The forearms are one of the most neglected muscle groups in the human body. This is surprising as they are probably the muscle group most frequently exposed. For those who train for aesthetic appeal then, training the forearms makes far more sense than working on the abs or biceps which you will probably have to go out of your way to show off. Your forearms someone might just get to glance while you’re writing or doing the dishes and think… woah…

Furthermore your forearms are involved in almost every movement, particularly those in the gym. Every time you are required to grip anything, you’ll be using your forearms. Forearms are crucial then in pull ups and anything using a weight, they’re also what you need for those casual displays of power such as opening a jam jar or winning an arm wrestle.

Despite all that most people have no idea what the muscles in the forearm are called however. That’s because there’s loads of them and they don’t have at all catchy names. Generally though they can come under ‘forearm flexors’ or ‘wrist flexors’ (of which there are six) and the main muscle ‘brachioradialis’.

It’s also the fact that the forearms are always being trained that leads many to think there’s no need to train them specifically. However if you do focus on your forearms from time to time you’ll find that you’re performance improves on every other movement, and that you hard far greater gripping and crushing power than before. You’ll also find that people notice your bulging forearms with their deep cuts and bulging veins. For an example of great forearms check out Sylvester Stallone… looks cool right?

One quick way to engage the forearms more while doing bicep curls is to face your hand the other way so that the palm is facing outwards. Curls like this will involve the forearms more and you should feel them burning as you perform the reps. Alternatively you can train the forearms specifically by doing ‘wrist curls’ rather than bicep curls. Here you lie your arms flat on a surface such as a bench with your hands and wrists hanging over the edge. Now lower and raise your wrists while holding light-ish weights. This can also be done with a reverse grip for variation. Variations on the wrist curls can also be done by hanging your arms by your sides and curling the dumbbells upward either towards yourself or away from you.

You can also train your forearms and fingers by doing pull ups gripping with your fingers rather than your hands, or by squeezing those forearm flexors you can get from shops such as JJB. Simply squeezing a rubber ball or stress ball would have a similar effect.

Mack LeMouse

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