Download Forearms - Bodybuilding.com Forums

WEEK THIRTY-SIX :: What’s The Best Way To
Build Your Traps And Forearms?
by Ravadongon
Calves aside, the traps and forearms are two of the most undertrained muscle
groups by gym goers. The traps are often overlooked because of their
positioning. It isn’t a muscle group that is in your immediate vision and
therefore people don’t feel the need to recognize them as a muscle group they
should concentrate on working separately. A pair of terrific traps can take
your upper body from being good to great. Forearm training is disregarded by
most as everyone is interested in the biceps, triceps and shoulders, that make
up the upper arm, but infact the forearms do make up a fair bit of the upper
limb, and adding a set of great forearms will make your bicep and tricep poses
complete.
Traps
Main Muscles:
-
Trapezius (upper fibres)
Levator Scapulae
Trapezius (middle fibres)
Trapezius (lower fibres)
Location:
Between the shoulder and neck.
Origin: Vertebral Column (at different sections)
Insertion: Scapula
Function:
Upper Fibres: Elevation of the scapula, extension of the cervical vertebrae and
extension, lateral flexion and rotation of the neck.
Levator Scapulae: Elevation, downward rotation and abduction of the scapula,
lateral flexion and rotation of the cervical vertebrae and extension, lateral
flexion and rotation of the neck.
Middle Fibres: Upward rotation, abduction, elevation of the scapula.
Lower Fibres: Upward rotation, abduction and depression of the scapula and
extension of the thoracic vertebrae.
Exercises:
Traps - Target
Shrugs (dumbbell, barbell, cable, lever, jump, behind the back)
Hise Shrugs
Cambered Barbell Seated Shrugs
Traps - Synergists
Rows (seated cable/barbell/dumbbell)
Chin ups/Pull Ups/Pulldowns
Presses (Standing Military/Seated)
Raises (front/lateral/ rear)
Olympic lifts + auxiliary exercises (clean/snatch/pulls)
Routine:
Back/Traps
- Deadlift movement or Olympic Lift (straight bar deadlifts/rack pulls/trap bar
deadlifts/cleans/snatch) – 3x5
- Vertical pulling movement (pull-ups/chinups/pulldowns) – 3x8-12
- Horizontal Row or Olympic Lift Auxillary exercise (Bent rows/Dumbbell
rows/chest supported rows/cable rows/high pulls/hang pulls) – 3x8-12
- Shrug movement (Hise/dumbbell/barbell/cable/lever/jump/behind the back)
– 3x10-15
OR
Delts/Traps
- Upright pressing movement (standing military/seated dumbbell press/push
press) 3x5-10
- Medial Delt movement (lateral raises/dumbbell side press/bradford press) –
2x8-12
- Rear Delt movement (bent dumbbell flys/cable scarecrows/rear delt row) –
2x8-12
- Shrug movement (Hise/dumbbell/barbell/cable/lever/jump/behind the back)
– 3x10-15
Tips:
Your traps are a small muscle group, so an additional 2-3 sets at the end of
your workout is all you need. They don’t need high volume training because
they are used in a lot of other upper body exercises, as I have stated, and
overtraining will not help them grow.
Rotate exercises fairly frequently (every 2-3 weeks), which you should be doing
anyway with all muscle groups, and concentrate on increasing either weight or
repetitions every workout, to promote progressive overload, so hypertrophy
can occur.
Forearms
Main Muscles:
- Brachioradialis
- Wrist Flexors (Flexor Digitorum Superficialis, Flexor Digitorum Profundus,
Flexor Carpi Radialis, Flexor Carpi Ulnaris, Palmaris Longus and Flexor Pollicis
Longus)
- Wrist Extensors (Extensor Digitorum, Extensor Carpi Radialis Longus, Extensor
Carpi Radialis Brevis, Extensor Carpi Ulnaris, Extensor Indicis, Extensor Digiti
Minimi, Entensor Pollicis Longus, Extensor Pollicis Brevis)
Location:
Between the elbow and wrist.
Brachioradialis
Origin: Humerus
Insertion: Radius
Wrist Extensors/Flexors
Origin: Humerus, Radius and Ulna
Insertion: Hand bones (carapals, metacarpals, phalanges)
Function:
Brachioradialis: Flexion of the elbow
Wrist Extensors: Extension, abduction and adduction of the wrist, extension
and Adduction of the fingers and extension of the elbow.
Wrist Flexors: Extension, abduction and adduction of the wrist, flexion and
adduction of the fingers and flexion of the elbow.
Exercises:
Forearms - Target
Wrist Curl (barbell, dumbbell, cable, lever) – Wrist flexors
Reverse Wrist Curl (barbell, dumbbell, cable, lever) – Wrist extensors
Grip Crushers – Wrist flexors
Reverse Curl/Reverse Preacher Curl (barbell, dumbbell, cable, lever) Brachioradialis
Forearms - Synergists
Rows (seated cable, barbell, dumbbell) - Brachioradialis
Chin ups/Pull Ups/Pulldowns - Brachioradialis
Curls (barbell, dumbbell, cable, lever) - Brachioradialis
NOTE: the wrist flexors and extensors are involved as stabilizers in almost all
upper body exercises.
Routine:
Back/Biceps/Forearms
- Deadlift movement (straight bar deadlifts/rack pulls/trap bar deadlifts) – 3x5
Vertical pulling movement (pull-ups/chinups/pulldowns) – 3x8-12
- Horizontal Row (Bent rows/Dumbbell rows/chest supported rows/cable rows)
– 3x8-12
- Biceps isolation movement (curling variations) – 3x10-12
- Wrist flexor movement (grip crusher/wrist curl variations) – 2x10-15 OR 2
timed sets (grip crusher only)
- Wrist extensor movement (reverse wrist curl variations) – 2x10-15
OR
Bicep/Triceps/Forearms
- Triceps compound movement (close grip bench press/tricep dips) – 3x5-10
- Biceps compound movement (close grip chin up/close grip pulldown) – 3x5-10
- Triceps isolation movement (lying extensions/skull crushers/cable pushdowns)
– 2x 8-12
- Biceps isolation movement (curling variations) – 2x10-12
- Wrist flexor movement (grip crusher/plate pinches/wrist curl variations) –
2x10-15 OR 2 timed sets (grip crusher only)
- Wrist extensor movement (reverse wrist curl variations) – 2x10-15
Tips:
Forearms, like calves are largely based on your genetics. Some people who
don’t even train forearms have the most impressive. Although lifts that don’t
directly target the forearms get more out of the forearms then lifts that do, it
doesn’t mean you shouldn’t train them directly, so some people may not need
to train their forearms if they already feel they are getting worked a lot from
other lifts. However, direct forearm work will help increase muscle mass on
your forearms and make them stronger if all other factors are in shape.
Forearm training should be done with fairly high reps or timed holds, as very
heavy weights can be hard on the wrist joints. They are worked in almost all
upper body exercises, most of the time as stabilizers in the movement, so they
don’t require a lot of additional training, a few sets, once a week will suffice.
Concentrate on increasing repetitions/time and increase resistance when you
feel the need to challenge yourself further.
Conclusion:
As you can see the traps and forearms are involved in a lot of compound
exercises you should already be doing. So if you continue to perform these
movements and add in a few isolation exercises for both these muscle groups,
you should see results.
However, keep in mind that with improving any muscle group, the forearms
and traps will not improve overnight. It will take good old fashioned hard work
to improve both these stubborn muscle groups from underdeveloped to ideal,
and this will only occur if you adhere to a rigid and well composed diet,
training routine with progressive overload and variation in exercises occurring
and sufficient rest and recovery periods.
Best In The Forums
Ravadongon’s BB.com forums Terrific Traps Award
1. str8flexed (size, symmetry, proportion the lot…) http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=104894
2. Abdominator (how can you not include him, great proportion and symmetry)
- http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=104891
3. Awnold79 (great size and symmetry) http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=184919
Ravadongon’s BB.com forums Fantastic Forearms Award
1. PETER LEE (incredible size and vascularity) http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=202260
2. crazymike (a close second, also great size and vascularity) http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=201511
3. Doctor Deadlift (impressive size) http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=201487
Glossary
Movement
Flexion – decreasing the angle between articulating bones e.g. bending elbow
Extension – increasing the angle between articulating bones e.g. straightening
arm after flexion
Abduction – movement away from midline of body e.g. lifting arm up and away
from body
Adduction – movement towards midline of body e.g. returning arm after
abduction
Rotation – movement of a bone away around it’s long axis e.g. twisting palm
(rotating humerus)
Skeleton
Vertebral column – spine (backbone)
Cervical vertebrae – any of the 7 vertebrae in the neck region of the spine
Thoracic vertebrae – any of the 12 vertebrae that articulates with the ribs
Scapula – shoulder blade
Humerus – long bone of the arm
Radius – forearm bone extending from the elbow to the wrist on the thumb side
Ulna – forearm bone extending from the elbow to the wrist on the side opposite
the thumb
Misc.
Origin – attachment of the end of a muscle to a stationary bone (during
contraction)
Insertion – attachment of the other end of a muscle to a moving bone (during
contraction)
Target – the primary muscle intended for exercise
Synergist – muscles that assist another muscle to produce a particular
movement
Resources and Links
Exercise and Muscle Directory - http://exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html
Exercises for the Traps –
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?MainMuscle=Traps
Exercises for the Forearms http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?MainMuscle=Forearms
Anatomical Diagram of the Traps –
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/trapbig.jpg
Anatomical Diagram of the Forearms http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/forebig.jpg
Hise Shrugs (the forgotten exercise) - http://www.tnation.com/findArticle.do?article=body_142short
Olympic lifting for bodybuilders –
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/schultz26.htm
Grip Training Equipment - http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/grip.htm