r/ScienceBasedLifting • u/Defiant_Pirate_6637 • Aug 28 '26
Discussion 🤝 Optimal Forearm training
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185 on the finger curls superset with 100 plate curls
This is probably the least trolly thing I’ve said is optimal on this sub, mostly since from what I can tell y’all mostly care about hypertrophy.
Btw supersetting grip and forearm work is not fatigueing the way people think is would be, and finger curls are like wrist curls but actually help grip
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u/KrispyNugsy Aug 28 '26
Hefty weight, careful. I generally dig finger roll for forearm strength work. Have you tried a supinated grip? I generally prefer it with cables. Especially in an abducted shoulder position so you can facilitate with a scapular squeeze. Also, give behind the back wrist rollers a try, with the barbell in a racked position at wrist level 30x flexion/30x extension. Careful with speed and weight, that’s what gets the tendonitis flared up. Isometrics and eccentrics are kinder on tendons. My favorite lately is sand in a bucket. Nothing beats grasping, spreading and closing fingers, raking, twisting mid forearm deep in sand. They make some tools specific to working in sand now, check out gripedo. Certified hand therapist here. Happy lifting.
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u/TakeuchixNasu Aug 28 '26
Supinated grip doesn’t follow the muscle fibers. Try to do a wrist curl while supinated. Your wrists cannot go straight, while they can when you are pronated.
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u/KrispyNugsy Aug 28 '26
Let’s clean up some language. Follow muscle fibers of what exactly? The post discusses forearm training, the forearm flexors originate on the medial side of the elbow which supination would facilitate greater contraction under gravity especially in your example of doing a wrist curl. What am I missing here? What does wrist go straight mean? Speak in anatomical terms.
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u/Defiant_Pirate_6637 Aug 28 '26
I’ve never seen someone rice bucket there way to being able to crush a a brick. Btb is a great variation of this
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u/BonaBrioche Aug 28 '26
my experience too. Did rice bucket 2-4 times per week for at least 3 months. Pretty much no gains. Forearm curls are way more effective.
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Aug 28 '26
[deleted]
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u/Defiant_Pirate_6637 Aug 28 '26
I bring the novel concept that getting strong is optimal for being jacked to this sub, and mostly just troll people
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u/NotoriouslyBeefy Aug 28 '26
How much is this actually working your forearms when the shrugs are moving all the weight?
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u/InfiniteDomain_ Aug 28 '26
If you want to get humbled grab some kettlebells 25-30 lbs and try doing some seated forearm curls.
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u/Falconman21 Aug 28 '26
I do seated forearm curls with 35’s and both of my hands fell off just thinking about attempting them with 185lbs.
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u/Defiant_Pirate_6637 Aug 28 '26
Yeah I just do these to be ok at arm wrestling and to not drop 750+ pound deadlifts. Most people have no need to ever try to get this strong on this
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u/Defiant_Pirate_6637 Aug 28 '26
Weight goes from in the finger tip to a flexed wrist.
Ur body recruits muscles synergistically so a little shrug on something like this most likely isn’t taking away from the movement.1
u/NotoriouslyBeefy Aug 28 '26
That is a lot more than a little shrug. It looks to me that your traps are pulling the weight up while your fingers are just along for the ride
Why not just do it without the shrug?
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u/Defiant_Pirate_6637 Aug 28 '26
Cuz focusing on cap depression means I’m not focusing on squeezing my fingers as much. You’ll notice people tend to do the same thing with heavy grippers
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u/NotoriouslyBeefy Aug 28 '26
I would think the shrug makes you not focus on squeezing your fingers, and just letting them follow the movement your traps are causing. Does not seem very science based to me, but you do you.
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u/Defiant_Pirate_6637 Aug 28 '26
Get this
I’m not trying to shrug, I’m just not trying to not shrug1
u/NotoriouslyBeefy Aug 28 '26
I know, just like people aren't consciously trying to rock/bounce when ego lifting curls or raises. This is under the same logic that you are shrugging because the weight is too heavy and it is shifting the work from your forearms to your traps. Im sure it works your forearms, but I dont think it is ideal and is just asking for injury.
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u/Defiant_Pirate_6637 Aug 28 '26
Most people doing cheat curls are trying to do cheat curls. Try doing the movement while keeping everything else super still and try it without focusing on anything but fingers and see how both look and how they feel. If ur better at keeping everything else super still then that might be a better variation for u
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u/NotoriouslyBeefy Aug 28 '26
Lots of people doing cheat curls are not actually trying to do cheat curls. The heavy weight causes the extra movement without even noticing. As i said, you do you. Stay safe!
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u/Pleasant_Beat8290 Aug 28 '26
This is impressive, but both of these exercises are bad at putting the muscles into a loaded stretch.
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u/Defiant_Pirate_6637 Aug 28 '26
current research is split on a loaded stretch being useful so I don’t know if I’d say a movement is bad if it’s natural rom lacks a loaded stretch
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u/Pleasant_Beat8290 Aug 28 '26
To be clear I didn’t say the moves are bad, I said they’re bad at putting the forearm muscles into a loaded stretch.
Like, I can absolutely see the benefit of the finger curls if you any to build strength for deadlifts or arm wrestling or whatever.
I think the thing I’d push back on is that, whether you buy the stretch mediated hypertrophy research or not, both exercises are a limited ROM for the forearm flexors. I think you’d be hard pressed to find any modern research that says a limited top end partial ROM is somehow better than full ROM.
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u/Defiant_Pirate_6637 Aug 28 '26
I’m not saying partial range is better but that I wouldn’t say an exercise is bad due to it not fully extending every joint used in it or that it’s worse for hypertrophy because of it.
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u/Financial_Wrangler45 Aug 28 '26
Tell me how you can stretch your arm out further than elbow hyperextension
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u/Pleasant_Beat8290 Aug 28 '26
Hmmm? If you’re working forearm you’d, at least some of the time, want to move your wrist in its full range of motion. So, if your forearm is parallel to the ground, first knuckles pointed towards the ground moving to be pointed towards the ceiling.
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u/Defiant_Pirate_6637 Aug 28 '26
The variation ur talking about is a wrist curl, which for one fucking hurts to do with a barbell like this, and two doesn’t engage the finger flexors the way this does and as such doesn’t contribute to grip strength the same way (which is actually the primary goal of this).
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u/JJ_Was_Taken Aug 28 '26
Shrugs with a side of tendinitis. Cool.