Want bigger forearms?
You can have them if you understand how to train them for maximum muscle fiber recruitment.
To do so the exercise chosen needs to:
- Work along the path of the function of the forearms
- Provide resistance at the peak contraction point of the movement
The function of the forearms is wrist flexion/extension, abduction/adduction (away and towards the midline of the body), and also finger flexion/extension.
Therefore Wrist Curls are perfect!
Generating resistance at the one point in the movement that recruits most muscle fibers, the peak contraction point, can easily be accomplished with dumbbells.
We’ll also use a little finger movement to really hit those forearm fibers.
Check out the video…
Reverse Wrist Curls
- Rest all of your arm on a bench and kneel down behind it
- Grab a dumbbell with an overhand grip
- Curl the dumbbell up and down slowly pausing briefly at the peak contraction point
Regular Wrist Curls
- Rest only your forearm on the bench with a 90 degree bend at the elbow
- Grab the dumbbell with an underhand grip
- Curl the dumbbell up and down slowly pausing briefly at the peak contraction point
- At the bottom of the negative, release your fingers slightly and let the dumbbell roll down to your fingertips
There’s no need to add abducting or adducting movements here as it will involve the same muscle fibers. Besides the forearms get so much work from the rest of your workouts anyway.
Incorporate wrist curls as described above into your workouts today, you won’t regret it! Don’t forget to reach failure at around the 1 minute mark to maximize ANAEROBIC adaptations.
Stay Motivated!
Mark
Good to know you recommend this exercise Mark. It’s great though I will slow it down and pause at the top from now on. thanks
Hi Mark
Couldn’t get the video to play! Might have been my connection.
I do reverse curls for my forearms, but not seen much increase in size.
Might try these.
Would it make a difference if you did both forearms at the same time?
Hey Mark, I’ve been doing these for a while and they’re great, but your last few articles you’ve mentioned pulleys (and the benefits they give by keeping more tension throughout the rep). Would you then recommend doing these with a pulley (if we access to one, of course), rather than doing these with dumbells? Or is there a counter-intuitive fitness secret at work here…
I think you would find these are much better performed with a barbell. Using a dumbell, it is almost impossible to prevent some rocking from side to side; with a barbell you follow the path the forearm muscles want to take without needing to stabilise. You will be able to focus more on the contraction by using a barbell. Try it.
Yeah, good old school wrist curls. Any tips for doing them with a bar?
@Sean. I think it would be needlessly awkward to try and use a pulley for this, dumbbells work great.
@John @Andy @Wouter. Performing these unilaterally works best (regular curls). Using a barbell will restrict movement; curl your wrist up as far as it will go, you’ll notice that the hand bends inwards towards the top. A dumbbell will allow this movement, a barbell will not. Using a barbell will cause you to stop short of the PCP and NOT recruit the maximum number of fibers.
Reverse curls can be performed well with a barbell however.
This is totally unrelated but in one of your articles you said “no recovery no growth” what exactly do you mean? For instance if I am sore from a workout do I wait a few days until the soreness is gone?
Thanks Man
hey mark i want to know how to take up creatine dose and protien suppliment called serious mass. please guide me.
Hi Mark,
i have been to Gym for past 4 months in between i had taken a lot of supplements of Mega Mass 4000 and i have seen few improments in my body. but i really worried about some Consequences that happening at night during sleep time. in a month once or twice or some time thrice some gelly type of hormon is getting loss from my urinal way of my body part. is that the reason that my body doesn’t improve in huge way? if yes then how to stop these night falls? please help me
Hello I am keeping my calories under 1200 per day and I want to start drinking my protein shakes again. So should i add this to my calories count. My shakes are 120 calories per scoop and 24 grams of protein. Also I am 146 lbs and dropping. So how much protein should i take in per day. Trying to gain muscle and loss fat. 24% now and want 19% body fat.
Thank you soooo much for your reply. site and the recipes are awesome !
Thanks for the videos mark. All your newsletter vids are really awesome.
I used to do this another way, which sure worked for me. Using a high tension hand gripper in fully compressed position and arm completely extended to the front, do the same motion you have suggested (both regular and reverse).
As usual a great article with the exact functions
Hi Mark,
I think this will be the very first comment which addresses that the WorkOut/Nutrition system explained throughout your Website and the report you send for free to those who are willing to receive it do not work for everyone.
After having given a try to THT/MANS combination for two one month and a half, I went to the gym early this morning for body composition measurement, amd I was schocked to see that I did not only lose fat but a considerable amount of muscle as well which would be the last thing any sports-lover would want to.
Specifically, I went from 69,5 kg to 66,5 kg and out of such difference of 3 kg, I am so frustrated to see that I lost 1 kg of muscle (app. 2,2 lbs). Given that I am a guy on the “thin” side with a height of 1.78 m (app. 5″10), every gram of muscle matters for me and having lost 1 kg of muscle is a total disaster.
I have long been a good follower of healty eating and regular exercising and I must say that the system proposed in your report and on your Website is not suitable for every hard-gainer. I think people should be aware of that; otherwise, they will be so much annoyed and angry like me.
Thanks…..
Hey Mark how u doing? is it ok working out forearms 3 times a week? do i need more recovery or 1 day on 1 day off works? thank u so much..
Nothing beats good old wrist curls, and slowing them down will help with maximum stimulation. The perfect combination
Looks like a good exercise to build up the forearms. I wonder how it compares do doing dead lifts in terms of effectiveness.