A completely ripped body isn’t just about having big forearms. Beyond the mere image, there are several good reasons to work on forearm strength and muscle growth.
This is a part of the body that is often an afterthought when working out. One reason we don’t often concentrate on forearm strength training is that a good, general program does hit most of the small muscles in this portion of the arm.
When you’re lifting, you’re performing a pretty good job of strengthening the forearm.
Of course, you can always perform more. Direct your concentration on the forearm muscles and it will build strength and hypertrophy. This can lead to better grip and can even endure or reduce hand, wrist, and elbow pains.
Strengthening Your Forearm
For the best results, you can do some of the forearms exercises two to three times per week.
Once per week strength training isn’t enough to develop bigger and stronger muscles efficiently. Building forearm strength and size really does take some time, so be patient!
But, with concentrated efforts, you should notice some results in a month or two.
You can use various exercises, some with machines, some with weights, and some with only bodyweight. That way, you can hit all the muscles of the forearms and throughout the wrists, hands, elbows.
You may want the range of exercises to move and flex your wrist and forearms. And by shifting up the routines, you’ll stimulate the muscles more and even get faster results.
Forearm workouts stretch and strengthen the muscles intersecting your hands, wrists, and elbows. These are the muscles often applied in daily life for tasks such as opening a glass jar or carrying a suitcase up a flight of stairs. They’re also used in sports such as golf, racquetball, and basketball.
Strengthening your forearms also improves grip strength, which is linked to upper body strength. A firm grip helps you carry, hold, and lift items in your everyday life and during athletic motion. Plus, you’ll produce more power when you work out, drawing more strength to your entire body.
Why is Forearm Strength Important?
If you incorporate some forearm exercises into your workout routine, you’ll gain results in the strength of your arms as well as your elbows, wrists, and hands.
Gripping and lifting things will be a lot easier, and you’ll be less likely to have an injury. Plus, you’ll draw strength to other areas of your workout or weightlifting routine by being capable of squeezing, pushing, and pulling with more force.
This essential but often overlooked component of the body can be developed and strengthened like any other.
But why concentrate on it? There are some reasons you shouldn’t neglect the forearms.
Here’s why you should exert some effort into developing forearm strength:
Look Ripped All Over
One reason is simply revolving around aesthetics.
For your hypertrophy clients, those drawn in bigger muscles and greater definition, neglecting the forearms means an incomplete look. Picture a bulky, impressive biceps, triceps, and shoulders, but with skinny little forearms.
Improve Functional Strength and Movements
Another great reason to work on forearm strength is to promote overall better functional strength. The body is a kinetic string, and all the muscles, big and small, plus connective tissue, joints, and bones, operate together. By improving strength in all muscles, you move more efficiently and safely, reducing injuries and pain.
No muscle should be neglected in this process, including the forearms. There are a lot of muscles in there than what most people realize, and they connect to and affect movements in the elbows, wrists, and hands.
Bigger forearms help with everyday tasks, like opening jars and carrying heavy objects, and in sports like golf and basketball.
Forearm Strength Means Greater Grip Strength
Grip strength is one of those practical movements that forearm workouts will develop. It absolutely helps with those useful things like carrying objects and opening jars, but grip strength is essential in other ways.
In the gym, better grip strength will enable you to lift more with weights and equipment, which in turn develops overall strength.
Researchers have also discovered a compelling health reason to work on grip strength. In a study of over 140,000 individuals, decreases in grip strength were associated with a deterioration in health. Every eleven-pound drop in strength led to a 17 percent higher risk of falling from heart disease. The risen risk of dying from heart attack and stroke was seven and nine percent.
Building a routine
You can perform some forearm exercises on your own or along with your workout routine. Get started with a few, and then change up your routine every so frequently by including more exercises.
If you’re performing the exercises in addition to strenuous activity, make sure you don’t strain your muscles. Perform suitable exercises for a short time each day, and then dedicate time for a longer session one to two times per week. Provide one full day of rest between longer sessions to allow your muscles time to recuperate.
Different Workouts to Build Forearm Muscles Faster
For every exercise, perform 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 15 repetitions. Try incorporating these exercises into your regular routine 2 to 3 times a week. You can even do them on their own, before working out or as a part of a longer routine.
Loosen up and increase blood flow to your wrist joints before executing forearm exercises by moving them in circles in both directions, side to side, and back and forth.
With machines
Front cable curl
- Grab the handle of a low pulley with your left hand, putting your right foot slightly in front of your left.
- Take a few steps away from the machine.
- Moderately curl your arm to bring your hand up toward your shoulder.
- Make a pause here before lowering your arm to the starting position.
Towel cable row
- Put a towel to a cable pulley and stand in front of it.
- Grasp one end of the towel in both hands.
- Bring your shoulder blades together as you take the towel to your chest in a rowing motion.
Forearm pull
- Grip the weight bar of a pulley machine at shoulder level with your palms facing down.
- Bring your upper arms in toward the side of your torso.
- Start pushing the weight down.
- Make a pause in this position, then return to the starting position.
With dumbbells
Start with 5 to 10 pound dumbbells. Progressively increase the weight as you get stronger.
Grasp the dumbbells tightly throughout the workout. If you don’t have weights, you can try using a can of soup or a bottle of water.
Palms-up wrist curl
- While seated, place your wrists on your knees or a horizontal surface with your palms facing up, gripping a dumbbell in each hand.
- With a dumbbell in both hands, lift your hands as high as you can, keeping your arms still.
- After a slight stop, drop your hands to the starting position.
Palms-down wrist curl
- While seated, place your wrist on your knees or a horizontal surface with your palms facing down, holding a dumbbell in both hands.
- Keep your arms still as you lift your hands as high as you can.
- After a slight stop, place your hands back to the starting position.
Grip crush
- While seated, place your left wrist on your knee or a horizontal surface, gripping a dumbbell.
- Relax and loosen your hand as it opens completely so the dumbbell rolls toward your fingertips.
- Close your hand tightly and curl your wrist up as you squeeze the weight as tight as possible.
Without weights
Pullups
It’s certainly a back-to-basics of this workout. You’re going to need a bar or something that’ll hold your weight.
- The perfect hand position is with your palms facing away from you, but if it’s easier, you can turn your palms toward you.
- Stimulate your forearms more by grasping the bar more tightly or using a thicker bar.
- Raise yourself toward the bar.
- You can extend the size of a bar by wrapping a towel around it.
Dead hangs
- Grasp the bar and hold it there for as long as possible, with your elbows slightly flexed.
- This helps to improve grip strength and is easier than performing pull ups.
With Weights
Farmer’s walk
To raise the difficulty, wrap a towel around the handles.
- Apply an overhand grip to lift heavy weights or bags with your arms alongside your body.
- Keep a good posture, hold your chest open, and draw your shoulders down and back.
- Walk for 30 to 40 feet for each set.
- Perform 2 to 5 sets.
At home
Forearm squeeze
Employ a couple of forearm grips or anything that you can squeeze, such as a tennis ball or a sock.
- Spread your fingers widely and then flex them to squeeze the item.
- Hold it for 3 to 5 seconds and then relax your grip for a couple of seconds.
- Continue doing this for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Do this routine 2 to 3 times a day.
Fingertip pushups
- Kneel by a bench or any strong object, and bring your fingertips down on the surface.
- Gradually and with control, draw your chest to the bench, bending your elbows at a 90-degree angle.
- Go back to the starting position.
- Do the routine for 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions.
Crab walk
- Do a reverse tabletop position.
- Put your hands under your shoulders with your fingers facing forward.
- Align your ankles straight under your knees.
- Walk forward on your hands and feet for up to a minute per set.
Sample of a 4-Day-Program Dedicated for Your Forearms
You already understand wrist curls. Nonetheless, there are other and better exercises for strengthening your forearms.
The farmer’s walk is an excellent overall strength developer that will work your grip and forearms with heavyweights. And we got very inventive with the towel wring-out. Repeated squeezing, twisting, and gripping is a component of most labor jobs, and it’s the reason behind the impressive forearms you often see on working men.
We used the same principle to wring the water out of a wet towel to make your arms grow likewise.
Directions:
Match each workout (Days 1, 2, 3, and 4) with one of your regular training sessions and perform it at the end. Perform all exercises as straight sets—complete the prescribed sets for one move before moving on to the next.
Day 1
1.) Farmer’s Walk
Sets: 3
Reps: Walk for 20 sec.
Rest: 60 sec.
- Get the heaviest set of dumbbells you can and hold them tightly at your sides.
- Stand tall and walk with the dumbbells for a designated time.
2.) Band Finger Extension
Sets: 2
Reps: 20-30 (both hands)
Rest: 0 sec.
- Get a heavy-duty rubber band and put it throughout your fingers.
- Expand your fingers apart as far as you can and moderately close them.
3.) Single Dumbbell Wrist Curl
Sets: 2
Reps: 15-20 (both sides)
Rest: 0 sec.
- Grasp a dumbbell in one hand and sit on a box or a bench, enabling your elbow and forearm to sit on your thigh with your hand dangling off your knee, palm- up. You may want to bend your elbow at 90 degrees.
- Allow the dumbbell to hang down, and then curl your wrist up so your palm faces your biceps.
- Keep the movement gradual and stern for all reps.
4.) Wrist Flexion/Extension Stretch
Sets: 1
Reps: Hold for 60 sec. (each side)
Rest: 0 sec.
- Bend your right elbow and grasp your left hand covering the fingers on your right hand.
- Slightly bend your wrist back so the back of your hand is nearer to your forearm, then stretch your right arm to feel the stretch.
- After 60 seconds, do the same procedure to the other arm.
Day 2
1.) Kroc Row
Sets: 3
Reps: 15-25 (each side)
Rest: 90 sec.
- Place your left knee and hand on a bench and grip a heavy dumbbell with your right hand.
- Holding your back in its natural arch, explosively row the weight to your side—you can utilize a less-than-strict form.
- The weight should be substantial enough that you could perform about 10 reps rigidly, but with some force, you can get more than 15.
2.) Single Dumbbell Wrist Extension
Sets: 2
Reps: 20-30 (each side)
Rest: 0 sec.
- Grasp a dumbbell in one hand and sit on a box or a bench, enabling your elbow and forearm to rest on your thigh with your hand hanging off your knee, palm down.
- Bend your wrist up so the back of your hand meets your biceps at the top.
3.) Lacrosse Ball Forearm Roll
Sets: 2
Reps: Roll for 30 sec. (each side)
Rest: 0 sec.
- Put a lacrosse ball (or baseball or tennis ball) on a box and place your forearm on the ball with your hand palm-down.
- Push your forearm into the ball and gradually roll from wrist to elbow and back. Perform the same procedure several times, turning your wrist slightly so you can massage different tight tissues.
- Then turn your arm over and do it again on the other side.
4.) Wrist Flexion/Extension Stretch
Sets: 1
Reps: Hold for 60 sec. (each side)
Rest: 0 sec.
- Perform as explained on Day 1.
Day 3
1.) Wrist Roller
Sets: 3
Reps: 4-5
Rest: 90 sec.
- Take a wrist roller (it looks like a wooden dowel with a rope in the center connected to weight) and keep it straight out in front of your body with a palms-down grip.
- Roll your hands forward in an alternating manner until the rope winds up the dowel and the weight is elevated.
- Reverse the movement to lower the weight. You’ve already done rep.
2.) Pinch
Sets: 3
Reps: 15-30 sec.
Rest: 60 sec.
- Set two hexagon-shaped dumbbells standing up on the floor.
- Bend down and pinch the head of every weight with your fingers—like you’re attempting to palm a basketball—and raise them off the floor. Hold them for a designated time.
3.) Towel Wring-Out
Sets: 2
Reps: Work for 60 sec.
Rest: 0 sec.
- Get a thick beach or bath towel and dip in the water.
- Wring it out, twisting your wrists in each direction to dry out the towel. (If you’re doing this in a gym, we recommend going to the locker room and do it in a sink.)
4.) Wrist Flexion/Extension Stretch
Sets: 1
Reps: Hold for 60 sec. (each side)
Rest: 0 sec.
- Perform as explained on Day 1.
Day 4
1.) Towel Pullup
Sets: 3
Reps: As many as you can
Rest: 90 sec.
- Connect a towel to a pullup bar and grasp an end in both hands.
- Pull yourself up until your chin becomes higher than your hands.
- If that’s too difficult, just hang yourself from the towel for 30 seconds or as long as you can.
2.) Cable Thumb Curl/Pinkie Curl
Sets: 2
Reps: 15-20 (both sides)
Rest: 0 sec.
- Connect a rope handle to the pulley on a cable machine.
- Grip an end in your left hand and pull it so it joins through the hole and serves as one long rope.
- Step back so your arm is stretched, there’s pressure on the cable, and your palm is neutral (thumb pointing up).
- Flex your wrist to direct the thumb back toward your forearm; the range of movement is small. Finish your reps, do it on the other hand, then return to your left hand and grip the rope with fingers on top to perform the opposite motion.
- Curl your pinkie toward the bottom of your forearm.
3.) Cable Supination/Pronation
Sets: 2
Reps: 15-20 (both sides)
Rest: 0 sec.
- Connect a rope handle to the pulley on a cable machine and thread it through as specified for the cable thumb curl (left).
- Take an end in your left hand, thumb facing the machine, and palm up. Step back to place tension on the cable and sit on a bench or box.
- With your elbow bent 90 degrees, turn your wrist inward till your palm faces down. Perform your reps, do the same on the other hand, then turn to your left hand and grasp the rope so your thumb faces the machine with your palm down.
- Turn your wrist outward till your palm faces up.
4.) Wrist Flexion/Extension Stretch
Sets: 1
Reps: Hold for 60 sec. (both sides)
Rest: 0 sec.
- Perform as explained on Day 1.
How to Get Bigger Forearms with Less Pain
There may be rehabilitative purposes to work on forearm strength. Pain in the forearm can due to injuries, nerve injury, and arthritis.
Strengthening the muscles affected can help regulate pain and speed recovery from injury or surgery.
Modify What You’re Doing
It’s essential to understand that several of the exercises you’re already doing in the gym are developing forearm and grip strength: deadlifts, chin-ups, pull-ups, and others.
If you’re not sure where to start or would like some supervision, get in touch with a fitness expert. They can discuss any specific concerns you may have, set you up with a system, and make sure you’re performing the exercises correctly.
When doing these exercises, only go to the level that’s suitable for your body. Be gentle and make sure you can keep gentle, controlled breathing that imitates your movements. Avoid any jerky movements.
Halt if you’re feeling pain or anything beyond a mild response. If you encounter soreness after these exercises, put an icepack on the affected area and try light stretching to lessen tension.
If you have any injuries or medical issues that could be influenced by forearm exercises, it’s best to avoid them or do them under the supervision of your doctor or physical therapist.
A simple alteration makes these workouts you’re already doing extra efficient. For instance, you can make the barbell handle a bit bigger with a specialist grip. Doing so can increase the width of the bar and drives you to hold with a stronger grip, working the forearm muscles.
Another manageable change that improves forearm strength is to switch to a pronated grip. Grasp the bar with the backs of the wrists facing up and palms facing downward. This takes the tension off the biceps and shifts it to the forearms.
Try a Climbing Wall
Promoting massive forearms doesn’t have to restrict you to lifting or simple bodyweight exercises. Sure, doing so can be excellent and effective, but they can get boring.
Rock climbing is an amazingly demanding sport that primarily builds upper body strength, forearm strength, and grip strength. If there is a wall climbing gym in your area or an outdoor park where you can do wall climbing, take advantage of it at least once a week. It will increase strength all over and emphasize forearms and grip, working each one of those little muscles.
Developing forearm strength is something you can decide to do incidentally with a comprehensive strength training routine. Alternatively, you can apply some of these strategies to get ripped from elbow to wrist.
Final Thoughts
Forearm exercises can develop strength and enhance grip strength, both of which serve a wide range of physical activities.
To see the best results, develop a workout routine and stick to it. However, don’t forget to take some rest in-between workouts.
Lastly, consider changing up your routine from time to time.