Why work forearms

Do these exercises 2 to 3 times a week. You can do them on their own, before working out, or as part of a longer routine. Loosen up and improve blood flow to your wrist joints before doing forearm exercises by turning them in circles in both directions, side to side, and back and forth.

Begin with 5- to pound dumbbells. Gradually increase the weight as you get stronger. Grip the dumbbells tightly throughout the movement. Use a pair of forearm grips or another object that you can squeeze, such as a tennis ball or a sock.

You can do these forearm exercises on their own or along with your workout routine. Get started with a few, and then change up your routine every so often by incorporating more exercises.

Do these exercises for a short time each day, and then devote time for a longer session one to two times per week. Be gentle, and make sure you can maintain smooth, controlled breathing that mimics your movements. Avoid any jerky motions. If you experience soreness after these exercises, ice the affected area and try light stretching to reduce tension. This is essentially due to the fact that stronger forearms lead to a stronger grip with more muscles generating more squeezing force during your workouts and everyday life.

When you have weak or underdeveloped forearms or wrists, those muscles may be the first group to tire out when you're doing something like pull-ups or rows. That means you'll never seriously tax the actual pulling muscles during the workout because your forearms give out too quickly.

Already a subscriber? Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. Start with 4 rounds of 30 seconds. Once that really becomes too easy, try adding weight, either with a weighted vest or a belt and plates, or increasing the time. Do not use a mixed grip or a hook grip. Use a simple double overhand grip ie, with your palms facing backwards. This will make the exercise harder, but that is also usually synonymous with more gains.

Start with 4 sets of 30 seconds, with a 1-minute break in between. This one is a bit tricky. Do not use a hook grip — that would be too easy. Your hands will desperately want to open when lowering down the bar from your shoulders, but hang on: your forearms will thank you later.

A growing number of gyms have these, so if you have access to one, do it. Start with 5 sets of about 10 bars. Once that becomes too easy, increase the time or the distance. More information can be found about Freeletics here. Great for developing strength and endurance in the forearms and lats , which will have a major carryover benefit for anyone looking to become good at pull-ups. These require little space, no time to set up and can largely be performed anywhere — your door frame at home may even work.

Find an empty pull-up bar. Overhand grip, shoulder-width apart, jump up and hang on to the bar. Keep your body from swaying, keeping your elbows fully extended arms straight. Hang in this position for as long as you possibly can. As you get stronger and you find you can hang for well beyond 30 seconds, look to progress on to single-arm dead hangs.

Start hanging with both hands, remove one, count for , then switch hands. Keep switching until you have nothing left in the tank. Safely deadlift a heavy set of dumbbells or kettlebells. The forearms are utilized in many exercises, including the bench press, deadlift, and barbell row. Strong forearms translate to stronger grip strength. This can allow you to squeeze harder, engage more muscles, and generate more force during your workouts.

That said, growing your forearms can be challenging. Lucky for you, there are a handful of exercises to assist your forearm development. These movements are typically reserved for my biceps training days and are performed after the biceps routine has been completed.