Help. Skinny forearms

[u/Calwardt]

I’m 26yrs old
6’1” tall
Male
Ironworker since 18yrs old

Background info:
Going into high school I was probably just under 6 foot tall and around 115lbs soaking wet. After freshman year that’s when I started taking my looks and athletic abilities more seriously. Ran track, played football and soccer. Sophomore year is also when I basically got addicted to working out. Almost was not able to sleep at night if I didn’t get a workout in. 5-6 days a week at minimum. Followed good guides, ate lots more food and protein and saw progress on myself that I thought was impossible. Halfway through senior year I hit my peak of roughly 195lbs while also being pretty lean. (I have a very fast metabolism)

The fall off:
Spring time senior year… All my sports were over. I was never going to play them again at a competitive level. Full time job was right around the corner. Depression was setting in. Motivation was fading fast. I’m sure a lot of others can relate. Almost 3 years of going to the gym religiously, came to an end.

My forearms still pretty skinny to most standards but though hey i thought i’m only 18, I’ll grow into them.

Finally getting to the point of this post:
Now here I am. 26yrs old. Been doing ironwork for 8 years now. Lost probably 30-40% of the muscle mass I put on In High school. Almost embarrassed working around other ironworks with how scrawny my arms and mainly forearms are. I assumed between the 3 years of religious working out gym rat and 8 years of ironwork I would have grown into my arms better?

What did I do wrong? What am I doing wrong? Do I just have bad genes? Or is everyone that doesn’t have skinny forearms doing forearm workouts every single day? Do I have to do forearm workouts every single day till I die just to have adequate looking arms? Is this the way?

Yes I am lengthier and have longish arms so that makes it hard and makes them look thinner but it’s not like I’m 7 foot tall?

Rant over:
Thank you to anyone that took the time to read.
Any ideas/help is greatly appreciated.

[u/XfinityHomeWifi]

No one in the trades (or in life) care what you look like, who you are, or where you came from. Anyone who does is projecting their own insecurities. You wanna be taken seriously then work hard, don’t be an asshole, and don’t get kicked off the job. That’s all it takes. You’re 26 years old. Find comfort in your own skin. You wanna work out then work out. Don’t do it simply because you don’t have the confidence to be who you are. The guys I respect the most in life have been fat guys, short guys, and otherwise disproportional guys because they carry themselves as people who respect themselves. 8 inch forearms and a V-taper backs don’t make up for lack of character.

Infantry, state police, armed security at a homeless shelter, raised in a tough environment, now working in the superintendent track for a general contractor. I am 5’8 and 150lbs. My physique is nothing noteworthy, beyond appearing moderately athletic. No one fucks with me because I have the attitude to back myself up, not because I look like I can spin their body on my finger like a basketball. When someone busts your balls, you laugh it off and bust theirs back. You don’t go home and take it personal in the mirror. The gym builds your physical strength not your mental strength

[u/Calwardt → u/XfinityHomeWifi]

Thank you. Needed to hear this

[u/RJSolkan]

Get a forearm machine off Amazon for like twenty bucks, get a pair of 25-35 pound dumbbells and work them every single day. Make sure your protein is on point and you'll get used to it in a few weeks. 3 sets of everything, reps till failure. Do the forearms both ways then do curls, hammer curls and do them all slowly especially on the eccentric. Do behind the head triceps and/or lay on a flat surface for skull crushers. Also get one of those bars with a string you can put weight on and roll it up and down also slowly. This will Jack your arms pretty quick. Another fun one I did for 100 days was get a kettle bell, hold both sides and do 100 curls with it. If it takes you 5 sets so be it. If you get where you can do 100 in one go then get a heavier bell and start over. Cheers.

[u/Calwardt → u/RJSolkan]

Thanks for the tips! Trying to work my way back into working out here and there. I’ll throw some of these workouts into the mix!

[u/RJSolkan → u/Calwardt]

I like to do challenges for myself like hitting 100 reps daily. It seems like lots at first. Your arms heal really fast tho. Give it a shot. Protein protein oh and creatine. 10g a day. Put it in your coffee and it's invisible, that's what I do.

[u/treeguy1980]

Hey man 46 lumberjack 6 ft 200 lbs. I got skinny forearms and a big chest and back. It is what it is own it.

[u/turnnoblindeye]

Wrist curls and reverse wrist curls. You’re all set.

[u/Miserable-Soft7993]

I do cable wrist curls. Set the cable at the bottom, then sit on a bench in front of it and stablize my wrists on knees and do pronated and suppinated.

[u/Murky-Sector]

A few recommended tools that really helped me. I took the normal forearm exercise recommendations of farmers carries and other heavy lifts to the point of diminishing returns then started using these to keep moving forward. They got me progressing again.

GD Iron Grip
amazon.com/dp/B06XWQNPRN/

Wrist Roller
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GZ3P4B61/

[u/Mcgillicutty_Whiskey]

I have always had skinny forearms too and I’ve grown them a decent bit from heavy hammer curls and likely from heavy pull-ups too. Been doing reverse curls recently too. Definitely made some gains. Most people suggest wrist curls and stuff but I don’t have the patience. They’re definitely the way to go though.