Popeye Forearms

[NattyForLife]

Whats up guys? Just wondering what are some of the best exercises for forearm mass. I have been looking at wrist rollers; has any of you had great success with them?

 

[kisaj]

farmer walks
deads

forget the rollers

 

[NattyForLife]

farmer walks deads forget the rollers

Love farmer walks! So the roller really aren't worth messing with? Ive read good stuff from the internet about them!

 

[kisaj]

Are they better than nothing- yes. Are they better than farmer walks and deads- not in my opinion. You could give it a shot, but I just don't think you would see much out of it since you are already doing the king of forearm exercises.

Sounds silly, but I needed really strong forearms for downhill mtn biking racing and I used to take a handheld sledgehammer and just hammer nails for 15 min. Talking about screaming arms and growth.

 

[PaulBlack]

Whats up guys? Just wondering what are some of the best exercises for forearm mass. I have been looking at wrist rollers; has any of you had great success with them?

What I did or seemed to make the most size changes...
Any forearm mass I built, was more from flexion and extension of the muscles most likely. Static holding, IMO does not do a whole lot for size, especially if one is inclined to have thinner limbs. Strength and grip power yes, but size IMO did not get the carryover from statics.
Wrist curls off the end of a bench for higher reps (like calf work I suppose) and reg reverse curls with a curl bar to build the top of the forearm.
Along with lots of heavy vert and horz rowing motions/chins pull ups, most likely built my upper and lower arms to their potential.
Of course gaining BW all over, helped my arm size also. Just sayin'

It helps to have large wrists and long muscle bellies too, but unfortunately, that is more genetic.

 

[Blergs]

I like a rope tied to center of a stick (like half a broom stick or something) and tied to some weights. then curl it up till the weights reach the stick, then unroll back down and repeat.

 

[NattyForLife]

I like a rope tied to center of a stick (like half a broom stick or something) and tied to some weights. then curl it up till the weights reach the stick, then unroll back down and repeat.

Same concept as a wrist roller

 

[napalm]

My forearms hate me the day after heavy rack pulls...

 

[NattyForLife]

That the best exercise?

 

[rhino67jg]

Try reverse curls with fat grips. I do barbell & single cable handle curls nice & slow, feeling every rep till it hurts. Also.. Spider curls are awesome. Try doing 10-12 strict reps of seated dumbell hammer curls with a moderate weight & without any rest, do 10-12 reps of standing dumbell spider curls. Wait 1 minute & repeat. 3 sets should have your forearms screaming.

 

[TheMovement]

Fat Gripz are a great investment for building forearm strength, filling a a bucket with sand and squeezing handfuls completely through for 3mins at a time, any wrist deviation uses resistance will help as well. T-band, Db, Decent Rock all can be used. Not the cheapest in the world but no need to overthink the forarms I mix them like any other muscle routine, heavy days for solid 8-12 and higher vol for 20+.

Hands down the cheapest and best blaster for me is to slowly turning screws through a 2x4 and back them out. Concentrating on the movement itself and doing it 12xs before breaking or full on muscle cramps. I have regular access to it so I just use scrap pieces.

 

[mountainman33]

Fat Gripz have a pretty good rep for building forearm size. But I went the cheap route and just got some pipe insulation at Home Depot. Before my tendonitis issue arose I used that on all my bars and handles when doing most pulling and bicep exercises. Burns like crazy at times, but adds not just size but grip strength as well.

 

[compudog]

When I do farmer's walks my forearms get pumped up like balloons. I don't know if it's making them grow though, haven't been doing it long enough to say.

 

[NattyForLife]

Anybody ever tried farmers walk with fat grips? Bet that burns like crazy.

 

[PaulBlack]

Anybody ever tried farmers walk with fat grips? Bet that burns like crazy.

I am inclined to think it is not as much the walk, as the holding onto the bar (PVC pipe diameter or not) until the grip fails, then doing it again and again until the grip is totally wasted. I would just static hold at times fat DB's until I had to more or less drop 'em.
I do think this will build better strength than size, as again it is more static in nature and a forearm muscle(s) is like most others, where some form of extension and flexion aids in the size process.
If one is interested in grip power or holding power, single hand lifts are great too, holding onto a load until the bar slips from the hands, then repeating with the other hand on and off until the grip almost cramps up. The forearm shake, (for some reason helps blood get back in there and alleviates the pain.
A few days after this kind of training, an increase in overhand (no hook grip) holding power on my deadlifts was usually always present.
It made my hand feel like a 5 fingered chunk of granite. Actual arm size from it, meh!? YMMV

 

[mountainman33]

Whats up guys? Just wondering what are some of the best exercises for forearm mass. I have been looking at wrist rollers; has any of you had great success with them?

When I was just out of high school and pretty skinny I worked for a tent company. We would drive hundreds of steel stakes a day with 16 and 20 lb. sledge hammers. By the end of my first month there I truly looked like Popeye, my forearms were disproportionately large compared to the rest of my body. So just work for tent company for spring and summer and you should be all set.

 

[PaulBlack]

Popeye/Hulk Ug ug ug...

http://www.factrange.com/real-life-hulk-wrestler-denis-cyplenkov-biggest-hands-ever-seen/

 

[asooneyeonig]

Anybody ever tried farmers walk with fat grips? Bet that burns like crazy.

I have farmers handles with both a 2" and 1" handle. I have been known to go as far as I can with the 2" then grab the smaller ones and keep going. I'll do that after heavy pics with the smaller ones. My hands will be messed up after that and I won't even be able to open them fully for a while aftwrwards. My grip for something like a grip competition sucks balls but I have no issue with grip for say max effort dears and such.

 

[NattyForLife]

I have farmers handles with both a 2" and 1" handle. I have been known to go as far as I can with the 2" then grab the smaller ones and keep going. I'll do that after heavy pics with the smaller ones. My hands will be messed up after that and I won't even be able to open them fully for a while aftwrwards. My grip for something like a grip competition sucks balls but I have no issue with grip for say max effort dears and such.

If you want to improve your crushing grip, get some good grippers.

 

[kisaj]

The best part is the 1/2" callouses covering your hands. When you go into a business meeting, they know who not to mess with.

 

[Type O Hero]

Behind the back wrist curls with a barbell.

Palms will be facing away from you. This exercise allows you to use heavy weight compared to DB wrist curls.

Look into it.

 

[NattyForLife]

Behind the back wrist curls with a barbell. Palms will be facing away from you. This exercise allows you to use heavy weight compared to DB wrist curls. Look into it.

Only way i do that exercise. Sometimes the bar in front also!

 

[Oscar]

Farmers walks, deads, shrugs, don't know what there called but one of my boys put me on these: grab a bunch of 2.5lb plates and pinch grip them for as long as you can