Cross Body Hammer CurlMuscles Worked
Cross body hammer curls work your biceps and the brachialis, with the brachioradialis in your forearm helping throughout. Curling the dumbbell across your body toward the opposite shoulder, rather than straight up, puts extra emphasis on the brachialis, which helps fill out the outer side of the arm.
How to do it
- Stand tall holding a dumbbell in each hand, arms at your sides and palms facing your thighs.
- Keeping your palm facing in, curl one dumbbell up and across your body toward the opposite shoulder.
- Stop when the dumbbell reaches the front of your chest near that shoulder and squeeze for a moment.
- Lower it along the same diagonal path until your arm is straight at your side.
- Repeat with the other arm, alternating until both arms have done the same number of reps.
Form tips
- Keep your upper arm close to your body; the forearm moves across while the elbow stays put.
- Don't twist your torso to help the dumbbell across.
- Hold the neutral grip the whole way so the brachialis and forearm stay in the lift.
Why it made the list
No. 9 of 12
Best Bicep Exercises
Cross-body motion targets the brachialis more than standard hammer curls. Builds the outer arm sweep.
More bicep exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Cross Body Hammer Curl sets in KasMaker and watch your biceps and forearms fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
