there's an undeniable Aura of strength that emanates from big powerful forearms whether you're wearing a snug tank top or an oversized shirt the site of well-built forms distinctly signifies raw power and vitality while your forearms receive a fair share of indirect training already it may not be a bad idea to include some direct forearm work especially if they're lagging behind and that's why I want to share the five best exercises for bigger forearms but first let's quickly go over the basic anatomy of the forearm muscles and their functions The Superficial muscles responsible for forearm size
as well as grip strength can be divided into the forearm extensors forearm flexors and the brachioradialis the forms essentially have two sides the posterior forearm on the back and the anterior forearm on the front the anterior forearm is responsible for flexion of the wrist as well as flexion of the fingers while the posterior form is responsible for extension of the wrist as well as extension of the fingers the brachioradialis which also happens to be the largest forearm muscle is responsible for elbow flexion as well as pronation and supination now that we understand what muscles we're
targeting and what movement they're responsible for let's go over the five best exercises for bigger forearms exercise number one reverse curls one 2015 study published in the Frontiers in physiology Journal comparing biceps brachii and brachioradialis activation from different hand positions found that pronated or reverse curls produced higher brachioradialis activation than curling with a supinated or neutral hand position position the reverse curl can be done with a straight bar Easy Bar dumbbell or even cables regardless of the variation you choose perform these with a thumbless grip to ensure you're working both sides of the forearm exercise
number two wrist roller the wrist roller is one of the most efficient tools for working both your wrist flexors and extensors as you roll the weight up you're performing wrist extension as you roll the weight down which should be done under control you'll be performing wrist flexion one common mistake when performing this exercise is extending your arms out in front of you as doing so will cause your front delts to fatigue far before the target muscle instead keep your elbows tucked into your torso to prevent the delts from working not only will this ensure you're
keeping tension on your forearms but keeping your elbows flexed throughout the exercise we'll add some isometric work to your brachioradialis as well exercise number three wrist curls wrist curls are one of the most popular ways to Target the inside of your forearms these are done by flexing your wrist while keeping your forearm stationary as you can imagine there are a number of ways to perform this movement first a seated variation where you're resting your forearms on your knees with your palms facing up while holding a barbell or a dumbbell in each hand and curling your
wrist inward to engage the forearm flexors another equally popular version of this movement is the behind the back wrist curl stand with a barbell behind your back Palms facing upward grip the bar slightly wider than shoulder width apart and keep your arms fully extended while keeping your arms stationary flex your forearms and hold for a brief moment at the top from there allow your wrists to come come back to the starting position and repeat to ensure you're getting the most out of your wrist curls allow your wrists to fully extend pointing your knuckles toward the
floor and curling from there and if you want to take it a step further allow the handle to roll down your fingertips before curling the weight back up as this will provide your forearm flexors with a better stretch at the bottom exercise number four reverse wrist curls the reverse risk curl shifts the focus to the extensor muscles providing a balanced approach to your forearm training for the seated version rest your forearms on top of your knees Palms facing down with your wrist hanging off the edge lower the dumbbell until you get a good stretch on
the forearms then curl the weight up pointing your knuckles toward the ceiling and holding at Peak contraction for the standing version hold the barbell out in front of your body with an overhand grip from there curl your wrist list up pointing your knuckles upward then control the weight back down to the starting position and repeat and if you want to involve more of the brachioradialis perform this standing variation with your arms at 90 degrees and elbows tucked by your sides keeping your forearms parallel to the floor as you perform each rep exercise number five grip
training research published in the Journal of physical therapy science suggests that grip strength is strongly correlated with the muscle size of your forearms in other words if you want bigger forearms make sure you train your grip for this we have a few options first is the plate pinch this consists of taking two plates and pinching them together between your thumb and your other fingers the goal with this exercise is to squeeze the plates hard enough to prevent them from slipping past each other and falling to the floor I recommend starting line height with two five
pound plates and gradually working your way up from there a second option is the straight arm hang or Cliffhanger this exercise is performed by hanging from a pull-up bar with arms fully extended once you're able to hang for 45 to 60 seconds you can increase the difficulty by adding a weight belt or by holding a dumbbell between your feet and our third option is the barbell hold for this one start with the bar on a rack so you don't have to lift it into position grab the bar with an overhand grip hands shoulder width apart
and lifted off the rack while keeping your arms fully extended much like the other grip exercises you'll simply hold the bar until your grip gives out progression with this variation can be accomplished by simply increasing hold time adding more weight to the bar or both so there you have it the five best exercise sizes for bigger and stronger forearms while it's not necessary to include all of these exercises into your training I do recommend including some direct forearm training into your workout and remember your forearms are already being trained indirectly particularly with pulling movements you're
already doing so there's no need to add more than a few sets at the end of your workout to maximize growth did you find this video helpful if so click the like button below as it'll truly help out the channel and if you haven't already make sure you subscribe for more videos and don't forget to turn on post notifications so you don't miss the next one peace [Music] thank you
