Hand Wrist & Forearm Training

[jg7793]

Interesting.. I will be trying

[titty17]

i would start with every 4 days, then once you get acustomed to it, every 3 days...

thanks mate

[Armbender]

thanks mate

no problem...good luck with everything!

[RemainDieHard]

That gyro powerball is fun as hell. Haven't broken 10k yet though damnit.

[Armbender]

That gyro powerball is fun as hell. Haven't broken 10k yet though damnit.

Hahaha yeah it gets addictive

[FAM0US]

Hey armbender, how is the wristroller for forearms? I feel a pretty crazy burn, but is it even good for building mass?

[Armbender]

Hey armbender, how is the wristroller for forearms? I feel a pretty crazy burn, but is it even good for building mass?

I wouldnt say Mass..but definately endurance...

[SouthernCharm]

Awesome thread, I'm pretty sure your forearms are as big as my biceps, so definitly going to take your advice. Do you ever do forearm curls with a rope and weight at the bottom?

[Armbender]

Awesome thread, I'm pretty sure your forearms are as big as my biceps, so definitly going to take your advice. Do you ever do forearm curls with a rope and weight at the bottom?

no I dont really like or suggest that exercise. only because it is so easy to lose your form during it. And your shoulders seem to be the primary muscle group to benifit from this and your wrists and forearms are secondary

[SouthernCharm]

no I dont really like or suggest that exercise. only because it is so easy to lose your form during it. And your shoulders seem to be the primary muscle group to benifit from this and your wrists and forearms are secondary

Good to know, thanks for the advise

[Armbender]

A new tool I will be using for Hand, Wrist and Forearm training that I think will correalate perfectly will be Fat GripZ....



If you are not able to get access to wider grip bars to complete exercises such as Farmers Walk in order to attack the forearm directly from a wider grip, these will be perfect.

[nickg4]

nicee

[Kardula]

Those fat grip things look pretty cool, when I first started out I didn't have access to something like that here in town so I bought some baseball bat wraps and wrapped those around my dumbbells, not as thick as the fat grip but they can be added to more gradually for us beginners...looks like the wraps are cheaper too lol.

[RemainDieHard]

Anyone interested in one of those NSD powerballs ? I have an extra platinum series one NIB I can sell at a decent price. PM if interested. (have references)

[Armbender]

Since writing this Article, I have improved, and also added certain aspects of training Forearms and Hands. The thread does not allow for me to edit the 1st initial post so I am reposting a new version of my Article here in the next post......

[Armbender]

Here are a couple of my routines for Hand/Wrist/ and Forearms

Grip & Forearm Training is one of my favorite Workouts...You have to be careful and really listen to your body as the muscles and tendons involved are extrememly small and can be overtrained very easily. These two workouts have been extremely successful for me over the past couple years;
__________________________________________________ ______________________________

Workout #1
Side Levers (3" thick PVC Pipe with weight fitted at 1 side) or a sledgehammer

Simply rotate the Sledge 180 degrees so the weight is on the other end for 1 rep.


3 Sets 12 Reps

Front Levers


3 Sets 12 Reps

Stand with the weight at your side, start with the weight towards the floor, slowly control the weight upwards locking your elbow for 1 rep

Plate Wrist Curls (Try using 2 plates flush side out for the width)

3 Sets 10-12 Reps

Reverse Curls (Thumbs out)
Side Hammers (Thumbs out)
Front Hammers
Standing barbell wrist curls in front
Reverse Wrist Curls
^^^3 Sets 6-8 Reps^^^
__________________________________________________ _______________________________

Workout #2
(1 1/4" thick Rope, 10' long, hooked to a pulley at lowest level with you seated on the floor, 10' back from the pully) Work the rope in slowly and back slowly raising and lowering the stack of weights...never letting the weights touch...

Rope Pulls elbows out, hand over hand, palms down
Rope Pulls elbows touching, palms facing each other
Rope Pulls elbows out, hand over hand, palms up
5 Sets x 5 Reps

This would be considered elbows out, palms up


Plate Pinch (Use Min 3 plates for the width)


Plate Toss
DB Toss (Silver DB's standing on end)
^^^Super Set these two running 4 sets 15 reps each hand^^^

Turn the DB on its side ( I use the stainless steel rounded ones, then with one hand, toss it up on its end and attempt to catch it with the other hand.

Plate toss - Pinch the top of the plate and toss it in the air catching it with your opposite hand.

Rope Pull-Ups or Towel Pull-ups

3 Sets 10 Reps


2 Hand DB Preacher Hammer Curls.
The Db is turned on its side so you can hold the OUTSIDE of the weights. This only works with HEX DB's or Rbber DB's as the steel plated ones don't allow your hands to grab around them. Either have your hands on the outside of the HEX DB's or pinch the outside plates of the Rubber DB. The rubber ones I find are a lot better for this exercise because you really have to pinch the weight to complete the rep.

I use the rubber ones becasue it concentrates on your fingers more. Simply do a 2-hand Preacher Curl, but only holding the outside of the weight, your forced to apply pressure sideways to hold the weight in which attacks the upper part of your wrist, at the top of the rep, the weight is attacking your thumb and at the bottom of the rep, the weight is attacking your fingers...

4 Sets 8 Reps
__________________________________________________ _______________________________

Every so often I will throw in Captain of Crush Grippers, maybe once every 10 days..

Slow and controled Reps...you are not trying to get 100 reps from any grippers...this will result in an injury...
__________________________________________________ __________________________

You can effectively hit the forearms by training hands and wrist also. I find that is the only way to strengthen and grow the entire forearm...Ensure to only train hand and wrist once every 4 days to begin with until you can handle it or you will find yourself overtraining...I directly and indirectly train my forearms everyday...Using ropes is an ideal way of tackling all of these areas with great results especially your grip strength

MY NEW FAVORITE FOREARM EXERCISE

Standing Rolling Thunder Wrist Curls

Grab a rolling thunder,

Hook it to a cable machine with the stack at the top...pull the rolling thunder down into your chest and hold your elbow steady with your opposite hand...now proceed with your wrist curls

Another Exercise you can add to your routine to mix things up is;

Close Grip Tennis Ball Pull-ups.
Simply place a tennis ball in each hand, place them in your palms and also on the bar you are completeing the pull-ups. Your weight will dent the ball enough to keep contact with the ball, simply cup your hand around the ball and complete your pullups...This is awesome for your wrists.

Some grip training you can do at home

1. Fill a bucket full of sand...put 1 hand in and turn the sand in a clockwise fasion, then reverse....

2. Take two towels in the bathtub and soak them...then wring them both out at the same time working from top to bottom.

3. Steak Knife Push-ups...place two chairs in front of you which of rounded legs (not squared) get into the push up position with the two chairs side by side in front of you....(so you can grab the two outter legs with your hands)...place your hands on the outer legs roughly 6" up from the ground....begin your push-ups...(THESE ARE EXTREMEMLY HARD)



4. Flat board chin-ups, If you have stairs in your house, hang off the floor the is above the stairwell opeing with your fingers straight out for pullups

5. Hang a rope from a tree in your back yard, if no trees, use your patio...try climbing rope for sets...

6. By a small peice of a plank used on staging at the hardware store...start using a screwdriver and some screws and turn the screws in to the board and out for sets....

7. Sledgehammer lever lifts...using a sledge, place your arm on your leg and rotate the head of the hammer from one side to the other SLOWLY for each hand...the farther out the head, the more tension on your hand and wrist..I stress the word SLOWLY


^^^These should work fine without any equipment.^^^

Farmers Walk also have a direct impact on size and strength of the hands and forearms. The equipment is not always readily available. I definately suggest using Fat GripZ. I use them for all exercises.




RECOVERY & REST
One thing that is extremely important is recovery and rest. An exercise which I believe is very important whan you start direct forearm and wrist work is EXTENSORS.



These help build the tendons and tissues around the elbow which take a direct impact from this type of training.

SUPPLEMENTS
Supplements can really help with injury prevention and also recovery. Some I highly recommend

Over-All Joint Health
1. Glucosamine
2. Fish Oil
3. Almonds (Not a supplement but I find helps with joints)

Joint Recovery
1. USPLabs Super Cissus Rx
2. Animal FLEX

[Stefnic]

is it really needed to train forearms since they get worked basically with almost every upper body exercise?

[Armbender]

is it really needed to train forearms since they get worked basically with almost every upper body exercise?

In my opinion, Yes. But it is my opinion only and this will vary amongst everyone. Sort of like the "Should I use Straps or not" debate...If you want strong defined vascular and muscular forearms, you need to put the time and training into them...think of them as a body part like your legs....

[AntoineDufour]

hey armbender instead of using fatgripz I tried using the pusspads for squatting. You know for the traps. I put it on the cable machine for wrist curls, significantly felt it more. You think its a good idea? Im thinking of using 2 and doing wrist curls with a bar. What do you think? Also instead of doing farmers walks, is it ok just to stand still with the dumbells and hold them till failure?

[Armbender]

hey armbender instead of using fatgripz I tried using the pusspads for squatting. You know for the traps. I put it on the cable machine for wrist curls, significantly felt it more. You think its a good idea? Im thinking of using 2 and doing wrist curls with a bar. What do you think? Also instead of doing farmers walks, is it ok just to stand still with the dumbells and hold them till failure?

yeah the foam works good..i like the Fat GripZ because they are more dense and certainly more durable..

the heavy DB holds are awesome...Ive been doing them for the past month or so and definatley see great results...

[bobjenkins777]

Im gunna buy some my forearms kill me on back days beforeI can even feel it in my back

[Armbender]

Im gunna buy some my forearms kill me on back days beforeI can even feel it in my back

you wont regret it...

[LivinUnlucky]

Awesome was just thinking about how i needed to find sumin for my forearms

[KrisKros]

I'll definitely give these a try. I need to strengthen my grip for DLs. My grip just won't allow me to hold on the bar securely with DLs over 300lbs. Thanks for all the information.

[ericcasas]

I've quietly been listening to armbenders advice. My forearms (genetically very small) have actually grown. I have no problem deadlifting or doing weighted pull ups or hanging on to weight in general (and I lift heavier than most)....BUT...my damn forearms are/were just tiny. They are getting better but, man, is it a slow process. =\

[DudeDan]

Awesome article, will definitely try these workouts out.

[Armbender]

I've quietly been listening to armbenders advice. My forearms (genetically very small) have actually grown. I have no problem deadlifting or doing weighted pull ups or hanging on to weight in general (and I lift heavier than most)....BUT...my damn forearms are/were just tiny. They are getting better but, man, is it a slow process. =\

awesome to hear!..and yes, it is a slow process, but, one day, someone walking by will notice the increase and comment,,,and this will make you drive even harder....building your forearms is almost as tough as building muscular calves...it takes patience and dedication...

good luck!

[surtinerfe]

god bless that grip mate!!!!

New video of Steak Knife Push-ups. I wasnt able to do this exercise until Super Cissus Rx healed a serious tendon injury in 2005...

[Armbender]

god bless that grip mate!!!!

Thanks!...they are so fun...

[jo_el]

finger tip pushups are great for your wrist , fingers and forearms.