For forearm growth
For forearm growth, hammer curl rates higher on our research criteria: easier to progress, easier on the joints.
Wrist roller gives more stretch.
Both are good choices, and they train the forearms differently. Using both across your week covers more of the muscle than either alone: in studies, varied exercises grew parts of a muscle that one exercise missed. (Fonseca et al., 2014; Costa et al., 2021)
The research score comes from these, scored by hand from the studies. Lifter scores appear once an exercise has 10 ratings. How scores work
For forearm growth, hammer curl rates higher on our research criteria: easier to progress, easier on the joints. Wrist roller gives more stretch. Both are good choices, and they train the forearms differently. Using both across your week covers more of the muscle than either alone: in studies, varied exercises grew parts of a muscle that one exercise missed.
About the same: both are easy to learn.
Hammer curl needs dumbbells, so a home gym covers it. Wrist roller needs a weight plate, so a home gym covers it.
Hammer curl: it rates Excellent for joint and recovery cost in our research rubric, against Strong for wrist roller.