FOREARM EXERCISES
BARBELL WRIST CURLS
PURPOSE OF EXERCISE:
To develop the inside (flexor muscles) of the forearms.
Heavy Barbell Curls make the forearms work very hard, but Wrist Curls allow you to more
fully isolate these muscles.EXECUTION:(1) Take hold of a barbell with an underhand grip, hands close together. Straddle a
bench with your forearms resting on the bench but with your wrists and hands hanging over the
end, elbows and wrists the same distance apart. Lock your knees in against your elbows to stabilize
them. (2) Bend your wrists and lower the weight toward the floor. When you can't lower
the bar any farther, carefully open your fingers a little bit and let the weight roll down out of the
palms of your hands. Roll the weight back up into your hands, contract the forearms, and lift
the weight as high as you can without letting your forearms come'Up off the bench. Forearms,
like calves, need a lot of stimulation to grow, so don't be afraid to make them really burn.
BEHIND-THE-BACK
WRIST CURLS
PURPOSE OF EXERCISE-To develop the
flexor muscles of the forearm. This is a
real power exercise for the forearm flexors,
and you can go for the heaviest possible
weight.EXECUTION:(1) Back up to a barbell rack
and grasp a bar. Lift it off the rack and
hold it down at arm's length behind you,
hands about shoulder width apart, palms
facing toward the rear. (2) Keeping your
arms steady, open your fingers and let the
bar roll down out of your palms. Close
your fingers, roll the bar back up into
your hands, and then lift it up and back
behind you as far as possible, flexing your
forearms. Make sure only the wrist
moves in this exercise.
REVERSE WRIST CURLS
WITH BARBELL
PURPOSE OF EXERCISE- To develop the outside
(extensor muscles) of the forearms.
EXECUTION:(1) Grasp a barbell with an overhand
grip, hands about 10 inches apart. Lay your
forearms on top of your thighs or across a
preacher bench so that they are parallel to the
floor and your wrists and hands are free and unsupported.
Bend your wrists forward and lower
the bar as far as you can. (2) Then bring the
wrists back up and lift the bar as far as possible,
trying not to let the forearms move during the exercise.
TRICEPS CABLE PRESS DOWNS
PURPOSE OF EXERCISE:To work the biceps through a full range of motion.
EXECUTION: (1) Hook a short bar to an overhead cable and pulley, stand
close to the bar and grasp it with an overhand grip, hands about 10
inches apart. Keep your elbows locked in close to your body and stationary.
Keep your whole body steady-don't lean forward to press down
with your body weight. (2) Press the bar down as far as possible, locking
out your arm Stand feeling the triceps contract fully. Release and let the
bar come up as far as possible without moving your elbows. For variety,
you can vary your grip, the type of bar you use, how close you stand to
the bar, or the width between your hands; or you can do a three-quarter
movement, going from all the way up to three-quarters of the way down
in order to work the lower triceps more directly.
LYING TRICEPS
EXTENSIONS
PURPOSE OF EXERCISE:-To work the
triceps all the way from the elbow
down to the lats.
EXECUTION:(1) Lie along a bench,
your head just off the end with knees
bent and feet flat on the bench. Take
hold of a barbell (preferably an E-Z curl bar) with an overhand grip,
hands about 10 inches apart. (2) Press
the weight up until your arms are
locked out, but not straight up over
your face. Instead, the weight should
be back behind the top of your head,
with your triceps doing the work of
holding it there. Keeping your elbows
stationary, lower the weight down
past your forehead, then press it back
up to the starting position, stopping
short of the vertical to keep the triceps
under constant tension. Keep
control of the weight at all times in
this movement to avoid banging
yourself on the head with the bar.
When you can't do another rep, you
can still force the triceps to keep
working by repping out with some
Close-Grip Presses.
This photograph shows the arms
perpendicular to the body at finish
position; for maximum contraction they
should be at a forty-five degree angle.
DUMBBELL KICKBACKS
PURPOSE OF EXERCISE:To develop the triceps, especially the upper area.
EXECUTION:(1) Stand with knees bent, one foot in front of the other,
putting one hand on a low bench for balance. Take a dumbbell in the opposite
hand, bend your arm and raise your elbow back and up to about
shoulder height, elbow close to your side and letting the dumbbell hang straight down below it. (2) Keeping your elbow stationary, press the weight back until your forearm is about parallel to the Roar. Hold here for a moment and give the triceps an extra Reps, then slowly come back to the starting position. For added triceps development, twist your hand slightly as you lift the weight, bringing the thumb up, and twist back the other way as you come down. Finish your set, then repeat the movement using the other arm. Make sure that only your forearm moves in this exercise, not the upper arm. This exercise can also be done with cable pulleys.
DIPS
PURPOSE OF EXERCISE: To develop the thickness of the triceps, especially
around the elbow.
Dips are often thought of as a chest exercise, but they can be done in
such a way as to hit the triceps really hard as well.
EXECUTION:(1) Taking hold of the parallel bars, raise yourself up and
lock out your arms. (2) As you bend your elbows and lower yourself between
the bars, try to stay as upright as possible-the more you lean
back, the more you work the biceps; the more you bend forward, the
more you work the pectorals. From the bottom of the movement, press
yourself back up until your arms are locked out, then give an extra flex of
the triceps to increase the contraction. You can also increase the effort
involved in this exercise by using a weight hooked around your waist and
by coming up only about three-quarters of the way rather than locking
out the movement and taking the tension off the triceps.
STANDING
BARBELL CURLS
PURPOSEOF EXERCISE: To develop
the overall size of the biceps.
This is the most basic and popular
of biceps exercises.
EXECUTION:(1) Stand with feet
shoulder-width apart and grasp
the bar with an underhand grip,
hands about shoulder width apart.
Let the bar hang down at arm's
length in front of you. (2) Curl the
bar out and up in a wide arc and
bring it up as high as you can, with
your elbows close to the body and
stationary. Keep the arc wide and
long, rather than bringing the bar
straight up and making the movement
too easy. Fully flex at the
top. Lower the weight again, following
the same arc and resisting
the weight all the way down until
your arms are fully extended. A
small amount of body movement
in this exercise is acceptable because
it is a mass-building movement,
but this is to be kept to a
minimum unless you are doing
deliberate Cheat Curls. Bending
forward and leaning back cut
down on your range of motion.
ALTERNATE DUMBBELL CURLS
PURPOSE OF EXERCISE:To isolate the biceps of each arm.
This is a variation of a Dumbbell Curl in which you curl the dumbbells
alternately, first one arm and then the other, to give you that extra
bit of isolation, allowingyou to concentrate your energy on one arm at a
time and to minimize cheating.EXECUTION: Stand upright, a dumbbell in each hand hanging at arm's length. Curl one weight forward and up, holding your elbow steady at your waist and twisting your wrist slightly,bringing the thumb down and little finger up, to get maximum biceps contraction. Curl the weight as high as you can, then bring it back down under control through the same arc, simultaneously curling the other weight up so that both dumbbells are in motion and twisting the wrist of the other hand as you bring it up. Continue these alternate Curls until you have done the required repetitions with both arms. Make sure you fully extend and contract the arm to get the fullest possible range of motion.
PREACHER CURLS
PURPOSEOF EXERCISE:To develop the biceps especially the lower end.This is especially good for anyone who has space between the lower biceps and the elbow joint, to help fill in and shape this area.
EXECUTION: Preacher Curls are an even stricter movement than regular Barbell Curls. (1) Position yourself with your chest against the bench, your arms extending over it. This puts the arms at an angle, which transfers additional stress to the lower area of the muscle. Take hold of a barbell with an underhand grip.
(2) Holding your body steady, curl the bar all the way up and then lower it again to full extension, resisting the weight on the way down. You can use an E-Z curl bar for this movement, or even use the bench for One-Arm Dumbbell Curls. Don't lean back as you lift the bar, and deliberately flex the muscle extra hard as you come to the top of the movement, where there is little actual stress on the biceps muscles.
CONCENTRATION CURLS
PURPOSE OF EXERCISE: To create maximum height in the biceps, especially
the outside of the biceps.
I like to do this exercise at the end of my biceps training because it is
one of the best means of peaking the muscle. This is a very strict movement,
but it is for height, not definition, so use as much weight as you
can handle. The name Concentration Curl is significant: You really need
to concentrate on the biceps contraction and on being strict to make this
exercise effective.EXECUTION:(1) In a standing position, bend over slightly and take a
dumbbell in one hand. Rest your free arm on your knee or other stationary
object to stabilize yourself. (2) Curl the weight up to the deltoid and
without moving the upper arm or the elbow and make certain you don't
allow your elbow to rest against your thigh. As you lift, twist the wrist so
that the little finger ends up higher than the thumb. Tense the muscle
fully at the top of the Curl, then lower the weight slowly, resisting it all
the way down to full extension. At the top of the Curl, the biceps are taking full stress of the weight. Don't curl the weight to the chest-it should be curled to the shoulder.
