Forearm workouts

[surlesc]

I have been lifting weights that build my tricep and bicep, but I was wondering do these workouts work your forearms? Are there any good forearm workouts that make them bigger? Please let me know.

[Boss Man]

Any Bicep exercise like E-Z Bar Curls, E-Z Bar Reverse Curls, Hammers, Zottmans etc etc, should nail Forearms anyway.

Going for Forearm isolation is pointless and possibly a risk to the Wrists and surrounding Bones and tissues, as the exercises you can do, I.E. Wrist and Reverse Wrist Curls, require Dorsi-flexion, (up and down motion), of the Wrists with a weight attatched, which long-term is potentially no good.

[swanso5]

deadlifts
pull ups
farmer carry variations

www.uponlinetraining.com

[AznBoii16]

finger pushups

[Smuggles908]

I suggest doing nothing but wrist curls, they dont put allot of strain on your wrists and they hit the muscle pretty good. Everything else can cause bad long term affects including carpell tunnel.

[Boss Man]

I suggest doing nothing but wrist curls, they dont put allot of strain on your wrists and they hit the muscle pretty good. Everything else can cause bad long term affects including carpell tunnel.

I suggest the exact opposite. Wrist Curls could stress the joint and might increase the risk of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, whereas things like Deadlifts shouldn't, unless you potentially flexed one or both Wrists sometimes, or flexed them and kept them fixed like that during the movement, instead of keepng the Wrists dead srtaight.

[Rashide]

Wrist curls are good.
Reverse Curls are good.
Hanging from a pull up bar is good.
If that^^ is too easy, try with one hand :p

[Boss Man]

Reverse curls are good.

Wrist curls are rubbish. If you want to be using a small joint, loading it with weight, then manipulating it with multiple repetitions of dorsi-flexion, then expect in 20 years to potentially have a problem with the joints mobility.

[JamesVillepigue]

Hey buddy!

Someone mentioned Farmer Walking I believe, but here's a way to really get your forearms jacked, while burning tons of calories simultaneously.

I'm a pretty big guy, but I typically don't go over 25lb dumbbells with this exercise. I go to the treadmill, set that sucker on high elevation random hill setting, and carry them as much as humanly possible for 20 minutes while walking up and down hills at a moderate pace. I alternate from total farmer walking, to putting them up my shoulders when my arms simply can't hack it anymore and the energy stores are all but spent.

Additionally, this is another easy way that most people don't think about. Go to a cable machine, the ones that are stand alone and have two cables, one for each arm. Now, put it on a heavy weight, make sure to do a shoulder roll back for form/postures sake (chest out), and then just stand there holding the weight as long as you can. If you're more rep/set minded, count to thirty ten times with a decent weight. While you do this stuff you're working the forearms hardcore, but plenty of other stuff as well to provide that extra metabolic kick.

Finally, don't neglect what I call the mind-to-muscle connection. Meaning, before you workout, take some time to really think and focus on your forearms. Tell your body what to expect, and get pumped! As you work on your forearms, devour the pain, and focus on the muscles you're truly trying to build/work.


Hope this help, and keep up the hard work!

Sincerely,

James Villepigue.

[Boss Man]

A mind muscle connection is good. Ther's been a few times that without it I'd have dropped dumbells on my face when benching, but when one or both arms let you down, the MMC kicks in and you can lower the weights down and avoid a potentially bloody outcome

You need to have the mindset of expecting to possibly fail, on that last rep, on any given day, even if you're going 95% to failure and not aiming for failure, which you don't really need to do anyway, as sometimes you'll lack that extra bit of umph and a set where you normally aim for 95% failure, turns into a failure set and if you're not prepared for that, it could catch you out quite painfully depending on what sort of exercises you were doing.

[Packard]

I've always worked my forearms hard. Out of vanity, and the fact that in most instances people could not see your biceps, but often could see your forearms I've always trained them hard.

My favorite exercise is the reverse curl. But do it with an EZ Curl bar or your wrist might start hurting. This not only works the forearm, but also a small knot of the biceps where it attaches to the forearm muscle.

Hammer curls. Also very good. And I always do both. There is a large overlap on the reverse curl and hammer curl as to effect. If you have access to an incline board try hanging your arms plumb (straight down) and doing the hammers. This will lengthen the biceps as well.

Grip exercisers. I have one from Iron Mind. They are the only ones really worth getting. But don't be overly ambitious. Their weakest one is way tougher to use than the heaviest ones you find in the sporting goods stores: http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencm ... crush.html
Grip the gripper with the coil at your thumb end of the hand and then reverse it so that the coil is at the pinky end of the hand. This will assure that you involve all the fingers in the exercise.

I used to do upright rows with two 45 pound Olympic weights. Old style Olympic weights had a lip on one side and a smooth surface on the other. I would place both lips together so only the smooth surfaces were available to grip. Using friction only I would do the upright rows. I'm not certain how effective this is as a training method as it is essentially an isometric exercise. But is is very tough to do and I liked showing off.

Finger tip push ups. I used to do 20 or so on all ten finger tips. I could do 2 or 3 using only my thumb and pointer fingers of both hands.

Finger tip pull ups. This was useful for my (at the time) rock climbing. Find a commercial door with a steel buck (steel frame around the door). The buck usually extends about 1/2" from the wall. Curl your four fingers (no thumb) on both hands to grip the top of the steel buck (leave the door open so you can hang). Then do your pull ups. But don't do this on your home door as the wooden molding will peel off the wall.

Avoid using lifting straps for your lifts as it will leave your forearm undeveloped.

[Boss Man]

Reverse E-Z Bar Curls, are a very good one as are Hammers too.

I've tried reverse with a flat bar before, but it seems like one or both forearms, is being put under unusual pressure / stress, so I never did it again, after the initial few times.

The main thing to remember with reverse E-Z Bar Curls, is that you won't be able to use as much weight as you can with regular ones, in fact you're looking at around 10kg, (22lbs), less or potentially more than that.

[Packard]

Reverse E-Z Bar Curls, are a very good one as are Hammers too.

I've tried reverse with a flat bar before, but it seems like one or both forearms, is being put under unusual pressure / stress, so I never did it again, after the initial few times.

The main thing to remember with reverse E-Z Bar Curls, is that you won't be able to use as much weight as you can with regular ones, in fact you're looking at around 10kg, (22lbs), less or potentially more than that.

Both the hammer curl and th reverse curl use a smaller area of the biceps. A lower poundage is to be expected as compared with conventional curls. I reduce the poundage by about 25%.