Archive for the ‘Forearms Exercise’ Category

Develop Your Wrist Flexor Muscles with Standing Wrist Curls

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

Contrary to the seated wrist curl, the standing wrist curl should be performed holding the barbell in both hands and the palms facing backward. Although the motion range during a standing wrist curl is less that the seated form, this type of wrist curl has the added benefit of exerting more stress on the target muscle, especially during the peak contraction of these muscles.

The standing dumbbell wrist curl is an isolated exercise. During this exercise, you have to pick up a pair of dumbbells from the ground and stand with your feet spaced shoulder-width apart. With your palms facing backward, curl your wrist along with the weight inwards, towards your body, till your forearms are fully flexed. While in this position, squeeze your forearms and then lower the weight downwards away from your body, until your forearms are fully extended. This motion should be repeated till the point of muscular failure. The same exercise may also be carried out with a bar, instead of a dumbbell.

The standing bicep curl can be performed with a barbell or an EZ bar. The variation of the bicep curls gives an entire range of motions, providing maximum workout for your biceps. An EZ bar is actually more recommended for this exercise because it is less strenuous for your wrists, and also the slightly different angle exerts more stress on your biceps. Pick the barbell up from the ground with your arms away from your body, and your grip about shoulder-width apart. Stand upright with your back straight. Make sure that you don’t bend backwards, because that’ll make the exercise easier and therefore less effective. You may put one foot back, if that helps maintain your stability. The bar should now be squeezed tightly and slowly brought upwards, towards your chest. Keep your elbows tucked into your sides. Once you’ve reached the uppermost position, pause for a while and then slowly move downwards, to starting position. Keep a check on your weights at all times.

Combine Your Wrist Curls with Reverse Curls

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

Most beginners are of the opinion that merely working out the biceps and the triceps is sufficient for the forearms as well. But the truth is that in order to strengthen your forearms properly, proper forearm exercises are required. Since the wrist curl is an isolated exercise targeted only at the flexor muscles, it should always be combined with the reverse curls which target the extensor muscles. Start out the reverse curl by taking a barbell of a weight that is comfortable for you. Don’t take a weight that is heavier than you can handle, as this might cause serious forearm injuries. Hold the barbell down to your things, and make sure it is at a shoulder length from your body. Also ensure that you are holding the barbell in reverse grip, meaning, with your palm facing away from you. Lift the barbell towards your torso, while keeping a steady hold of the position to your sides. The complete contraction of your forearms is usually achieved when your wrist crosses your shoulders. Hold the barbell in this position for a few moments. Then slowly bring the barbell back to the starting position.

While performing reverse dumbbell incline curls, grasp a dumbbell in both hands, and sit on an incline bench, facing the back pad. Your palms should be facing forward. Raise the weights to touch your shoulders, and make sure your elbows are tucked in to the sides of your body. Then slowly lower the weight back to the starting position. Reverse forearm curls should be carried out with an EZ Curl bar, which is grasped with shoulder width over hand grip. With elbows tucked in to the sides, raise the bar till the forearms are vertical. Then lower the bar till the forearms are fully extended. This process is to be repeated according to your workout requirements.

Do Curls And Be Healthy For Good!

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

This is for those who love their muscles and spend a lot of time ensuring that they have a good build. Preacher Curls is an intensely fitness oriented exercise and is for those who are into body building and the like. It requires a tremendous amount of hard work and discipline. Also you have to be fit enough to be able to life weights. These are essentially heavy weight exercises. But if you think that you are up to this challenge then plunge right ahead!

You must sit on a preacher bench with the back of your arms on the pad. You must hold the curl with a shoulder underhand grip. Then you should raise the bar until you see that both your forearms are vertical. After that you can slowly lower the barbell until the arms are fully stretched out.
Precautions for preacher curls with dumbbells:

  • Adjust the seat so that the arm pit rests near the top of the pad.
  • The back of upper arm should be on the pad at all times.

There is a variation of this exercise of and this is the reverse preacher curl. This is usually done with a preacher curl machine and works just the opposite of the preacher curls. While doing this, take a curl bar first with both your hands. Your palms should be down. Have an overhand grip and push the bar towards your chin. Then return your arm to the original position and do it again. This is the Reverse Preacher Curls.

Doing curls on the preacher bench:

These exercises are ideal for those who want to develop the long peaked muscles and also remove some of that elbow space. This is very fitness oriented and requires quite a bit of hard work after all. While some prefer using the barbells or the dumbbells to do these, a lot of people use the curl machines which are easier. There are ways and means to do these oneself. You should follow the instructions very carefully . A lot of people want to change the shape of their biceps and also want to get rid if the space between the biceps and the elbow. A session of preacher curls exercise
will take care of it.

The best way to do this will be on a preacher bench with a barbell or a e-z bar. The latter is good for beginners. You must sit on the preacher bench and use the curl bar. Try and contract as much as possible.

But preacher curls at home are possible too. All you would need is a preacher bench and a pair of dumbbells or barbells. The choice of that will depend on your body weight and fitness. Thus what are you waiting for? Get those dumbbells cracking right away!

Develop Your Biceps With Concentration Curls

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

Does this sound like a new name to you. Then fear not, concentration curls biceps is for those of you who dream of getting amazing biceps. Biceps are not just meant for Hollywood films. You can get them too if you do this weightlifting activity with a lot of effort and discipline. It is not good enough to just lift weights, you must do it the right way. Doing things wrong can have bad consequences on your body and health.

The point of this exercise is to curl the weight but not get the help of the muscles in doing so. You need to let your biceps do all the curling. Since it is a free weight activity it helps to shape up your muscles just the way you wanted.
The curls are done to develop the brachii muscles in respect of:

  • size
  • shape or defining character
  • stamina
  • stability or capacity

Doing The Curl:

the concentration curl is done with the help of different equipment but most commonly the dumbbells. You should ideally do it with the dumbbell in one hand. That is the best way of doing the concentration curls dumbbell . Hold it in one hand, and sit on a chair in a way that your thighs are running parallel to the floor. Your other hand should be on the knee. Now leaning forward and placing the elbow on the back of your other hand, keep your arm straight. The arm should be dangling downwards.

Now start bending your elbow using the biceps. Bring the weight up until it reaches the height of your shoulder. Then lower and repeat. There are many variations of the concentration curl that one can do.
Thus there are numerous benefits which come out of doing the concentration curls. People use other equipment too like:

  • barbells
  • ez bars
  • curl bars
  • machines

While machines also give the same concentration curls benefits it is also true that they offer the a stability which does not come with the dumbbells. It is simpler and easier with the machines. That would be ideal for newbies who are just starting out and do not have any idea of their own fitness and strength. Once that is achieved, you can start lifting the dumbbells.

The idea of concentration curls on bench is actually the most traditional idea of doing the concentration curl. They will give your muscles the kind of definition and strength that you want them to. All it needs is a little bit of discipline and also the will power to do it. With a little bit of both you will soon be there.

Work Out Your Biceps and Forearms with Preacher Curls

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

A barbell, preferable a crooked one, is appropriate for performing the preacher curls exercise. This is because the crooked barbell allows for a steadier grip than the normal one. The exercise can also be performed with your hand attached to a cable which in turn is attached to a weight sack. The preacher curls are so effective that you can practically watch your biceps and forearm muscles strengthening and tightening up. Seated on a bench, take the barbell in your hands and make sure that your upper arms are barely touching the upper part of the bench. Lift the weight upward, towards you, and make sure there is constant tension on your muscles. Once you’ve reached the topmost position, pull your elbows toward each other so as to ensure maximum work-out of your biceps. Use your triceps to pull the weight back to the starting position.

This is one of the best isolation exercises, and enables you to achieve a fast muscle development especially in the bicep region. Special preacher curl benches can be purchased from any fitness store, so that you can perform your preacher curls at home as well, in case going to the gymnasium everyday is a problem. This exercise may also be carried out using the dumbbell, which is also easily available in the market. The preacher curls with dumbbells are performed in the same way as the barbell technique, though your upper body and back need to be straight and your feet positioned widely apart, so as to lend your body more stability. Avoid twisting or tilting your body, as this will make the exercise ineffective. In case you’re finding it difficult, try it after decreasing the weight. Reverse preacher curls are usually done using EZ Bars with an A-overgrip. That is the only difference between the normal and reverse variations of this exercise.

Use the Right Machines for Super-Strong Forearms

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

Often bodybuilders face a lot of pain in their wrists or forearms after an intensive workout. The root of this problem is usually weak ligaments, and such a situation can be cured with the help of various machines and exercises meant especially for the forearm muscle groups. Barbells and dumbbells are the most common kinds of forearm machines and are generally more effective than most other grip machines or hand springs. Padded bench edges also serve as effective surfaces for your wrist curls – although it doesn’t really count as a ‘machine’.

According to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s workout routine in the 1990s, he devoted three days in the week towards forearm exercise. Apart from wrist curls and reverse barbell curls, this five-time winner of the Mr. Universe title used a specific kind of forearm exercise machine known as the Wright Roller Machine. This forearm machine has handle bars resembling a bicycle, with a single weight attached at the bottom. It is generally used by strengthening your grip on the bars and then moving it across a flat surface. The same exercise can be done holding a dumbbell, but this machine was specially designed for the purpose, and constituted an important part of Schwarzenegger’s forearm workout. The same machine can be improvised by attaching a weight at the end of a broom handle, hockey stick or even a steel pipe.

These machine exercises should be done at the end of your workout for best results. Also, try not to keep forearm exercises on consecutive days in your weekly workout routine. If you’re doing them twice a week, then keep it at the beginning and at the end of the week. If you’re doing it three times, then keep another day in the middle, but not two or three days in a row.

Use Forearm Weights for Complete Strength Training Workouts

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

Even though most players, sportspersons, bodybuilders and fitness freaks count on heavy weights as an integral part of their strength training, they often leave out the forearm exercises. What they do not realise that speed, consistency, hard hitting, good knowledge of striking area – all these factors are dependent on the forearm strength, as well as the strength of the rotator cuff muscles. It is important to remember that strength training does not only involve body building and weight lifting. Forearm strength training exercises also include climbing, rope pulling and the E-flex bars. Seated cable rows and pull-ups using high reps are also effective forearm weights exercises.

The best way to do forearms weights is by using heavy weights, small amount of repetitions and a lot of sets. Barbells and dumbbells serve as excellent forearm weights and beginners should not use more than 1-2 kilograms per hand. Just try holding a heavy barbell for as long as you can – that in itself will work towards developing your forearm muscles. Even for bodybuilders, the forearm is the weakest and most fragile area of the body, and the weakness of this region is especially exposed while doing bench presses.

Before doing heavy weight dead lifts, it is important to build your wrist stability, in order to avoid possible injury during the work out. The forearm weights must vary according to whether you are male or female, and also according to the muscle groups targeted and the reason for workout. For example a sportsperson will probably have to work harder on forearm strength and wrist stability, than someone who merely wants well-toned forearms, or wishes to lose forearm fat. While some bodybuilders are genetically blessed with strong forearms, others cannot afford to ignore this region, as it is not only the weakest but also one of the most important areas of the body.

Wrist Up!

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

Hardcore fitness junkies should really find this to be the ideal thing. To exercise those writs flexors you can do the Barbell Wrist Curls and really shape up! The most basic way to do this thing would be to sit on a bench and grab the bar. Grip it with a narrow shoulder underhand hold. Make sure that your forearms are already positioned on your thighs at this point. The wrists should be just beyond your knees.
If you are using a barbell, then let it do a rolling motion out of the palm to the fingers. Again you have got to get the barbell back into the position by putting a grip on it. Point the knuckles as high as you can. Repeat this. Always keep your elbows at the height of your wrists. This helps lower the resistance. Though this is the most basic way to perform this exercise, there are other ways to do it as well. There are quite a few variants depending on the position and the equipment that you are using.

Why do this exercise?

  • There are quite a few reasons:
  • It increases the strength in your forearms
  • It heightens the size as well
  • For those who have carpal tunnel syndrome, it is helpful in reducing the pain.
  • These can be done by anyone.

For these, another great variant is the reverse barbell wrist curls. All you need for this is a barbell. While choosing it, be sure to get one which has enough resistance to offer. But it should be suited to your body weight and not cause any pain. However if you are doing this as therapy then you should use small weights and not barbells.

Another type of wrist curls:

It is best to do the wrist curls while you are seated on a bench. This will give you more stability than ever. And especially if you are using barbells. While using heavy weights one has to concentrate on keeping the weight and not losing balance. In that process, people often forget to concentrate on the forearms. Do not let that happen to you. Seating on a bench will make sure that you have nothing else to worry about and can only focus on your forearms. Thus the Seated Barbell Wrist Curls is the best option possible.
There is also the kind where you can kneel and do a wrist curl. For this you will have to kneel near a bench which is flat. Put your forearms across the bench. Hold a barbell and keep your palms up. Now just use your wrists and curl the barbell upwards. But your forearms should be flat for the

Palms Up Barbell Wrist Curls .

If you do these exercises regularly you should have a good body.