Many athletes are overlooking their forearms training but the fact is that increasing the strength of your forearms will increase your lift. You’ll be able to lift more and much heavier weights because you’ll be able to increase the force you can use by building mass in your forearms.
If you want to increase your forearm strength, mass and power to be able to break out from the plateau you hit in your fitness goals, you can use the following 5 exercises that are excellent for that purpose.
- Towel Pull Ups
One of the best bodyweight exercises you can do to increase forearm strength and grip is the towel pull up. You’ll need a strong towel and a bar to do the exercise. The exercise is quite simple. Instead of doing a pull up with your arms on the bar, you do a pull up holding the towels that are attached to the bar. You will have to squeeze much harder and engage your forearms. This is a hard exercise especially if you are a beginner so you may struggle to do even 5 pull ups.
- Pinch Carries
Carrying two weight plates using your thumb and fingers to pinch them together is also a great forearm exercise. You have to squeeze hard so the plates don’t separate which contracts your forearm muscles and makes them work hard to execute the exercise. Get two weight plates in each hand and walk for about 15 yards like this. Doing 2-3 sets should get your forearms burning.
- Fat Grip Dumbbell Rows
Instead of using regular dumbbell bars to do dumbbell rows, use a thicker bar that will ensure you need to squeeze harder and engage your forearms more. If you can’t get a thicker bar you can either use a Fat Grip or use your towel to make the bar thicker. Perform dumbbell rows like this and it will surely increase the strength, size and mass of your forearms.
- Plate Toss
Plates are great for building forearms because you have to grip them tight so they don’t fall. Performing plate tosses will definitely improve your forearm strength and you’ll get massive forearms in no-time. To do the exercise you’ll need to stand in an athletic stance and hold the plate in one hand by the edge. Hold the plate at waist-height, drop it and quickly catch it before it hits the ground. This exercise won’t just build stronger grip but it will also improve your explosiveness.
- Grip Crusher
Using a grip crusher of different difficulty levels will also help you build up your forearm strength. Grip crushers are made for improving grip strength so it’s only natural they are on our list as one of the best ways to increase strength, mass and power in your forearms. They are very easy to use. You grab a grip crusher in each of your hands and squeeze them till both ends are touching.
