Forearms exercises

Forearms: 90+ exercises in the FitRay library, each with the muscles it works, step-by-step instructions, the equipment it needs and its own common mistakes.

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How the forearms work

The forearm holds about twenty muscles in two main groups. The flexors, on the palm side, close the hand and bend the wrist forward; they give you your grip. The extensors, on the back, open the hand and bend the wrist back. The brachioradialis, the large muscle near the elbow, helps bend the elbow, most of all with the thumb on top.

Grip strength sets the limit on how much you can hold in deadlifts, rows and pull-ups, and it is also one of the better simple measures of overall strength.

How to train it

Heavy holding does most of the work. Carries, hangs and pinches train the grip the way daily life uses it. Add wrist curls and reverse wrist curls for size and to keep the front and back of the forearm in balance.

Forearms recover quickly, so they can be trained often. A few sets at the end of two or three sessions a week is enough.

Seven to start with

  1. 1
    BeginnerFarmer's Carry

    Pick up heavy weights and walk. It trains the grip, the traps and the core at once.

  2. 2
    BeginnerDead Hang

    Hanging from a bar builds grip endurance and prepares you for pull-ups.

  3. 3
    BeginnerSeated Barbell Wrist Curl

    Isolates the flexors on the palm side of the forearm.

  4. 4
    BeginnerSeated Barbell Reverse Wrist Curl

    Works the extensors on the back of the forearm, which are usually the weaker side.

  5. 5
    IntermediateReverse Barbell Curl

    A curl with the palms down, for the brachioradialis and the top of the forearm.

  6. 6
    BeginnerHammer Curl

    Thumbs on top: the brachioradialis does much of the lifting.

  7. 7
    IntermediatePlate Pinch

    Holding smooth plates together trains the pinch grip, which other exercises rarely touch.

All 90+ forearm exercises