With his bulging, inked-up forearms and all-spinach diet, Popeye had superhuman strength—but not, apparently, much affect on future generations of gym rats who seem content to focus on other body parts.
After all, the forearms play a role in most every lift. Why bother targeting an area that’s already trained sufficiently in the gym—to say nothing if you spend any time swimming, paddling, or playing tennis and golf?
For one thing, you might want to improve your game in those areas. You also should want to address an area that plays a role in the lifting movements of everyday life. After all, those forearms provide hours of support if you spend most of your day on the computer. And you’ll want to boost muscles that give your arms a more balanced, symmetrical look, especially when you’re in short sleeves like Popeye.
Best of all, the forearms respond quickly to training, providing one of the better returns on investment of gym time. That’s why it’s worth doing a forearm-specific superset workout like this one on occasion. Spinach optional.
Pete Williams is a NASM-certified personal trainer and the author or co-author of a number of books on performance and training.
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Forearm Stretch
Why it works: Rarely do we spend time stretching our forearms. By beginning with this, we’ll make the entire workout more effective.
How to do it:
From a standing position with your right arm raised straight in front of your body and palm up, grab your right fingers with the left hand and pull toward right elbow until you feel a mild stretch.
Hold for two seconds. Relax and repeat.
Prescription: 2 sets of 10 on each hand.
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EDGAR ARTIGA / M+F Magazine
Elbow-to-Instep Lunge
Why It Works: This full-body stretch works your groin, hip flexors, glutes, and especially hamstrings, but it’s also the rare movement that requires you to stretch your forearms to the ground.
How To Do It:
Step forward into a lunge with your left foot. Place your right forearm to the ground and your left elbow to the inside of your left foot, and hold the stretch for two seconds.
Then place your left hand outside of your foot and push your hips up, pointing your front toes up.
Return to standing position, and repeat by stepping out with your right foot. Continue alternating sides.
Prescription: 2 sets of 10 reps.
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Underhanded Chinups
Why It Works: Like the overhand pullup, the chinup is a terrific shoulders and back exercise to build that V-shaped torso. But by doing the underhanded chinup, we place more emphasis on the forearms.
How To Do It:
Grab the bar with an underhand grip.
Hanging from the bar, pull your shoulder blades back and down to lift your body up and build momentum.
Finish by pulling up with your arms.
Prescription: 2 sets of 10 reps (or as many as possible).
Hold a dumbbell in one hand and sit on a bench, allowing your elbow and forearm to rest on your thigh. Let your hands dangles off your knee, palm up, the elbow bent at 90°.
With the dumbbell hanging down, curl your wrist so your palm faces your biceps. Lower slowly, and repeat for a set of 10.
Grasp TRX handles in each hand with an overhand grip. Your arms should be straight out in front of you.
Lean slightly back in a modified split stance so the suspension trainer hangs diagonally.
Curl your wrist up as you raise your body slightly.
Return to starting position.
Prescription: 2 sets of 10 reps.
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Forearm Plank
Why It Works: Conventional pushup planks are great, but these put more emphasis on the forearms.
How To Do It:
Start in a pushup position, with your forearms resting on the ground. Your elbows and shoulders are bent 90°.
Push up off your elbows, supporting your weight on the forearms.
Tuck your chin so your head is in line with your body. Pull your toes toward your shins.
Keep shoulders, hips, and ankles aligned; your body should form a straight line from ears to heels.
Prescription: 2 sets of 60 seconds.
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Forearm Side-Plank
Why It Works: Side planks usually are done with arms extended. Planking off your forearm is more challenging.
How To Do It:
Start on the ground on your left side with your left forearm on the ground and your elbow under your shoulder.
Push up off your elbow, creating a straight line from ankle to shoulder. Your hips should be off the ground, and only the side of your bottom foot and your elbow should be on the ground.
Hold for 30 seconds or do 10 reps of 3 seconds each.
Prescription: 2 sets of either of the above options.
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Per Bernal
Farmer’s Carry
Why It Works: Ever see a farmer with skinny arms? This lift helps the shoulders and overall core strength, but the forearms are on overload in this lift—whether it’s done with heavy dumbbells, kettlebells, or weight plates.
How To Do It:
Walk 10 yards out, and 10 yards back.
Don’t hunch over.
Keep your shoulder blades pulled back and down, and fire your glutes as you walk.
This can be a challenging move at first, but you’ll be surprised how quickly you’re able to walk further or increase the weight.
Prescription: 2 sets of 20 yards.
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EDGAR ARTIGA / M+F Magazine
Towel Pullups
Why it works: In this version of the pullup, we grip towels to better challenge our forearms and improve grip strength. Towels also take some momentum out of your pullups, making them more challenging on your back and biceps as well.
How to do it:
Drape two gym towels over a pullup bar so both ends of both towels hang down.
Perform your pullups by gripping the towels rather than the bar.
Prescription: 2 sets of 10 reps (or as many as possible).
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Dips
Why It Works: You use your forearms and chest to lift your entire bodyweight.
How To Do It:
Position yourself above and between bars, grabbing them with an overhand grip.
Lower yourself slowly, and push back up in a controlled manner.
To focus more of the lift on your pecs and shoulders, lean forward and cross your legs behind you; for a more triceps-focused lift, keep your legs straight and toes pointed in front of you.
