Good news! If your life wasn't already full to the traps with various new workout tips and tricks, we're here to tell you about the next big thing: forearm workouts.
We know what you're thinking. Forearm workouts? Really? Is there no part of my body that I can just leave to its own devices while I continue with my usual gym routine? When will I be good enough for you GQ? To which we say: you always were! But hey, if you're looking to mix up your usual routine, or your well-worn route through the gym is becoming a little too populated, it could be worth investing in the forgotten part of your arm that a T-shirt won't hide.
How do I make my forearms bigger?
There's merit in reconsidering the importance of the forearm, and not just because building massive forearms will take you one step closer to next year's (pretty dated) Thor Halloween costume. Though they are perennially used and exercised in building upper-body strength, says personal trainer and founder of Tour Strength Ben Foulis, forearms can often be the limiting factor when it comes to training.
“Generally speaking, the muscle group that gives out first when it comes to major compound lifts are the forearms,” Foulis explains, “and that’s because they are typically the smaller, weaker and most overused muscle group active in that particular lift.”
“A simple hack to help work your forearms and essentially increase your grip strength is to use fat grips or fat bars,” adds F45 UK Master Trainer Sam Gregory. “This will require you to really work on holding on, but, be warned, decrease the amount of weight you’d usually expect to lift: fat grip work is tough.”
If ‘fat bar’ means nothing to you besides that thing you put in the garden to attract small birds, below are three expert workouts for you to get to grips with and build the forearm strength that will take your upper body workouts to the next level.
Ben Foulis, personal trainer and founder of Tour Strength
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.
- Perform 3-5 sets of maximum-effort holds. Be sure to use a stopwatch to monitor progress.
- 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 5-10, then switch hands. Keep switching until you have nothing left in the tank.
One of the greatest “bang for your buck” exercises in my opinion, which I actually don’t see being performed all that often. This is a cornerstone movement which goes into all of my training programmes for the significant benefits it brings. It should be in yours too.
- Safely deadlift a heavy set of dumbbells or kettlebells. Brace your trunk, fire up your traps, engage your lats and squeeze the dumbbell/kettlebell as hard as you can. The goal is to keep those dumbbells/kettlebells dead still, walk 20-30 metres, turn around and come back again. That’s 1 set.
- Perform anywhere from 4-10 sets of these with 45 seconds’ rest and not only will your forearms expand to the size of rugby balls, but you’ll also likely find that your heart rate will fly through the roof as well.
A powerful exercise that is challenging for even the most experienced gym-goer. Ideally, you are going to want to use plates without a lip and that are an inch thick or more (Olympic lifting plates are best). Using plates without a lip will help prevent cheating and will force you to activate the muscles in your forearm as well as your hand that much greater.
- Start off with a pair of 5kg plates. Stand in the centre of them, keeping your thumb and fingers outstretched. Pinch the plate as hard as you can. Pick the plates up off of the floor and stand upright. Keep your arms by your side, relax your shoulders and just hang on tight. That’s it.
- These are similar to the dead hang, in that you should use a stopwatch to monitor progress. Once you can hold the plate for well beyond 30 seconds, it’s time to progress on to heavier plates.
Sam Gregory, F45 Training UK Master Trainer and coach at The BC Program
- Start with two heavy dumbbells or kettlebells either side of your body. Pick them up using a deadlift technique.
- Engage your core, keep your chest proud and slowly start walking. The aim here is to keep the torso still by contracting all the muscles in your trunk. Keep the chest up and shoulders squeezed.
- Aim for 20 metres from where you started. Once you get there slowly lower the weights down with a deadlift technique again. Turn around, pick up the weights again and go back to your starting position, repeating for a total of 6 lengths.
- Rest for 90 seconds and repeat for 3 rounds total. Make sure the weights are heavy or else you won’t overload the forearms.
- Start with two weight plates on either side of you. Pick them up so that they are held in a pinch grip and let them rest by your side, keeping the chest proud and the core engaged.
- See if you can hold for 30 seconds, then work up to 1 minute. Rest for 90 seconds and repeat for 3-4 rounds. This is the opposite of the previous exercise with regards to weight; you won’t need much weight to really start feeling this.
- Now it’s time for a couple of old-school forearm exercises. A gorilla hang is basically the bottom position of a pull-up. Start with the palms facing away from you and the hands shoulder-width apart on a pull-up bar.
- From here, slightly bend your arms whilst trying to squeeze your shoulder blades back and down, almost like a reverse shrug.
- Once you’re in this position, keep your whole body contracted and just hang. Aim for 30 seconds to start with. It’s a tough exercise, especially if you perform it at the end of your workout.
- Rest as much as you need to and get 2 more sets in. Work your way up to hanging for a couple of minutes.
The last one is the most basic but probably the hardest. Give it a go, though: it’ll put you head and shoulders above most gym-goers.
- Start with a bucket full of water and an empty bucket by the side. The temperature of the water is up to you but probably lukewarm is best. The more water in the bucket, the harder this is going to be.
- Grab a hand towel and submerge it in the bucket of water. Take it out and wring it out into the empty bucket. The workout is complete once you’ve filled the empty bucket just using the towel. This one sounds weird but, trust me, it’s old-school strength at its finest.
Dr Thomas Falda, training specialist at Freeletics
The farmer’s carry is a simple yet often overlooked exercise. Just grab two dumbbells or kettlebells. If you have special handles, that’s even better.
- Make sure you stay upright and keep your shoulders back while walking. This great exercise will improve your grip while also challenging your core.
- You can perform it for any given distance or time. Start light – for example, two weights of 10kg for 20 metres – and progressively increase the weight and distance.
A basic exercise many of us have already tried at some point. Just hang on a pull-up bar for a given time. Sound easy? It doesn’t have to be.
- 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.
- This one is also simple. Grab a bar, lift it and hold the position for as long as you can.
- 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. And don’t be afraid to load the barbell. I’m sure you can load much more than you think you can.
This one is a bit tricky, but if you have the necessary technique, you’d be silly not to use it. Do not use a hook grip – that would be too easy.
- Pick a weight that’s about 50 per cent of your 1 rep max power clean and try an AMRAP (as many repetitions as possible) set.
- 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, do it. It’s similar to the passive hang, but with the added difficulty that you have to release one bar with one hand in order to grab the next one.
- Start with 5 sets of about 10 bars. Once that becomes too easy, increase the time or the distance. You might look like a monkey, but that’s good for you.
