Need some forearm growth

[good_guye28]

Im needin some help with forearms, i do deadlifts one time a week.
then i do forearm work everyother day at the end of my workouts and they are puny as hell. i do wrist curls with high reps and low reps. i do hammer curls, rev wrist curls. nothing seems to work. im needin some lee preist forearms...lol
but really my bis are 16.5 and my forearms are between 12 and 12.5...


HELP A BROTHER OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ironviking]

Well for one thing quit working them so damn much. This is what I've been doing:

Not on Bicep Day
Standing Wrist Curls 3sets
Seated Wrist Curls 3sets
Reverse Wrist Curls 3sets

Then on Bicep Day I stick to mainly straight bar curls and hammer curls

I've been doing that for the last 4weeks and there has been some noticeable size added, around 1.5 inches

Hope this helps

 

[msclbldrguy]

do you use straps? i have stopped using straps on the first coupla sets and thats helped me....forearms are a little thicker, i think.

 

[IronMike]

Heavy deadlifts have to be one of the best exercise for forearm growth.

What has helped my grow is super setting wrist curls with reverse wrist curls and walking with DB's or another heavy object until I drop them.

 

[msclbldrguy]

Heavy deadlifts have to be one of the best exercise for forearm growth.

What has helped my grow is super setting wrist curls with reverse wrist curls and walking with DB's or another heavy object until I drop them.

ya...forgot about those. i also have at home one of those wrist roller thingys that you roll up and down....thats helped my grip strength alot too...

 

[lifted]

bump on the deadlifts.

this is what i do, bro:

on biceps day, ill do my reg. bi workouts, and then do three to four sets of reverse curls to failure.

then on leg day, i do behind the back wrist curls-3 sets of 25-50.
trust me bro, if u do this behind the back trick, ull see results in no time. i had to actually quit doin them for a bit because they were getting out-of-proportion to my bi's.

good luck.

 

[lifted]

do you use straps? i have stopped using straps on the first coupla sets and thats helped me....forearms are a little thicker, i think.

no offense, but straps are for pu*sy's!!! j/k

for real tho, i dont even wear gloves. ull get callouses, but itll be worth it. ull be crushin peoples hands when u shake them.

 

[good_guye28]

yeah i havent been using the straps at all in my routines. but i do super set the wrist curls with behind the back wrist curls.

 

[msclbldrguy]

no offense, but straps are for pu*sy's!!! j/k

for real tho, i dont even wear gloves. ull get callouses, but itll be worth it. ull be crushin peoples hands when u shake them.

none taken...prob is tho if i work back or traps adequately i have to use 'em else my forearms give out before the muscle i'm targeting. at least i'm to the point where i only use 'em on my heaviest lifts...wish i'd never started usin 'em 'cause i wouldnt have the prob of small forearms AND they wouldnt give out at the worst time!

cant stand wearin gloves...and i'm proud of da callouses! heh

live and learn....

 

[Biggs]

use bigger grips anywhere applicable... can help in the long run

 

[lifted]

none taken...prob is tho if i work back or traps adequately i have to use 'em else my forearms give out before the muscle i'm targeting. at least i'm to the point where i only use 'em on my heaviest lifts...wish i'd never started usin 'em 'cause i wouldnt have the prob of small forearms AND they wouldnt give out at the worst time!

cant stand wearin gloves...and i'm proud of da callouses! heh

live and learn....

heh, yea i guess that would suck. but thats what i meant tho, dont use them even when ur just starting out. but, u can do things in the meantime. get one of those hand squeezing thingy's. and try out those behind the back wrist curls.

 

[msclbldrguy]

heh, yea i guess that would suck. but thats what i meant tho, dont use them even when ur just starting out. but, u can do things in the meantime. get one of those hand squeezing thingy's. and try out those behind the back wrist curls.

ya...i've been workin really hard tryin to strengthen 'em and get 'em to grow. its jus gonna take time. when i was taught how to lift, our coach was a big advocate of usin straps. i've been doin behind back wrist curls...up to 165 on 'em...and grip strength is improving. i'll b glad when i can do these lifts without those stupid straps....

 

[LakeMountD]

ive found the best thing to do is use straps for the deadlifts then do 2 sets of holding weights in your hands for 45-60 seconds.. for example ill take like a 75 lb dumbbell, sit on a banch and grip it with thumb and all for as long as i can to failure.. working pretty well

 

[CROWLER]

I agee not to work them every other day.

IMO this is too much.

 

[John Benz]

The amount of misinformation in this thread is staggering. I will attempt to straighten out a few misconceptions.

#1. Deadlifts are not a forearm movement, and do no more for the forearms than any other exercise for back, chest or legs.

#2. You can and should work forearms and calves every other day, or at least 3 X a week. These are the 2 muscle groups it is virtually impossible to overtrain.

#3. I like to do 4-5 sets of 15 reps for forearms, per exercise, as they need more reps to shock them into growth than any other muscle except calf. I believe Arnold did 10 sets of forearms and calves and worked them every day.

#4. Wrist curls and reverse curls are the primary movements. You get as much forearm involvement with reverse curls as with reverse wrist curls, and hit the brachiallis as well. Just remember to work up slowly to a heavy weight as reverse curls are the elbow killer. Also fully contract at peak. I prefer incline curls and reverse curls to hammer curls, which to me is a combination exercise which hits neither muscle group as well.

#5. When you reach a sticking point with forearms, switch to wrist roller. You can make one with a cut off broom stick and a rope. These will shock your forearms into such incredible growth that you may want to stick with them for a while. They were my favorite forearm movement years ago, and I am going to try them again soon.

#6. Never use gloves or straps, especially in forearm movements.

 

[LakeMountD]

The amount of misinformation in this thread is staggering. I will attempt to straighten out a few misconceptions.

#1. Deadlifts are not a forearm movement, and do no more for the forearms than any other exercise for back, chest or legs.

#2. You can and should work forearms and calves every other day, or at least 3 X a week. These are the 2 muscle groups it is virtually impossible to overtrain.

#3. I like to do 4-5 sets of 15 reps for forearms, per exercise, as they need more reps to shock them into growth than any other muscle except calf. I believe Arnold did 10 sets of forearms and calves and worked them every day.

#4. Wrist curls and reverse curls are the primary movements. You get as much forearm involvement with reverse curls as with reverse wrist curls, and hit the brachiallis as well. Just remember to work up slowly to a heavy weight as reverse curls are the elbow killer. Also fully contract at peak. I prefer incline curls and reverse curls to hammer curls, which to me is a combination exercise which hits neither muscle group as well.

#5. When you reach a sticking point with forearms, switch to wrist roller. You can make one with a cut off broom stick and a rope. These will shock your forearms into such incredible growth that you may want to stick with them for a while. They were my favorite forearm movement years ago, and I am going to try them again soon.

#6. Never use gloves or straps, especially in forearm movements.

dude lets not forget that you have some pretty damn good genetics.. ive trained calves three times per week before and i found that doing them once a week with higher intensity was better.. and my forearms are growing off of doing the weight holds once a week.. what you say may be correct but a lot of folks are different.

 

[John Benz]

If you are getting better response from calves once a week, your recovery is sub-par. You should look to your nutrition and sleep patterns. Calves and forearms 3X per week is best for people with average genetics. People like Arnold can train these parts every day!

 

[LunaHotel]

No gloves? How can you guys stand that? I'd have no skin on my hand in no time... Argh!

Seriously though, I have BIG forearms compared to the rest of me. Never trained them, but how many times did I end a set of back with such a burn in my forearms that I had no idea that my back was going to be sore the next day... And compounding that with a set of biceps curls...

In other words, just KILL them. They'll grow, just like calves... As John Benz said, they are almost impossible to overtrain, due to their extreme density...

Now if I could just get my biceps to grow too........

 

[Nutz]

Wrist roller

Well, I'm just on a 1-T cycle so Its partially a factor, but I just had probably the best wrist work out since I discovered what my penis was for!

I built myself this ghetto ass wrist roller a while ago, a bit of strong rope a descent bit of brush-handle or something, and a drill and 5 minutes work = a descent bit of equipment which can give your forearms a hell of a burn. combine with a few heavy bicep curls beforehand and I'm wincing like a little girl now!

 

[Kristofer68SS]

necro bump

my forearms are twigs......


ideas for growth?

3x week?

 

[alwaysgaining]

no,no,no guys deads are fine but if u really want strong hands get the book captains of crush just google it, they have grippers that r 376lbs of gripping force its the number 4 gripper and only 4 ppl in the world have ever closed it,, this is a number 3 gripper
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwn11mM50f4"]YouTube - Strongman Magnus Samuelsson grip training[/ame]

Closing the Captains of Crush Gripper No. 3 (at 280 pounds*) is the most famous feat in the world of grip strength, and it is such an accomplishment that in 1991, IronMind began certifying people who officially achieved this landmark status in the world of grip strength. With a reputation from Anchorage to Ankara to Adelaide, closing the Captains of Crush Gripper No. 3 is the mark of a grip master.
number 4 This is it, the final word in grip strength, because closing the Captains of Crush Gripper No. 4 is so hard at 365 pounds* that when IronMind introduced it in 1994, we used to tell people to save their money and just squeeze a brick because that's about what it feels like; or we would kid them and say that we could only sell them a Captains of Crush No. 4 if they had a note from their mother

 

[brk_nemesis]

I have done hammer curls, and wrist/reverse wrist curls for years. But the most significant growth I have obtained are from straight bar reverse curls, nice and slow, w/ grip flexing as hard as humanly possible throughout the whole movement.

 

[jcp2]

I have never in my life ever thought of doing a forearm exercise. I always look at it as this, look at the guys who have put their time in over the years, they have big forearms. That is how i can usually tell who is strong, and handles some real weight. And John, you may not be able to overtrain your forearms, but i have had tendonitis off and on for years. It is truly a joy.

 

[illgixxer]

nobody mentioned the type of curls with a barbell where you bring the bar straight up your chest, elbows stay behind your sides(not at your sides) and the bar only comes up to low chest level(maybe half awy up from waist to chest) i forget what their called

 

[brownstown89]

i was always decent bencher big arms etc but then my forearms were lagging it hurt to curl and i realized my forearms were weak...

I deadlifted heavy till i felt like i needed the straps. Rack pulls help alot too. and did farmers walks. and shrugs doing rest pause. Try this for shurgs. say u dead lift 225 x 5 250 x 5 275 x 5.. try to add 15 reps and shrug each 20 times time using rest pause.

 

[NFLforNBA]

i just walk around with 75 pound dumbells for 30 seconds until my arm fails and my forearms are the same size as my biceps well just a wee tiny bit smaller

 

[REEVESDIESEL]

www.fatgripz.com

There's alot of gimicks out there, but these rock, man! I've had mine 2 months and forearms are growing! They are made really well and will last a life time. AND, they do not slip, they easily go on everything. EZ curl bar, no prob. I use them for curls, reverse curls, farmer walks with DB's. And another good one I use them for are bar hangs from my chin/pull up bar. You could use towels, but these are much better! They're exactly 2 inches.

 

[REEVESDIESEL]

no,no,no guys deads are fine but if u really want strong hands get the book captains of crush just google it, they have grippers that r 376lbs of gripping force its the number 4 gripper and only 4 ppl in the world have ever closed it,, this is a number 3 gripper
YouTube - Strongman Magnus Samuelsson grip training

Closing the Captains of Crush Gripper No. 3 (at 280 pounds*) is the most famous feat in the world of grip strength, and it is such an accomplishment that in 1991, IronMind began certifying people who officially achieved this landmark status in the world of grip strength. With a reputation from Anchorage to Ankara to Adelaide, closing the Captains of Crush Gripper No. 3 is the mark of a grip master.
number 4 This is it, the final word in grip strength, because closing the Captains of Crush Gripper No. 4 is so hard at 365 pounds* that when IronMind introduced it in 1994, we used to tell people to save their money and just squeeze a brick because that's about what it feels like; or we would kid them and say that we could only sell them a Captains of Crush No. 4 if they had a note from their mother

Yes to this. I have a few grippers form IronMind. Also picked up an e-book all about closing grippers from Cyberpump. It's very detailed and looks great; I've yet to start on it.

Another good one is to get a big towel, soak it and start wringing it out. Fun and a great way to work the grips/forearms.

 

[SirGalahad]

There's alot of gimicks out there, but these rock, man! I've had mine 2 months and forearms are growing! They are made really well and will last a life time. AND, they do not slip, they easily go on everything. EZ curl bar, no prob. I use them for curls, reverse curls, farmer walks with DB's. And another good one I use them for are bar hangs from my chin/pull up bar. You could use towels, but these are much better! They're exactly 2 inches.

I agree. I've had mine for 2 weeks now and they fry my forearms...especially when doing pullups.

 

[REEVESDIESEL]

I agree. I've had mine for 2 weeks now and they fry my forearms...especially when doing pullups.

I've done chins but not yet with pullups. Today I'll try them as a finisher with the DL. Looking forward to it.

 

[Navyrigger]

Grippers.. Also at my old gym they had a hammer strength grip thing.. You put the weights on the front and basically it was a gripper.. I wish my new gym would get one

 

[TBULL]

extreme masturbation lol.. i like barbell burnout wrist curls 3x a week

 

[seanlambo]

nobody mentioned the type of curls with a barbell where you bring the bar straight up your chest, elbows stay behind your sides(not at your sides) and the bar only comes up to low chest level(maybe half awy up from waist to chest) i forget what their called

drag curls i think

 

[JeffD]

-High rep double overhand rack pulls
-Heavy pulls
-Hammer curls
-Fat bar work
-Gorilla Curls: youtube.com/watch?v=A0xmO2eJh7A

I have the COC grippers too. They work okay, I keep them in the car and use them occasionally. They're better than wrist curls, I've never seen anyone doing wrist curls that had big forearms, so decide for yourself. The above, along with some patience and overall BW gain will do the trick.

 

[SwoleT]

no offense, but straps are for pu*sy's!!! j/k

for real tho, i dont even wear gloves. ull get callouses, but itll be worth it. ull be crushin peoples hands when u shake them.

id have to dissagree on the straps comment...sometimes u need them, but i only use them on heavy sets of bb rows, db rows and deads after forearms are spent. I got small hands too so it doesnt help. Aside from that reverse curls and behind the back barbell curls and hammers always worked for me. Do them on a different day when u dont work back or bis. my forearms respond best to 8 reps, but all that is trial and error. id do 2 sets of each reverse and hammers, 3 sets of bb curls for 8-12reps

 

[REEVESDIESEL]

-High rep double overhand rack pulls
-Heavy pulls
-Hammer curls
-Fat bar work
-Gorilla Curls: youtube.com/watch?v=A0xmO2eJh7A

I have the COC grippers too. They work okay, I keep them in the car and use them occasionally. They're better than wrist curls, I've never seen anyone doing wrist curls that had big forearms, so decide for yourself. The above, along with some patience and overall BW gain will do the trick.

Are you kidding me about the wrist curls. That's all Larry Scott and Bill Pearl did to get their HUGE forearms.

 

[JeffD]

Are you kidding me about the wrist curls. That's all Larry Scott and Bill Pearl did to get their HUGE forearms.

I'm talking real people in my gym, etc. And I'm pretty sure that's not all they did - haha.

 

[REEVESDIESEL]

I'm talking real people in my gym, etc. And I'm pretty sure that's not all they did - haha.

Sure, reverse curls, reverse on the preacher bench.

 

[JeffD]

I guess the wrist curls have their place, especially if you want to build that "forearm belly". Sounds like from the OP though, that's not doing the trick. I just think that if you're looking for overall forearm mass, you need to incorporate the heavy pulling/grip training that I mentioned earlier. That's when mine started to grow, and when people starting noticing and asking what I'm doing in the gym. Sort of like wanting bigger arms, and training the hell out of your biceps without any heavy compound tricep movements.

I'm not a BB'er either, I'm a PL'er (just for the record). Reeves, I'm also not busting balls, hope it didn't come across that way.

 

[REEVESDIESEL]

I guess the wrist curls have their place, especially if you want to build that "forearm belly". Sounds like from the OP though, that's not doing the trick. I just think that if you're looking for overall forearm mass, you need to incorporate the heavy pulling/grip training that I mentioned earlier. That's when mine started to grow, and when people starting noticing and asking what I'm doing in the gym. Sort of like wanting bigger arms, and training the hell out of your biceps without any heavy compound tricep movements.

I'm not a BB'er either, I'm a PL'er (just for the record). Reeves, I'm also not busting balls, hope it didn't come across that way.

Nah man, it didn't at all. You cool, you cool. LOL.

My take is the same from the OP. I would just recommend "D", all of the above with forearm training. But, most don't use enought wt. with the wrist curl, nor do they do it correctly.....like a la Larry Scott, Bill Pearl. You must get the proper bench so your able to get the hips lower than the arms. You must pile on the wt. for the big gains, and a great bonus of the stronger wrists, forearms will be bigger "Loaded Guns".

 

[seanlambo]

I've done chins but not yet with pullups. Today I'll try them as a finisher with the DL. Looking forward to it.

AREN'T CHINS AND PULL UPS THE SAME???

 

[MegaCalf]

AREN'T CHINS AND PULL UPS THE SAME???

Chin ups are palms facing towards you. Pullups palms away from you.

 

[REEVESDIESEL]

Chin ups are palms facing towards you. Pullups palms away from you.

Yes indeed. Tks.

It's funny how plp don't know this. But hey, live & learn!

 

[Joshua86]

Just make sure you're not overdoing forearms when you decide to train them. Remember that your forearm is being worked all the time anyway, especially during back and biceps training.

If I were going to train forearms specifically, I'd do low volume and just go really heavy.

One thing you could do to help brachialis development would be to do reverse curls or hammer curls as one of your biceps exercises, to really blast that muscle, which will make the forearm look more full.

I find that if I train my forearms too much, parts of my other workouts suffer. If my forearms are fatigued, I can't do as much on any back lift (pull down or rowing motion) and my biceps workouts suffer as well.

I do a lot of flexing and posing (for the sake of flexing, rather than just to see if I'm looking good ) to draw blood into the muscle and also as a form of static exercise. In other words, after a set of biceps, I may flex my biceps for 10-15 seconds to draw more blood into the muscles and keep them really pumped during my workout. I'll also make it a point to really flex my forearms as well. All-in-all, I think this helps produce defition over time, though that's my opinion after have been incorporating it into my training routines for over a year now. It works, so do it! Flex between sets for 10-15 seconds and after your workout for a minute and you'll find that it's worth while.

 

[REEVESDIESEL]

Back about 2 yrs. the great Jim Morris wrote me up a great routine for my needs. After about one month he started me on flexing after every workout. I started at 10 mins. and over a month worked up to 1 hr. after each workout. He had learned this from the great Frank Zane. Man, what a workout is is! When I first started 10 mins. killed me! But in time I worked myself up and what a difference it makes!

I cut out many pics. of my idols, Larry Scott, Steve Reeves, etc. and pasted them on a white piece of cardboard copying their various poses. Morris also suggested fixing mirrors so I could see my back side as well, which I did along with overhead lighting. Like I already said, awesome workout, just downright hard work it is. No ****. But again, like Morris told me. If it was easy, everyone would have a great physique.