Here is all the information you need to know about training forearms!
And if you dont want to read, you can just check out this video!
There are 3 different ways that you can use to build your forearms.
So lets go over all of them!
The first and the most popular way of building forearms, is by doing wrist curls.
1. Wrist curls
There is a lot of different wrist curl variations that you can use, but the one i recommend the most is the classic wrist curl.
Either with a dumbbell, barbell, or cables, its up to you.
Just choose the variation that is the most comfortable for you.
You can also try the wrist roller if you have access to that.
But if you decide to do it, then make sure that your hands are not straight like that.
You need to keep your hands like this:, if you actually want to get some gains out of this exercise.
And also, I would not recommend the behind the back wrist curl, as the range of motion on that exercise is not great, and it overall feels a little bit weird.
All you need is the basic wrist curl, you dont even really need to worry about the wrist extensions, as they are not that important.
There is not really that much mass that you can build on the top of your forearms, the main muscle you want to build, is on the bottom of your forearms.
As long as you are doing some type of hammer curl, or biceps curl with reverse grip, then you dont need to do wrist extensions at all.
Number of workouts
For the wrist curl only approach, i would recommend at least 2 workouts per week.
But you can go all the way to 6 workouts per week.
That is for more advanced folks though.
But its totally possible!
Of course, you will not be able to do it this frequently right from the get go.
But as the time goes on, you will see, that your forearms can recover really quickly.
Rep ranges
The rep range that i recommend, should always be above 10 reps in each set.
So the main rep range that you will use, will be somewhere between 10-20 repetitions.
Number of sets
If you are just starting out, you can just do 6sets per week, which means 3 sets of wrist curls, twice a week.
But as you get more advanced, you can increase the number of sets by A LOT.
It can easily reach 18 sets per week.
And it can even go beyond that, if you are really focused on getting bigger forearms.
But as i said before, you have to be more advanced for that.
And if you are wondering when you should do your wrist curls, then most of the time, you will just do 3 sets of wrist curls at the end of your workout.
Wrist curl Technique
One of the most important things about doing wrist curls, is the techique.
Which starts with the weight that you select.
You should ALWAYS go for light weight, and focus on the actual quality of the reps.
Which means full range of motion, performed in a controlled manner.
Every time you do a wrist curl, you should let the bar go all the way to your fingertips, and then roll it all the way up for the peak contraction.
But this is only possible if you use light weight, which you absolutely should.
There is no shame in using very little weight, in fact, it will be very beneficial to you.
Forearms are little bit like neck, in a sense that you want to be very gentle when training them.
Its not about trying to lift the most weight possible, its more about the technique, and the overall volume.
2. Rice bucket training
The second way of building forearms, is rice bucket training.
Rice bucket training is all about putting your hands in a bucket of rice, and doing various movements like opening and closing your hands, twisting your hands or even squeezing the rice itself.
All you need is a bucket, 10lbs of rice, and 5 minutes of your time.
I highly recommend you to watch this video, and follow along with the routine:
If you are new to training forearms, then do this routine just like 2-3 times per week.
There is a very high chance that you will get really sore from the first couple of sessions, so there is no need to overdo it.
Just always wait until you are not sore from the last rice bucket session anymore, and then go again.
But as you get better at it, you can pretty much do it every day.
You will get some great forearm gains, and as a bonus it will also improve the health of your wrists, which is really important!
You definitely need to give this technique a try!
3. Grippers
The third way of building forearms is using grippers.
Using grippers is great, but you should see it more as a supplementary exercise to either the wrist curls, or the rice bucket training.
Im not even going to mention any number of workouts, or any stuff like that.
I would recommend you to do it AFTER the wrist curls or after the rice bucket training, as just something extra for your forearms.
You can just take the grippers, and do a couple of burnout sets for each hand, to finish off your forearms.
As with the wrist curls, you really want to focus on using lighter weight, and on doing higher repetitions.
You dont want to do just like 5 reps, where you can barely close the gripper.
As i said before, try to go above at least 10reps every time.
You can even help yourself with your second hand, if you are not strong enough, or if you just want to crank out some extra reps.
So these are the 3 ways i would recommend for building your forearms.
You can pick any combination of these methods.
I personally do all 3 of them, but even doing just the rice bucket training alone, is gonna give you amazing results.
Honorable mentions
There are also other ways of building your forearms, like for example the dead hang, so thats something you can experiment with if you would like to!
Another honorable mention is farmers walk, or any other type of weighted carry.
But these exercises are not that great in my opinion, as they can create a lot of extra fatigue.
Which is simply not the case for the wrist curls, rice bucket training, and grippers.
Thats why you can basically do them almost everyday.
But when it comes to the farmers walk, you simply cant do them very frequently, because it taxes your whole body.
While the 3 methods i mentioned, only tax your forearms, which recover very quickly.
And as you have learned here today, the key to building big forearms, is to train them as frequently as possible.
Well, thats all you need to know about training forearms!