Forearms and Tough Grip...

[RedStreak]

I wanted to start developing some strong forearms. I found my forearms started developing themselves while weight training, but how so i get them tight and strong enough for a hard grip? Does anyone find simple handgrips, grip balls and forearms curls effective enough? Any avice?

[SamuraiGuy]

Get a job at a farm, seriously, you get payed for it, and you wont find any place better to increase grip strength and forearm size. I know a few 50-70 year old farmers who I thought were gonna crush my hand when I shook hands with them, they arent even big guys, one was about 5"8 and prolly weighed about 150, his grip strength/fore arms were so strong, anyway else I dont know how youd go about it.

[koto_ryu]

Wrist rollers, Captains of Crush grippers, kettlebells, thick barbells, plate pinching, and the like will get you at least on your way.

[Enzo566]

koto... lol can you go into detail of what those workouts are not all of us have your extensive knowledge of technique names

[RedStreak]

Yeah, u mind getting into more detail? I only know what one of those things are...

[koto_ryu]

Wrist Rollers:
You can buy them but they're really easy to make. Get a thick PVC pipe and cut it to about three feet in length, then drill a hole in one end and hang a tough cord that's about 3 feet long through the cord with a dowel rod on one end. Then just go to your gym, take a 5lb plate to start, loop the dowel rod through until it hooks it so it's not going anywhere, then hold that sucker with your arms straight out, palms down, and slowly roll it up and unroll it as many times as you can. Oh yeah, pain is your friend. :^)

Captains of Crush grippers:
You can get these from http://www.ironmind.com These are the best damn grippers known to man. Start off with the Trainer (takes 100lbs to close), then progress up as far as you can go. If you can close the #2, you have a strong grip. A #3, you have a really strong grip. #4, you're a Grip God.

Kettlebells:
http://www.dragondoor.com 'Nuff said.

Thick barbells:
These babies will rocket your grip and forearm training to new levels. Simply do all your lifts with specially made bars that are way thicker than the normal 1 1/16", or wrap duct tape around the ones in your basement until they get about 2". Drop your lifts accordingly (about 40lbs to start), then go with 2" for a while, then 2 1/2", then finally 3".

Plate pinching:
This is easy (well, easy to explain, but it sucks). Start off with two 5lb plates for each hand. Turn them inwards so only the flat portion is facing out. Then pinch them together with just your last two fingers and hold for as long as possible. You can use other fingers as well, but this'll strengthen those last two up, the weakest part of your grip.

[Enzo566]

ok i have a question, will these workouts also make where your wrist meets your hand bigger? Because my forearm is ok size, just when my wrist meets my hand is kinda small. And like i wanna make it a little bigger and more solid, cause like its to small and it looks like if i hit the heavy bag to hard i will break it

[koto_ryu]

ok i have a question, will these workouts also make where your wrist meets your hand bigger? Because my forearm is ok size, just when my wrist meets my hand is kinda small. And like i wanna make it a little bigger and more solid, cause like its to small and it looks like if i hit the heavy bag to hard i will break it

It won't add that much to be honest. That's mostly genetics.

[RedStreak]

What about those squeeze balls. I saw some leather balls u squeeze, came three in a pack (three different levels of dificulty). Are those any good u think?

[Tee Sok]

Do you guys think forearm isometrics work well? I do them every other day and my forearms look stronger but they seem not to get bigger after a while. Not that that matters to me, I think that in terms of grip and general strength they do the job, just wanted some opinions on that. Thank you!

[academian]

Are there any machines or guages that measure grip strength?

[SamuraiGuy]

Yeah there are a few machines that show grip strength.. well i know of one anyway... not really the most advanced machine... all i know is you squeeze this thing together with your hand and this needle registers on a scale.... not sure how it measures it... but I know that exists and prolly a few more technically advanced ones.