8 Ways to Train the Forearms For Maximum Grip Strength and Size

Weight Training Journal

forearm size or grip strength holding you back? Check out these unique exercises and techniques for developing bone-crushing grip strength and bowling pin forearms!

I'll be honest…direct forearm and grip training is something you don't see a whole lot of people doing in the gym. It's not glamorous, it's hard work, it takes time away from more "viewable" bodyparts, and the training it takes to really get results can be downright painful!

So that intro didn't send you packing? Good. That means you're serious about building stronger forearms and better grip strength! NOW we can get started.

Grip strength is extremely useful in so many ways…the stronger your grip, the heavier the weight you can lift and the longer you can hold it. In the majority of heavy pulling exercises, grip strength is the limiting factor. Building thick, meaty forearms is a great physique enhancement - quite often, the forearms are the only visible muscles that aren't covered up by clothing!

I've found that the most effective forearm and grip strength exercises AREN'T the typical wrist curls you see many people doing in the gym. Sure, you can get a good pump and a good burn when doing them but how practical are they when it comes to "real world" gripping?

The following exercises, tips and techniques are all about "practical." Here they are in no particular order:

1. A Bucket of Sand

Get a bucket and some playground sand from a home improvement store (it's about 3 or 4 bucks for a bag of 50 lbs so it's really not expensive). Fill the bucket up with sand. Now dive your hand into the bucket and start working your fingers through the sand.

A few minutes of this and your forearms and all the small muscles in your hand will be fried! Switch to the other hand and go again. The sand provides excellent all-over resistance for maximizing the effects on the hands, fingers and forearms.

2. Squeezing a Tennis Ball

If you can't afford a fancy gripper, just get an old tennis ball and squeeze it repeatedly while you're watching TV. Hockey legend Gordie Howe used to do this constantly and he had some of the strongest forearms (and one of the hardest slapshots!) in the NHL. Simple, convenient and effective. No excuses.

3. Barbell Static Holds

Set up a barbell in a power rack with the rails set just above your knee level. Load up a bar (use moderate weight to start with). Now stand BESIDE the bar, reach down and grip it in the center with ONE hand. Stand up with the bar and just hold it for as long as you can until your grip gives out.

Not only are you fighting directly against gravity, you're also fighting to balance the bar in one hand. Very effective on the forearms and on the grip!

4. Farmers Walks

Grab a pair of heavy dumbells and go for a walk. Literally. Just pick them up and walk until you can't hold onto the dumbells anymore! Gripping heavy objects while walking creates a lot of instability, which will work the forearms very strongly.

And it doesn't have to just be limited to dumbells…there are Farmer's Walk handles that you can buy that work for this. You can also use a couple of EZ Curl bars loaded up and get the benefits of the Farmer's Walk AND the barbell static holds. Heck even walking with a couple of pails of that sand from the first tip is another way to go. Don't limit yourself to conventional items…even a couple of heavy bags of dog food will work!

5. Thick Bar Exercises

Gripping around a larger diameter is a not-so-secret "secret" that strength competitors often use to develop grip strength. Gripping around a thicker bar puts a very different stress on the grip and forearms, resulting in fast improvements in those areas.

You can use bars that are built thick for this (you may have seen "Fat Bars"), or you can use other things to make your own thick bars. Tape is often used to accomplish this (wrapping tape around a bar or dumbell handle repeatedly until it's thicker in size).

A technique I like to use is to get some foam pipe insulation from the hardware store, cut off a couple of 5 inch sections then set THOSE on the bar. Grip on those when you're doing you're training and you'll notice a big different in forearm activation (it's dirt-cheap and TEMPORARY, which is nice if you train in a commercial gym which would frown on you wrapping duct tape around their bars). Check it out in more detail

6. Do Reverse Curls

Not reverse wrist curls…actual Reverse Barbell Curls. This will hit the forearms very strongly AND, as you fatigue, your grip will get a great workout because it's the only thing keeping the bar from dropping out of your hands (not the case with regular barbell curls).

7. Don't Use Wrist Straps

This is a simple thing but very important. If you constantly use wrist wraps or other grip assistance, you'll never fully develop your own grip strength, which will limit you in the long run. It's fine to use grip assistance once in awhile and for maximum lifts, but the more you rely on them, the less grip strength and forearm development you'll get.

8. Hanging

Sounds easy enough, right? Grab a chin-up bar and just hang from it until you can't hold on anymore. And I mean until you're hanging by your fingertips and then you slip off the bar because your hands lock up with lactic acid.

You'll get a great stretch in your upper body and you'll improve your grip strength at the same time.

CONCLUSION:

If you're looking for forearm size and maximum grip strength but wrist curls aren't doing the job, change things up with these techniques. They're easy to implement and VERY effective - no excuses for not getting results!

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by: Nick Nilsson, Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 17 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Muscle Explosion! 28 Days to Maximum Mass", "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (http://www.fitness-ebooks.com). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

All the best in your weight training, powerlifting, and bodybuilding, programs.
Jason, CSCS

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Looking to increase Power

Weight Training Tips

Weight training for Power.

People often speak about power but what is weight training for Power?

If you are a power lifter, Olympic lifter, or an athlete that relies on power fast forceful movements the weight training tips below will be of a benefit to you.

Power is a function of work and time where work is the force exerted on an object and the distance the object moves in the direction the force was applied. Power is so important because of the speed at which it is applied. Football line men need lots of strength, that is to say that they have to move or prevent movement of themselves and an opposing player, this is a lot of weight. A shotputter needs power because the shot is much lighter than a linemen and maximal force needs to be used in a short time in order for the shot to travel a great distance one it has left the throwers hands.

There are two applications to power
1 - single effort power
2 - multiple effort power

An example of multiple effort power: basketball player jumping block a shot then tunning and jumping for the rebound. Single effort power example: powerlifter attempting a lift in competition.

To train in the weight room for a single effort power event follow these guidelines:
Rest: 2 - 5 minutes
Sets: 3 - 5
Reps: 1 - 2
Weight: 80 - 90% of your 1RM, weight you can lift between 4 and 8 reps

To train in the weight room for a multiple effort power events follow these guidelines:
Rest: 2 - 5 minutes
Sets: 3 - 5
Reps: 3 - 5
Weight: 75 - 85% of 1RM, weight you can lift between 6 and 10 reps

For both types of training the weight is to be lifted as fast as possible.

Good luck in you weight training.

How to squat

The Squat, the King of all lifts!

By: Rickey Dale Crain, b.b.a., i.s.s.a.
IPF/WPC/AAU World Champion
2000 Powerlifting Hall of Fame Inductee

I saw this article and hed to share it with everyone. You can not beat a good squat for powerlifting or bodybuilding. It is so important to do it right I can not post enough articles to stress this point. I hope everyone reads this and leaves with a few good tips to put in their next squat weight workout.

Everybody's body structure can and does dictate different form and style, but some things are the same or very similar (or should be to be successful) for the vast majority of lifters. Let us take a look at these:

-Hand placement on the bar and bar placement on the back

-Arms and elbows

-Walk out and set up

-Feet placement and hips

-Head placement and eyes

-Breathing and flexing of certain muscles

-Thinking and concentrating through the lift from beginning to end

Before you approach the bar, all your equipment should be fitted and fitting properly. All your psyching up and mental preparation should be pretty much done. It is time to perform.

Hand placement on the bar and bar placement on the back:

A person’s structure, limb lengths and size have a lot to do with hand placement on the bar. The main rule of thumb is the closer the better. It will keep the bar tighter on your back, and no chance for the bar to roll. The lighter lifter usually has no problem with this, but the bigger and heavier lifter, usually through inflexibility, wants put his hands out wide. Thus, he decreases his leverage by the fact the bar will have to be placed higher on the neck to keep it from falling. "I will say this once, and I am sure I will take some hits on it, but it is the absolute truth. The vast majority of bigger/heavier lifters have very poor form, for many reasons, but inflexibility and the refusal to practice good form is the main reason. They pretty much try to rely on their size to muscle up a lot of weight. That is one reason why the smaller lifter is so much superior pound for pound at all the lifts."

The weight should be supported by not only the back of the deltoids where the bar sits, but some should be supported by the arms, forearms, elbows, wrists, hands. This dictates as narrow a hand placement as possible. Smaller frame people will have narrower grips than bigger frame people, i.e. my grip is considerably narrower than Bill Kazmaier's.

Grip the bar tight. The tighter the grip, the less pressure will be on the wrists and elbows and shoulders, and the bar will have less of a chance or almost no chance of moving or rolling.

Arms and elbows:

If your elbows, wrists or shoulders hurt, try tilting your elbows up as you get under the bar, and/or rotate your hands a bit inward. If you still have a lot of problems, you may need to move the grip out a bit, but work on flexibility constantly so as to keep them in as close as possible. The wider the grip the more the hands will probably tilt inward. I disagree with false grips. They are dangerous because you do not have the bar under full control, and it makes you place the bar higher on the neck, hurting your leverage. Also, some federations allow holding the collars. This practice is very dangerous and really cuts down the leverage.

The key is to not only feel tight but also be tight and have everything under control. The lower the bar, the better your leverage is and the more the hips will be utilized. And the hips are where the power comes from. You should not squat totally upright utilizing the legs only.

Only a few people are so big they cannot grip the bar fully and squeeze into a position inside the collars. Many big guys could work on flexibility and be able to achieve this.

Walk out and set up:

Walk under the bar, elbows high, squeezing the bar tight and pull yourself under the bar. With the bar about 1-2 inches or so below the deltoid or shoulder, there is a groove for every person that will be evident and sit comfortably. You may have to experiment to find it or it may come naturally. If you are having trouble finding it, ask an experienced lifter. After the bar is sitting tight on your back, set your feet side by side but with one foot just ahead of the other, i.e. heel to toe. Make sure your back is chalked up good to help keep the bar from slipping down your back.

Take a very deep breath, squeeze your hands, shoulders, abs, (i.e. everything) and swing the hips forward. Push up and come back out of the rack. The momentum of the bar and plates, while under control will help you to come out of the rack much easier. Walk out with a minimum of steps, 2-3 at the most. Practice your walk out with an empty bar and while warming up. Practice does make perfect, and learn to do it right every time.

Feet placement and hips:

After walking out and setting up, make sure your feet are the proper distance apart. What is that you might ask? Hopefully you have some idea what is comfortable, and best suited to your body structure, age and strengths. In case you have not a clue as to what planet we are now on, here a few helpful suggestions:


-Shorter people usually are narrower

-Taller people further apart

-Short back and long legged people (i.e. Lamar Gant) can use either form of foot placement


Head placement and eyes:

After walking out and setting up, look out (not up too far), but never down! Now your head can be in 1 of 4 places:

1.Looking way up - for people with wider stances, and the bar higher on their back (and checking out for aliens and space ships in the sky).

2.Looking out - for the average lifter, and the most correct way.
3. Looking down - for the closer stance squatter with the bar really low on the back (and also allows you to check to see if you tied your shoes).

4.Looking at the mat, with a flat face, showing you screwed up and haven't listened to anything I've said to you.

Breathing and flexing of certain muscles:

You should still be holding that deep breath from the set up and walk out. Make sure as you get ready to descend (that means go down for some of you), you are flexing everything: abs, face, hands, neck, and all upper body parts. As you go down, push your knees out, hard. As you cock your hips and shoot them back (as if sitting on a chair), get your chest out, shoulders back, and have a small arch in the back. At the bottom, your shins should be vertical or almost vertical and never past your feet. Michael Bridges made this popular by giving it a name: The Bridges Fair. It has been part of my form, however, for 30 plus years.

As you approach the bottom of the lift, where the imaginary line from the top of the knee to your hip joint breaks parallel, you pull yourself through the point with a slight bounce. Then drive upward with your upper body, hands, arms, legs, hips, back, or otherwise with everything you own. Sometimes the imaginary line is more imaginary at times than others depending on how much you paid the referee or whether you are dating his sister or daughter.

As you stand up (or get scraped up, whatever the case may be) and as you complete the lift, go ahead and walk forward and rack the bar. Hopefully the spotter/loaders are not taking a lunch break and will help you a bit, hopefully a lot. Stop, walk, rack, and breathe. Finally it is over.

Thinking and concentrating through the lift from beginning to end:


Remember:

Squat slow and under control.

Form is everything.

Always squeeze the bar.

Always squeeze your abs (or ab, whatever the case may be).

Always squeeze everything.

Practice makes almost always perfect.

All the best in your weight training, powerlifting, and bodybuilding programs.
Jason

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