What you'll gain
Neutral grip loads the brachialis and brachioradialis alongside the biceps.
One arm at a time makes side to side rep and load matching simple.
Needs only a pair of dumbbells, so it fits home and hotel gym programs.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- 1
Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your sides with your palms facing your body.
- 2
Stand tall with your feet hip width apart and your abs braced.
- 3
Keep a small bend in the elbows and set your shoulders back and down.
- 4
Curl one dumbbell diagonally across your chest toward the opposite shoulder.
- 5
Squeeze at the top without letting the dumbbell touch your body.
- 6
Lower under control to your side, then repeat with the other arm.
Common Mistakes
Resting the dumbbell against the chest at the top, which unloads the arm mid rep.
Rotating the torso to meet the dumbbell, which shortens the range the arm actually works.
Letting the elbow swing forward, so the front of the shoulder lifts the weight.
Shrugging the shoulder up as the dumbbell rises, which moves work to the traps.
About This Exercise
The cross-body hammer curl, also called the pinwheel curl, holds a dumbbell with a neutral grip and curls it diagonally across the body toward the opposite shoulder. The neutral wrist keeps the brachialis and brachioradialis heavily involved alongside the biceps brachii, and the diagonal path keeps the dumbbell off the torso so the arm controls the weight instead of resting it. You work one arm at a time, which slows the set down and makes matching reps side to side straightforward. Keep the elbow close to your ribs and the shoulder still so the arm does the moving. In a library this is the neutral grip dumbbell clip that pairs with a standard hammer curl. It works in dumbbell-only program tracks, forearm and elbow flexor accessory blocks, and short demo content for home training apps.
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Cross-Body Hammer Curl
Dumbbell hammer curl swept diagonally across the torso, loading the biceps, brachialis and forearms.
Need more than one animation?
Choose a focused 104-exercise pack or unlock all 412, with commercial licensing included.
Specifications
Built for
- Dumbbell-only program tracks in a training app.
- Forearm and elbow flexor accessory blocks.
- Short form demo content for home workout apps.
- Brachialis emphasis in arm phases that rotate curl angles from week to week.
Muscles Worked
Details
License Includes
Dumbbell Concentration Curl
$4.99A seated single-arm curl with the elbow braced against the inner thigh — pure biceps, no body english.
Dumbbell Curl
$4.99The standard standing dumbbell biceps curl — the most-used arm exercise in any program, anywhere.
Dumbbell Hammer Curl
$4.99A neutral-grip dumbbell curl that builds the brachialis and forearms — the arm-thickness curl every program needs.
Dumbbell Incline Curl
$4.99A seated curl on an incline bench that stretches the biceps long-head before each rep — the cleanest peak-builder.
Dumbbell Incline Hammer Curl
$4.99A neutral-grip curl done seated on an incline bench — combines the hammer grip with a deep biceps stretch for arm thickness.
Dumbbell Preacher Curl
$4.99A single-arm curl with the upper arm fixed against a preacher pad — the strict isolation that builds the lower biceps.