# What are YOUR best exercises for growing Popeye FOREARMS?



## squigader (Aug 5, 2011)

Just as the title says. Help me out fellow IM members! What are your best forearm exercises (direct, and indirect)? I wanna hit them extra hard until the end of the year, so let me know your forearm exercises or what exercises you do that also hit the forearms good (other than ).


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## basskiller (Aug 5, 2011)

wrist curls both palms facing up and down 
wrist rolls   
 even reverse barbell curls


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## Noheawaiian (Aug 5, 2011)

If the genetics are there, then you will get popeye forearms from just about any upper body exercise. 
You could either have phil heath's high inserted forearms and have that cool looking bump of muscle that leads up to his elbow. Or, you could have those flex lewis low inserted forearms that (when grown) look cartoonishly big. 
But just keep lifting straps to a minimum, and maybe do heavy wrist curls once or twice a month and they'll grow.


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## Gazhole (Aug 6, 2011)

Heavy deadlifts, heavy rows, heavy chins, heavy hammer curls.

Never use straps on anything. Ever. If double-overhand gets too tough during the set use mixed grip. Switch your mixed grip a few times when that gets too tired. Use hook grip when your mixed grip is too tired. Use chalk if you have too. No gloves either.

Farmer's walk with a combined weight of your max deadlift (so half your max deadlift in each hand).

Use a thick (axel) bar for deadlifts, cleans, presses, curls. Hell, use it for everything. For dumbells start using fatgripz or wrap then with a towel. Fat bars are a great way to build size and strength in the forearms. Thick bar reverse curls are awesome.

Hand grippers - CoC, AtomGripz, Heavy Grips...anything. They're pretty good for forearm size just don't over-do them.

Block weights are good, any sort of pinch grip lift is good too. Doing regular lifts with a vertical bar is fun also. The wrist roller is a hell of a workout.

After all that, then you can think about fiddly stuff like wrist curls.


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## juggernaut (Aug 6, 2011)

What Gaz said. Also, try doing chins with a rope grip.


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## GMO (Aug 6, 2011)

Gazhole said:


> Heavy deadlifts, heavy rows, heavy chins, heavy hammer curls.



This^^^


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## booze (Aug 6, 2011)

Heavy farmers walk for me

Sent from my HTC Liberty using Tapatalk


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## the_predator (Aug 6, 2011)

I know this is going to sound old school but it has worked for me in the past...squeezing the sh*t out of tennis balls. Just do it when your watching tv. Never even realize your working out.


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## TampaSRT (Aug 6, 2011)

Digging ditches  . I have always had big forearms and attribute them to many hours behind a shovel when I was younger.


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## BigBill (Aug 6, 2011)

Reverse curls, heavy hammer curls, behind back wrist curls w/barbell.
Works good for me.


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## mlc308 (Aug 6, 2011)

wrist rolls
jacking off  (lmao)
gorilla hangs (holding ont a pull-up bar and just hanging for as long as possible, then repeat)
pinching two 35lb plates between each hand for as long as possible and then repeating


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## theyard13 (Aug 7, 2011)

Well I'm not sure how scientific the claim of jacking off is, but it is supported by Family Guy...a fairly credible source in my book lol.

Fat bar grips worked well for me. Not only did they create size gain in my forearms, they also increased my overall hand strength, which consequently increased lifts such as deadlifts, rows, hammer curls, etc, further increasing the size of my forearms. Good luck mate


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## bob lowther (Aug 8, 2011)

tie some strap to the middle of a bar without any weights on. then tie the other end to another barbell with your weights on. then hold the bar out infront of you and using both wrists simultaniously wined it up then down. if you know what i mean lol


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## Gorilla Muscle (Aug 9, 2011)

I have a problem with my forearms too. I think my genes are fucked up a bit that's why I ain't growin mine! Thanks for the info guys!


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## Flathead (Aug 9, 2011)

"Heavy" Deads are number one in building grip strength. Plate Pinches & Farmers Walks come in at a close 2nd.  Pretty much was Gaz already said^^^.


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## jackedntan (Aug 9, 2011)

Barbell wrist curls (and the reverse) , reverse barbell curls, hammer curls, and curling your wrist at the top of each rep while doing heavy barbell rows.


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## squigader (Aug 16, 2011)

Forearms have always been one of my weak points, and they're definitely my most stubborn part - bad attach point, stubborn to grow.
Never used straps, and not planning on starting.
I'm seeing some results already a week and a half on though  . Thanks again guys!
If anyone has fat-gripz or any sort of good grip equipment, let me know!


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## squigader (Aug 16, 2011)

Measly reps all around, let me know if I missed you


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## VolcomX311 (Aug 17, 2011)

genetics number one, raw grip heavy deads two and someone mentioned Phil Heath's forearms, yes, those puppies are ridiculous.


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## big60235 (Aug 17, 2011)

Heavy Jerking Off!!! That has worked for me.


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## VolcomX311 (Aug 17, 2011)

big60235 said:


> Heavy Jerking Off!!! That has worked for me.


 
But, then you end up like this.


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## SloppyJ (Aug 17, 2011)

I'm going to say that genetics paly a big roll in this one. I've always had big forearms and I would like to thank my pops for that! Funny thing is I hardly ever do any isolation work on them. They get hit hard on most days anyway.


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## carmineb (Aug 18, 2011)

barbell wrist curls from behind teh back  by far , IMO, the supreme exercise for forearms


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## Justinbro (Aug 18, 2011)

For me loading as much weight as I can hold on the bar from a waist high rack and just letting it hang until your fingers start to slip and then slowly go down like a deadlift until it falls out of your hand just above the floor. You will experience a burn like never before. Picked it up at Motorcycle Racing School.


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## theyard13 (Aug 18, 2011)

In response to where you can find fat gripz for cheaper....

Just use the end of an olympic bar. Load whatever weight you are  comfortable with and hold the end of the bar in an isometric way. Simply  hold until failure and you'll get a great burn. Doing this increased my  grip strength tremendously, and also added good size to my forearms.  Beats the hell out of dropping $40 for fat gripz.


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## squigader (Aug 18, 2011)

theyard13 said:


> In response to where you can find fat gripz for cheaper....
> 
> Just use the end of an olympic bar. Load whatever weight you are  comfortable with and hold the end of the bar in an isometric way. Simply  hold until failure and you'll get a great burn. Doing this increased my  grip strength tremendously, and also added good size to my forearms.  Beats the hell out of dropping $40 for fat gripz.



Not quite sure what you mean by holding the end of the bar isometrically. Can you describe it?


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## theyard13 (Aug 18, 2011)

An isometric movement is one that has neither a concentric or eccentric contraction. Instead of changing the joint angle and muscle length, isometrics are performed in a static position. I thought steps might make this easier...sorry I'm not the most articulate person.

1) Get inside a cage and set the safety bars to a height similar to one you would use for shrugs. 
2) Exit the cage to either the right or left, so that you are perpendicular to the front of the cage now. 
3) Load one side of the bar with an appropriate amount of weight (the side of the bar you are now standing by)
4) Grip the fattest part of the bar, where you load the plates, and hold onto it until failure. When performing isometrics, you should shoot for around a 30 second failure time.

Here is another forearm isometric workout to incorporate:



Sit on a kitchen chair.
Grab each side of the chair with your hands
Keeping your arms straight, bend your wrists as you try to pull     the chair upwards (and yes, you are still sitting on it) 
As you do so concentrate on making your forearms as tight and     hard as possible.
After  a few seconds you should feel you???re fingers and forearms     getting  very tired and even shaking all over ??? this is the individual     muscle  fibres exhausting themselves as they work really hard ??? this is      Isometrics.
 Hold this Position for     30 seconds.
Slowly release ??? this is important, after intense contraction     your body needs time to unwind.
Hope this was of some help!


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## Tuco (Aug 19, 2011)

IMO. forearms are genetic like calves. I'm sure they will respond to training, building big freaky calves and forearms will require more genetics than say, building a back.


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## lifetime (Aug 23, 2011)

Heavy Farmers walks are my favorite forearm exercise.

And like has been said previously just never using straps on anything.


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## big60235 (Aug 23, 2011)

PITBULL915 said:


> IMO. forearms are genetic like calves. I'm sure they will respond to training, building big freaky calves and forearms will require more genetics than say, building a back.



I agree 100%. Forearm and calves are there or they aren't. I have a training partner that almost never works calves an they are as big as some guys quads and shredded. Other guys will do forearm curls....etc and never change the size of their forearms they just get super vascular and shredded. 

IMO - I believe that these are the main muscle groups that differentiate the Pros from average local bodybuilder.


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## N_I_C_K (Aug 23, 2011)

Gazhole said:


> Heavy deadlifts, heavy rows, heavy chins, heavy hammer curls.
> 
> Never use straps on anything. Ever. If double-overhand gets too tough during the set use mixed grip. Switch your mixed grip a few times when that gets too tired. Use hook grip when your mixed grip is too tired. Use chalk if you have too. No gloves either.
> 
> ...




Listen to this man!


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## Digitalash (Aug 24, 2011)

agreed on genetics, never really isolate forearms and they look damn near as big as my upper arm lol

any heavy back work will put the size on though, maybe do some isolation for the top part of the forearm if it starts to lag


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## ConJnr21 (Aug 26, 2011)

how do you include them in a workout? seperate or on the end of a bicep workout or something?


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## leeisva (Aug 30, 2011)

A pull up is by far and away the best excercise for building for-arms and toning them.
Not chins...  but i guess they couldnt hurt...
Let me clarify:
To do a pull-up, you face forward and grab the bar with your palms facing away from you. Chin-ups require you to reverse your grip so that your palms are toward you and you can see your fingers.
The average trainer will find it easier to do a narrow grip chin-up than any other style or grip. Chin-ups are easier because they place the majority of resistance on your bicep muscles. This is similar to a curl in weight lifting, which allows you to use the large bicep muscles to complete the motion. A pull-up puts more stress on the forearms and lat muscles. Think of this as similar to a reverse curl in weight lifting which forces you to use more grip and forearm strength to complete the motion. The hardest excercise is a wide grip pull-up, which puts the most pressure possible on your lats and forearms.


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## FUZO (Aug 30, 2011)

For me hammer curls and reverse curls and I constantly use a hand grip all day and aqueeze it.


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## jtterrible (Sep 1, 2011)

yay  I never knew I had genetics on my side.. calves and forearms have always just blew up no matter what I did.. Best forearm work I know is standing rows.. something about that grip just makes my forearms blow up massively


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## CaptainNapalm (Sep 1, 2011)

Good question but I've come to realize, just from personal experience, that forearm development (similar to calf development) is very much genetic.  Some 5 years ago I made room for some fancy forearm exercises in my workout.  I trained them for a few months straight and other than getting a nice pump every workout I really didn't see them develop that much, if at all.  I have slightly bigger forearms now than I did when I use to train them alone so I don't even bother with them anymore, I devote more energy to other lifts instead which train forearms indirectly in some way or another.


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## leeisva (Sep 2, 2011)

yeah my forearms come natty too, and my calves are... yeah, i have literal muscle on top of muscle, ill have to post a pic soon. 

I leg pressed 1000 lbs the other day, i weigh 160ish... i thought is was cool


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## suprfast (Sep 6, 2011)

The only thing I didn't see was Hang Cleans.  My forearms feel like they want to explode by the end of my 5x5 hang cleans.


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