Forearm strength is a crucial component to any exercise program. Strong forearms allow you to hold heavy weights and have good grip strength. To target your wrist extensor muscles in your forearms, you need to utilize some variation of the reverse wrist curl exercise. You can perform reverse wrist curls from a variety of positions; however, the standing variation allows you to also develop shoulder endurance in conjunction with forearm strength.
Dumbbell Reverse Wrist Curls
The dumbbell reverse wrist curl requires you to grab a pair of dumbbells and hold your arms in front of you out so that they are parallel to the floor. You need to turn your hands so that your knuckles are facing upward. Keeping your arms straight, allow your wrists to rotate downward. From this position, rotate your wrists as high upward as you can. Continue rotating your wrists upward and downward until your forearms become fatigued.
Barbell Reverse Wrist Curls
The barbell variation requires the use of a barbell. Most barbells weigh 45 lbs., which makes this variation extremely difficult for novice lifters. Grab the barbell with an overhand grip with your hands spaced shoulder-width distance apart. Relax your wrists so that they bend toward the floor. Now, rotate your wrists upward by utilizing the muscles in your forearms. Continue to rotate upward as high as you can while keeping your arms in the parallel position. After you have reached the highest point, return your wrists back to the initial position. You may repeat until your forearms become tired or your shoulders can no longer support the parallel arm position. Do not arch your back to help keep your arms parallel because this will increase the risk of a spinal injury.
Wrist Roller
The wrist roller exercise involves a pipe with a hole drilled in the middle. A rope is attached to the pipe with a hook on the end. The hook is used to attach a weight place for resistance. Grab the pipe with an overhand grip and hold your arms out so that they are parallel to the floor. Rotate your right hand downward allowing the pipe to spin under your left hand. After the rope has been lowered a few inches, grip the pipe with your left hand and allow the pipe to spin under your right hand. Continue to rotate the pipe clockwise allowing the rope that has been wrapped around the pipe to unwind. This will lower the weight plate toward the floor. Once the plate is one to two inches away from the floor, you may begin winding the rope back up on the pipe. To do so, rotate your left hand upward while allowing the pipe to spin under your right hand. Grip the pipe with your right hand and the rotate your wrist upward allowing the pipe to spin under your left hand. Continue the counter-clockwise spinning motion of the pipe to allow the rope to slowly wrap around the pipe and raise the weight plate up.
Considerations
Each variation has its own particular benefit. The dumbbell variation allows each hand to be worked independently, which improves single hand strength. The barbell version improves two-handed strength. The wrist roller improves hand-to-hand coordination of your wrist extensors while also challenging your wrist flexors. A comprehensive exercise program will rotate between these different variations of the reverse wrist curl to allow all aspects of strength to be progressively developed.
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