Archive for the ‘Forearm Exercises’ Category

Wrist Curls for a Muscle-Specific Workout

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

The technique of doing certain basic exercises which constitute any bodybuilder’s workout regime is very important, so that the correct muscle groups are exercised, and muscular injuries are avoided. The muscles targeted by the wrist curl are flexor carpi radialis and flexor carpi ulnaris. The wrist curl exercise is usually done while being seated in a bench. The bar is then clasped with a tight grip about 8 to 12 inches apart, and the feet and legs are positioned parallel to each other with the toes pointing straight. Then you must lean forward, placing your elbows and forearms on your thighs. You must move your wrist forward until they extend beyond the patellae. While extending your wrists, allow your hands to open so that only your fingertips can hold the bar. Then raise the bar by first flexing the fingers and then the wrists. Care should be taken to flex the wrists as far as possible without moving your forearms or elbows from your thigh. Then slowly allow your wrists and fingertips to extend back to the starting position.

Apart from barbells and dumbbells, the Hammer Strength Wrist Curl Machine is very popular because it enables you to do something that no other barbell or dumbbell can enable you to do – negative training capability. EZ workout bars are also important wrist curl equipments. The benefits of wrist curls are primarily strength building and upper body exercise. Since the forearm muscles are generally the weakest muscles in the body, working out this part of your forearm improves both the strength and stability of your grip – an important requirement for sportspersons and bodybuilders. The wrist curl is an isolation exercise and should be done in combination with supplementary forearm exercises

Get Foreman-like Forearms!

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

Everything on this earth is achievable if you want it. Do you lust for amazing and bulging forearms? Getting them will be no miracle with some proper Forearm training. Put in some exercise everyday and see the magic begin to happen. There are ways and means of doing it and also the proper equipment which you will need. Once you have them, it should be a ball game. Here is how.

Firstly, you need to know what muscles make up your forearms and what you will need to focus on:

  • forearm flexors
  • wrist flexor
  • extensor muscle
  • brachii muscles

Next time do not be confused if you come across these technical terms while training.

Developing the forearms:

You can’t go wrong if you follow all the rules at the right time. Here is how you should go about it:

  • Using barbells or dumbbells- The barbells are for focussing on the wrist flexor muscles along with the forearm flexor too. You can either use the dumbbells or the barbells.
  • Bars- These are used for the forearms. These are specially made for forearm centric exercises too. Not only the forearms but the wrists as well.
  • Rollers- These are also wrist roller equipment and are needed for the forearm flexors. You basically roll up a heavy weighted rope.
  • Grip devices- These are also an important part of forearm training equipment. Using these helps to develop your grip and strengthen your wrists.

Using these equipment under proper guidance should be really helpful.
For some ideal forearm training, you can do any exercise whatsoever. These include preacher curls, chin, the dip and also the dead lifts. These really jazz up the forearms.

Turn your wrists and contract them as much as you can. Hang down when you are doing those chin ups and so on.
How do you ensure that you concentrate on the forearm while doing all those exercises? You can do different thing while forearm weight training. Flex your wrists, extend them and so on. For these you can use equipment like cables with handles or bars, barbells, Olympic bars, ez curl bars and so on. The equipment might be different but the exercises that you do with their help is the same.

Some forearm exercises:

Here are some really good exercises which will help you develop those dream forearms. There is the reverse curl which involves the wrists. To do this, you must keep your upper forearm side resting on the leg. Your hand should hold the weight and hang loosely from the side. Now try curling your hand up and see how far it can go. Then lower your arm and let it rest.

With such strength training forearms, you will surely become muscle man very soon!

For Strong Wrists

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

The first question that might come to your mind is what are wrist curls for? And for that matter, why the Reverse Wrist Curls of all things? This is again a weight exercise. It is done for strengthening the flexor muscles in the forearm. It is also done to develop the wrist extensor muscles as well. It can be done using two kinds of equipment:

  • dumbell
  • barbell

Also, there are two kinds of reverse wrist curls as well. These are:

  • standing reverse wrist curl
  • seated reverse wrist curl

How to do the curls:

First of all, you need to prepare yourself in the right position. Sit on a bench. Then hold the dumbbell in a over hand grip. Your forearms should be resting on the thighs. Again the wrists should just go beyond the knee and not more.
Now you must life the dumbbell. Take care that your knuckles should be pointing in a upward direction and that too, as high as possible. Slowly return to your original position and do so until you have reached such a point where you knuckles are in a lower most direction. Keep a few things on mind while doing the Reverse Wrist Curls Exercise :
Your elbows should be at the height of your wrists.
For support you can put your free hand under the wrist. This also gives it some stability.
Keep the forearm straight and horizontal.

How to do the exercise with barbells:

There are certain ways which will go into doing the wrist curls with the help of a barbell. Before starting however, make sure that the barbell is well suited to your height and fitness.

  • Hold the barbell with the overhand hold.
  • Your forearms should be put across a bench so that they are lying parallel with the floor.
  • At the starting point, your wrists should be as low in the direction as possible.
  • Now you must start curling your wrists in an upward direction. Like this, try raising the barbell to as high a position you can make it.
  • Now, slowly bring it down to the original position.

This is the way of doing barbell reverse wrist curls.
You can also do the exercise with dumbbells if you are more comfortable that way.
The best way to do this would be while sitting down. Put your forearm on the bench. And then grip the dumbbell securely. You can do it one of two ways. Either you do it one at a time or you can exercise both your arms simultaneously. If you have placed your forearm on your knee instead of a bench then you should make sure that your knees are stable throughout the time you are doing the

Dumbbell Reverse Wrist Curl.

Be religious about it and you will soon get where you want to.

Flaunt Well-Toned Forearms with the Best Equipment

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

Following a healthy diet, working out on a regular basis, and getting sufficient rest can enable you to build up strong, well-toned forearms. Even though a lot of people all over the world are becoming increasingly health conscious, the forearm often remains the most neglected part of the body – often left out of most intensive workouts. However, of late, forearm exercise equipments have become very popular, especially because the forearms are very fragile parts of our body. Before engaging in forearm exercise however, it is important to seek advice from a professional trainer, because the muscles in this part of your body can be easily injured if the exercise is not done correctly.

Most forearm exercise equipments are specially designed to provide protection to the forearms during workout. The most common kind of equipment is the hand exercise, which works towards the forearms and increasing wrist stability. There is another type of exerciser for the forearms which helps to build the flexor and extensor muscles of the forearms. It resembles a mechanical, almost robotic arm, which is supposed to be attached on your forearm during the workout. These exercisers have varying lengths, as well as adjustable tension levels so you can increase or decrease the intensity of your workout, according to your physical capacity. Barbells are also considered to be effective forearm pump exercise equipments which enable you to wrist curls, reverse wrist curls, preacher curls, and hammer curls. Once the various muscle groups in the forearm have been isolated, various kinds of exercises may be carried out, targeting the different muscle groups and effectively developing them.

Some of the best forearm exercise equipments include the Valeo Forearm Exerciser, Marcy Wedge for Forearm and Wrist, Premium Forearm Exerciser, and BodyTogs for Arms. It is a common misconception that only body builders require to build forearms, but the truth is almost all sportspersons need to build strong forearms as forearm strength is important in most kinds of sports.

Developing The Forearm

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

Do you dream of developing forearms which will make you stand out like nobody else? Then there are quite a few such Forearm workout techniques which will help you get what you always wanted. Some of these can be quite painful as it takes some time to get used to it. However, if you do them with discipline and effort, these will pay off very well.
There are three types of exercises that you should look at:

  • the reverse curl
  • barbell wrist curls
  • reverse barbell wrist curls

These are the most common among forearm workout routine.
The reverse curl shall involve you holding the barbell down at the thigh level. Keep it at a shoulder’s length. The grip should be a reverse one which means that your palms should face away. With locked elbows, lift the bar towards your chest. Once your forearms are contracted, bring your hand back to the original position to your thighs.

The barbell wrist curls should be done while you are sitting. Here your palms should be facing upward and your hands should be together. Point your hands toward the floor and your wrist should be at an angle of 90 degrees. You should roll your hands upwardly till your wrists are straight and do not bend. This is another type of forearm workout exercises.

The third which is the reverse barbell wrist curl is almost the same as the previous. Only here your palms should be facing downward and facing the floor.

The best for your forearms:

There are many ways to work on your forearms but some of these are the best ways to do so:
One is the dumbbell wrist curl. Here you can concentrate on each forearm by using your forearm flexors. You will get proportion and balance between the two.

The dumbbell reverse wrist curl I allows to to concentrate on each forearm individually by focusing on your forearm extensors. This exercise gives you the same benefits as the above one. Both involve doing it with one dumbbell at a time.

These two are generally regarded as the best best forearm workout techniques.
However, for those who are looking for a slightly easier route, there are the machines which can help you out. For exercising the forearm you could always use a machine to develop them. Machines are safer and less strenuous than dumbbells or barbells. For those who have no idea about how much weight they can hold or their fitness, a machine is the best idea. It offers you more stability as well. Also there are lesser chances of injury from a forearm workout machine than a dumbbell. This is because in the latter you will have to focus on keeping your weight. With a machine you can fully focus on your forearms and get what you have always dreamt of.

Develop Strong and Powerful Forearms with Proper Strength Training

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

Light exercises like squeezing tennis balls is not sufficient for the development of forearm strength. Most sportspersons, body builders or even rock climbers often tend to ignore the forearm while working out, without realising the importance of his region. Especially for rock climbers and sportspersons, the wrist grip and stability are exceedingly important and specific forearm strengthening exercises must be followed in order to ensure the proper development of the muscle groups in this region. Some of the important forearm strengtheners are various kinds of grip training, like the crushing grip, pinching grip and the alternate opening of fingers – all these constitute wrist and forearm specific exercises.

Forearm strength training is not to be taken lightly – unlike cardiovascular exercises these should not be done while watching TV, or while concentrating on other things. This sort of training ought to be done 2 to 3 times a week, and all muscle groups should be relaxed once the forearm exercises are done. This helps to eliminate some of the soreness that your arms may experience, after an intensive workout routine. Since the forearms contain very intricate muscles that control the flexion and extension of our fingers, thumbs and wrist, forearm strengtheners like EZ bar extensions, cable press-downs and seated dips work very effectively.

Although the forearms receive secondary work when you are working out your biceps and triceps, that alone is not sufficient. In order to develop this region completely, you must devote a separate set of exercises targeted only at the forearm muscle groups. Moreover such exercises will also ensure that your arms look symmetrical, and well-toned. Since the flexion and rotation of your fingers and wrists depend on this region, working out the forearms separately will also increase your grip strength.

Learning The overhead dumbbell press

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

This exercise can be done by anyone and has many ways. The main variants for the dumbbell press is that they can be done while standing or being seated. Depending on your fitness and stability it can be one of either. Both of them usually have the same effects. However, for those who are still a little unsteady about maintaining weight on their feet, the seated variation is much better. It is more stable and allows you to lean. For the standing type, you will have to know how to keep your feet. Also while doing the exercise, the standing type will require the use of more muscles than what is generally needed.

To do the seated overhead dumbbell press, the muscles located in the sides of your shoulder joint will have to work really hard. Also the deltoids will be needed as well.

Techniques for the shoulder press:

Here is how you go about it:

  • Take one dumbbell in each of your hands. Keep them at a shoulder level. The elbows should be in a downward direction and towards the side. Inhale while doing this.
  • Now slowly push the dumbbells in an upward direction so that the elbows are completely stretched. Your head should be straight up. Never bend your droop your head forward.
  • Once this is done, put the dumbbells down slowly and bring your hands back to their original position.

There are different types of this overhead exercise as well:

  • This is the alternating version. You do it each hand at a time. Push up one dumbbell and then the other one.
  • Do the entire cycle of repetitions with one arm and then go on to the other. So say if you are doing it five times with each arm, then do it five times on the right and then go on to the left.
  • In this version of the overhead dumbbell press, push up both the dumbbells at the same time. Keep one arm at the top while you bring one down. Then push it back up. Now do the same routine with the other arm. These modifications help to break the monotony of routine as well.

Why do the seated version?

This type will lend some shape and also a definitive structure to your shoulders. Sit on the bench and your feet should be flat on the floor. Have a dumbbell in each hand and your hands should be at a level with your ears. Your palms should face forward. Keep your elbows bent and pointing downwards. While doing this your shoulders should be thrown back and your chest should be out. Keep all these in mind while doing the overhead dumbbell press.
This is a great way to get into shape!

A Dumbbell Curl Workout

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

A lot of people like building up their biceps, since this means body building in the true sense of the term. Are you planning to do that as well? If you are then the Incline Dumbbell Curls are the best things for those long awaited biceps which you want. With this exercise soon everyone will be complimenting you on your biceps. This is one of the best choices. However, you must do it in the right fashion and only then will things be fine.

Here are the steps to the dumbbell curls:

  • This exercise is very similar to another one which is called the seated dumbbell curl. This one has the involvement of a slope. The slope should be around 60 degrees. This means that it should be perfect for beginners who are still not sure about their fitness.
  • Now you can sit down and start doing the Incline Dumbbell Curls by keeping your hands at the side. Now pick up the dumbbells in a curling motion.
  • The reason why it is so good is because it focuses fully on the arms. The arms are being made to extend and stretch as much as they can. This helps to put the right kind of pressure on the biceps and hence develop them just the way you want to.

There are ways in which you can modify this very useful exercise too. That will help you develop the outer part of your muscles really well. Here you curl the dumbbells more than what you would do in a normal workout. This way the outer part of your biceps will really be bulked up well.

Doing the Flexor Incline Dumbbell Curls Exercise:

ere you will have to hold one dumbbell in each hand . In this case you have to sit on an incline bench again. This will have to be at a 40 degree angle. Your arms should be dangling down and the palms should be turned in a forward direction. Remember that this is the original position which you will be starting the exercise.
Now the point is to curl the dumbbells at the same time with both hands. The biceps should be in a contracted position and you always have to breathe out while it is happening. Hold this in position and then when you are going back to the original position then breathe in slowly. Flexor Incline Dumbbell Curls Exercise is a really great form of exercise which will be really good for your health and body. Always remember to follow some instructions though. Never stress your body too much and only take on as much weight as you truly can.