Strong, muscular forearms might not be as glamorous or eye catching as bulging biceps but they can still add a lot to your physique in terms of aesthetics and function. Your forearms contribute a lot toward the overall appearance of your arms as well as being important in the performance of a wide variety of sports and exercises. According to Barney Groves in his book "Powerlifting," strong forearms are the link between you and the weight you are trying to lift. Weak forearms might mean the difference between a successful and a missed lift.
Towel Chin-Ups
Chin-ups are an effective upper back and biceps exercise but, with the use of two hand towels, can also become a good forearm building exercise. Loop two strong hand towels over a chin-up bar. Grasp the towels, one in each hand, gripping the ends together. Perform your chin-ups in the normal fashion but gripping the towel ends instead of the bar. Do as many repetitions as possible until your grip gives out. This is a very demanding exercise that, according to John Brookfield in his book on developing hand strength, will build a strong grip along with bigger forearms.
Farmers Walk
This traditional strongman exercise will develop the size and strength of your forearms as well as challenging your muscular endurance. Grasp a heavy dumbbell in each hand and let your arms hang down to your sides. Proceed to walk as far as possible until you are no longer able to hold the dumbbells. To make this exercise more challenging, try to walk farther, walk for a longer duration or use heavier dumbbells.
Dumbbell Hammer Curl
A variation of the standard bicep curl, the hammer curl works your biceps and your forearms at the same time. Grasp a dumbbell in each hand and let your arms hang down by your side with your thumbs pointing forward. Keeping your hand in the thumbs forward position and your palms facing inward, bend your elbows and curl the weights up to your shoulders. Pause for one to two seconds before returning to the starting position and repeating.
Reverse Grip Barbell Curls
To perform the reverse-grip barbell curl, grasp a barbell with a palms-down grip and without wrapping your thumb around the bar. Keeping your elbows tucked in and your back upright, bend your elbows and curl the weight up to level with your shoulders. Pause for one to two seconds in this most contracted position before slowly returning to the starting position and repeating. This exercise works the stabilizing muscles of the wrist and forearm as well as the biceps and will increase size and strength.
Wrist Curls
Targeting the wrist flexors, wrist curls can be performed using a barbell or dumbbells. Sit astride an exercise bench, lean forward and place the backs of your wrists on the bench with your palms up. The backs of your hands should be clear of the bench. Grasping a barbell or dumbbells, extend your wrists and lower the weight as far toward the floor as you can. Now curl your wrists and flex your wrists to lift the weight as high as possible without taking your wrists off of the bench. Pause in this top position for one to two seconds before slowly lowering and repeating.
References
- "Powerlifting"; Barney R. Groves; 2000
- "Mastery of Hand Strength, Revised Edition"; John Brookfield; 2009
- "Designing Resistance Training Programs"; Steven Fleck and William Kraemer; 2003
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