# forearms



## leglock (Mar 10, 2005)

Do any of you chaps actually train forearms and if so what exercises do you do and how often.


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## LeeB (Oct 5, 2011)

haevy hammer curls... but dont pull the weight directy up.... start in the normal position and curl/squeeze hard to your opposite shoulder... use high reps and watch them pump!!


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## Alex The Kid1466867934 (Aug 18, 2007)

Deadlifts and i mean HEAVY daedlifts no straps.

My forearms are really sore after deadlifting,only just started doing them this year.


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## Richard1466867930 (Mar 12, 2007)

I don't specificaly train forearms, they seem to get alot of work as a secondary muscle during other exercises.


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

i`m lucky ive got freakishly big forearms due to the job i did when i left school(nope not a fluffer!)

i get major doms in them from deads.

currently working on closing on some 300lb grippers


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## cellaratt (Jul 16, 2008)

later I'll add a picture ( technically retarded, I have to wait for the misses to get home and add it. ) but I use three seperate exercise first , I do traditional forearm curls with my forearms flat ( parellel ) on bench with BB ( or DB ), I don't feel comfortable doing reverse grip on this exercise. Second I stand upright w/ my arm almost in a side biceps pose w/ my forearm again parellel to the floor ( with this exercise I use a put together dumbell with weight on one end held with a clamp and nothing on the other end acting as a handle, with palms up I simply rotate back and forth ). Third exercise with the same DB I stand straight with my arm hanging freely to the side and lift the dumbell with my hand only, leaving arm stiff down, in the direction of the floor to the ceiling with the weight in front and immediately switch so the weight is in back. Hammers are nice aswell and so are grippers but IMO they are limiting to only specific parts of the forearm instead of total isolation but great if thats all you are going to do for forearms


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## SX Dave (Jun 14, 2007)

Richard said:


> I don't specificaly train forearms, they seem to get alot of work as a secondary muscle during other exercises.


same here, i dont train them direct but i find reverse grip barbell curls really pump my fore arms


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## gentlegiant (Mar 23, 2007)

LeeB said:


> haevy hammer curls... but dont pull the weight directy up.... start in the normal position and curl/squeeze hard to your opposite shoulder... use high reps and watch them pump!!


Yeh,they're good and very satisfying because you can almost double the weight from your usual bicep concentration's.


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## Guest (Feb 24, 2008)

do you guys think that grip strength training will help increase the size of your forearms much or will it more or less just increase their strength?


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## cellaratt (Jul 16, 2008)

I think it has to increase the size, as your hand strength is greatly influenced by your forearm. Just squeeze your hand shut and you can identify the muscles of your forearm that will be worked. If you've ever gotten a good look at a powerlifter's chest it might not be the greatest to look at but still big, I think the same concept could applie to this and most muscle groups.. Big is Big whether through strength training or bodybuilding.


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## gentlegiant (Mar 23, 2007)

scottswald said:


> do you guys think that grip strength training will help increase the size of your forearms much or will it more or less just increase their strength?


I suppose it depends on what your gripping! :beckyon't go there:becky:

Ever since i started block and beaming my forearms are alot bigger and more shredded and grip is alot stronger so that most def does both.

Plate pinching is great for grip strength.(That's a 20kg weight not antique blue willow)


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

i get these daily newsletters from a site...

A few days ago, Dan Archambault, a rock climber wrote in

with a great question. Lets take a look:

John,

Just wondering if you could give me some advice on

techniques for specifically strengthening the tendons

of the hands and fingers. I am a competitive climber

and want to stay healthy when my climbing progresses

to higher levels.

Thank you for your time.

Dan

Dan, a very interesting topic. Youll find material on

building bone, tendon and ligament strength going back

a very long way and its something a lot of people are

wondering about.

The first thing that must be clearly understood is that

like muscle growth, tendons, ligaments etc do not grow

by accident. -- they can only grow stronger through a

specific kind of training.

What we are really discussing here is the physiological

reactions of the human body to a specific type of stress

(ie training.)

It is only through an adaptation to stress where growth

can occur (and that goes for plenty of other aspects of

your life as well - think about it.)

Anyhow, in our case, the "stress" which sets the growth

processesin action comes from resistance training,

otherwise, there is no reason for these structures

to change and grow.

It also must be understood that different body tissues

react to stress in different timeframes.

I have a great book called "One Move Too Many" written specifically

about rock climbing injuries. Some of the

pictures are pretty ghastly; they would give Freddy Krueger

the shivers.

Regardless, one interesting aspect which is discussed in

this book which I find pretty interesting is material

on the time frame for physiological reactions of bone

and soft tissue to stress.

Heres how it looks:

============================================

Muscle - after 3 weeks of training

Heart Muscle - after 4 weeks of training

Bone - after 1 year of training

Tendon - after 1-2 years of training

Ligaments - after more than 2 years of training

Cartilage - after 3-5 years of training

============================================

So really "growth" of these tissues is just a matter of

hard work, recovery consistency and progression over a sustained period

of time.

Thats right, its not going to happen after just one

workout. Its going to take several weeks, months or

years of productive resistance training before you

start seeing the kind of growth you want.

So, given this fact, many exercises will "work" in

this regard, provided they are improved upon workout

after workout after workout.

For one, thick bars are a great choice.

Mike Brown, who wrote the "Iron Claws" Grip Course (which is

available here:

http://www.functionalhandstrength.com/o ... brary.html )

had this to say:

"... [John Y] Smith's hands looked like iron claws. Years

of one handed deadlifting with thick handled barbells had

so thickened Smith's finger tendons in the palm of his hand

that those same tendons stood out like the webbing on a

duck's feet... "

And, of course, the great George Jowett wrote the following

in one of his training guides:

"...You may wonder how your wrist will become improved by

any forearm practice , so before we go any further, let me enlighten

you upon the fact that the muscles all taper off

into ligaments.

The weaker the muscles, the more stringy and thin are these

cables. The stronger and bulkier they build up, the thicker

the ligaments become.

As these ropes of connection taper off at the wrist, it is

only a natural condition that the wrist size should be

increased. When I commenced heavy exercise, I had only

a seven inch wrist, just an average size as I have said, but

to-day my wrist measures every bit of eight an a half

inches... The sinews that have massed upon the wrist

are very heavy..."

These are just the tip of the iceberg, the bottom line,

however, is that if you want to have development that

most people only dream about, youll need to start

stringing together great workouts.

Have at it.


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## BigAndyJ (Mar 26, 2009)

> ...block and beaming...


What's that?

I hang from a bar for as long as I can with as tight a grip as I can. It's definitely adding size and strength.


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## Guest (Feb 24, 2008)

a top class powerlifter will never have as big muscles as a top class bodybuilder does IMO.


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## gentlegiant (Mar 23, 2007)

Concrete flooring.Set out beams,fill in with blocks.Deadlifting for a living!

http://www.bulbrook.connectfree.co.uk/sitepictures/Groundwork/floorbeam.jpg


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

> a top class powerlifter will never have as big muscles as a top class bodybuilder does IMO.


thats true,but there arent many small powerlifters are there?

similarly a body builder will never have the strength of a powerlifter.

a few years back all the mr.olympia finalists were given a captain of crush gripper to close..

1 managed it!


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## Guest (Feb 24, 2008)

i've only seen rtey brewer try to do it and he couldn't.

who did do it then?


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## Guest (Feb 24, 2008)

Gazz said:


> Plate pinching is great for grip strength.(That's a 20kg weight not antique blue willow)


new question, what sort of time is considered decent for this?


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

lol no i dont and whilst googling i discovered it may have been the arnold classic.


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## gentlegiant (Mar 23, 2007)

scottswald said:


> new question, what sort of time is considered decent for this?


I tend to hold until my hand's literally give way and i drop them.I've not timed it but i would say about 3 minute's or so.I only do it once a week,usually on Friday,the very last thing i do.My thumb's are like chicken drumstick's.


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## thedog1 (Feb 25, 2008)

dont specifically train them but have developed from other exercises


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## gentlegiant (Mar 23, 2007)

thedog1 said:


> dont specifically train them but have developed from other exercises


dog are you really 13 years of age?


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## Guest (Feb 25, 2008)

Gazz said:


> dog are you really 13 years of age?


isn't it obvious? just a little'in :nod:


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## FAT BOY (Dec 19, 2005)

not realy i wonderd that after looking at his avy dog put some pictures up  if you are only 13 your looking good . if not your still looking good


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## gentlegiant (Mar 23, 2007)

scottswald said:


> isn't it obvious? just a little'in :nod:


If my lad look's like that at 13 i'm entering him for Cruft's!

That's a right arm that most 20 year old's would be happy with.I would of said dog was about 16,17.It was'nt until i spotted the signature and thought WTF!

What's your routine then dog.Give us old'un's and insight.

:clap2:


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## Guest (Feb 26, 2008)

anyway, back to the subject, any of you guys heard of the 'diesel crew', i was just watching some of their vids on youtube, who are they?


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## Madeira Jon (Jan 11, 2008)

I've got a pair of "spring grips" which I use when watching TV!


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## scotty T (Oct 8, 2011)

I remember seeing a guy as a kid with really thick forearms/wrists i mean freaky! big has always stuck with me they were very impresive, i think big arms just look wrong without the forearm being in preportion.

i really feel over hand curls and hammer's


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## justheretosnoop (Jun 15, 2012)

My wrists/forearms are about as girthy as my index finger...at a push!!


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## Guest (Dec 10, 2011)

Heavy deads. Maybe some wrist curls and reverse curls from time to time.


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