How to Make Your Forearms Bigger: Effective Forearm Workouts

Have you ever struggled to open a jar or noticed that your grip weakens after a few minutes of lifting weights? Your forearms, which play a crucial role in everyday tasks, may be in need of some serious attention. Forearm workouts don’t require much equipment, and you can do most of the exercises at home, away from the commotion at the gym. If you’re looking to increase the size of your forearms, improve grip strength, or burn extra calories as part of a fat-loss program, the exercises here will help.

How Do I Make My Forearms Bigger?

Your forearms, the part of your body between your wrists and your elbows, play an important role in your daily activities. Two bones, the radius and the ulna, run lengthwise, with the former on the side of your thumb and the latter on the side of your pinky. Surrounding these bones are twenty muscles that make up two main compartments. The muscles on the palm side of your forearm make up the anterior compartment. These muscles are primarily responsible for flexing the wrists and fingers. The muscles on the opposite side of the forearm make up the posterior compartment, and are primarily responsible for extending the wrist and fingers. The muscles in your forearm also play a vital role in your grip strength. To make your forearms larger, you’ll need to grow these muscles through exercises that target them(1).

What Is the Number 1 Forearm Exercise?

As with just about anything relating to health and fitness, there is no number one forearm exercise for everyone. The best forearm exercise for you depends on your goals. For example, if you’re rehabilitating from a tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) injury, you’ll take a different approach than if you’re injury-free and are strictly looking to add size to your forearms. 

If you’re dealing with elbow, forearm, wrist, or hand pain, consult your doctor or physical therapist for a targeted approach that is catered to your needs. If you’re fortunate enough not to be dealing with any nagging injuries, start with some basic resisted grip, wrist flexion, and wrist extension exercises. As with any other muscle group you train, you’ll need to incorporate proper strength training programming and progressive overload to see long-term benefits.

To start, try the behind-the-back wrist curl. It’s a simple but effective way to strengthen the anterior compartment of your forearm musculature  (2).

Behind-the-Back Wrist Curl

1.     Place a barbell in a rack at hip height.
2.     Face away from the barbell and grip it with your palms facing backward.
3.     Slowly bend (curl) your wrists as far as is comfortable while holding the weight.
4.     Pause briefly at maximum contraction before slowly returning to the original position.
5.     Repeat for 3 – 4 sets of 8 – 12 reps.
6.     Progressively increase some combination of the resistance, sets, and reps over time as you gain strength.

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How Do I Work out My Forearms?

As previously mentioned, your forearms are responsible for several tasks, including ulnar and radial deviation, wrist and finger flexion, and forearm pronation and supination. For a complete forearm workout, you should choose exercises that target each of these activities.

Ulnar Deviation

Ulnar deviation occurs when you bend your wrist sideways so your pinky moves downward toward the forearm. This movement is important when playing guitar, swinging a tennis racket or a sledgehammer, using a computer mouse, turning a doorknob, and much more. Target this muscle group using a rope with a cable and pulley machine or dumbbells(3).

Ulnar Deviation Curls

1.     Stand straight with your arms by your side. If you’re using a cable and pulley system, face the machine.
2.     Hold the rope or dumbbells so your thumb is facing forward.
3.     Curl your wrist back to raise your pinky slowly.
4.     Pause at maximum contraction briefly before returning to your starting position.
5.     Repeat for 3 – 4 sets of 8 – 12 reps.
6.     Progressively increase some combination of the resistance, sets, and reps over time as you gain strength.

Radial Deviation

Radial deviation occurs when you bend your wrist sideways so your thumb moves downward toward the forearm. This movement works with and counteracts ulnar deviation and helps you perform the same tasks. You can target this muscle group with the same exercise you used with Ulnar Deviation but you should resist in the opposite direction(3).

Radial Deviation Curls

1.     Stand straight with your arms by your side. If you’re using a cable and pulley system, face away from the machine.
2.     Hold the rope or dumbbells so your thumb is facing forward.
3.     Curl your wrist forward to raise your thumb slowly.
4.     Pause at maximum contraction briefly before returning to your starting position.
5.     Repeat for 3 – 4 sets of 8 – 12 reps.
6.     Progressively increase some combination of the resistance, sets, and reps over time as you gain strength.

Wrist Flexion

Wrist flexion occurs when you hold your hands out with your palms up and bend your wrist to raise the hand toward your inner forearm. This muscle group is critical for typing, writing, throwing, driving, and much more. You can target this muscle group with the behind-the-back wrist curl mentioned earlier, in addition to dumbbell or rope wrist curls(3).

Wrist Flexion Curl

1.     Stand straight with your arms by your side. If you’re using a cable and pulley system, face away from the machine.
2.     Hold the rope or dumbbells so your palm is facing forward.
3.     Curl your wrist forward to raise your palm slowly toward your inner forearm.
4.     Pause briefly at maximum contraction before returning to your starting position.
5.     Repeat for 3 – 4 sets of 8 – 12 reps.
6.     Progressively increase some combination of the resistance, sets, and reps over time as you gain strength.

Read more: 10 Wall Pilates Arms Exercises, and Everything Else You Need for Toned Arms

Finger Flexion

Finger flexion occurs anytime you bend your fingers, grab something, or make a fist. This muscle group is essential for holding cups, using tools, playing musical instruments, and much more. To target the finger flexors, you can squeeze a rubber ball or gripper(3).

Finger Flexion Squeeze

1.     Squeeze the gripper to close its handles.
2.     Pause briefly at maximum contraction before returning to your starting position.
3.     Repeat for 3 – 4 sets of 8 – 12 reps.
4.     Progressively increase some combination of the resistance, sets, and reps over time as you gain strength.

Pronation and Supination

Pronation occurs when you rotate your forearm to turn your palm down. Supination is the opposite and occurs when you rotate your forearm to turn your palm up. These muscle groups are also needed to turn a screwdriver, stir a pot, throw a baseball, and more. Target these muscles with twisting exercises using a rope, dumbbell, or hammer(3).

Pronation Hammer Twist

1.     Hold a hammer at the end of the handle
2.     Rotate your forearm to turn your palm downward
3.     Rotate your forearm to turn your palm upward
4.     Perform 2-3 sets of 10-15 repetitions in each direction.

How Do You Tone Flabby Forearms?

You can tone your forearms by performing the various exercises mentioned here, but to lose flab, you’ll also need to commit to a healthy diet, as you can’t target specific body parts with weight loss. Cardiovascular activities, which include running, bike riding, swimming, and jumping rope, can be great for burning calories and helping to speed up weight loss. If these activities are too strenuous, a brisk walk is also an effective calorie burner(4).

Engaging in cardiovascular activities, even for a short time, can help you lose weight and tone your flabby forearms. However, devoting at least 150 minutes per week to moderate-intensity or 75 minutes per week to high-intensity activity will provide the best results(4).

Forearm Workouts Women Can Do While Pregnant

Fortunately, most forearm exercises have little risk of putting a pregnant woman or her baby in danger, as they don’t involve lifting heavy weights, lying on your back or stomach, or any other contraindication during pregnancy. However, unlike other forms of exercise, they won’t do much to help you with labor(5).

Wrist Flexor Stretch

1.     Extend your arm in front of you with your palm facing up.
2.     Gently pull back your fingers with your other hand.
3.     Hold for 15-30 seconds.
4.     Repeat 2-3 times on each hand to improve flexibility and reduce wrist stiffness.

Grip Strengthening with a Soft Ball

1.     Hold a soft ball or stress ball in your hand.
2.     Squeeze the ball, holding the squeeze for 5 seconds.
3.     Release and repeat 10-15 times.
4.     Perform this exercise daily to strengthen the muscles in the hands and forearms.

Finger Lifts

1.     Place your hand flat on a table with your fingers spread out.
2.     Lift each finger one at a time and hold it there for a few seconds before lowering it back down.
3.     Repeat 10 times for each finger to improve individual finger strength and dexterity.

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Can I Do Forearm Workouts at Home?

You can do several forearm exercises from home. If you have weights, you can include them in your workout, and you can even increase your strength without equipment if you’re just getting started(6).

Forearm Exercises with No Equipment

Dead Hang

The dead hang requires no equipment, just a bar or something to hang from, and it’s one of the best grip strength exercises(6).

1.     Grip the bar and hold yourself off the ground with your elbows slightly bent for as long as possible.
2.     Increase the difficulty by squeezing your shoulder blades together and down, as if starting to do a pull-up, which will engage your lats, lower and middle trapezius, and rhomboids for increased strength-building. These dead hangs can also help you get on the path to doing pull-ups if you’re struggling with that particular exercise.
3.     Repeat 3 – 5 times.

Pull-ups

Pull-ups are a compound exercise that activates many muscles in the back and arms, including the forearms, and can be a great at-home body weight workout tool for building grip strength and forearm size(6).

1.     Hang from a bar with your palms facing out.
2.     Lift yourself until your head is above the bar.
3.     Slowly lower yourself to the starting position.
4.     Repeat as many times as possible.

Fist Squeeze

The fist squeeze is an isometric exercise you can do without equipment. It can help improve grip strength and activate the muscles of the forearms(6).

1.     Make a fist and squeeze it as tightly as possible.
2.     Hold for several seconds before releasing.
3.     Repeat 8 – 10 times.

Forearm Workouts with Dumbbells

If you have dumbbells available to you, there are several great exercises you can do to help grow and strengthen your forearms, including the palms-up wrist curl, palms-down wrist curl, and grip crush(6).

Palms-Up Wrist Curl

1.     To do the palms-up wrist curl, sit on a chair with a dumbbell in each hand. Place your wrists on your knees with your palms facing up.
2.     Raise your hands as high as you can without lifting your wrists.
3.     Hold the position at maximum contraction before slowly lowering your hand to the starting position.
4.     Repeat for 3 – 4 sets of 8 – 12 reps, increasing the weight when the reps become easy.

Palms-Down Wrist Curl

1.     To perform a palms-down wrist curl, start sitting with a dumbbell in each hand, as you do with the palms-up wrist curl, but you should have your palms facing down this time instead.
2.     Raise your hands as high as you can while keeping your wrists on your knees.
3.     Hold the position at maximum contraction before lowering your hands back to the starting position.
4.     Repeat for 3 – 4 sets of 8 – 12 reps, increasing the weight when the reps become easy.

Read more: Calisthenics Arm Workouts: Build Massive Arms Without The Gym

FAQs

• Should you be able to bench your body weight?

Being able to bench press your body weight depends on several factors, including your gender, training experience, physical abilities and limitations, genetics, and age. Completing a bench press that is equivalent to your body weight will be attainable for some and very challenging or impossible for others. 

Typically, untrained individuals of any age or gender will have a difficult time bench pressing their body weight. However, many men with at least intermediate training experience, which is typically classified as an individual with two to five years of consistent weight training experience, will be able to bench press their own body weight or more. Advanced and elite women trainees are also often able to bench press their own body weight, but untrained, novice, and intermediate women typically cannot (7).

These estimates are just based on averages using relatively small sample sizes of healthy individuals though, so you shouldn’t consider yourself abnormal if you can’t bench press your body weight despite significant training experience. 

• Are forearms difficult to grow?

Many people find it challenging to grow the forearm muscles. Much like the calves, these muscles are built for more consistent, smaller contractions, and may be less prone to muscle hypertrophy than larger, higher force-producing muscle groups(8).

• Do grippers build forearms?

If you use grippers consistently, they can be an effective tool for building your forearms and increasing grip strength. They primarily target the flexor muscles, also engaging wrist stabilizing muscles to maintain control during the exercise, and they come in various resistance levels, so you can increase the difficulty to speed up development(9).

• Can skinny forearms get bigger?

While it can take time, it’s possible to make skinny forearms larger. In most cases, targeted forearm exercises aren’t necessary in a strength training program as these muscles will be highly active during almost all of your other exercises. For example, a deadlift is one of the most effective grip-strengthening exercises, despite grip strength not being the primary focus of the exercise. The same can be said for pull-ups, chin-ups, lat pulldowns, and any type of row. If you choose to add targeted forearm strengthening exercises, save them for the end of your workout as they shouldn’t be prioritized over compound exercises for the vast majority of people(4).

• Do bicep curls work the forearms?

Yes, bicep curls work the forearms. Obviously, the biceps are the primary mover during a bicep curl, but the forearm muscles will be highly active as well to maintain grip. In addition, the positioning of your hands will dictate which forearm muscles are most active. A supinated (palms up) grip will activate the supinator and wrist flexor muscles, while a pronated grip will target the opposite. A neutral grip, which is often referred to as a hammer curl, will target the brachioradialis, which runs through the forearm(10).

The Bottom Line

Growing your forearms requires a dedicated approach targeting the specific muscles that are involved in grip strength and wrist movement. Many compound exercises such as deadlifts, pull-ups, chin-ups, lat pulldowns, and rows provide an excellent training stimulus for the forearms, in addition to their primary focus. The exercises outlined in this guide, which include wrist curls, hammer curls, and finger flexion drills, provide a comprehensive approach to isolated forearm development that can help push the muscles to stimulate growth. Consistency and a commitment to keep pushing your limits are the keys to success and will help you achieve your goals.