Forearm.

Yes, there is actually more arm beyond the biceps and triceps.

Maybe this is news for many people, but forearms not only can, but SHOULD be trained.

You’ve been curling 12kg dumbbells for the past six months and it’s simply impossible to increase the weight?

Well, this post might be for you.

Forearms have a vital role in elbow flexion (making the forearm go from being stretched, to touching your bicep). There are many muscles responsible for elbow flexion, like the biceps brachii (biceps), the brachialis, the braquioradialis…

It’s true! It isn’t just the bicep that performs this movement!

That’s one of the reasons why it’s essential that you train the other muscles responsible for elbow flexion, so that you can progress in your biceps exercises. Another very simple reason is structural balance. But let’s not touch on that just now.

It’s essential because if you don’t, the muscle that you’ll primarily be working is the bicep, making it stronger. If the other assisting muscles don’t keep up with this development, the bicep reaches a stagnation point. Why? Because it can’t work all by himself.

What’s the cure?

There are many things you can do to improve brachialis and braquioradialis development.

For example, varying your grip on the exercises you normally do.

When you use a neutral grip (hammer grip) while doing dumbbell curls, you’re stimulating these assisting muscles much more than if you just use a supinated grip (palms facing up).

Want to go a step further? Pronation (palms facing down). Instead of doing regular EZ Bar curls with your palms facing up, try doing them with your palms facing down. This way you’ll primarily hit the brachialis and the braquioradialis.

Training these muscles will bring you results and gains that have a huge carryover to your bicep training, but that’s not all! Grip strength is crucial for back training (think heavy Deadlifts and Rows)!

So don’t be afraid to try new things.

A few other suggestions are Pronated Preaches Curls, whether it be with a barbell or dumbbells!

When using cables, the same principle applies, just turn your hand upside down!

Don’t forget to thank us after you’ve got forearms like the ones in the picture 😉