Hey, what's up guys?
I'm Scott from muscularstrength.com and today we're going to continue the only
two series and focus on building bigger and stronger forearms,
but two exercises isn't going to cut it this time because when trying to
increase the overall size of your forearms,
just hitting exercises that involve bending your wrist forward and back isn't
enough. Also for a lot of you guys,
I know that grip strength is super important as it can be a limiting factor when
you're trying to progress on other movements. So I want to show you a few grips,
specific exercises you can do as well. However,
let's be clear on something guys. Yes,
if you're forcing yourself to grip a barbell as hard as you can and are always
pushing through the pain of the burning sensation in your forearms while
performing exercises like deadlifts or barbell rows or even weighted pull-ups,
your grip strength will improve over time.
But the keyword here is time, right?
And if you're trying to improve your grip strength now,
you'll need a quicker solution. Also,
Ricky and I going to have a little strength competition at the end of the video,
so make sure you stick around for that. But for now,
let's talk forearms and how we can make them bigger. So to keep things simple,
we're going to divide the forearms into three parts.
The forearm flexors, extensors
and the brachioradialis and targeting them specifically is actually very easy.
So let's start with the brachioradialis first.
And the best exercise to target this muscle is the barbell reverse curl.
Unlike the forearm extensors and flexors,
the brachioradalis does not cross over the wrist joint.
So to target it properly, we need to involve forearm flexion and extension.
Now you can perform this movement with a barbell or dumbbells,
but I prefer the barbell variation.
And the key to this movement is to protonate the wrist and gripping the barbell
with a shoulder width grip will allow you to protonate your wrist as much as
possible during your reps. once in place,
keep your core flex and bring the barbell up to your chest.
Then control the negative and repeat for a total of 10 repetitions.
Now it's okay for your elbows to tract forward a little bit.
Just do your best to keep them slightly in front of your hips the entire time.
And remember that one complete rep involves full extension at the bottom.
So if you have a hard time with full range of motion,
do a hard triceps flex at the bottom of the movement.
Exercise number two is going to be the dumbbell wrist extension on a bench.
And now I'm sure most of you are used to seeing this exercise done with a
barbell,
what you can do if that's all that's available and you have great wrist mobility.
But if you don't, a barbell will limit your range of motion and we don't want that.
So to perform the movement,
we're going to use the edge of a bench to support the forearms,
allowing us to move a bit more weight when compared to the standing variation
and reduce external help from momentum or swaying the arms as we begin to fatigue.
Once in place, extend your wrist as high as you can, then control the negative.
And repeat for a total of 15 to 20 reps, when performing this exercise, guys,
you should feel an intense burning sensation in your forearms and this is
probably one of the few times feeling an intense burning sensation is a good
thing and the third exercise, is a dumbbell wrist curl on a bench.
And for this exercise we're going to follow the exact same movement pattern as
the wrist extension, except now our forearms are supinated.
So once in position,
simply flex your wrist as much as you can then control a negative and repeat for
a total of 15 to 20 reps. However, for this exercise,
if you have tight wrists
it may be more beneficial for you to use a barbell because holding the barbell will
force you into full supination of the forearms.
And now I know you guys are going to comment below performing these movements
ttanding and the short answer is yes, of course you can do it that way,
but if you have access to a bench or any surface that can offer you some kind of
support, in my opinion, you can make these exercises more efficient.
Now as for grip strength specific exercises,
I'm going to go over a few that you can try right now,
but before we get started I think we can get this video over 5,000 likes,
easy. The YouTube overlords
keep trying to hide my channel from all of you for whatever reason,
but more likes make that algorithm kick in whether they like it or not.
So be sure to tap that like button.
You can even think of it as a warmup for your fingers.
For the exercises I'm about to show you. So grip exercise number one,
suitcase barbell hold.
Now this exercise is actually very cool because not only does it allow you to
improve your grip strength, but because you have to balance the barbell,
you'll activate your forearm abductors and adductors as well to keep it from
tipping forward or backward. Just start with the barbell first.
And as you get stronger,
you can easily progress the movement by adding more weight.
And the goal here obviously is to hold it as long as you can grip
exercise number two is a dead hang.
And this is actually one of my favorite ways to increase my grip strength and I
think it's because even as a kid I always loved climbing. In fact,
my family would just call me monkey, not even Scott at one point.
And all you have to do to get this done is get into the pullup position,
almost specifically the bottom position of the pull up and then grip the bar as
hard as you can and then literally just hang as long as you can.
Then as you get stronger and can hold yourself in place for several minutes at a
time, you can progress the movement by adding weight.
You can try hanging by your fingertips and you can even try hanging by one arm
and you can really increase the intensity by trying to hang from a towel.
And the third grip specific exercise I want to share with you before my contest
with Ricky is fingertip pushups.
And now this might not seem like a grip specific movement,
but finger strength is very important and if you're doing all this work to
increase the strength and size of the muscles involved when gripping,
strengthening the ligaments and tendons of the fingers shouldn't be ignored.
So start off with a basic push up against the wall guys.
Then as you get stronger, try a decline,
push up on a bench and then make your way to the floor starting with your knees
first if needed or if you have the strength,
just jump right into a traditional knees locked out and core super tight
push up and you guys can also look into investing in some elastic bands for your
fingers, which are pretty cool. Or go old school with a hand gripper.
Just ask your dad.
I'm sure he probably has one in a drawer somewhere or you can get something like
this,
which is something I've had since I was 12 this exact thing when I was 12 my dad
bought me this and some pushup bars and I still have them both. Thanks dad.
And he also had a hand gripper in the drawer in the kitchen,
which is why I said that earlier,
but I love this thing and I would use it every single day when I was a kid
because it basically combines wrist extension and wrist flexion into one
movement and the spring in the middle increases the intensity as you twist.
So it's a really great tool to have.
So lots of great ways for you guys to build bigger forearms and increase your grip
strength. However,
I do have one more technique you can try and it's actually going to be the test
of strength for my competition with Ricky right now.
So if you guys want to join in from home, all you need is a weight plate.
We're going to use a 45 pound weight plate, but if that's too heavy,
that's okay. Grab a 35 or 25 or 10 whatever you can do.
And also we're going to be using a bumper plate so it's a bit thicker and once
you have it,
all you have to do is pass it from front to back using only your fingertips as
many times as you can until you can't hold the plate any longer.
So are you ready Ricky?
Comment below who you think's gonna win.
Yeah. Okay, so now pass it back and forward.
One. Let's try to keep the same tempo. Two nice
three
You move around alot.
Nice. Six.
Seven, nice
yeah baby. Nine
Ten. Be humble. Quit now.
Eleven.
There's no way you're going to let me get this.
Fifteen
Sixteen, seventeen
Oh 18, that's why I said try to stay, 19
21
22, 23
Hey guys, I hope you had fun with today's video.
And if you did the fingertip challenge with me and Ricky,
let us know in the comment section how you did.
And if you want to see all the videos in my only two series,
I'll put the full playlist link over here.
And if you're looking for a new workout program,
you can download guaranteed gains for free by clicking the link below.
I'll see you there.