Best Forearm Exercises

Forearm muscles flex and extend the wrist and fingers, so they decide how long you can hold a heavy deadlift, a pull-up bar or a kettlebell. Wrist curls train the flexors on the palm side, reverse wrist curls and reverse curls train the extensors on the back of the forearm, and loaded carries and dead hangs build the endurance-type grip strength used in everyday life. Because the forearms already work during every pulling exercise, two or three short sets at the end of a workout are usually enough. Use a full range of motion at the wrist, keep the movement slow, and build load gradually — the tendons adapt more slowly than the muscles.

Pick exercises from this list, log your sets and weights in ForceIndex and track your progress — free, start right away.

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