Here is a simple course of exercises you can follow. GUARANTEED to add inches of muscle to your forearms, and to strengthen your hands.
STRENGTHEN YOUR GRIP and FOREARMS
EXERCISE A. The good old dead lift is great for the grip. Suppose you can make a two hands dead lift of 400 pounds. Take one hundred pounds less 300 pounds . . . and lift it to finish position. Simply hold it until the grip gives out, replacing it on the floor in time to prevent damage to same and the arousing of parental wrath. You can also use a one hand ‘dead lift version. Loading up a heavy dumbbell and walking around the room with it is good for the grip An astonishing feat of strength was the performance by John Davis. He carried two 100 pound dumbbells for one block, then up three flights of stairs to Sig Klein’s gym without once putting them down.
EXERCISE B. The rotation movements can be best performed on a Lat Machine. As you can see from the illustration, the upper arm rests along a bench while the forearm is held straight up and down. Replace the bar of the lat machine by a loop of rope or canvas. Have a training partner pull it down to your grasp, then simply rotate the hand or twist it backwards and forwards as depicted.
EXERCISE C. Here’s another wonderful exercise for the forearms. Grasp a barbell in one hand and hold it at the shoulder as if you were going to press it overhead. Hold it SLIGHTLY off center so there is either a back hang or a forward hang to the weight. In fact it is best to do sets with both a back hang, and a hang to the front. With a back hang, simply pull the inside edge of the hand DOWN. With a front hang pull the thumb side of the hand BACK. Don’t have too much of an “off center” grip or else .the leverage will be too greatf.
EXERCISE D. A great exercise for the muscles along the back of the forearm is the following. Kneel down before a lengthwise placed exercise bench. Place the forearms across it with the backs of the hands up. A barbell is held in the hands with a shoulder width grip. From this position lower the hands by bending at the wrist then raising them as high as you can. USE A THUMB AROUND THE BAR GRIP! Don’t forget to lower and raise the barbell as high as you can.
EXERCISE E. The reverse position of the above movement is also very effective. Care must be taken to use a thumb around the bar grip, else the weight might fall out of the hands. But in this second exercise, don’t raise the hands until they are upright. First lower the bar as much as possible, then raise the hand until it is LEVEL WITH THE FLOOR! Hold it in this position for a SLOW count of three, then lower and repeat. Actually the same procedure can be followed in Exercise D, but it is wise not to try the same style with BOTH movements since it is very strenuous. This makes use of the STATIC contraction principle … use of the muscles to hold or maintain a position.
Follow these movements as well as the ones given in the first chapter of this Forearm article. Don’t be afraid to work hard on the forearm muscles since they’ll stand plenty of work. In addition, a wrist roller will come in very handy for use AFTER the barbell movements. This will help pump the muscles up and keep them flushed with blood.
American Apollo Volume 1 № 2.
Publisher: Calvin T. Beck
