Does anyone have any advice on how to build up the forearms & wrists? Are there any exercises I can use to develop these areas in particular? I usually combine my kung-fu (lots of press-ups) with some weight-machines at the gym, and whilst I have some definition in my upper arms, chest & shoulders, I still have tiny forearms!
Do you mean build up as in make them bigger with muscle or conditioning or both? Do you do knuckle press ups with the back your hands facing forward not on the side? In the gym do the following : = Reverse Curl 10 reps - 3sets = Barbell Wrist Curl 10 reps - 3sets = Reverse Barbell Wrist Curls 10 resp - 3sets
I'd like to build them up with more muscle. I don't do knuckle press-ups at all. Would you recommend this? I discovered the reverse curl yesterday, with the aid of Google. Tried some out yesterday with a fairly light weight and they sure hurt!
I found that knuckle press ups strengthened my wrists. Yeah reverse curl is a hard one to get to grips with but it does the job!
wrist curls are pretty much a waste of time (in my opinion). I like the following exercises: Wrist rollers Yo-yo's (http://www.pullum-sports.co.uk/strength/wrist-strength/ironmind-twist-yo-wrist/prod_138.html) For hand strength, I like: Plate pinches Plate hub holds Captains of Crush
i just made a little thing to work forearms+wrists after seeing some guys training 'iron palm' i cut the handle end from an old hockey stick and drilled straight through it. fed some strong thin rope through the hole and fed a nut and bolt through the same hole. tied a noose like knot in the other end and tie up some dumbell weights to it.. you 'wind' the stick with both hands held out in front of you to winch the weights up to the top and down again. its handy as you can wind in both directions to workout the whole forearm, and they bloody burn after a few goes
I'm not a big fan of the wrist curl either. And I'd rather not buy new kit if possible. I'll keep going with the reverse curls, cos I could feel that doing something, and throw in some knuckle press-ups too. Anything else I could be doing?
Thanks GaryT85, I've heard of such a contraption before. Maybe a DIY project for the next bank holiday.
no problem.. though in reality, you wont need much time. in terms of DIY i have barely done any... making this from start to finish took about 10 minutes. most of that 10 minutes was finding a relevant drill bit and nut+bolt to fit through the whole. the good thing is, im not even exaggerating with a 10 minute time, it really is easy. and doesnt really cost anything, which is another benefit
remember that half the muscles in your forearms serve to control your fingers. DO FINGERTIP PUSHUPS also, what yohan said
try sitting/standing/whatever with your arms out straight in front of you at shoulder height. spread your fingers as wide as you can, now make fists with both hands and clench tightly. then open, close, open, close etc making sure that fingers are spread wide and fists are tightly closed, repeat 50 times. actually thats too easy, go for 100
A good article can be found here: http://gymnasticbodies.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=61 [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIeL0AYygiY"]YouTube - GymnasticBodies.com - Wrist Pushups[/ame]
You know, I found that youTube clip before and tried those. Bloody impossible. Might be something to aim for maybe..
i just tried them and they are alot harder than they look. try just doing them on your wrists first. you can even rotate your hands round so that the fingers point in, out, forwards and back or my personal favorite. starting on the wrists as he is and as you come up to the top flick the hands over onto your palms. then do one push up and flick back to wrists, repeat x times..
Start by doing them from your knees with your body back towards your feet and gradually increase the weight on your wrists, as you improve, by leaning forward.
I also don't really like standard wrist curls, but wrist curls with a kettle bell are great. To avoid buying a bunch of different kettle bells you could also get this instead, http://www.monsterbars.com/. I've had one for about 6 months now and I am enjoying the gains. Also, go to Ironmind.com and look around. They have a bunch of great stuff.