bulking forearms and wrists?

[ChiseldForeArms]

since ive been working out my biceps and triceps have gotten bigger, but sadly my forearms and wrists havent really grown at all. Ive tried wrist curls they seemed to work pretty well. I also have those hand squeezing things but those didnt do jack. Is there any other ways or excercises that bulk ur wrist and forearm area?

ps, i dont have access to a fatbar.

 

[Muck]

wrist rollers

By far the best thing I've done for the forearms. Most gyms don't have them, but you can get them yourself.

 

[ChiseldForeArms]

ok sweet i acutally made of those out of an old broom handle last night, but is there a optimum width that the bar should be along with a rope length?

 

[Nobody]

You can't bulk your wrists though.

Not to my knowledge anyways. It's bone, not muscle.

XD

 

[Ryofire]

forearms are one of those muscles that are worked all the time so you work them no matter what same with abs and legs your always walking so no matter what your legs are being worked

 

[Muck]

Just something easy to hold. The leverage isn't important, you can add/decrease weight. Normal broom handle width is fine.

Forearms are important if you do many pulls. You can quickly get beyond your grip strength with things like the deadlift if you aren't working your forearms directly.

 

[ChrisJG]

I agree with wrist rollers - they build the meat of your forearms but, like nobody said, your wrists themselves can't be isolated as they contain no muscle to speak of...

 

[jpfitness]

Try doing heavy dead lifts without wrist straps, chinups or lat pull without straps, farmer's walk etc. Focusing on them directly through isolation is a pointless. They will grow in proportion with the type of loads you naturally haul around. Ever see a rock climber with puny forearms? I wonder how many "wrist curls" they do?

 

[Muck]

And try doing that stuff without direct forearm work and see how quick you out-perform your forearms.

Rock climbers work their forearms more than any normal weight lifter considering they're doing all pulls and have to support their weight constantly and with awkward leverages. What an asinine comparison.

Use the wrist roller, you won't be sorry. Yes, compound movements work the wrists, but only on pulls. Don't let your grip be the weak spot of an important lift like the deadlift.. which will force you into a situation where you either need to focus on grip work to catch up and stagnate on the deadlift, or resort to straps and leave your grip falling even farther behind. Do the wrist rolls so you don't NEED to use straps.

It's an extremely easy thing to add to your workout, no reason not to.

 

[Karky]

wrist roller sounds cool, i think ill make myself one of those, how many reps would be recomended? same as all other exersices? same with volume too? just wondering should i do this all the days im in the gym? i do bill starr 5x5 (yeah, getting tiered of saying that by now) so i workout my entire body 3 times a week. cant think wrist roller will **** up the program or anything.
and do you only roll it one way? or do you turn your arms around so the underside of your forearms are facing upwards and then roll too? or will the standard roll work the muscles on the underside too?

 

[madison069]

I justed worked on my truck and cars and i got pretty big forearms..

And i was blessed with big wrist from my big bone family!!!

 

[Karky]

i just went ahead and made one of those wrist rollers. but i have some questiones
how long should the rope be? and is one roll = one rep or is one roll the entire thing up = one rep? :S

 

[Sphinx]

Use the wrist roller, you won't be sorry. Yes, compound movements work the wrists, but only on pulls.

Not true.

Shoulder and bench press both use the forearms as a stabaliser. When I first started DB bech pressing, my forearms reached failure well before my chest. It is probobly the excercise that has caused the most growth in my forearms.

SO many excercising work the forearms, that there is no need to isolate.

 

[Ed Gasket]

Try doing heavy dead lifts without wrist straps, chinups or lat pull without straps, farmer's walk etc. Focusing on them directly through isolation is a pointless. They will grow in proportion with the type of loads you naturally haul around. Ever see a rock climber with puny forearms? I wonder how many "wrist curls" they do?

good point jp, i found my forearms have grown with my usual routines flies, bench press, pull ups, curls etc,

 

[jpfitness]

My point, Muck, is that they do no isolation... Their forearms are functionally large.

Have you ever done a farmer's walk? It is as close to isolation as I like to get, but it includes a great deal of trunk stability and hits your traps too.

Also, if you seperate out all your parts, you will never know if you don't need straps. The idea of not using them is that - even though your forearms may fatigue before the bigger parts - you will strengthen them faster since they are the weak link in the chain of required muscles. After all, you are only as strong as your weakest link.

Straps are a crutch, just like belts and wraps, which incidentally I'm against as well. Like many "bodybuilders" you are too focused on body parts. Train the chain and it will all even out, in both size and strength.

 

[sicone]

Wan't bigger forearms go read "Expressing the human body" by John Little about Bruce Lee. Bruce had the huge forearms.

Forearms of Steel

In order to improve his gripping and punching power, Lee became an avid devotee of forearm training, While many champion bodybuilders shy away from direct forearm training, Lee made it a point to train his forearms daily. "He was a forearm fanatic," laughs Linda in retrospect. "If ever any bodybuilder -- such as Bill Pearl -- came out with a forearm course, Bruce would have to get it." Bruce even commissioned an old friend of his from San Francisco, George Lee (no relation) to build him several "Gripping machines" to which Lee would add weight for additional resistance. "He used to send me all of these designs for exercise equipment," recalls George Lee, "and I'd build them according to his specs. However, I wasn't altogether foolish," he says with a laugh, "I knew that if Bruce was going to use it, it must be effective, so I'd build one to send to him and another for me to use at home!"

Allen Joe recalls that Lee had a favorite dumbbell exercise that he used to train his forearms with constantly: "Bruce was always working on his forearms. He'd pick up a weight and go to the edge of the sofa and start doing wrist curls while he was watching TV. Then he'd do his abdominal work -- and then he'd return to his forearm training. The dumbbell curl he liked best was a Zottman curl, where you would curl the weight up one side of your body and then you twist it and bring it down on the other side. He'd do that all the time!"

 

[jpfitness]

Wan't bigger forearms go read "Expressing the human body" by John Little about Bruce Lee. Bruce had the huge forearms.

Here we go again...

Bruce Lee was a great martial artist, but that doesn't make him an authority on weight lifting. If they said that he drank his own pee would you do that too?

The only thing with any merit in that little blurb about his forearms is the Zottman curl. That is a legit exercise that targets more than just the forearms. Doesn't mean that one should go out and do them every day. Maybe once a week do zottman's with farmer's walk... That would pretty much fry your forearms. Other than that, just stick with compound moves without crutches, as I mentioned earlier.

 

[Muck]

Here we go again...

Bruce Lee was a great martial artist, but that doesn't make him an authority on weight lifting.

But rock climbers are apparently.

Shoulder and bench press both use the forearms as a stabaliser. When I first started DB bech pressing, my forearms reached failure well before my chest. It is probobly the excercise that has caused the most growth in my forearms.

I can't imagine how weak your forearms would have be.. and how strong your chest and tris would have to be to for this to actually happen. If you can't put more weight on the bench because of forearms, then you should definitely be doing extra work on them.

Also, if you seperate out all your parts, you will never know if you don't need straps. The idea of not using them is that - even though your forearms may fatigue before the bigger parts - you will strengthen them faster since they are the weak link in the chain of required muscles. After all, you are only as strong as your weakest link.

This is exactly my point. Why have your forearms dictate how much you can deadlift. If I was deadlifting 100 less lbs due to weak forearms, I would want to work on them more so they caught up to the rest of my body. These compound exercises are extremely important, so don't let weak forearms cause you to go lighter.

It is as close to isolation as I like to get, but it includes a great deal of trunk stability and hits your traps too.

Obviously you're fundamentally against all isolation exercises and have labelled them all 'body building' exercises and have no benefit for anyone else. That's just being closed minded. You make it sound like because someone does a few minutes of wrist rolls once a week, they must not squat, deadlift, bench.. etc.

I'm all for compound exercises, but adding isolation exercises to work on weak areas in addition to your compound exercises can get you doing more weight in your compound exercises quicker. That way you're working your body evenly, and your whole body is getting a workout.. as opposed to just your weakest area. Any sticking point should be dealt with by adding extra help to that area.

and do you only roll it one way? or do you turn your arms around so the underside of your forearms are facing upwards and then roll too? or will the standard roll work the muscles on the underside too?

Yah, I go both ways, but you do have to change the weight. I would make the rope rather long, that'll give you more flexibility (you don't have to go all the way up, but gives you the option to). I only do these once a week at the end of my last workout. On back day, my forearms get a decent workout, and I wouldn't want fatigued forearms hurting my other lifts earlier in the week.

Only takes a few minutes and helps prevent you from having your forearms be the weak link in your important compound lifts.

 

[jpfitness]

But rock climbers are apparently.

THey are not telling people how to get strong forearms... Their bodies are merely reflections of their daily function. They aren't even worried about building big forearms... It just happens. Just like hikers have big calves but do no calf raises.

This is exactly my point. Why have your forearms dictate how much you can deadlift. If I was deadlifting 100 less lbs due to weak forearms, I would want to work on them more so they caught up to the rest of my body. These compound exercises are extremely important, so don't let weak forearms cause you to go lighter.

On the contrary, doing "wrist rolls" isnt going to increase your ability to hold heavier weight on a deadlift. It won't take long before they catch up though, if you the use of the straps. The whole reason they are weak in the first place is that you relied on "crutches".

Obviously you're fundamentally against all isolation exercises and have labelled them all 'body building' exercises and have no benefit for anyone else. That's just being closed minded. You make it sound like because someone does a few minutes of wrist rolls once a week, they must not squat, deadlift, bench.. etc.

I don't completely rule out isolated exercises. I will use them if necessary, I just don't find them necessary as often as most trainers. In fact, I think most trainers or trainees realize how well their goals would be suited by doing a well-designed program made up mostly of compound moves. I do admittedly find it a little silly the way that bodybuilders harp on individual parts so much, and usually on things that they either can't change (like calves) or go about trying to change the wrong way (like isolating the **** out of their "parts" when the part in question may grow perfectly well if they incorporated more compound moves).

I'm all for compound exercises, but adding isolation exercises to work on weak areas in addition to your compound exercises can get you doing more weight in your compound exercises quicker. That way you're working your body evenly, and your whole body is getting a workout.. as opposed to just your weakest area. Any sticking point should be dealt with by adding extra help to that area.

Then do farmer's walk if grip is your sticking point. Not wrist rolls. Or get a thick rope and set it up to do some rope climbing, or use a towel over a bar to do some chin-ups. You can focus on a weakness while still teaching the muscles to work synergistically with other parts.

 

[Karky]

okay muck. but what about the reps thing? is one roll one rep? or is one rep when you roll the whole thing up and then all the way down to the floor again?
just have to find out how im actually going to use this thing.

or should i do this farmers walk thing instead of the wrist roller?
remember im on the bill starr 5x5 it says that you shouldnt mess with it too much.