Forearm strength is an essential element of functional fitness. We use this part of our body for so many everyday tasks that exercising for stronger forearms could make daily life a little easier.
For example, forearm exercises can help prevent carpal tunnel for people who spend a lot of time on a computer or playing video games.
Whatever your aspirations may be, here’s a helpful beginners guide on how to exercise forearms.
Are you aiming to improve general functional strength, or your performance at a specific sport or technique? How will this fitness goal fit into your overall objective? Decide whether you’re looking for general fitness, endurance, strength, or muscle mass, and build your plan around that.
Especially for an activity involving weights, it’s vital to be aware of your current strength and fitness level. Know your limits so you can use enough weight to challenge yourself without risking injury.
Do you currently have a fitness routine? How often do you work out your upper and lower body? How often will you incorporate forearm exercises, and how much time will you give your arms to rest? Aim to train each muscle group, including arms, two to four times per week.
Remember that more weight requires fewer reps, and a higher number of reps requires less weight.
Repeating the same motion over and over may not be as efficient if you want to improve athletic technique or day-to-day function. Working out your forearms is much more efficient when incorporating a variety of forearm exercises for APS (agonist and antagonist paired sets) to achieve a combination of wrist flexor and wrist extension strength.
Resistance bands, traditional weights, pull-up bars, a climbing rope, and grip trainers are always an option. What’s the best weight training gear for you based on your budget and how much space you have?
Forearm exercises are part of a well-rounded upper body workout. For any workout, you’ll need a set of comfortable, breathable, and flexible women’s athletic tops.
Remember to select the right amount of weight when planning your workouts for forearms. It usually doesn’t take a lot of weight to strengthen your forearms, especially if you’re just going for general fitness, carpal tunnel prevention, or better performing routine tasks. Try sets of 12–15 repetitions once or twice per week and see how it fits into your routine.
Grab some dumbbells or set up your resistance bands. When planning your workout and considering how to workout your forearms, you might use different equipment like a kettlebell, dumbbells, towels, or a bar and plates for some of these.
Even when you’re not using added weight, ensure you’re using proper form and paying attention to both wrist extension and wrist flexors in every workout.
Some of these use bodyweight alone and some use a pull-up bar or rope. A grip strength trainer can be especially helpful!
It may be easiest to incorporate your forearm muscles when you do your upper body workouts.
Depending on your forearm workouts, you can use resistance bands, dumbbells, kettlebells, a bar and weights, a pullup bar, a climbing rope, a stress ball, a grip trainer, or just your own body weight.
You don’t necessarily need to isolate your forearm muscles. With or without weights, many exercises for forearms adequately work other arm muscles and entirely different muscle groups.
The best method to build muscle mass in your forearms is to do 3–6 sets of 6–12 reps up to four times per week.
If you do an appropriate number of sets per week of the correct exercises, you can build forearm strength within a couple of weeks.
It is best not to train any muscle group every single day, including forearms. Muscles need at least one day to rest between workouts to repair and get stronger, safely.
Like any other muscle, the size and definition of your forearms can change as your body changes with age. Aside from childhood and puberty, though, aging doesn’t automatically grow any muscle mass without training.
It’s not hard to grow your forearm strength through the right exercises a couple of times per week.
What’s your motivation for increasing forearm strength? As you complete workouts for your forearms, are you trying to prevent carpal tunnel, improve your performance at a sport, or maximize your ability to do things for yourself, like carrying heavy objects?
Show us where you are in your fitness journey on Instagram @goalfive, and browse the women’s athletic shorts, pants, tops, and accessories in our women’s activewear collection to maximize your workouts.
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