If this shot of Sylvester Stallone doesn’t make you want to train forearms, nothing will…
No unopened pickle jars around Sly, that’s for damn sure.
In a previous newsletter I made the astute observation that, if you’re in a long-sleeve shirt and roll up the sleeves, forearms are the only muscle in view. Then I laid out the moves I use….
But when I wrote that previous newsletter, I had not added the cable machine to my home gym yet. All I had were PowerBlock dumbbells, so my go-to forearm move was DB wrist curls…
They work fairly well, with an almost perfect resistance curve—less resistance at the top, just like dumbbell curls for biceps; however…
Even with the freedom of movement dumbbells provide, the stroke feels a bit unnatural…
Notice when you flex your forearm, you torque your fist downward, as I demonstrate here in some good lighting…
I decided to try and mimic that move on my new cable setup. I noticed immediately that it feels much more natural.
I put my foot up on a bench, with the cable set just above my wrist, so it’s pulling slightly up and straight back. That provides an ideal resistance curve—hardest at the beginning, as in the first pic, and easiest in the gooseneck (pic 2)…
I call these cable goosenecks—an incredibly innovative name, I know. Sure, training one arm at a time will add more minutes to your workout, not to mention setting up the cable, but you’re diffusing the bi-lateral deficit…
That’s important because you’re stronger and able to activate more muscle fibers training one side at a time as opposed to both sides at once…
I still do seated dumbbell wrist curls, but at a different workout. That’s because the variation in recruitment order from different exercises can give you better mass development (for more on that, see the new ebook)…
Also, while I tend to pan most band exercises because of the backward strength curve, using bands on forearm goosenecks can work well. That’s because the range of motion is so short that the strength curve is almost inconsequential…
One last thing on forging freaky forearms: Include some hammer curls. I usually do them leaning back against a high-incline bench. Those will beef up the the smaller forearm extensors and the large brachioradialis on the tops of your forearms.
Looking at Stallone’s pic above, I would guess he includes hammer curls in his arm workouts…
Hammers also train the brachialis muscles that snake under the biceps. That makes it a two-for-one move, adding to your upper-arm size as well…
Give the moves above a try for lower-arm size. Soon you’ll have veins streaking in bold relief, calling attention to your new forearm beef.
New: Get the ideal exercise for each muscle, the best add-on moves for ultimate mass, complete 35-minute workouts, exercise start/finish photos, and details on building muscle fast and efficiently in Old Man, Young Muscle.
And you still get The Muscle-On, Belly-Gone “Diet” ebook FREE for a limited time when you add Old Man, Young Muscle to your mass-building library. Go HERE.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
What Would You Do to Protect Your Family?
Mike Westerdal is a renowned personal trainer and national best-selling physical preparedness author, but he’s also a father and a husband… who would do anything to protect his family.
He used to get pushed around when younger and spent years building up his body and becoming stronger, getting mentally and physically tough the hard way. As he got bigger, he learned to handle himself, and working in security, he learned first-hand how violence really plays out.
Some of the other guys online who show off their self-defense videos and books need to get a grip. The level of skill needed to pull off their basic moves is CRAZY for most ordinary people.
- If a defense system requires more than a few hours to master, it’s not a program.
- The only techniques you will ever use are the simple ones.
- They need to work for an ordinary person without prior training, technique, or ability.
- So even if you think you don’t have time to learn how to defend yourself…
- You don’t need to spend years training to be a martial artist.