Q: I need some forearm mass. In a short-sleeved shirt, I want to have some beef hanging out rather than my current twigs. What’s a good routine to build some freaky forearms? And I need some veins too!
A: In a tight T-shirt, it’s the upper arms that draw the most attention, but in a baggier short-sleeved shirt, some vascular beef on your forearms is what raises eyebrows and shows you’re in serious muscular shape.
Now, just like size potential, very prominent vascularity is a genetic thing. If your body fat is low and you can’t get a lot of veins to show, EXTREME vascularity may not be in the cards. But you should be able to improve the vein-age you have with higher-tension-time training…
Higher reps with short rests between sets will also mass up your forearms best. That’s why standard 4X training can do amazing things for your muscular impressiveness below your elbows.
We often like to superset extensor work with flexor work. Extensors are on the tops of your forearms; flexors are the beefier and stronger underside. Here’s an excellent quick routine to tack onto the end of your arm day to help develop some freaky forearms…
Superset
Reverse curls (4X), 4 x 12
Wrist curls (4X), 4 x 12
Remember, with 4X, you pick a weight with which you can do 15-plus reps, but you only do 12. Now just go back and forth from reverse curls to wrist curls, no rest, trying to get 12 on every set. Keep your reps at a steady tempo: one second to lift and two to three seconds to lower.
Go to failure on the last set, although it may occur on the last two sets (we rarely get 12 on the fourth round on either exercise; if you do get 12 on your last round, add weight at your next forearm workout).
Bonus: Reverse curls will help stack your biceps. You’ll get an extra dimension—more width—and also build the brachialis muscle that snakes under it for higher peaks. So reverse curls don’t just work your extensors. Oh, and they also enhance nerve force to your flexors so your wrist curls are more effective.
After three weeks, it’ll be time for a growth jolt. That’s where TORQ training—tension overload repetition quantity—comes in (great for shocking any muscle to a new size surge). TORQ will boost your sets from around 40 seconds each into the upper hypertrophic tension time-—60 to 90 seconds.
Here’s your TORQ size shocker for forearms…
Superset
Reverse curls, 3 x 30, 20, 15
Wrist curls, 3 x 30, 20, 15
For TORQ, you use a weight that has you hit failure, or very close, at 30 reps on reverse curls. Then move immediately to wrist curls and crank out 30. After the superset, rest for about 15 seconds, then it hit again. Go for 20 reps on set 2. Rest 15 seconds, then go for 15 reps on your last round.
Will you feel a growth ache and burn? You bet—and it only takes less than 10 minutes.
Doing a phase of standard 4X training followed by a few weeks of TORQ should give you some freaky forearms packed with some new beef and veins standing out in bold relief.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
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