Forearm workouts, how often?

[Whistler]

Captain of Crush grippers are included in my daily "bored by the office telephone" routine. Once a week I do a complete powerlifter routine (squat, deadlift, benchpress) and twice a week a split lower/upper session for hypertrophy (mass). I never use straps when lifting weights.

Saying you don't need to weight train the lower body because you run is a common myth in training. Heavy weighted leg work (like squats) is one of the main hormone inducing factors that makes the upper body stronger and bigger (as well as the legs of course). Ask any short distance runner (sprinter) if running hard enough would be all they needed. They do weights. Lots of it! Studies have shown that powerlifters and olympic weight lifters often have phenomenal short distance running capacities with speed on par with those that actually compete in sprinting.

[renzo808]

Read Brian Enos' book. Then you'll forget about working out your forearms and just concentrate on what your front sight is doing.

[JeffWard]

To summarize/pile-on many of the above: If you are doing a regular back and biceps weight workout, without lifting straps, you're getting plenty of gripping work. I do lat pull-downs or low cable rows around 230-250 lbs, and high rows or T-bar rows, and curls with dumbbells or barbell (50-70 DBs or 125+ barbell), and shrugs as high as 315 with no straps. Grip strength won't be an issue.

(Regarding the "Running gets my legs plenty" statement above... Running sprints under 50 yards, with a significant up-hill element in them MIGHT get you "almost everything", but pure fitness science debunks simple running for leg development. Long distance running will actually DECREASE leg power, agility, and quickness, which are much more important to our sport than cardiovascular endurance.)

JeffWard

NSCA-CSCS, Strength Coach

[Garyg19]

I do chin-ups and pull-ups while wearing 75lb of weights, 3x a week. I feel that works my grip strength well enough.

How many sets and reps?

[Tzygä]

Captains of Crush grippers to failure twice a week. Other days are spent training other parts and forearms get worked gripping the bars.

+1

I also train only twice a week to the failure with CoC grippers.

I closed CoC#2 with credit card wide at the first time I tried it and when I learned to set the gripper properly in my hand I closed CoC#2,5 with parallel set. It took 2 months to closed my first CoC#3 and after 4-5 months I closed CoC # 3 which was calibrated excatly with RNC rating 68 kg / 150.11 lbs / rating = 3.00 and judged by

official judge.

So I know you can increase your grip strenght with good grippers. You only need 3 of them to work with. Good luck!

[dravz]

How many sets and reps?

3 sets of 10, nothing fancy.

I'm also working on getting my post-workout cooldown set as high as it can go. I'm up to 35 pullups after a workout. It's fun.

(edit: No weights on the cooldown set, obviously!)

Edited November 2, 2011 by dravz

[Garyg19]

How many sets and reps?

3 sets of 10, nothing fancy.

I'm also working on getting my post-workout cooldown set as high as it can go. I'm up to 35 pullups after a workout. It's fun.

(edit: No weights on the cooldown set, obviously!)

Thanks, I'm going to give this a try today. Sadly not with 75lbs (Respect!)

[dravz]

Thanks, I'm going to give this a try today. Sadly not with 75lbs (Respect!)

Heh, no respect needed. Just takes practice and consistency. I started doing pullups on my garage door railing in the garage... till I bent it.

[kylehb]

in general 3 times a week is good, but do them at varying intensities, for instance - do one day super heavy and low rep, another day moderate intensity in the 8-12 rep range, and maybe a high rep (20+) day.