| Heavy Duty Forearms |
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| Heavy Duty Forearms |
| November '05 We touched on forearms a long while back and now we are featuring them once again but with a different approach; A little more heavy duty. Give this routine a try, you won't be sorry! Thanks once again to Alan Palmieri for this contribution! Forearms By Alan Palmieri Forearms are usually forgotten when it comes to regular training. In fact, some people don’t even train them at all… they don’t have to. A good number of bodybuilders develop powerful well-shaped forearms without any direct work. For some, forearms get sufficient stimulation while working other muscle groups. These individuals are blessed with genetics that allow their forearms to grow without direct work. Even though the forearms do receive a considerable amount of stimulation constantly throughout the day, working out or not working out, it is not enough to stimulate growth for the majority of us. Some individuals require relatively high repetitions in specific movements to get the forearms to respond while others find lower repetitions with heavier weights the key to success. Frequency is also another point of contention for the bodybuilder. Some will work them two to three times per week while others may only hit them once a month. A lot of people have classified the forearms with calves in the stubbornness department. Calves receive work with every step we take and forearms come into play with each move of a finger. Yet both muscle groups are slow in responding no matter what you do, unless of course, you are blessed with superior genetics in the claves and forearms area. I’ve personally found working forearms less frequently using a heavy one workout, light next workout pattern more beneficial than some other programs. I also work them last in a workout. Sometimes I have split my forearm training up so I work with wrist curling movement’s one day and reverse wrist curling movements the next day. I don’t like doing this however, as I prefer to train the entire forearm in one session. One thing I never do is work the forearms before working biceps, triceps, or back. As mentioned, I work them at the end of a workout. If I were to work forearms and then back, I couldn’t get a good back workout because just holding on to the bars in back movements fatigues the forearms. I’ve found working the forearms every week provides a lot of shape but does not add much size. Remember my first precaution statement in all training matters. People are all different, what works for one most likely won’t work for someone else. Find that which works best for you. All I can do is relate what has and does work for me and for many others. I’ve found the following routine for adding size to my forearms one of the most productive. Workout 1. EZ Bar Reverse Curls 4 x 6 – 8 / 10 - 12 Barbell Palm Up Wrist Curls 4 x 6 – 8 / 10 – 12 Workout 2. Flat Bench Reverse Writs Curls 3 x 6 –8 / 10 - 12 Dumbbell Palm Up Wrist Curls 3 x 6 – 8 / 10 - 12 Workout 3. Preacher Reverse Curls 4 x 6 – 8 / 10 - 12 Standing Barbell Behind Back Wrist Curls 4 x 6 – 8 / 10 - 12 Workout 4. EZ Bar Wrist Curls 4 x 6 – 8 / 10 - 12 Reverse Dumbbell Wrist Curls 4 x 6 – 8 / 10 – 12 Performing Wrist Curls with an EZ Curl Bar seems to place an entirely different feel compared to the straight bar. I seem to have a much more difficult time in contracting the forearms in the finish position. Even though the hands are in a more natural position compared to using a straight bar, they seem to work harder and I am unable to use as much weight. When trying to add mass to forearms, I would usually keep the number of sets to around 3 to 4 and would reduce the repetitions down to around 6 to 8. This worked great for me. One workout I would use heavy weights for sets consisting of 6 to 8 repetitions while the next workout I would follow the same number of sets only I would use a lighter weight for 10 to 12 repetitions. I would work forearms twice a week although I did have a great deal of success when I worked them extremely hard only once per week. Here again experiment a little and see what works better for you. Using the workout outline above, each session use a different workout. For example, if you are going to work forearms twice a week, use workout 1 the first forearm session of the week using heavy weights and workout 2 the second session of the week using lighter weights. The next week use workout 3 for the first session again with heavier weights and workout 4 for the next one with lighter weights. For week three start all over again with workout 1. This cycle however, rotate and use heavy weights on movements you used light weights on last time and visa-versa. In other words, in a period of two weeks you would only perform each listed workout one time. If you decide to work forearms only once per week you would not repeat a listed workout until your fifth week. You should still alternate between heavy and light workouts. Every so often, when my energy level was high and I had time, I would perform wrist curls and reverse wrist curls with a weight that would allow me to perform two sets of as many reps as I could, always with a hundred reps as the goal. Another time I might super-set wrist and reverse wrist curls for two sets of fifty reps. In either case, talk about a pump; forget about even eating after these sessions. It rendered my hands and fingers useless. I didn’t use these often and I believe the fact I did not on a regular basis but infrequently was responsible for exceptional growth. Done on a regular basis, overwork would have caused muscle loss. © Copyright 2005 Alan Palmieri |
| For more intense training techniques and an overall awesome site check out Alan Palmieri at http://palmieribodybuilding.com/ |
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