Best Forearm Exercise and Forearm Workout

Forearm muscle

Your forearm muscle makes up about a third of your arm mass, and with out proper development of the forearm, your arm will look out of proportion. Many tend to ignore training the forearms, and end up with lagging forearm muscles.

For complete development of the forearm muscles, you need to work them through a full range of motion. For each rep, you need to lower the weight as far as possible for the maximum stretch, and bring it all the back up for a full contraction.

Forearm anatomy

The forearm muscle includes the front of the forearm (the anterior) as well as the back of the forearm (the posterior): flexors and extensors to help control the movement of the lower arm when reaching and pulling towards you with the elbow joint.

There are a number of muscle groups in the forearm itself – including flexors and extensors of the fingers as well as flexors of the brachioradialis (the elbow) and supinators and pronators that turn the hand downwards or upwards. There are actually two different sections in the forearm itself – the anterior and the posterior compartments that house major nerves: the radial nerve, the ulnar nerve, and the median nerve.

When you stop to think about this, it makes sense that there are so many muscles in this part of the body as the hands and arms have to perform complicated movements hundreds of times each day.

Build Forearm Muscles and Forearm Strength

When you’re working out the upper arm muscles, strong and defined forearms will help you create a complete and balanced look. The more you isolate the forearms, the more you force them to perform the movement without help from the upper arms, leading to greater development. If you want to increase your forearm development, you can use the priority principle - train your forearm muscle by themselves, or training them on leg days.

You can also apply shocking principles to stimulate forearm growth. These include forced reps, super sets, partial reps, and so on. There are a few things to keep in mind when doing forearm exercises:

Isolate the forearm muscle as much as possible during movements
Use a full range of motion - go down as far as possible, and come back up as high as possible
Part range movements are not as effective because your forearm muscles are involved in a number of other exercises

Forearm Exercise - Barbell Wrist Curl

Main purpose of the barbell wrist curl is to develop the inside flexor muscles of the forearm. Barbell curls involve the forearm muscles to a great extent, however, barbell wrist curls allows you to fully isolate the forearms.

Straddle a bench with your forearms resting on the end of the bench
Grab hold of a barbell with an underhand grip
Your wrists should be hanging over the end of the bench
Bend your wrists and lower the weight as far down as you can
At the bottom of the motion, open your palms slightly and let the barbell roll down the palm of your hands
Roll the weight back up into your hands, and curl the weight up as high as you can

Dumbbell One Arm Wrist Curl

Grab hold of a dumbbell and sit on a bench
Place your forearm on your thigh so that your wrist and the dumbbell extend over the knee
Use your free hand to stabilize the elbow of your working arm
Bend your wrist and lower the weight as far down as possible
At the bottom of the motion slightly open your palm and let the dumbbell roll down your palm slightly
Close your palm, and curl the weight back up as high as you can

Behind the Back Wrist Curl Forearm Exercise

This is a power exercise that will develop the flexor muscle of the forearm, and you can use heavy weights for this forearm exercise.

Pickup a barbell from behind your back, and hold it at arm's length
Hands should be about shoulder width apart
Open your hands and the let barbell roll down your palm
Close your palm and curl the bar as high up as you can
Make sure only your wrists move during this movement

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