3 The Best Forearm Exercises with a Barbell

Fedup with small wrists and skinny forearms?

Unable to lift heavy due to weak forearms?

I know.

Being a skinny guy I know how our arms look without some muscle on our forearms.

The arm is one of the most versatile human body parts. It is able to support the entire body when doing push-ups or some callisthenics. And my weak forearm muscles were always the ones to fail first.

I will share some exercises that I do to train my forearms. I have done them for about a year, and I can tell you that I have seen a noticeable improvement.

Strong forearms are a confidence booster as well since you will be assured that you can lift heavier.

And honestly, you do not need any forearm-only workout plans. Just add them to your existing workout routine, and you are good to go.

List of the 3 best forearm exercises with a barbell?

Here are the top three forearm exercises that you can do with a barbell. These can be done at home as well if you have a barbell. And to progress, you will need some free-weight plates as well.

Supinated Wrist Curl with a barbell

Supinated wrist curl with a barbell poses more challenges than using a dumbbell. Using a barbell instead of a dumbbell is always harder for any exercise. 

The long barbell affects the balance and if you are using fat grips on the barbell then you can make it more effective and tough to do.

If you are a beginner, then you can start with an empty barbell of 28 mm. These are around 6-7 kgs.

Just sit on a bench with your arm resting on your thighs. Your palms should face upwards/you.

This Wrist curl is a good weight training exercise that can help to build muscle and strength in your forearms.

This type of curl can be done with either a barbell or dumbbell and is performed by holding the weight in your hand and curling your wrist up towards your forearm.

Hammer Curl with Barbell

Hammer curls are one of the best forearm-building exercises to add to your workout routine.

They work the biceps and forearm muscles and can be done with a barbell or dumbbell.

Using a dumbbell is more common with hammer curls. But to use a barbell you will need those special barbells as well.

Which makes us, home gym owners shift to using dumbbells only.

Hammer curls are performed with heavier weights than reverse curls, making them more effective. When performing hammer curls, it is important to use bigger weights for better results.

What are some of the benefits of forearm exercises?

From being able to hold heavy items during shopping to lifting heavy weights, strong forearm muscles always support your activities.

Functional Fitness Improvement

Functional fitness is a type of training that focuses on improving your ability to perform everyday activities with ease. Strong wrist and forearm muscles will help get through these functional workouts/Crossfit easily.

A strong forearm will help you improve your functional fitness and your daily life. This can be anything from carrying groceries, to climbing stairs, or even just playing with your kids.

Generally, functional fitness exercises typically involve using your body weight as resistance. And generally tend to be of a compound nature. Having a strong forearm always helps with these.

More hand strength

Forearm exercises are important for general people and also for martial artists like boxers and weight lifters. A strong forearm can help to increase punch power and can also be used to improve stability and strength in the hand.

A weight lifter or an average gym goer will find more strength and stability while doing lifts like overhead presses, bench presses etc.

Strong forearm muscles always help with these gym workouts.

More hand strength should improve your daily life as you commute by public transport, do grocery shopping etc.

This 12-week study proves that doing periodized training can increase the strength of the forearm and wrist.

Gym Performance Improvement

Forearm exercises are beneficial for many reasons. They help to increase grip strength, which leads to increased upper body strength. Forearm exercises can also be performed in many different exercises and help you build more power in your workouts.

Your bench press, overhead press, bent over rows, deadlifts etc exercise will be better. With strong wrists and forearms, you will be able to lift more.

You can do more chin ups, it will make your forearm strong and your back muscles as well. And doing more chin-ups will improve your other back-related workouts too.

[Some chin-up bars for you and some bands to help you with them!]

Get Stronger and bigger forearm muscles

Many of us have skinny arms. Strong and bigger forearm muscles will change that. Apart from giving you high strength, these bulky forearms look beautiful under a shirt. And many people do like veins popping out in their arms.

Definitely a must-have benefit of doing forearm workouts!

What muscles do forearm exercises work?

Forearm exercises work on the elbow flexion and the brachioradialis and pronator teres muscles. If these muscles are stronger than your wrist and shoulder function will be better as well. This will help you with lifting more weight easily.

Quick Tips Gym forearm workout routine

Note: Certainly you do not need a forearm day, just mix your forearm training exercises into your daily workouts and that should do.

And do not be afraid or restrict yourself from using wrist supports. These supports often help you lift safely and nope, you are not cheating.

Use High Rep Range

You do not need to do 5*5s of heavy reps. Use some weight that you can do for 3 sets with at least 10 repetitions. Forearm muscles tend to work better with high rep ranges.

Time Under Tension

Do the forearm exercises slowly to maximize time under tension. Gym-going people in India are in hurry to finish their workouts. But you should just take deep breaths and slowly do your forearm exercises.

Forearm Training Frequency

Many would say you can train your forearm daily, but I would ask you to do them after your workout routine. If you are doing 3 days/per week of training, then you can train your forearms 3 days per week as well.

FAQ

Do you need to work out your forearms?

You should work out your forearms to get a stronger grip. Your overall capability of lifting more weights will increase if you do so. Weight lifting for forearms is simple, and many of us do ignore it.

Forearms get a lot of stimulants from exercises like pull-ups, deadlifts etc. But if you need more forearm muscles and strength, then you can do forearm curls with barbells or dumbbells.

Best forearm exercises at home?

Those little forearm grips are best to increase your forearm strength and mass. You can buy those adjustable ones so you can progress at will. If you have dumbbells or barbells, then you can use them as well.

Do forearm workouts actually work?

Yes, the forearm workouts work. You can do curls, forearm rollers etc, and they will work. You can even do these workouts daily, but be careful of sore muscles.

What happens if you train your forearms every day?

High training volumes will make your forearms bigger and stronger quickly. But be sure to not neglect your other workouts.

Why won’t my forearms grow?

Forearm muscles are made with slow twitch muscles which are hard to grow like your calves. Be at it, increase your forearm workout volumes, and you should see some results.