Disclaimer: None of the advice in this post is designed to treat, cure or prevent any injury. Speak to your physician before engaging in regular physical activity. No liability is taken.
All righty folks, lets skip the jibber jabber and get right to it.
With gyms now reopened and given the current world situation, you’ve probably been unable to put your best foot forward in regards to your fitness.
That said, fret not.
Today we’re diving into the first in a training series based on developing all the key muscle groups that’ll give you that sizzling, sexy body that you’ll be proud to rock.
Ah, forearms…. good old forearms.
An often neglected muscle, that when actually developed, will set your physique apart. It’s the equivalent of cleavage on a woman.
When they come in (or develop), you just can’t help but notice them.
There are 4 main exercises we’re going to discuss for developing rock hard, ripped and vascular forearms that’ll get you what I like to call “THE CARE STARE”
But before we get to that, it’s worth mentioning the underlying principle, and I cannot stress this enough, so take notes ladies and gents.
“ THE FOUNDATION FOR FANTASTIC FOREARMS LIES IN A SOLID, STRONG, STERN GRIP.”
Ingrain that in your brain and make that the first priority.
Without further ado, here’s the exercise breakdown:
- Farmers walk/ Loaded carries
- Static DB hold (with the heaviest Dumbbells you can hold for 20-30 seconds)
- Reverse curls (preferably with an EZ bar to avoid wrist pain)
- Hammer curls
Perform 2-3 sets of each exercise. For the farmers walk aim to complete 2-3 rounds of about 20 metres and for the curls complete at least 8-12 reps.
If you happen to lack the space to perform the farmers walk, simply sub it out for the static dumbbell holds and complete for 20-30 seconds, before letting the dumbbells go.
You can search video tutorials for the exercises in the event you’re unsure on how to perform them.
(I may create a video series in conjunction with these written pieces, demonstrating the exercises at some point and link them here all for your viewing pleasure).
The setup
Now the first two movements, the farmers walk and static hold will train your grip strength and the two secondary exercises, the reverse curl and hammer curl will target and engage the muscles in the forearm more specifically.
The primary focus of the reverse curl is the biceps and forearm extensors and the hammer curls also target the brachialis and brachioradialis muscles.
Some blessed folks will be able to develop beastly forearms and a mighty grip with the farmers walk / static hold combo alone.
While others will have to include the other 2 direct forearm exercises in order to maximise their growth and strength potential.
I’d suggest either giving them their own scheduled workout, or tacking them on after an arm or back training day.
Keep in mind, you don’t necessarily have to complete all the exercises in one workout.
For example:
You can divvy up the exercise to include the 1 grip exercise and 1 direct forearm exercise after each individual back or arm session, depending on your training split.
So it might look something like this:
Sample weekly (Bro) Split:
Day 1: Chest/ Shoulders
Day 2: Legs
Day 3: Back/ Forearms: List of your regular back routine + farmers walk & reverse curls
Day 4 : Rest Day
Day 5 : Arm/ Forearms: List of your regular arms routine + static hold & hammer curls
Note: The above is just a sample structure. I am not saying this is the perfect, ideal workout split.
BONUS TIP:
Use a product called “Fat grips” to thicken the bars and challenge your grip even more.
Or if you’re feeling cheap, take a page out of Bruce Lee’s book and wrap a towel around the barbell when you perform curls.
So there you have it. It’s entirely up to you.
Mix and match to suit your preference.
And that’s it for now folks.
As mentioned above, this is the first in a training series, so subscribe to stay updated as to when the next part of the series drops.
TTFN…. Ta Ta For Now
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What do fractions and fitness have in common?
Answer: With fractions what you do to the top (numerator) you have to do to the bottom (Denominator). Similarly, with training the attention dedicated to the upper body should also be applied to the lower half, and what you do to your front you should do in equal measure to the back.
Thus today’s post will cover some key preventative measures to reduce the likelihood of sustaining a major training related injury. (To keep things sweet and simple this article will mainly focus on upper body injuries, commonly associated with the shoulders. Lower body issues will be elaborated upon more thoroughly in future).
1) Make structural integrity a training priority
Note: This step alone will increase the longevity of your training years and if implemented early will save you a great deal of pain down the road.
When it comes to training the vast majority of typical bodybuilding and strength-training routines overlook (or worse, downright ignore) the critical importance of maintaining structural integrity and harmony between muscle groups throughout the body.
What is structural integrity?
Simply put, it’s the strength balance between the anterior (front chain) and posterior (back chain) muscles.
To avoid needles injuries, muscle imbalances and problems with posture, it’s imperative that there isn’t a significant variance in strength level between the muscle groups of the front and the back.
Muscle imbalances are incredibly common among seasoned lifters and gym rats alike, often the result of too much chest and arm (front work) focus and not enough back, rear delts and rotator cuff attention.
Over time, this unbalanced, one sided training approach will inevitably lead to an imbalance and is the big reason why many shoulder injuries, rotator cuff tears and strains are so prevalent amongst lifters.
What winds up happening is the chest and front delts end up becoming significantly stronger than the muscles of the back and in effect overpower them. This creates a muscle imbalance, and is the primary reason that the hunched shoulder look is prevalent.
Overtime due to lack of stimulation the muscles of the rear delts and rotator cuff weaken further and SLAP, BANG… Injuries, in the form of a rotator cuff tear or shoulder impingement etc.
On the contrary, don’t think this is merely relegated to those of us who regularly engage in the practice of blessing iron. Oh no.
It pertains greatly to everybody, whether you train or not. Due to the fact that as human beings the vast majority of the activities we engage in happen directly in front of us. (Don’t get it? hold your horses and all will be revealed).
See, think about this, you look down at your phone, computers. You pick up your knife and fork to shove grub down the ole pie hole, pick up a book or magazine to read etc. You get the general idea. All these activities take place in front of your torso.
If you’re like the majority of people they’re usually looking down at their phones, laptops etc. for extended periods of time, ultimately resulting in posture issues (the dreaded hunched shoulders) down the road, and potential shoulder/rotator cuff injuries aforementioned earlier.
So how’d you avoid this unpleasantness?
How do you best avoid this scenario and greatly reduce the likelihood of experiencing such an injury? (definitely not fun).
Great questions, that brings us to point numero deux.
2) Include a posterior chain exercise in every workout
I’ve adopted the practice of making the first exercise of every upper body workout a pulling motion to effectively target the back, which as I’ve mentioned before is often neglected at least in comparison to the more favorable “show muscles” of the front.
I routinely begin each session with 2-3 sets of face-pulls as a preventative measure.
So, taking into consideration everything mentioned earlier in this post, the following simple exercise list will give you an idea of some of the counter measures you can take to combat “deltoid destruction” and “back blowout.”
Exercises to throw into your training mix:
- Face pulls
- Rear delt flyes w/ dumbells or on pec dec machine
- Pull up/chin up variations
- Any bent over rowing motion
- Deadlifts/ Back bridges/ hyper-extensions
Include the following pulling movements in your training to ensure you hit the muscles of the posterior chain. These’ll act as a counter balance to all the pressing/pushing motions and work you do to your front.
In my opinion, the pulling to pushing ratio of movements in your routine should be about 70/30. (Obviously favouring pulling motions).
Remember, you’ve got to compensate for the fact that you spend a lot of your day involved in tasks that take place at the front of your body, let alone the exercises you do to pump up your “show muscles.”
3) Understand the purpose of assistance movements in injury prevention
Though compound movements (bench press, pull ups, overhead press, squats etc) are great for stimulating overall muscle growth and strength development, they cannot engage all aspects of a muscle.
Relying solely on compound lifts will also lead to muscle imbalances as weaker muscle groups will give way to stronger ones when performing a certain lift.
That’s where assistance or isolation movements come into play. They’re great as a means of specifically targeting, stimulating and strengthening the weaker muscle groups.
I view the assistance exercises as not just a means of isolating certain parts of a given muscle, but also a way of ensuring you strengthen and engage weaker or less developed areas of your physique, thus maintaining a good strength ratio between the various muscle groups.
THERE YOU HAVE IT.
3 simple steps to maintain order, harmony and balance throughout your body and greatly reduce the instance of injury.
If you enjoyed this post, found the content useful and want more info like it, there’s 2 simple thing you can do effective immediately:
That’s all for now folks…. TTFN.
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