band under both feet is the closest equipment-light swap. In a gym, a rope on a low pulley or a plain dumbbell hammer curl trains the same muscles with load you can dial in exactly. A low, sturdy bar you can lean back under and curl toward also works.
- What is the TRX hammer curl good for and who should skip it?
- It is arm work for people training without weights: your body supplies the load, the neutral grip biases the brachioradialis, and moving your feet changes difficulty instantly, which makes drop sets easy. It suits home and travel training and anyone building arm volume with light joint stress. Skip it if your shoulders or lower back cannot hold a straight-body lean, and choose a dumbbell version when you want measurable progression, because a foot position is a rough unit next to a 2 kg jump.
Related exercises
Other movements among FitRay's 2,000+ exercises that load the same target muscle — same equipment and level first.