Skip to Content

Do Hammer Curls Work Chest? (Why You Feel Your Chest)

Is this something people wonder? It’s easy to test!

All you need is a pair of dumbbells and an inquisitive mind.

If you’re reading this, I have to assume you’ve got an inquisitive mind. You must be lacking a pair of dumbbells.

Maybe there’s a link to some dumbbells in this article? You should get yourself some dumbbells.

Do Hammer Curls Work Your Chest?

Hammer curls do not work your chest. They work your arms. Primarily your biceps and forearms.

Are Incline Hammer Curls Good For Your Chest?

Incline hammer curls, performed lying on an incline bench, do nothing for your chest!

They work the biceps and forearms in a similar manner to the standing variation.

In the absence of any direct pectoral stimulus, you could say the absence of harm is a good thing!

Why Some People Get Sore Pecs From Hammer Curls

This isn’t something that’s super common, but it’s possible to annoy the bicep tendon up by the pec minor with any type of curl.

This tenderness could be misconstrued as pec soreness.

There are many overlapping structures around that site.

In order to tweak your bicep tendon in this manner, you’d probably need to be hunching over and rolling your shoulders inwards quite significantly.

I suppose there’s a slim chance that one is contracting their pecs isometrically so hard during the curls, that they get sore the next day.

It’s not something I’ve come across, or would say is likely.

The thing about a hammer curl is that it’s pretty linear – up and down.

If the dumbbell is crossing the body, you’re more likely to have a pectoral contraction at the top of the movement.

Should You Still Do Hammer Curls If You Have Sore Pecs?

If your pecs are sore, you can expect to continue training the hammer curl without issue.

If your pecs are sore, you might still be able to perform exercises that train your pecs!

Soreness doesn’t mean rest. If the soreness isn’t excessive, you can continue to train the muscle.

You’ll find that by lightly moving, or by repeating training on a sore muscle, the soreness will temporarily subside.

Take your aches and pains and make that a problem for someone else. That someone else is your future self!

If the soreness in your pecs is excessive, it could be unappealing enough to deter you from any upper body training.

That’s all for this article, but do hammer curls work bicep peak?

Hope this helped!

Sources

Hammer Curls Muscles Worked