You’ve likely worked hard to strengthen your upper body with the intention of lifting, pushing, and moving heavy loads. But what about your grip strength ? Well it may be that, unless you are doing forearm exercises, it is relatively weak.
Why is forearm strength important? Forearm flexors are the muscles that help you grip everything from a barbell to a door handle.
Having forearm strength, and therefore grip strength, means that you have the ability to lift heavy things and move them. For all this, building strong forearms is especially important for professional athletes, the stronger your grip, the better you can do overhead presses, deadlifts, weight changes, jerky movements, bicep curls and bench press.
What is the function of the muscles of the forearms?
The forearms are made up of a group of smaller muscles that have four main movements : wrist flexion (bending the palm of the hand inward), wrist extension (raising the back of the hand), forearm pronation ( rotation of the palm downwards), and supination of the forearm (turning the palm upwards). Working with all ranges of motion will help better balance forearm development . However, keep in mind that you are probably building forearms without even realizing it , as any exercise that involves gripping and, more specifically, pulling, will place great demands on the flexors of the fingers and wrists.
Forearm exercises to include in your training routine
Here are some forearm exercises that you can include in your training routine to improve your grip.
Dumbbell wrist curl
Don’t be fooled by how easy this exercise seems, this simple move helps increase and strengthen your wrist flexors , which are crucial to building grip strength .
Instructions
- Sit on the edge of a bench or chair holding a dumbbell in your right hand , and place your right forearm on your right thigh, with the back of your right wrist on top of his right kneecap.
- Moving only your hand, slowly lower the dumbbell as far as you can , maintaining a firm grip throughout the movement.
- Without lifting your arm from your thigh, lift the dumbbell toward your biceps and lower the dumbbell back to a neutral position.
- Repeat until you feel muscle fatigue, then switch sides , doing equal reps on each.
Dumbbell wrist extension
This exercise is the reverse of the wrist flexion movement and helps add size and strength to the wrist extensor muscles.
Instructions
- Sit on the edge of a bench or chair holding a dumbbell in your right hand, and place your right forearm on his right thigh, palm down, with the right wrist on the right kneecap.
- Without lifting your arm from your thigh, lift the weight as far as you can towards your biceps , maintaining a firm grip throughout the movement.
- Lower the weight slowly back to the neutral position.
- Repeat until the muscle is tired, and then switch sides, doing equal repetitions on each one .
Dumbbell Reverse Bend
This is one of the exercises for the forearms with which you will work two crucial muscles in this area , the pronator teres and the brachialis , an auxiliary muscle that will help develop elbow flexion.
Instructions
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart holding a dumbbell in each hand , with your arms at your sides and your palms facing backward.
- Keeping your elbows bent, slowly bend the weights slightly above 90 degrees. Reverse the movement to return to the starting position, and repeat.
Dumbbell walk
This movement develops the flexors of the wrist and fingers , as well as the participation of almost every other muscle in the body. It is a very functional movement.
Instructions
- Stand with your feet hip- width apart, holding a pair of dumbbells at your sides, palms facing inward.
- Keeping your core and spine firm, walk straight without moving your shoulders to take the steps.
- Rest and repeat.
Chin-up bar
This forearm exercise helps build not only the wrist and finger flexors , but is an excellent guide to getting started with pull-ups.
Instructions
- Grab a pull-down bar with a shoulder-spanning grip , palms facing forward.
- Hang for 30 seconds with your arms straight and your ankles crossed behind you.
- Rest and repeat.
