3 Best Exercises for Forearms: Benefits, Variations & How to Do It

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December 30, 2021

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Building forearm strength is one of the most essential fitness goals of gym-goers. After all, forearm strength is directly related to the grip’s strength and if the grip is not strong, it can impact the overall workout. That being said, strong forearms are also quite important for daily tasks such as opening a glass jar or carrying heavy objects. Forearms also play a vital role in sports such as basketball, or golf. In short, everyone should work on their forearm muscles whether they go to the gym or prefer to workout at home. If you are also planning to start forearm workouts, we have the perfect guide for you. From listing the best forearm exercises to their variations and benefits, we have gathered it all. Read on:

Best Exercises For Forearms

1. Pull-ups

Probably one of the most popular exercises for forearms, pull-ups engage the upper-body muscles and forearms are no exception. When you grip the bar, your forearm muscles get engaged. Moreover, as you pull your body weight upwards brachioradialis muscle becomes highly active because it functions to flex the elbow. This is why it is often included in the best forearm workouts. Also, since you don’t need any special equipment, you can easily do this forearm workout at home.

How to do it?

Stand under a bar and grab the bar with your palms facing towards you. As for the distance, your hands should be slightly further than shoulder-width apart.
Try to activate your forearms by gripping the bar more tightly.
Breath in and out and lift your body upwards until your chin touches the bar. As you do so, cross your legs by bending the knees.
Inhale and then lower your body back to the initial position.
This is one rep.

Variations

Here are some variations of pull-ups you can add to your forearm workouts:

Towel pull-ups
Wide-Grip pull-ups
Lateral Slide Pull-ups
L-Pull ups
Close-Grip Pull-ups
Jumping Chin-ups
Crossover Pull-ups
Single-Arm Chin-ups

Benefits

Below are some of the best benefits of this forearm gym workout:

Improves grip strength
Helps in building strong back, arms, and shoulder muscles
Improves mental health
Easy on joints and not prone to injuries
Improves body’s balance

2. Farmer’s Walk

If you want to do forearm exercises at home, a farmer’s walk is also a good option. You just need a kettlebell or dumbbell to do this forearm workout at home. A farmer’s walk is especially known for improving your grip strength. You can also do it as a warmup before you start a forearm gym workout. The workout targets a number of muscles including the forearms, shoulders, biceps, triceps, upper back, glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and core. In short, it’s a great full-body workout too.

How to do it?

Stand straight with a good posture with an overhand grip on the weights. Keep your arms alongside your body.
Now, take short and quick steps forward. Keep your head up, shoulders back, and core muscles engaged.
Continue walking for as long as you want.

Variations

There are no special variations but you can modify or add a few chances in farmer’s walk to add it in the workouts for forearms:

Increase the weights
Walk in a straight line
Use different weights such as use dumbbells instead of a kettlebell

Benefits

Below are some of the best benefits of farmer’s walk:

Improves cardiovascular strength
Increases grip strength by building forearm muscles
Promotes overall strength and power
Reduces back pain
Improves body posture

3. Forearm Squeeze

Let’s move to specific exercises for forearms. As the name suggests, the forearm squeeze focuses entirely on stretching and building your forearm muscles. This is why it’s often considered one of the best forearm exercises. You can perform such forearm exercises at home using a simple rubber ball or forearm strengthener. The latter is specially designed to improve forearm strength is used by not just athletes but also musicians, rock climbers, and sportspersons.

How to do it?

Use a forearm strengthener or another object that you can squeeze, such as a tennis ball or a sock.
Extend and then flex your fingers to squeeze the item.
Hold it for 3 to 5 seconds and then relax your grip.
Do it for 10 to 15 minutes.

Variations

There are no specific variations for forearm squeeze. You can just change the object such as grip a sand hand extension or a dumbbell to improve your grip strength.

Benefits

Below are some of the best benefits of forearm squeeze:

Trains the forearm
Improves grip strength
Stretches your fingers and palms
Improves blood circulation in the hands

Other than these exercises for forearms, you can also try the following workouts:

Hammer Curl: While it is known as a bicep exercise, the Hammer Curl can also be used among the best exercises for forearms as it focuses on lower arm muscles through a contraction. Just make sure you learn its proper form and technique from a fitness trainer and there is no reason why you should not add it to best forearm workouts.
Dumbbell Wrist Extension: If you are looking for workouts for forearms that use weights, then dumbbell wrist extension is a good choice. This exercise allows you to target your wrist extensor muscles, which in turn, helps in building forearm muscles and strength.
Reverse Curl: The barbell curl is a famous workout but do you know that simply flipping the bar can have a huge impact on the overall shape of your upper body? Yes, try reverse curl and you will understand. This is one of the best exercises for forearms you can do as it increases blood flow and helps to build forearm strength.

Conclusion

Powerful forearms are not just about grip strength. It can have an impact on any workout whether you are doing a weight loss exercise such as mountain climbers or trying deadlifts for chest muscles. Stronger forearms also boost your ability to perform day-to-day tasks with much ease and without any injury.

So, if your fitness goals align with any of the benefits mentioned above, start performing exercises for forearms. You can also take online classes to learn how to do a forearm workout if going to the gym is not an option. All the best.

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