wrists and forearms

[metaldad]

Anybody ever use a wristroller? If so then how much weight do you use for how many reps? If not then what type of wrist and forearm strengthening exercises do you do?:confused: I've been using a wristroller for quite some time but I always go back and forth with the weight right I'm using 5 lbs and going for high reps (6- 10 +) I also do reverse curls. I'm always wondering if I'm doing the right amount with the wristroller.

[riqal]

I use an easy curl bar for regular and reverse wrist curls. I do one set each, high reps (15-20). I have heard that when working the wrists, one set of high reps is best. I don't know for sure.

[ukspeedbag]

Anybody ever use a wristroller? If so then how much weight do you use for how many reps? If not then what type of wrist and forearm strengthening exercises do you do?:confused: I've been using a wristroller for quite some time but I always go back and forth with the weight right I'm using 5 lbs and going for high reps (6- 10 +) I also do reverse curls. I'm always wondering if I'm doing the right amount with the wristroller.

In my days of bodybuilding, I never done any wrist or forearm exercises and I had excellent forearms and good strong wrists.

Metaldad, if you wear gloves when training, this weakens the wrists. The only support I ever used was straps for 'wide grip pull downs'. When I started to train for the 1st couple of years, I used gym gloves. A well known local body builder noticed me using them and told me about the disadvantages. I stopped, and also stopped training forearms, being able to put more energy into my other body parts. What I'm getting at, is for me training forearms and wrists was waisted energy.

At the end of the day, everybody is different when it comes to building muscle. Something might work for me and not for you. People will tell you this and that is better but, honestly you just have to give different things a try and figure it out for yourself. You may find the same thing works for you.

Weight lifting glue or powder was a great thing for me when training back and any pulling exercise. The key to good forearms and strong wrists is use them instead of reliying on supports.

Hope I didn't go off the subject a bit.:eek:

[riqal]

Are you talking about all weightlifting gloves? Or just those that have wrap around wrist support? I use gloves on those rare occassions when I use my dumbells, but the gloves I use just cover the hands and have no wrist support. Are these gloves putting me at a disadvantage?

[ukspeedbag]

Are you talking about all weightlifting gloves? Or just those that have wrap around wrist support? I use gloves on those rare occasions when I use my dumbells, but the gloves I use just cover the hands and have no wrist support. Are these gloves putting me at a disadvantage?

I personally believe that weight lifting gloves have a disadvantage on strengthening the wrists and forearms. If your using gloves, even those without the wrap around wrist support, try training without them for some time. Next time your in the gym, try doing your dumbbell curls with the gloves and then without. You'll find your gripping the dumbbell more without the gloves, same when your training let's say 'trapz'. For shoulder shrugs, you would use a real heavy weight because the movement is small i.e. your just lifting your shoulders. With gloves you'll find they will gather in you palm taking the weight, therefore no need to have a tight grip. Without gloves your using your wrists and forearms more to grip the bar.

I'm a great believer in hand wraps. The only times I would use these was when I would train back and only if I was going really heavy. The advantage with wraps is you can put them on and only use them when needed. With gloves, you'll tend to wear them for almost everything once you put them on.

When I started training, it was in a health spa. Here almost everyone used gloves. I trained forearms with wrist curls and reverse wrist curls. 2 years later I started a 'hardcore' gym, hardly anyone used gloves unless you are a female and wanted to keep your hands nice and soft or your male and like to massage your wifes back.:D:D For the rest of my body building career, I never trained forearms and wrists. My forearms were that big, I couldn't bring my hands up in front of me and touch my face or my shoulders after training back and biceps.

Like I explained earlier, it's a matter of opinion but, it worked for me and many others too. Something I learned in the body building world is different things work for different people. I have a close friend who had won Mr United Kingdom a few times, he only ever done 1 set per exercises and never really went heavy. I tried this and shrank!

I love the subject of body building and would probably bore you to death, I could go on and on but won't.:eek:

Hope this helps, good luck!

[riqal]

Makes perfect sense. Thanks for your help!

[ukspeedbag]

Makes perfect sense. Thanks for your help!

rigal, Your very welcome, anytime my friend.;)

[metaldad]

In my days of bodybuilding, I never done any wrist or forearm exercises and I had excellent forearms and good strong wrists.

Metaldad, if you wear gloves when training, this weakens the wrists. The only support I ever used was straps for 'wide grip pull downs'. When I started to train for the 1st couple of years, I used gym gloves. A well known local body builder noticed me using them and told me about the disadvantages. I stopped, and also stopped training forearms, being able to put more energy into my other body parts. What I'm getting at, is for me training forearms and wrists was waisted energy.

At the end of the day, everybody is different when it comes to building muscle. Something might work for me and not for you. People will tell you this and that is better but, honestly you just have to give different things a try and figure it out for yourself. You may find the same thing works for you.

Weight lifting glue or powder was a great thing for me when training back and any pulling exercise. The key to good forearms and strong wrists is use them instead of reliying on supports.

Hope I didn't go off the subject a bit.:eek:Thanks Uk! You didn't go off subject at all. In fact, quite the contrary. Where you always had strong wrists and forearms, mine were always weak. I used to wrestle and though I had a somewhat powerful upper body (arms a dn shoulders) certain other aspects wer very weak. My grip strength in particular. This bugged me for years. I never had any formal weight training instruction or guidance, I just went with what felt good at the time. As I got older and more into combat sports and training I noticed the different training methods of alot of my idols. Bruce Lee being my biggest inspiration used to train his forearms religiously. He believed that knock out power came from not only involving the whole body in a punch i.e. swinging with your hips, but also having strong forearms and wrists. He also developed a very powerful grip strength, many people said shaking hands with him was like putting your hand in a vice:eek::eek:. Being a former wrestler, grip strength is sort of an obsession for me. :D

[ukspeedbag]

Thanks Uk! You didn't go off subject at all. In fact, quite the contrary. Where you always had strong wrists and forearms, mine were always weak. I used to wrestle and though I had a somewhat powerful upper body (arms a dn shoulders) certain other aspects wer very weak. My grip strength in particular. This bugged me for years. I never had any formal weight training instruction or guidance, I just went with what felt good at the time. As I got older and more into combat sports and training I noticed the different training methods of alot of my idols. Bruce Lee being my biggest inspiration used to train his forearms religiously. He believed that knock out power came from not only involving the whole body in a punch i.e. swinging with your hips, but also having strong forearms and wrists. He also developed a very powerful grip strength, many people said shaking hands with him was like putting your hand in a vice:eek::eek:. Being a former wrestler, grip strength is sort of an obsession for me. :D

No problem metaldad, like I said earlier I love the subject of body building. I was fortunate, the second gym had some amazing people in there, some famous in the UK and were always giving great advice. I remember the day I walked in there with my girlfriend who also trained (She went on to win Miss UK) I picked out a lad called who looked absolutely fantastic. I wanted to be as good as him and this was my aim, I gave myself a target. At my peak without dieting I was 101kg with just 12% fat.

I would love to start the gym again, but membership prices are absolutely ridiculous. In fact, I went along to a local gym just 3 weeks ago and the cost was £6 ($12) per session!:mad::mad: I don't live in my home town anymore so have to pay the full price here.

Anyway I have to agree, wrists and forearms are the key to upper body strength.

[toolboxdiver]

Anybody ever use a wristroller? If so then how much weight do you use for how many reps? If not then what type of wrist and forearm strengthening exercises do you do?:confused: I've been using a wristroller for quite some time but I always go back and forth with the weight right I'm using 5 lbs and going for high reps (6- 10 +) I also do reverse curls. I'm always wondering if I'm doing the right amount with the wristroller.

I made one and use a old boat anchor as a weight , I drilled a 1/2 inch hole in 2 studs and mounted a piece of PVC pipe over allthread in between the studs with a rope and a dog clip. I'll try to post a pic for you later today devildog

[metaldad]

I made one and use a old boat anchor as a weight , I drilled a 1/2 inch hole in 2 studs and mounted a piece of PVC pipe over allthread in between the studs with a rope and a dog clip. I'll try to post a pic for you later today devildogAn ANCHOR!?!OORAH!! Way to blast those forearms!! Po a pic when ya get time I'd love to see that set up! Here's mine. Simple and quick to make. I drilled a hole through an old dumbbell handle,(ok, this took awhile) attached the rope through the center and duct taped the rope at the center of the handle, looped the rope so I can change the weight, added some handle bar grips and voila!

[toolboxdiver]

Here is the wrist roller I made it's mounted between 2 studs and I rolled the anchor up to show it together.

[metaldad]

Nice! strictly forearms only. No other muscles involved.

[toolboxdiver]

Nice! strictly forearms only. No other muscles involved.

That's what I set it up for I do wrist rolls in both directions. Each set is raising the anchor 3X I do 2 sets in each direction with neck exercises in between sets. It gives a pretty good burn

[jackmcmanus21]

cant beat wristrolls for forearm strength....love using it

[metaldad]

cant beat wristrolls for forearm strength....love using it Yeah, it's the best!! i had to back off a bit cuz I was starting to overdo it

[Tim]

Yeah, it's the best!! i had to back off a bit cuz I was starting to overdo it

As in forearms too big? Wish I had that problem

Or overdo it in that you were getting carpal tunnel ?

[metaldad]

As in forearms too big? Wish I had that problem

Or overdo it in that you were getting carpal tunnel ? Not carpal tunnel, but more like starting to strain and pull muscles. I was doing it every day, sometimes two and three times a day. Had to back off

[ghftiop76]

Thanks for your reply, I also was looking for this answer.
:)

[metaldad]

Thanks for your reply, I also was looking for this answer.
:)You're welcome. I now do two sets of four rotations(forward and back) every other day as well as other wrist and grip strengthening exercises. My newest favorite besides the wristroller is using the Heavy Grips. I have a set of four; 150# - 300#. These things ROCK!! I've also implemented other movements besides the wrisroller;i.e.farmers carries. This months Men's Fitness shows some awesome exercises and tips for building wrist,grip and forearm strength and if you can, check out Ross Enamait's books. He touches on this as well.

[metaldad]

Thanks for your reply, I also was looking for this answer.
:)You're welcome. I have learned that sometimes less is more so I have since been doing two sets of four rotations each direction(forward/backward) every other day. I have also lowered the weight(15lbs). It may not seem like much but it kicks my butt. I have also implemented other exercises including reps with Heavy Grips. I have a set of four; 150# - 300#. I use these every other day strictly low rep or pyramid. I have found some really cool and challenging exercises i.e. farmer's walk, pull ups using a towel or 2" rope, pinch grip curls(these @#$%^KILL!!) etc., so now I can also mix it up. This months Men's Fitness has a great section on building forearm/grip strength and if you can, check out Ross Enamait's books. :D

[Roscoe]

Not carpal tunnel, but more like starting to strain and pull muscles. I was doing it every day, sometimes two and three times a day. Had to back off

...or go blind :D

[metaldad]

funny thing about that, now that you mention it......................:D

[Whippet]

Anybody ever use a wristroller? If so then how much weight do you use for how many reps? If not then what type of wrist and forearm strengthening exercises do you do?:confused: I've been using a wristroller for quite some time but I always go back and forth with the weight right I'm using 5 lbs and going for high reps (6- 10 +) I also do reverse curls. I'm always wondering if I'm doing the right amount with the wristroller.

Metaldad - sounds like you might like these links; lots of work has gone into them ...
http://www.geocities.com/fightraining/
http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/shenandoah/Grunt/grunt.html
http://makeyourowngear.blogspot.com/
http://geocities.com/briangl2002/index.htm
http://www.ironsports.tv/makestuff.html
http://www.straighttothebar.com/equipment/diy/
Last, but not least ...
http://www.rosstraining.com/forum/

Happy DIY Training!

[metaldad]

Metaldad - sounds like you might like these links; lots of work has gone into them ...
http://www.geocities.com/fightraining/
http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/shenandoah/Grunt/grunt.html
http://makeyourowngear.blogspot.com/
http://geocities.com/briangl2002/index.htm
http://www.ironsports.tv/makestuff.html
http://www.straighttothebar.com/equipment/diy/
Last, but not least ...
http://www.rosstraining.com/forum/

Happy DIY Training!Thanks Whippet, especially for the rosstraining link....I've actually corresponded with Ross Enamait and like Alan, he is more than willing to give excellent advice with any and all questions regarding excersise and fitness. Ross has been very patient with my dumb questions and very inspirational.

[bigpete405]

deadlifts with no straps should do the trick.. I also like to hold the heaviest dumbbells as long as I can until my grip breaks.

[spinsmashpop]

Originally Posted by metaldad
"Not carpal tunnel, but more like starting to strain and pull muscles. I was doing it every day, sometimes two and three times a day. Had to back off"

...or go blind :D

That was funny Roscoe!<)B