Forearms: The Forgotten Body Part

optheta & jbpick86

Not to sound like a dumb ass but what is the association between grip strength and forearm strength? Maybe my problem is I neglected what you guys are talking about. All my work has been a curling motion.

[quote]doublelung84 wrote:
optheta & jbpick86

Not to sound like a dumb ass but what is the association between grip strength and forearm strength? Maybe my problem is I neglected what you guys are talking about. All my work has been a curling motion.[/quote]

The flexors for your fingers run the length of your forearms.

[quote]doublelung84 wrote:
optheta & jbpick86

Not to sound like a dumb ass but what is the association between grip strength and forearm strength? Maybe my problem is I neglected what you guys are talking about. All my work has been a curling motion.[/quote]

Make a fist and squeeze and then look at your forearm.

If you want big forearms, do what bodybuilders do, lots of wrist curls, reverse wrist curls, reverse and hammer curls. Ive seen lots of guys with impressive grip strength with punny forearms. Holle brothers for example. Look like they never work out but world class grip strength. The wrist flexors are where the size is at but remember what you see when you see a guy with those awesome forearms has a lot to do with the length of the muscle bellies…if yours are short you can’t achieve that full muscle belly look though some special exercize. I have long muscle bellies in my right forearm but not in my left…same workout, same exercizes but the left just never gets that thick look…is what it is.

[quote]The Anchor wrote:

[quote]doublelung84 wrote:
optheta & jbpick86

Not to sound like a dumb ass but what is the association between grip strength and forearm strength? Maybe my problem is I neglected what you guys are talking about. All my work has been a curling motion.[/quote]

Make a fist and squeeze and then look at your forearm.[/quote]

Got ya! What’s your take on those spring grips? I have a pair some place from back in the 80’s. lol

Wrist rollers are fun to play with.

I keep some heavy grips in my car and do some reps on my commute most days.

I also love doing a lot of strong man stuff that taxes the grip and forearm too. stone caries in addition to farmers walks and stuff.

[quote]doublelung84 wrote:

[quote]flipcollar wrote:
lift heavy things off the ground. hold heavy things.[/quote]

Like deadlifts? How much should I be able to single in the deadlift until I get big forearms?[/quote]

Deadlifts, shrugs, farmers walks, static holds, with dumbbells, barbells, whatever. you can be creative with this.

there’s no real good answer to your question, mainly because it’s subjective. There’s also no set point when all of a sudden they go from not big to big. I have 13" forearms. I consider this to be not big. I can deadlift about 440 double-overhand. I think 15" forearms would be huge. I have no idea how much weight I would be able to hold if my forearms were that big. I also don’t know at what point I would start to consider my forearms to be big.

fat gripz extreme/orange for all direct arm work

kroc rows (without straps) or conventional dumbell rows 10x10

What made my forearms pump up the most was long distance farmer’s walk ideally with kettlebells (because they have a slightly bigger drip). In one session I did 5 sets of 300m with 53lbs kettlebells (I confess to dropping them a few times) and my forearms looked doubled in size and were sore for 4 days. Now, that is a lot of volume, you might not need as much. But I feel like a time under tension of about 90 seconds per set is optimal. So basically cover the most distance you can in 90 seconds for anywhere between 3 to 5 sets.

I also like 45lbs plates farmer’s walk. Holding the 45lbs plates with my fringers through the hole in the plate.

Idk your level of training, or your goals. But why don’t you just keep progressing with your main lifts and obtain your forearm work through those? I mean heavy deadlifts are gonna put some meat on your forearms, as well as incorporating fat grips into your training or adding farmers walks of you’re not doing so already. I mean unless your concern is aesthetics I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on forearms unless they become a weak point. I myself have been struggling with what I believe to be forearm tendonitis (not elbow) which I believe was cause by a serious lack in grip work after a 7 month back injury.

Now I am focused on healing then strengthening my forearms, but before that they weren’t a priority in my training. Hey I could be wrong but in my mind I would think don’t worry about it unless it becomes an issue, or like I said your lifting for aesthetic goals and everything I just said doesn’t really matter haha

Weighted Hangs for Max Time (either use a dipping belt or just hold a heavy dumbbell with your feet)
Wrist Roller

Watch what he does in the beginning for forearms. My forearms are growing like crazy. But, for me, 20 reps are too many. I do around 12-15.

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
What made my forearms pump up the most was long distance farmer’s walk ideally with kettlebells (because they have a slightly bigger drip). In one session I did 5 sets of 300m with 53lbs kettlebells (I confess to dropping them a few times) and my forearms looked doubled in size and were sore for 4 days. Now, that is a lot of volume, you might not need as much. But I feel like a time under tension of about 90 seconds per set is optimal. So basically cover the most distance you can in 90 seconds for anywhere between 3 to 5 sets.

I also like 45lbs plates farmer’s walk. Holding the 45lbs plates with my fringers through the hole in the plate. [/quote]

I can’t remember the last time my forearms got sore. Maybe when I put my back porch roof on… seriously!

[quote]doublelung84 wrote:

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
What made my forearms pump up the most was long distance farmer’s walk ideally with kettlebells (because they have a slightly bigger drip). In one session I did 5 sets of 300m with 53lbs kettlebells (I confess to dropping them a few times) and my forearms looked doubled in size and were sore for 4 days. Now, that is a lot of volume, you might not need as much. But I feel like a time under tension of about 90 seconds per set is optimal. So basically cover the most distance you can in 90 seconds for anywhere between 3 to 5 sets.

I also like 45lbs plates farmer’s walk. Holding the 45lbs plates with my fringers through the hole in the plate. [/quote]

I can’t remember the last time my forearms got sore. Maybe when I put my back porch roof on… seriously!
[/quote]

I honestly believe that it was my first time ever… and I’ve done days of 3 daily olympic lifting workouts in the past.

I went rock climbing last night and my forearms are FUCKED IN HALF sore today.

So are parts of my back.

[quote]OldOgre wrote:

[quote]flipcollar wrote:
lift heavy things off the ground. hold heavy things.[/quote]

That.
Also, I use a rice bucket. My sons are pitchers and they use them for hand/forearm strength. You can look at videos on youtube that show you how to do it easier than I can explain it.[/quote]

I used to use a bucket of rice when I boxed, it’s a good low-tech solution.

I’ve never tried it, but on another forum the guys swear by 50-rep wrist curls, starting with an empty bar and then adding weight once you get all 50 reps.

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:

[quote]doublelung84 wrote:

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
What made my forearms pump up the most was long distance farmer’s walk ideally with kettlebells (because they have a slightly bigger drip). In one session I did 5 sets of 300m with 53lbs kettlebells (I confess to dropping them a few times) and my forearms looked doubled in size and were sore for 4 days. Now, that is a lot of volume, you might not need as much. But I feel like a time under tension of about 90 seconds per set is optimal. So basically cover the most distance you can in 90 seconds for anywhere between 3 to 5 sets.

I also like 45lbs plates farmer’s walk. Holding the 45lbs plates with my fringers through the hole in the plate. [/quote]

I can’t remember the last time my forearms got sore. Maybe when I put my back porch roof on… seriously!
[/quote]

I honestly believe that it was my first time ever… and I’ve done days of 3 daily olympic lifting workouts in the past.[/quote]

I am going to give some form of farmers walk a try this week. I just need to figure out where to put them to avoid over training my traps and biceps. I do raise farm animals and carry 4 five gallon buckets of water (40 lbs each) every day for a distance of about 200 ft. Thanks for your and everyone else’s help!

[quote]doublelung84 wrote:

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:

[quote]doublelung84 wrote:

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
What made my forearms pump up the most was long distance farmer’s walk ideally with kettlebells (because they have a slightly bigger drip). In one session I did 5 sets of 300m with 53lbs kettlebells (I confess to dropping them a few times) and my forearms looked doubled in size and were sore for 4 days. Now, that is a lot of volume, you might not need as much. But I feel like a time under tension of about 90 seconds per set is optimal. So basically cover the most distance you can in 90 seconds for anywhere between 3 to 5 sets.

I also like 45lbs plates farmer’s walk. Holding the 45lbs plates with my fringers through the hole in the plate. [/quote]

I can’t remember the last time my forearms got sore. Maybe when I put my back porch roof on… seriously!
[/quote]

I honestly believe that it was my first time ever… and I’ve done days of 3 daily olympic lifting workouts in the past.[/quote]

I am going to give some form of farmers walk a try this week. I just need to figure out where to put them to avoid over training my traps and biceps. I do raise farm animals and carry 4 five gallon buckets of water (40 lbs each) every day for a distance of about 200 ft. Thanks for your and everyone else’s help![/quote]

Try to use a handle at least 1.5 inches. I like using a thick grip for farmers walks anyway but if you are using them for forearms then you probably want a really thick grip, my ghetto farmers walk instruments are two 5 gal buckets that I filled with a 80 lb bag of quikrete each and put a tennis ball over each handle. Has worked pretty good so far.