new routine for forearms/grip

[bronco]

I'm finally getting around to adding some froearm and grip work to my routine. I would appreciate any advice from those of you who have some experience with these types of thing.
For starters I'm thinking of using the following exercises:
* Barbell hold
* reverese barbell curl
* plate pinching
* wrist curls
and maybe
* reverse wrist curls ( would this be neccesary? )

Anyway, I can think of two ways on incorporating this into my current routine:
Alternative A, opnce a week:
Once a weeks I do two of the exercises, a couple of sets for each. I vary the exercises between every workout.
Alternative B, twice a week:
I divided it into two different routines, each done once a week. For example, On monday I do reverse curls and wrist curl, and on friday I do Barbell holds and plate pinching

So, which of these alternatives woul you advice me to use? Any other suggestions? I might also add that I'm planning to buy a couple of grippers at some point, probably Robert Barabans.
/Gustav

[JP]

Hi ya mate.

Firstly, i would not bother with wrist curls - perhaps just my opinion, but if you do other kinds of forearm/grip/wrist related work, they are pretty poor in comparison.

This would depend on your routine as a whole quite a bit, because what you do in your routine would affect how you should divide the exercises. For instance, doing barbell holds (or lockouts, or whatever they are called), farmers walks and such like after a deadlift day is not wise

But you could do something like plate curls even straight after deadlifts in my experience.

I've never had a good solid grip routine, always just done this and that whenever, so i can't really give any good advice. Also, grip recovery seems to be more individual than other kinds of recoveries and some people can do loads without burning out. grip training involves relativesly small muscles so it is unlikely that they would contribute greatly to overtraining on your body as a whole. Having said that, keep a close eye on how your hands and forearms are doing because pretty much every new grip strength trainers tend to overdo it and end up with sore arms for a while

[tylerm]

I did some wrist curls last week with a 22.5 lb. block weight (the end of a hex dumbell cut off), and I felt it in my wirsts and forearms for days. These seemed much harder than a barbell or dumbell wrist curl, as you have to clamp onto the weight as you do them.

[bronco]

For instance, doing barbell holds (or lockouts, or whatever they are called), farmers walks and such like after a deadlift day is not wise

I actually did exactly that yesterday . It was OK, but I only did very light DL's, doing holds after heavy deadlifts might not be so easy. But was I was thinking was that it might be a good idea to have the back warmed up and nice when doing static holds, which is why I did them on back day. On the other hand, it might be a bad idea to have a tired lower back ( and definitelz a tired grip) when doign them .

But you could do something like plate curls even straight after deadlifts in my experience.

How do you do plate curls?
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[tylerm]

Plate curls are just like a bicep curl, only using a plate instead of a dumbell. They really work the grip and wrist as well as bicep. Do them one handed, take hold of a plate, pinching it between your thumb and fingers, and curl away. It is deceptively hard, because of the length of the plate. I have only messed around doing them at the gym once or twice. I know I can curl a 25 lb. no problem, I don't remember if I got a 35 lb. plate or not. Some people, who have the strength, will do them with a few 10 lb. plates pinched or even two 25's

[VeganEssentials]

There are two finer points to making plate curls effective -

1. The fingers should point straight outward, not be bent back, so that the plate is in alignment with your forearm.

2. You should avoid cheating by swinging it with any force, making it a strict curl in the way that it is done.

That's where the tough part comes in - you've got the plate pushing down to bend your fingers backward with enough force to make it really difficult, and the more strict it is done, the longer you're under the strain of the weight trying to push your fingers backward and take your wrist back with it.

If I can find some of the Gripboard videos of plate curls I'll post 'em here!

Ryan

[bronco]

Good, I think I'll try plate curls at the next opportunity. Thanks for the info.

[britkath]

Try these, they work well:
http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/shenandoah ... earms.html

[sensless]

If you can get access to any sort of thick handled dumbells or barbells that would also do a great job of working your forearms and grip. My forearms and hands have been shot for the past three weeks because of playing with a fat barbell.

Regards,

Sensless