The next book is finally OUT!!! Really proud of how it turned out. It has completely NEW information, as I've learned quite a bit about training since the first one. It's focused on improving your hypertrophy-training process and CURB STOMPING plateaus. It includes an almost SEVEN HOUR audiobook, which I decided to record myself rather than outsourcing. Feedback has been excellent so far. I don't do sponsored videos or have ads on the channel, so I GREATLY appreciate the support. I really is YOU who keeps the channel going! Can grab a copy below if it sounds like something you'd be interested in! www.verityfit.com/product-page/resurrecting-your-gains-finding-your-muscle-growth-formula
Reverse curls are a staple for me, I do them every arm workout. I often get complimented on the "hump" I now have on my forearms. My advice, lose the ego, lift way lighter than you would on normal curls, and use higher reps rather than heavy low reps.
Just when I’ve been wondering if I should rotate in extra forearm work (and how to do it), you put out this video. There’s a reason your first book (and probably your second, eventually) is the only fitness related book I’ve bought. You’re the best Geoff
Perfect Timing. I started to incorporate direct forearm work a few eeks ago, have already seen some improvements. I do reverse under hand curl, hammer curls, and wristr extension/flexion once a wek 4 sets each. Big fore(or five)arms are really asthetic and they are often a good indicator of strength
Another golden movement is reverse preacher curl. Keeps the elbows locked, can do a drop set starting with fat grips then false grip, then reg grip. Brutal!
Forearm training definitely grows your forearms significantly. I used to have completely stick like forearms and when I started doing direct forearm work, just 2 all out sets per week, my forearms grew visibly.
Full training routine for forearms and grip should include Category 1: Pulls / carrys. Forearms can get decent but suboptimal stimulus from isometric contraction during heavy pulling and carrying exercises, including pullups, rows, deadlifts, shrugs, farmer walks. If you want to get more forearm stimulus out of these movements you can 1) limit use of wrist straps; 2) use advanced grips (fat grips, pinch grips, rotating grips); and 3) combine multiple pull / carry exercises into supersets or circuits. One superset I love for crearing a great forearm burn is pullups + shrugs! But the main limitation of these movements is that they mostly involve isometric contraction of the forearm muscles. That is never going to be optimal for muscle growth, especially for intermediate/advanced lifters. Category 2: Elbow flexion. Brachioradialis will get lots of stimulus from curls and pulls using neutral and probated grip. Best exercises: hammer curls, reverse curls, close grip pullups. Category 3: Wrist flexion/extension. Wrist curls and wrist extension exercises should be used to isolate forearm muscles. Best to perform with arms wresting on bench or table to get good resistance across the full range of motion. Standing wrist curls are a poor exercise because they only have good resistance in the shortened position. These exercises should make up most of your dedicated forearm training. Category 4: Grip. You should use squeeze exercises to isolate gripping muscles of forearm and hand. Spring based hand grippers are very overrated because they have a resistance curve that heavily emphasizes the shortened position. The best option is some sort of plate loaded grip machine. Category 5: Wrist pronation/supination. You should include some isolation work for muscles that rotate forearm (including biceps and Brachioradialis but also many smaller muscles like the pronation teres). Category 6: Wrist ulnar/radial deviation. You should include some isolation work for small muscles that laterally flex wrist.
As you said, the forearms get hit so much with compounds - all bicep work too. I do think that if people have weaknesses, they should add in some isolation work too - you gave some great exercises. Personally, farmers carries are my favourite forearm builders!
Arm wrestling training is something to look into if you want more complete forearm development. Wrist flexion, radial deviation, probation, supination, plus lots of work for the brachioradialis and brachialis.
Thanks a lot for this man, been lifting for about 4 months now and even though I've seen some crazy development on my biceps/triceps my forearms have remained tiny. They've started to limit me from lifting as heavy as I normally do on lat pulldowns, rows, etc so I've started giving them some direct work. I'd buy your book if I had the money!
I don't currently do direct forearm work, but my preferred method of adding work for them is actually through arm "isolations" - with a focus on resisting wrist bending. My current go-tos are hammer curls and rope extensions and pullovers, with an emphasis on driving with the sides of the hand and keeping the wrist locked in place. If I do it right my wrists get fatigued right along with everything else. I've even failed heavy hammer curls because of the wrists giving in on a few occasions. I think traditional support grip is well-worked through most exercises but the missing piece is resisting wrist bending, as well as other types of grip that involves the thumbs, which I think "isolations" can actually fill in nicely due to the different movement patterns.
I have wrecked the connective tissue around my elbows, tennis elbow on the right and on the left the opposite inside tendon. Hammer curls and reverse preachers were some of my favorite exercises and I have not been able to do them this past month. Heck, grab some kettlebells and reverse grip curl those for your forearm muscles to switch things up if you're bored. I wish I had strengthened my forearms more before I had issues from going heavy with rows and stuff.
I had pain in those spots. Indirect grip strengthening within pain tolerance..generally sticking to the discomfort range has made is significantly better. Likely would be pain free if my work didn't aggravate it. Take about 2 years to fully resolve according to the research summary I listened to
@@whwhywhywhywhywhywhy Indirect grip strengthening? Can you elaborate? I'm down to try anything to improve the pain and get back to my normal lifting routine.
I can wrap my little finger and thumb around my wrist - but my forearms have grown a bit since I started going to the gym 3 months ago I have really small hands and height too (168 cm, 5.7 inches?), but at least my calves, glutes and quads are blessed by the gods lol - good size and decent definition without ever having worked out or done any other training except for walking a lot at work I'm excited to see where I can push my size and strength to in a year or so, love your content btw!
I dont know about forearms being male cleavage, but when I see a guy with thick forearms I have the same reaction when I see a V taper and broad shoulders. This guy is strong is what I assume instantly, so yeah.
I saw significant improvement in my extensors from doing weighted front pull ups with front-facing rock climbing grips. Good way to fit grip work into another compound if you have access.
as a begginer i did forearm training because i'm having hard time with my deadlift. now i can easily do deadlift without giving up on holding the barbell before failure.
One tip: do wrist curls with arms resting on bench, preacher bench, or another platform. This adjusts resistance curve so the movement is not so biased towards the shortened position.
I like pullups/chinups with fat grips, curls and dumbell rows are good too. And a wrist roller also. Easy and cheap to DIY and gives a great metabolic fatigue.
I find that doing "Thor's hammer" is great for working pronation and supination. I take a loadable dumbbell and only load one side for this. In full pronation the extensors work as supinators and in full supination the flexors work as pronators. Also both movements have some muscles that are only worked by either supination or pronation. I split my forearm training up in 2 days, one for flexion and extention and one for pronation and supination woth reverse curls on both days.
I’ve been going to the preacher curl bench and doing wrist extensions superset with wrist curls 2x per week and that has done a lot for me. I do hammer curls as well, but honestly never felt those in my forearms much. Recently started incorporating towel holds and pull-ups since I started training BJJ. I continue to use straps for my RDLs, Shrugs, and rows when I incorporate those.
I feel like pullups are a very underrated forearm builder. Even just a little greasing-the-groove blew my forearms up quite a bit. Also, Fat Grips are the shit..
Fat grips, sure, I've heard they're great. Pull ups for forearms is just a shittier version of deadlifts for forearms. Mayhaps you've got some excellent forearm genetics
@@rockyevans1584 I mean, it's basically a dead hang with a reverse curl motion involved, too. But deadlifts aren't good for building forearms imo. Without straps, you're likely not hitting your back and legs good enough. It's also basically the most fatiguing excessive there is while your forearms are extremely small and can be trained with far less fatigue involved.
@@HughMansonMD i understand the movement. You seem to have missed the part in the video we are commenting under where he addressed how deadlifts, an isometric hold for the forearms using (safe to assume, I believe) more than your bodyweight for working sets. Why would a lighter isometric hold be good? I'm not advocating for limiting your hip hinge work with your grip, nor did I say anything about using deadlifts as forearm hypertrophy work, quite the opposite. A pull up isn't a reverse curl if you're doing pulls ups for your back. The last thing you said is exactly right, compounds aren't for forearms. What are you smoking dude? Must be excellent
@@rockyevans1584 a chin up is a good bicep builder, right? And it includes a curling motion in it, right? The only difference between a chin up and pullup is the grip changing from a curling grip to a reverse curling grip, right? You can curl a lot more than you can reverse curl because those muscles involved are bigger and stronger. Part of the reason pullups might hit back more than chinups is because your brachialis is weaker than your biceps are, but that doesn't necessarily mean your brachialis is getting worked less than your biceps would be, though. Compounds are fine muscle builders for any muscle. The reason why pullups are better for forearm growth than deadlifts is because you can train them without straps while also not limiting yourself like you would be deadlifts. The fatigue trade-off is enormous as well. Like I said, I greased the groove with pullups - you're not going to be doing that with deadlifts, or you'll be fried in 1 day. And if you are talking pure isometrics, a deadhang can be weighted and only stresses and works your forearms. A "deadlift hold" works the forearms and shoulders and stresses basically every muscle in the body. And I didn't miss anything. You're commenting without context under my year old comment that didn't mention anything about deadlifts. You, on the other hand, missed the part where I said, "Pullups are underrated." I didn't say "most optimal", "best", etc. If you take a period where you prioritize pullups, you might expect some gains in grip strength and forearm size while accomplishing other goals, too. And what I'm smoking is, in fact, excellent.
Ok, so for the flexors of the forearms, try hand balancing. Start with frog stands or wall handstands, doesn't matter, if you are gripping the ground and resisting tipping forward they are working hard. For extensors, i kneel and lean on the backs of my hands (palms facing up) with straight arms and protracted shoulders. I then extend the wrists while making a fist so that i finish on my knuckles then lower back down. You need to take a lot of the weight off your arms but it works great. Just some more fun ways of doing it that got me better results than weights (probably because i'm better at doing them consistantly)
The same can be said with calves, a lot of people who train legs a lot, always train their quads and hammies but neglect their calves and their legs end up looking weird.
My forearms got a lot larger when I just started lifting heavier and heavier deadlifts. My forearms have luckily never been super lagging behind my arms themselves. I think most people out there unless they are already pulling really good numbers don't need much direct forearms training.
My forearms just seemed to grow from just picking up the barbell, I have 14 inch forearms unflexed no direct work ever. Interestingly enough I always get a forearms pump from suicide grip ohp.
Sounds like genetics maybe. Mine have been growing absolutely not at all, but have gotten stronger. So I’m at the point where I’m gonna train them specifically. But I sure wish they grew easily.
I think you should reconsider your stance on beginner forearms. As a beginner myself who has been working out fairy consistently for a little over 6 months now, it's only in the past few workouts I've started to feel anything other than my hand/forearm (grip) on my RDLs (my lats if you're curious). My forearms being the limiting factor was epitomised yesterday, when instead of doing my usual 2 plates for ~8/9 x3/4, I lowered the weight to 90(kg) for sets of 12. My forearms were on fire after 2 sets and even though I tried to complete the 3rd set, I only managed about half of it. It's he next day now and after that "lower body day", my forearms ache more than any other muscle. I think I'm going to swap out my barbell curls for reverse barbell curls and move my RDLs to my upper body day (and probably my reverse curls to my lower tbh). I should have done this sooner. So yeah, I'd have a think about your beginner advice on this one. I love your channel btw. I found you just a couple of days ago and have been binging your content. Fantastic stuff.
One of the nice things about building forearms too is that most people don't store much fat there (kind of like calves), so if you do build them, they look cut even if you're not.
Honestly I give a lot the credit for my forearms growing to pullups and weighted pullups. If you're advanced and can do pullups for high reps, your forearms are just constantly under tension
I've been working out for like year and a half and my 75yo grandpa puts me to shame. And he never saw a gym in his life. Just manual labor his whole life... And holly fck is he strong. When I arm wrestle him he just crushes me. Every part of his arm below elbow is insanely strong. Grip, fingers, wrist... Imo, best way to get big and strong forearms is, as the guy you mentioned said, just lift heavy shit all day everyday.
Any one handed calisthenics stuff like one arm pull ups, one arm front or back lever or just one arm hang/ bodyweight wrist curl on the bar will blow them up. Switch up the bar thickness too for slightly different stimuli
as someone with a 14 inch forearm at 5'4 (i guess some of it is genetics tho) the best thing for forearm training is high friction pullup bars, the low friction stuff does require more effort in some sense but its less simulative in my experience. go heavy, strapless pullups on a high friction pullup bar that would do a lot more for u than slippery pullups bars and lower weights
Have chronic issues with elbow tendinitis and find certain movements such as hammer curls or reverse grip curls always lead to pain. I have to be selective when choosing forearm and bicep movements.
Man, your arms are looking so juicy, all due respect of course. Whenever I see one of your videos popping up I debate whether I should add 2 or 3 extra arm days to my routine or not. Damn impressive.
What about overhand cable curls with a straightbar? I love those for the forearms i feel the best burn in my forearms and you can stretch the forearms on the bottom and top of the movement.
Hi Geoff I was wondering if you have a planned activity/hobbies when you get "bored" of bodybuilding, ? Like this vitruvian guy and his mountain climbing side quest. Putting all that hard earned muscle into practical work
@@GVS Holy shit, that would be awesome! I've started boxing school myself and it is just the best decision I've ever made after bodybuilding. Wishing you the best Sir!
You forgot the most important forearm exercise that gives the best weighted stretch - DB One Arm Bench Wrist Curl. I do full reps and lengthened partials only on the other day. Try it out.
I respond really well to heavy Farmers carries. This is how you can make time to train forearms, by training traps, neck, calves, hips, and your torso along with the forearms. When your body senses that a really heavy weight is trying to pull the hand off for long periods of time it adapts by thickening the ropes that hold it on. In my experience... All of the ropes. I've actually hit several of what use to be deadlift sticking points with the farmers walk.
Forearms are a super important consideration in training, as you utilize them for pretty much everything. I don’t do a ton of direct work, but I’m huge into stretching and massaging. I even do a lot of finger stretches, and find that in conjunction with deadlifts, pull-ups, and curl-variations that my grip strength is mighty. Not huge, but strong. Perhaps I’ll start adding more direct work 💪🤓
@Geoffrey Verity Schofield why is it that people can get a ginormous chest doing only pushups or anything with just their body weight? Is myostatin involved and to unleash the gainz for Bodyweight do you have to train to failure all the time in order to get huge with pushups for example?
IDK if it's just body dysmorphia or what, but even though my forearms are 35 cm measured like 11:10 they still look like sticks to me. Maybe my forearm length and hand size are still too great proportionally.
I got respectably developed forearms just from performing a variety of pulling movements in a bodybuilding style. With a combination of machine and free weight, with slower controlled eccentrics, 10 rep range where it’s heavy enough that form breakdown happens toward the end of the set. My forearms are toasted by the end of my workouts.
The thing with doing the cut though (or just generally having a relatively-low body fat percentage) is that although you may see more separation and veins, your arms will inherently look skinnier than the 20%+ BF guy stood next to you. It's a problem to try and get impressive forearms if you're a small person at, say 12%/ 13% BF with a reasonable amount of muscle. I can't help feeling that short guys either need proper competing-bodybuilder levels of muscle, or a bit of muscle surrounded by plenty of fat to look beefy in the forearms, which is frustrating if your somewhere in the middle, when your forearms can pretty-much disappear in those damn gym mirrors!
A mistake I see people making with the reverse curl is using a thumbless grip, which makes the movement more grip focused. The entire point of a reverse curl is to train the brachioradialis, which is mainly responsible for elbow flexion. Using a regular grip will be much more effective for this.
"The entire point of a reverse curl is to train the brachioradialis" I mean, you can use it that way, but if you really wanted just elbow flexion, can do a hammer curl and that'll be better. I don't see an issue with using it to work the grip. Many movements can be used to work multiple areas with subtle changes in technique, that doesn't make it wrong.
I’m trying to develop my pronation muscles like arm wrestlers got. Using straps on kettlebells. Starting with the hand supinated curling my arm up and pronating my wrist.
For my fellow big bois. Rock climbing is excellent forearm work but move slowly. Most climbers will probably tell you not to push to hard to avoid finger injuries. I found my fingers simply werent strong enough to get into that dangerzone instead I compensated with forearm power and developed a golfers elbow. I never in my 14 years of training had any forearm issues before rock climbing. It is fun as hell and you are going to want to climb all day everyday, if you get bitten by the climbing bug that is. If I could do it again I would really pace myself for the first 4 months. Just my two cents
Appreciate you sharing that, definitely important to proceed cautiously with any new style of movement. Most gym lifting doesn't work the fingers much so certainly good to be conservative when introducing climbing.
@@whwhywhywhywhywhywhy True, perhaps I should have said areas of my forearm were underdeveloped compared to others which led me to overuse my flexors. I still think my point stand though. In climbing you use a technique called crimping and it is simply not the same as straight up grapping stuff. I found I was really strong in open hand and stuff where i could flex my wrist and avoid pinching or abusing the biomechanics of the fingers in crimps. I could probably have worded it better :)
Just in time... So I have a question. I'm doing deadlifts and as I'm nearing the failure on my sets my grip starts to weaken and I have to drop the bar in my fingers. I an able to hold it there but I'm worried that 100kg is too much to just hold with my fingers.
The next book is finally OUT!!!
Really proud of how it turned out. It has completely NEW information, as I've learned quite a bit about training since the first one. It's focused on improving your hypertrophy-training process and CURB STOMPING plateaus. It includes an almost SEVEN HOUR audiobook, which I decided to record myself rather than outsourcing.
Feedback has been excellent so far. I don't do sponsored videos or have ads on the channel, so I GREATLY appreciate the support. I really is YOU who keeps the channel going!
Can grab a copy below if it sounds like something you'd be interested in!
www.verityfit.com/product-page/resurrecting-your-gains-finding-your-muscle-growth-formula
GVS is a comfort character i love you man
I felt this in my soul
Truly is, guy is the most charismatic dude on fitness YT imo.
That's why he deserve my money lol
@@DreymaComposer
He is also extremely genuine.. just feels like a real person and not some fake TH-camr persona like the rest of them
I see it... Brofist! 👊🏻
4:10 bro REALLY enjoys this exercise 🤣🤣🤣
The pump looks incredible
Omg 💀
Oh jesus 💀
Pump by association
GVS is packing 😂
“My forearms didn’t grow much from back training, I have bad forearm genetics” - Guy who’s never trained forearms directly
Yea especially when they use straps, I've actually had people say that to me lol. Easiest fix ever.
4:10 what a thick bar
Reverse curls are a staple for me, I do them every arm workout. I often get complimented on the "hump" I now have on my forearms. My advice, lose the ego, lift way lighter than you would on normal curls, and use higher reps rather than heavy low reps.
So youre sayomh reverse curls mainly are great for thar hump in the forearms? Also what rep range? Thanks
@stephengreico2810 I answered all that in the post
Just when I’ve been wondering if I should rotate in extra forearm work (and how to do it), you put out this video. There’s a reason your first book (and probably your second, eventually) is the only fitness related book I’ve bought. You’re the best Geoff
I'm a beginner (1.5 years) and everything has grown but my forearms barely so I'm still going to implement some of these
How’s the training going were these really helpful?
Perfect Timing. I started to incorporate direct forearm work a few eeks ago, have already seen some improvements. I do reverse under hand curl, hammer curls, and wristr extension/flexion once a wek 4 sets each. Big fore(or five)arms are really asthetic and they are often a good indicator of strength
how many reps do u do
@@1hdjs mostly 3 sets of 10 to 15
“Home diggity dogs” 😂😂😂 i love this channel. You have a great sense of humor man.
This is perfect timing, i was looking for some forearm exercises just the other day and now I have a full guide from daddy geoffrey
Another golden movement is reverse preacher curl. Keeps the elbows locked, can do a drop set starting with fat grips then false grip, then reg grip. Brutal!
I do hammer curls and reverse curls with weight plates and a towel.
It has done wonders for grip strength and forearm size.
Forearm training definitely grows your forearms significantly. I used to have completely stick like forearms and when I started doing direct forearm work, just 2 all out sets per week, my forearms grew visibly.
Yes and leg training grows legs significantly as well
@@pokemonbacon1237 ah yes how could i been so dumb never thought forearm training grows forearms, man you need a noble award
whats ur program?
Really? I thought forearm training would grow my dick, hasn't worked yet.
@@pokemonbacon1237 You can just do chin ups for legs
Full training routine for forearms and grip should include
Category 1: Pulls / carrys. Forearms can get decent but suboptimal stimulus from isometric contraction during heavy pulling and carrying exercises, including pullups, rows, deadlifts, shrugs, farmer walks. If you want to get more forearm stimulus out of these movements you can 1) limit use of wrist straps; 2) use advanced grips (fat grips, pinch grips, rotating grips); and 3) combine multiple pull / carry exercises into supersets or circuits. One superset I love for crearing a great forearm burn is pullups + shrugs! But the main limitation of these movements is that they mostly involve isometric contraction of the forearm muscles. That is never going to be optimal for muscle growth, especially for intermediate/advanced lifters.
Category 2: Elbow flexion. Brachioradialis will get lots of stimulus from curls and pulls using neutral and probated grip. Best exercises: hammer curls, reverse curls, close grip pullups.
Category 3: Wrist flexion/extension. Wrist curls and wrist extension exercises should be used to isolate forearm muscles. Best to perform with arms wresting on bench or table to get good resistance across the full range of motion. Standing wrist curls are a poor exercise because they only have good resistance in the shortened position. These exercises should make up most of your dedicated forearm training.
Category 4: Grip. You should use squeeze exercises to isolate gripping muscles of forearm and hand. Spring based hand grippers are very overrated because they have a resistance curve that heavily emphasizes the shortened position. The best option is some sort of plate loaded grip machine.
Category 5: Wrist pronation/supination. You should include some isolation work for muscles that rotate forearm (including biceps and Brachioradialis but also many smaller muscles like the pronation teres).
Category 6: Wrist ulnar/radial deviation. You should include some isolation work for small muscles that laterally flex wrist.
Thanks for this - is appreciated!
As you said, the forearms get hit so much with compounds - all bicep work too. I do think that if people have weaknesses, they should add in some isolation work too - you gave some great exercises. Personally, farmers carries are my favourite forearm builders!
4:10 the pump there is insane...
Just tried this out, but I used resistance bands instead, and I gotta say, it's been 6 hours later, and I can still feel it. This is great :)
YES A new Ultimate Guide video! This format are just so good, it truly coves everything! 💪
Arm wrestling training is something to look into if you want more complete forearm development. Wrist flexion, radial deviation, probation, supination, plus lots of work for the brachioradialis and brachialis.
The goal is to build forearms big enough to make you look like you deadlift 250kgs while deadlifting only 150kgs 💀
Why not just actually deadlift 250kg?
@@bear.strngthbcuz getting big forearms is easier than deadlifting 250kg for most people 😂
@@black0ut_53 Get both. Aim higher
Geoffrey "I don't own a dryer or Iron" Schofield dropping another gem
It's true lol
Thanks a lot for this man, been lifting for about 4 months now and even though I've seen some crazy development on my biceps/triceps my forearms have remained tiny. They've started to limit me from lifting as heavy as I normally do on lat pulldowns, rows, etc so I've started giving them some direct work. I'd buy your book if I had the money!
I included fat grips on my arm day , and added exercises like towel pull ups , towel hammer curls and fat grip suitcase carry .
0:53 the pump with this exercise is insane.
I don't currently do direct forearm work, but my preferred method of adding work for them is actually through arm "isolations" - with a focus on resisting wrist bending. My current go-tos are hammer curls and rope extensions and pullovers, with an emphasis on driving with the sides of the hand and keeping the wrist locked in place. If I do it right my wrists get fatigued right along with everything else. I've even failed heavy hammer curls because of the wrists giving in on a few occasions.
I think traditional support grip is well-worked through most exercises but the missing piece is resisting wrist bending, as well as other types of grip that involves the thumbs, which I think "isolations" can actually fill in nicely due to the different movement patterns.
I have wrecked the connective tissue around my elbows, tennis elbow on the right and on the left the opposite inside tendon. Hammer curls and reverse preachers were some of my favorite exercises and I have not been able to do them this past month. Heck, grab some kettlebells and reverse grip curl those for your forearm muscles to switch things up if you're bored. I wish I had strengthened my forearms more before I had issues from going heavy with rows and stuff.
I had pain in those spots. Indirect grip strengthening within pain tolerance..generally sticking to the discomfort range has made is significantly better. Likely would be pain free if my work didn't aggravate it. Take about 2 years to fully resolve according to the research summary I listened to
@@whwhywhywhywhywhywhy Indirect grip strengthening? Can you elaborate? I'm down to try anything to improve the pain and get back to my normal lifting routine.
I can wrap my little finger and thumb around my wrist - but my forearms have grown a bit since I started going to the gym 3 months ago
I have really small hands and height too (168 cm, 5.7 inches?), but at least my calves, glutes and quads are blessed by the gods lol - good size and decent definition without ever having worked out or done any other training except for walking a lot at work
I'm excited to see where I can push my size and strength to in a year or so, love your content btw!
Same here brother, I am around 4 cm taller and my lower body is absolutely retarded. Quads are massive ,calves as well.
How's it goin
First minute in this video and i already Love this guy
I dont know about forearms being male cleavage, but when I see a guy with thick forearms I have the same reaction when I see a V taper and broad shoulders. This guy is strong is what I assume instantly, so yeah.
Thank you for all the advice. 👍🏽🏋🏻💪🏽
I saw significant improvement in my extensors from doing weighted front pull ups with front-facing rock climbing grips. Good way to fit grip work into another compound if you have access.
1:42 moments like this one remind me of how much I love this channel
as a begginer i did forearm training because i'm having hard time with my deadlift. now i can easily do deadlift without giving up on holding the barbell before failure.
Has it gone back the other way yet?
u are one of the most underrated persons out there. keep the videos flowing
One tip: do wrist curls with arms resting on bench, preacher bench, or another platform. This adjusts resistance curve so the movement is not so biased towards the shortened position.
Absolutely outstanding video! Highly appreciate all the great work you do. Truly excellent stuff. 🙏
I just love your humor and videos, your awesome man!!
I like pullups/chinups with fat grips, curls and dumbell rows are good too. And a wrist roller also. Easy and cheap to DIY and gives a great metabolic fatigue.
I find that doing "Thor's hammer" is great for working pronation and supination. I take a loadable dumbbell and only load one side for this. In full pronation the extensors work as supinators and in full supination the flexors work as pronators. Also both movements have some muscles that are only worked by either supination or pronation. I split my forearm training up in 2 days, one for flexion and extention and one for pronation and supination woth reverse curls on both days.
I’ve been going to the preacher curl bench and doing wrist extensions superset with wrist curls 2x per week and that has done a lot for me. I do hammer curls as well, but honestly never felt those in my forearms much. Recently started incorporating towel holds and pull-ups since I started training BJJ.
I continue to use straps for my RDLs, Shrugs, and rows when I incorporate those.
"If ladies can answer in the comments if forearms are sexy...". I looked, 0 ladies in the comments.
I enjoy doing wrist barbell curls with elbows on bench seated. Its my favourite.
4:08
Chinese person: “Ah, so beautiful”
I feel like pullups are a very underrated forearm builder. Even just a little greasing-the-groove blew my forearms up quite a bit. Also, Fat Grips are the shit..
Fat grips, sure, I've heard they're great. Pull ups for forearms is just a shittier version of deadlifts for forearms. Mayhaps you've got some excellent forearm genetics
@@rockyevans1584 I mean, it's basically a dead hang with a reverse curl motion involved, too.
But deadlifts aren't good for building forearms imo. Without straps, you're likely not hitting your back and legs good enough. It's also basically the most fatiguing excessive there is while your forearms are extremely small and can be trained with far less fatigue involved.
@@HughMansonMD i understand the movement. You seem to have missed the part in the video we are commenting under where he addressed how deadlifts, an isometric hold for the forearms using (safe to assume, I believe) more than your bodyweight for working sets. Why would a lighter isometric hold be good? I'm not advocating for limiting your hip hinge work with your grip, nor did I say anything about using deadlifts as forearm hypertrophy work, quite the opposite. A pull up isn't a reverse curl if you're doing pulls ups for your back. The last thing you said is exactly right, compounds aren't for forearms. What are you smoking dude? Must be excellent
@@rockyevans1584 it actually is excellent
@@rockyevans1584 a chin up is a good bicep builder, right? And it includes a curling motion in it, right? The only difference between a chin up and pullup is the grip changing from a curling grip to a reverse curling grip, right? You can curl a lot more than you can reverse curl because those muscles involved are bigger and stronger. Part of the reason pullups might hit back more than chinups is because your brachialis is weaker than your biceps are, but that doesn't necessarily mean your brachialis is getting worked less than your biceps would be, though.
Compounds are fine muscle builders for any muscle. The reason why pullups are better for forearm growth than deadlifts is because you can train them without straps while also not limiting yourself like you would be deadlifts. The fatigue trade-off is enormous as well. Like I said, I greased the groove with pullups - you're not going to be doing that with deadlifts, or you'll be fried in 1 day. And if you are talking pure isometrics, a deadhang can be weighted and only stresses and works your forearms. A "deadlift hold" works the forearms and shoulders and stresses basically every muscle in the body.
And I didn't miss anything. You're commenting without context under my year old comment that didn't mention anything about deadlifts. You, on the other hand, missed the part where I said, "Pullups are underrated." I didn't say "most optimal", "best", etc. If you take a period where you prioritize pullups, you might expect some gains in grip strength and forearm size while accomplishing other goals, too.
And what I'm smoking is, in fact, excellent.
Made me laugh lots whilst still informative. Legend. Keep it up.
A useful tip is to stretch em out after a workout that makes them stiff.
My forearms noticeably grew after unlocking my wrist mobility
Ok, so for the flexors of the forearms, try hand balancing. Start with frog stands or wall handstands, doesn't matter, if you are gripping the ground and resisting tipping forward they are working hard.
For extensors, i kneel and lean on the backs of my hands (palms facing up) with straight arms and protracted shoulders. I then extend the wrists while making a fist so that i finish on my knuckles then lower back down. You need to take a lot of the weight off your arms but it works great.
Just some more fun ways of doing it that got me better results than weights (probably because i'm better at doing them consistantly)
The same can be said with calves, a lot of people who train legs a lot, always train their quads and hammies but neglect their calves and their legs end up looking weird.
My forearms got a lot larger when I just started lifting heavier and heavier deadlifts. My forearms have luckily never been super lagging behind my arms themselves. I think most people out there unless they are already pulling really good numbers don't need much direct forearms training.
This is the funniest video of this channel 😆...
Great info too.
My forearms just seemed to grow from just picking up the barbell, I have 14 inch forearms unflexed no direct work ever. Interestingly enough I always get a forearms pump from suicide grip ohp.
Sounds like genetics maybe. Mine have been growing absolutely not at all, but have gotten stronger. So I’m at the point where I’m gonna train them specifically. But I sure wish they grew easily.
Im glad you pointed out the difference some elbow bend could give to the forearm measurements. I thought my forearms were just small as shit.
Using a legit hook grip on deads rdls and shrugs has been really working my forearms can recommend
I think you should reconsider your stance on beginner forearms.
As a beginner myself who has been working out fairy consistently for a little over 6 months now, it's only in the past few workouts I've started to feel anything other than my hand/forearm (grip) on my RDLs (my lats if you're curious). My forearms being the limiting factor was epitomised yesterday, when instead of doing my usual 2 plates for ~8/9 x3/4, I lowered the weight to 90(kg) for sets of 12. My forearms were on fire after 2 sets and even though I tried to complete the 3rd set, I only managed about half of it. It's he next day now and after that "lower body day", my forearms ache more than any other muscle. I think I'm going to swap out my barbell curls for reverse barbell curls and move my RDLs to my upper body day (and probably my reverse curls to my lower tbh). I should have done this sooner.
So yeah, I'd have a think about your beginner advice on this one.
I love your channel btw. I found you just a couple of days ago and have been binging your content. Fantastic stuff.
One of the nice things about building forearms too is that most people don't store much fat there (kind of like calves), so if you do build them, they look cut even if you're not.
Honestly I give a lot the credit for my forearms growing to pullups and weighted pullups. If you're advanced and can do pullups for high reps, your forearms are just constantly under tension
I’ve learned that reverse curls isolate forearms a bit more than hammer curls. But hammer curls are best for heavier lifts
I've been working out for like year and a half and my 75yo grandpa puts me to shame. And he never saw a gym in his life. Just manual labor his whole life... And holly fck is he strong. When I arm wrestle him he just crushes me. Every part of his arm below elbow is insanely strong. Grip, fingers, wrist... Imo, best way to get big and strong forearms is, as the guy you mentioned said, just lift heavy shit all day everyday.
Any one handed calisthenics stuff like one arm pull ups, one arm front or back lever or just one arm hang/ bodyweight wrist curl on the bar will blow them up. Switch up the bar thickness too for slightly different stimuli
4:10 who needs forearms when you have that Peak
i actually like doing the dumbbell wrist flexion on the incline bench
as someone with a 14 inch forearm at 5'4 (i guess some of it is genetics tho) the best thing for forearm training is high friction pullup bars, the low friction stuff does require more effort in some sense but its less simulative in my experience. go heavy, strapless pullups on a high friction pullup bar that would do a lot more for u than slippery pullups bars and lower weights
Have chronic issues with elbow tendinitis and find certain movements such as hammer curls or reverse grip curls always lead to pain. I have to be selective when choosing forearm and bicep movements.
Fat grip cable wrist curls+ fat grip cable reverse wrist curls are very good to if you know how to setup,
Man, your arms are looking so juicy, all due respect of course. Whenever I see one of your videos popping up I debate whether I should add 2 or 3 extra arm days to my routine or not. Damn impressive.
great exercises recommendations bro, some of those are exercises are now for me
just what i needed
What about overhand cable curls with a straightbar? I love those for the forearms i feel the best burn in my forearms and you can stretch the forearms on the bottom and top of the movement.
Hi Geoff I was wondering if you have a planned activity/hobbies when you get "bored" of bodybuilding, ? Like this vitruvian guy and his mountain climbing side quest. Putting all that hard earned muscle into practical work
I haven't decided yet. Probably will do a video on it...I'm leaning towards something combat related.
@@GVS Holy shit, that would be awesome! I've started boxing school myself and it is just the best decision I've ever made after bodybuilding. Wishing you the best Sir!
You forgot the most important forearm exercise that gives the best weighted stretch - DB One Arm Bench Wrist Curl. I do full reps and lengthened partials only on the other day. Try it out.
In my opinion the weighted pull up builds forearms and grip more effectively along with the lats
Mans has the best beard IN THE GAME!
I feel like a beast rn my Tuesday forearm workout is literally this
I respond really well to heavy Farmers carries.
This is how you can make time to train forearms, by training traps, neck, calves, hips, and your torso along with the forearms.
When your body senses that a really heavy weight is trying to pull the hand off for long periods of time it adapts by thickening the ropes that hold it on. In my experience... All of the ropes. I've actually hit several of what use to be deadlift sticking points with the farmers walk.
Forearms are a super important consideration in training, as you utilize them for pretty much everything. I don’t do a ton of direct work, but I’m huge into stretching and massaging. I even do a lot of finger stretches, and find that in conjunction with deadlifts, pull-ups, and curl-variations that my grip strength is mighty. Not huge, but strong. Perhaps I’ll start adding more direct work 💪🤓
@Geoffrey Verity Schofield why is it that people can get a ginormous chest doing only pushups or anything with just their body weight? Is myostatin involved and to unleash the gainz for Bodyweight do you have to train to failure all the time in order to get huge with pushups for example?
IDK if it's just body dysmorphia or what, but even though my forearms are 35 cm measured like 11:10 they still look like sticks to me. Maybe my forearm length and hand size are still too great proportionally.
Nice. Love Forearm training
I got respectably developed forearms just from performing a variety of pulling movements in a bodybuilding style.
With a combination of machine and free weight, with slower controlled eccentrics, 10 rep range where it’s heavy enough that form breakdown happens toward the end of the set.
My forearms are toasted by the end of my workouts.
The best exercise for me is pull-ups with a thick bar and a narrow grip for my forearms.
4:18 why bro bricked up xD
The thing with doing the cut though (or just generally having a relatively-low body fat percentage) is that although you may see more separation and veins, your arms will inherently look skinnier than the 20%+ BF guy stood next to you. It's a problem to try and get impressive forearms if you're a small person at, say 12%/ 13% BF with a reasonable amount of muscle. I can't help feeling that short guys either need proper competing-bodybuilder levels of muscle, or a bit of muscle surrounded by plenty of fat to look beefy in the forearms, which is frustrating if your somewhere in the middle, when your forearms can pretty-much disappear in those damn gym mirrors!
Needed this
A mistake I see people making with the reverse curl is using a thumbless grip, which makes the movement more grip focused. The entire point of a reverse curl is to train the brachioradialis, which is mainly responsible for elbow flexion. Using a regular grip will be much more effective for this.
"The entire point of a reverse curl is to train the brachioradialis"
I mean, you can use it that way, but if you really wanted just elbow flexion, can do a hammer curl and that'll be better. I don't see an issue with using it to work the grip. Many movements can be used to work multiple areas with subtle changes in technique, that doesn't make it wrong.
I’m trying to develop my pronation muscles like arm wrestlers got. Using straps on kettlebells. Starting with the hand supinated curling my arm up and pronating my wrist.
I used to have skinny forearms until I incorporated many of these. This is much better advice than just "jackoff and do deadlifts" 😂
Good video GVS
Never clicked on a video so fast
I just got a pair of really nice fat-grips to supplement my forearm training. Do you think fat-grips will add anything to these movements?
4:19 a little too excited for training eh?😂
I just love forearm training.
Fat grips weighted pull ups/chin ups, weighted rope pull ups, rope climbing(weighted optional) weighted Ring pull ups with false grips, arm wrestling curls
For my fellow big bois. Rock climbing is excellent forearm work but move slowly. Most climbers will probably tell you not to push to hard to avoid finger injuries. I found my fingers simply werent strong enough to get into that dangerzone instead I compensated with forearm power and developed a golfers elbow. I never in my 14 years of training had any forearm issues before rock climbing. It is fun as hell and you are going to want to climb all day everyday, if you get bitten by the climbing bug that is. If I could do it again I would really pace myself for the first 4 months. Just my two cents
Appreciate you sharing that, definitely important to proceed cautiously with any new style of movement. Most gym lifting doesn't work the fingers much so certainly good to be conservative when introducing climbing.
I think crimps and pockets are potentially dangerous, i never worried much about other grips.
Same advice applies to BJJ
Your forearm is your finger muscles.... But your point is solid.
@@whwhywhywhywhywhywhy True, perhaps I should have said areas of my forearm were underdeveloped compared to others which led me to overuse my flexors. I still think my point stand though. In climbing you use a technique called crimping and it is simply not the same as straight up grapping stuff. I found I was really strong in open hand and stuff where i could flex my wrist and avoid pinching or abusing the biomechanics of the fingers in crimps.
I could probably have worded it better :)
Good video.
What about a front lateral raise? That gets em burnin!
What are your thoughts on dead-hangs?
would you say gaining 1kg per month is enought for maximal hypertrophy? Or is more better ?
I Don’t have big forearms yet, but I’ve never used straps while lifting.
How long does something like this take?
Just in time... So I have a question. I'm doing deadlifts and as I'm nearing the failure on my sets my grip starts to weaken and I have to drop the bar in my fingers. I an able to hold it there but I'm worried that 100kg is too much to just hold with my fingers.
Stop the set when your grip slips or use straps on your heavy sets 👍🏼
If it doesn't hurt, don't worry, you'll build up strength over time