17 Best Forearm Exercises of All Time
When you think of the most noteworthy upper bodies in history, you undoubtedly picture Ronnie Coleman's 22-inch biceps or Phil Heath's outlandish triceps. And while it's not a bad thing to make your bi's and tri's the main event of your arm workouts on occasion, any lifelong lifter will tell you no well-rounded upper body is complete without the best forearm exercises.
"While bulging biceps and striated triceps get the most attention, what looks more impressive is a pair of thick, developed forearms," says Simon King personal trainer and owner of Cre8 Fitness gym in London.
Not only do thicker, fuller forearms give you a more aesthetically imposing look, but they also increase your strength capacity in everything from your Monday chest day exercises and Friday shoulder workouts to your weekly kettlebell and HITT workouts. Not to mention, incorporating targeted forearm exercises can even make daily tasks like carrying heavy groceries and luggage easier than ever.
While building a stacked upper body might be enticing (everyone loves big arms), it's only one ingredient in a well-balanced workout routine. As you're building your next program, don't forget to include ab exercises, leg workouts, and glute exercises, for a better-looking physique that leaves nothing to be desired.
Looking to build your upper body (forearms and all)? Add these 17 forearm exercises to your upper body regimen to pack on more muscle and increase strength.
17 Best Forearm Exercises
“Forearms tend to respond to higher volume and intensity,” says Jim Ryno, a personal trainer and owner of home gym design firm Iron House. “If growth is the main goal, then overall weight is important. As for reps, most people tend not to respond well to training in the heavy 5- to 10-rep range—for various reasons, including poor form. Most of these people, however, respond favorably to 10 to 20 or even 20 to 30 reps. But it doesn’t hurt to experiment with the lower rep ranges early on in your forearm training to see how you respond, as you’re mindful of your form.”
1. Reverse Curl
Beth Bischoff
How to Do It
Grasp a barbell with a shoulder-width, overhand (reverse) grip, to start.
Start with the bar hanging toward the floor, arms fully extended; your palms should be pointed behind you in this position.
Keeping your upper arms against your sides, curl the bar up as high as possible, then lower it back down under control.
That's 1 rep.
2. Towel Hammer Curl
Beth Bischoff
How to Do It
Run the towel through the handle of a kettlebell, or wrap two towels around a pair of dumbbells as shown, and fold it in half, to start.
Hold both ends in one hand (for kettlebells), or both ends in each hand (dumbbells).
Keeping your palms facing each other throughout and upper arms stationary, curl the weight(s) up until your hands are in front of your shoulders.
Lower down under control.
That's 1 rep.
3. Hammer Cheat Curl
Beth Bischoff
How to Do It
Choosing the heaviest dumbbells you think you can hammer curl, hold the weights at your sides in a neutral position (palms facing each other), to start.
Perform a curl movement, keeping your hands in the neutral position throughout.
If you hit a sticking point halfway up when the weights are most difficult to lift, use momentum from your hips to power through.
Don’t lean back as you lift; rather, get into a rhythm where you rock your torso forward and extend your hips.
That's 1 rep. Stop each set one rep shy of total muscle failure.
4. Towel Pullup
James Michelfelder and Therese Sommerseth
How to Do It
Wrap one or two hand towels around a pullup bar, to start.
Gripping the towel(s) in either hand, perform pullups using a neutral grip.
Keep your feet straight as you pull, bracing your core to keep the movement controlled, King says.
Work toward completing 10 strict pullups focusing on the eccentric phase of the movement lowering down under control to maximize full forearm muscle recruitment.
That's 1 rep.
Expert Tip
Vary the position of the towel(s) on the bar: "The closer your hands are, the greater the emphasis is on forearm development," King says. "The wider your hands, the greater the emphasis is on your lats."
Why It's Effective
Rocky Balboa did 'em. Strict towel pulls swell your forearms with blood for a great pump.
5. Towel Curl
Beth Bischoff
How to Do It
Loop a thick towel around a barbell so that it doesn’t let your hands close all the way when you grasp it, to start.
Hold the bar with an underhand, shoulder-width grip (palms facing forward) in front of your thighs.
Without allowing your upper arms to move forward, curl the bar upward, then slowly lower the bar back down.
That's 1 rep.
6. Reverse Curl 21
Beth Bischoff
How to Do It
Stand holding a barbell in front of your thighs with a shoulder-width, overhand grip (palms facing behind you, aka pronated), to start.
Curl the bar halfway up your body to your chest and hold for one second.
Lower it back and repeat for six more reps.
Then, curl the bar to the midpoint and, beginning there, curl it all the way up for seven reps, using the midpoint as the “bottom” of each rep.
Finally, perform seven full-range reps.
That's 1 rep.
7. Zottman Curl
Beth Bischoff
How to Do It
Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand with palms facing your sides, to start.
Keeping your upper arms in place, curl the weights, rotating your palms to face your biceps in the top position.
Turn your palms to face down, and then lower the weights slowly, as you would in a reverse curl.
That's 1 rep.
Add into a tri-set of biceps work—like reverse curls and hammer curls—to really pack some meat onto your forearms, King suggests. Complete 3-4 sets of 12 reps with 2 minutes rest.
Expert Tip
"If there's an imbalance between arms, with one hitting fatigue before the other, finish the set off with alternating arms," King suggests.
Why It's Effective
"Devised by strongman George Zottman in the 1880’s, the Zottman curl is a surefire way to build bigger forearms and biceps through its heavy recruitment of the brachioradialis [the muscle that flexes your forearm at the elbow]," King adds.
8. Seated Wrist Curl
Beth Bishoff
How to Do It
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and sit on a bench, box, or chair, to start.
Rest the backs of your forearms on your thighs and allow your wrists to bend back over your knees so the weights hang down.
Curl the dumbbells up by flexing just your wrists, then lower the weights back down under control.
That's 1 rep.
This exercise can also be done using a barbell or at home with a resistance band.
9. Reverse Wrist Curl
Beth Bishoff
How to Do It
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and sit on a bench, box, or chair, to start.
Rest your forearms on your thighs and allow your wrists to bend over your knees, palms facing down.
Extend your wrists to raise the backs of your hands closer to your forearms, then slowly lower back down.
That's 1 rep.
This exercise can also be done using a barbell or at home with a resistance band.
10. Farmer's Walk
Beth Bishoff
How to Do It
Pick up the heaviest dumbbells you can handle and walk with your chest out, standing tall with arms at your sides, to start.
Holding the dumbbells at your sides, walk with short, choppy steps for 40 to 50 yards—you can walk in a figure-eight pattern if you don’t have the space.
At the end of the distance, stop and continue to hold the weights for as long as possible.
11. Grip Crush
Beth Bishoff
How to Do It
Sit on a bench, box, or chair with a dumbbell in your left hand, to start. Choose a weight with which you can perform 8 to 12 normal biceps curls.
Extend your arm toward the floor and brace the back of it against the inside of your left thigh.
Allow your hand to open and the dumbbell to roll to your fingertips.
Close your hand and perform a wrist curl, squeezing the weight as hard as possible.
That's 1 rep.
12. Parallel Bar Hand Walk
Beth Bishoff
How to Do It
Hang from a jungle gym or length of parallel bars, to start.
“Walk” with your hands to the end of the row and back.
As you gain grip strength, increase the number of times you go down and back.
13. Bar Hang
Beth Bishoff
How to Do It
Place your hands shoulder-width apart on a pullup bar, using an overhand grip, to start.
Focus on squeezing the bar as hard as possible as you retract your shoulder blades, and hold a dead hang position.
Work up to two minutes, then progress by changing up your grip (neutral, facing you, false with thumbs on top of the bar, etc.).
You can also do 30 to 60-second one-arm hangs for an added challenge to really exhaust your forearms.
Expert Tip
"Try different hand positions to add an extra stimulus; for example, switch to chinup position (palms facing you), neutral grip (palms facing each other), false grip (palms facing away with thumbs on top of the bar), and, finally, work toward a one-arm hang (alternate arms). Make sure you don't round your shoulders. Think about pulling them toward your ears while keeping your arms straight. "This safeguards the stabilizing muscles around the rotator cuff," King says.
Why It's Effective
"Often people’s limiting factor in pullups or even deadlifts is their forearm strength coupled with grip," King says. Bar hangs will fry your forearm muscles, leaving you with an impressive pump.
14. Wrist Roller
Courtesy Image
How to Do It
Grasp a wrist roller (we like Rogue) with both hands and extend your arms straight out in front of you, to start.
Fix a 2 to 5-pound weight plate (or kettlebell) to the bottom of the cable.
With palms facing down, turn your wrists toward your body and roll the apparatus between your hands to inch the weight up until the cable is wrapped around the wrist roller.
Then, slowly lower the plate down by reversing the motion.
Make sure to keep your arms straight throughout the exercise.
Aim for 1 full cycle of bringing the plate up and back down while keeping strict turns, working up to 3 sets of 2 up and 2 down. Start with a 2-lb plate working up to 5lbs.
Expert Tip
Make sure your arms are straight at all times in order to target your delts and forearms. "Tack this onto the end your arm workouts to ensure you're always building vascular, full forearms," King says. We love Rogue Wrist Roller (shown above) if your gym doesn't have one.
Why It's Effective
To really develop impressive forearms, it's key get wrist extension and flexion in. "There's nothing more effective than specifically hitting extensors and flexors using the wrist roller," King says.
15. Rope Climbs
Getty Images
How to Do It
Make sure the rope is securely fixed to the ceiling, then reach up and grab it tight between your hands, to start.
Pull your body weight up as you use your legs to lock the rope between your feet
Repeat the motion, keeping the rope between your feet at all times, then reverse it to lower back down.
That's 1 rep.
Aim to complete 1-2 rope climbs per set for a total of 4 sets in your workout. "Ensure the rest between climbs is sufficient (about 3 mins) due to the high recruitment of fast-twitch muscles fibers and the complexity of the movement," he recommends.
Expert Tip
Start slowly and gain confidence, King suggests. "If you’re not ready for this, a great prerequisite is the towel pullup," he says.
Why It's Effective
Aside from looking impressibe, climbing ropes will sculpt your body all-over. "It has a huge core component and will build functional strength from head to toe," King adds.
16. One-Arm Bottoms-Up Kettlebell Press
James Michelfelder
How to Do It
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding the handle of a light kettlebell in one hand at your shoulder so the bell is pointing up toward the ceiling, to start.
Keep your wrist rigid and straight, and engage your core as you press the kettlebell overhead, extending your elbow.
Keep your grip on the handle tight and try to prevent the weight from wobbling.
Bend your elbow and lower the kettlebell to return to the start position.
That's 1 rep.
Complete all reps on that arm, then switch arms and repeat.
Expert Tip
"When pressing and lowering the weight, think about ‘packing’ and firing your lats and pulling the weight down with your elbow close to your body rather than just lowering it," King recommends. This will protect your shoulders by keeping your scapula in a shoulder-friendly position, he says.
Why It's Effective
As soon as you flip a kettlebell bottoms-up, you turn traditional exercises into a forearm melting workout, King explains. This is a great move to incorporate since it keeps your body guessing.
Start light and use your non-lifting hand as a catcher in case the kettlebell drops. Pick the heaviest load you can handle, and complete 3 sets of 10-12 reps with 1-2 minutes rest.
17. Plate Pinch Hold
Getty Images
How to Do It
Hold heavy weight plates in either hand (you can also stack a few 10-pound plates together, smooth side out), to start.
Squeeze them between your thumb and fingers as hard as possible with your arms hanging down at your sides.
Hold for as long as you can, resting for 60 seconds between holds. Work for time, as opposed to reps. Start with 3 sets of 60 seconds, alternating hands, and don’t be afraid to challenge yourself with a weight that may slip through your hand. Just make sure you're not holding the weight too close to your body so you don't crush your feet in case you drop the weight.
Expert Tip
"Pinch the plate as hard as possible to not only fire up your central nervous system, but switch on as many forearms muscles as possible," King says. If you’re feeling confident and want more of a challenge, flip the plate 180 degrees and catch it, alternating hands as you go.
Why It's Effective
To develop thick, impressive forearms it’s essential you increase grip strength—this exercise does both. "Juggling can be cool but juggling weight plates is impressive," King says.
Benefits of Forearm Exercises
A lot of guys skip forearm training altogether, figuring the relatively small muscle group gets worked sufficiently when doing exercises for larger muscle groups, including the biceps and triceps. Truth is, this approach is not sufficient.
"For many sports the last link between you and your opponent, or equipment, is your hands, so training these muscles correctly is vital to improving performance," King says. "This is obvious for grappling sports such as wrestling or judo, but it's also key when you consider the role forearms play in tennis and stabilizing a bike when you're cycling," he adds.
If you want to get ahead of the competition, you've got to start training your forearms the way they deserve to be trained. To truly maximize strength and development of the forearm muscles, dedicated exercises are a must.
“Stronger forearms will result in a stronger grip, and proper forearm work will enhance your overall performance both in and out of the gym,” says Ryno. “Training the forearms will help reduce muscle fatigue while performing other lifts like pullups and deadlifts, and it will also aid in injury prevention, particularly in the wrists and elbows.”
How to Build a Forearms Exercise Routine
Forearm exercises can be broken up into a few main categories: (1) variations of arm curls where the wrists are in a neutral or pronated position (hammer curls and reverse curls, respectively) and involve the forearm muscles in addition to the biceps; (2) isolated wrist flexion and extension movements (wrist curls and reverse wrist curls, respectively) that take the forearm muscles through full ranges of motion; and (3) grip-focused exercises like heavy carries and bodyweight hangs that emphasize hand “pinching” strength.
A comprehensive forearm routine should address all three categories—not necessarily all in the same workout, but hitting each at least once a week.
“Since grip strength is mostly due to the forearms, you’ll experience a crossover effect from doing the different types of exercises,” says Ryno. “So it’s really important to select moves that fall under all the categories—for example, a barbell wrist curl for building forearm size and a passive bar hang to increase grip strength.”
Where to Start for Beginners
Because the forearms are involved in so many different exercises, it’s easy to incorporate them into an existing workout program. If you’re a beginner, start by adding hammer curls, reverse curls, wrist curls, and reverse wrist curls to your arm workouts, doing one or two of these exercises per session. For example, do hammer curls or reverse curls as your last biceps exercise, followed by wrist curls or reverse wrist curls.
Grip-focused exercises can be done in virtually any workout, including full-body routines or on upper-body days. If the workout calls for heavy pulling exercises like deadlifts or Olympic movements (cleans or snatches), save grip-focused training for the end of the workout so as not to fatigue the forearms before your big lifts. In all other cases, do grip exercises either at the beginning or end of the workout. Start by adding one grip-focused exercise to one or two workouts per week.
“I recommend either adding in forearm training during an active recovery session where you’re allowing the larger muscle groups rest,” says Ryno, “or to include the movements in your back and/or arm day since they pair well with both muscle groups.”
Like the calves and abdominals, the forearms are involved in a wide range of activities and thus have a relatively high endurance capacity. This should be considered when determining appropriate set and rep counts.
