Hi guys, Watching the Australian Open I noticed that all the pro's especially Murray have done a lot of work on their forearms..I was just wondering if anyone knows any good excercises that i could do for the forearms preferably at home. The only equipment i have is a pull-up bar, resistance band and a medicine ball.
Exercises for Forearms
- Thread starter Dazzler
- Start date
hyperion99
Semi-Pro
What I found to help is a heavy weighted jump rope.
It works well for cardio/forearms,and the rotator cuffs.
That won't be a good while !
I don't I do exercises for most of my body just looking at my routine I had nothing specifically for the forearms
I, being genetically challenged and have to work on strengthening my forearms and wrists to handle the pace and heavy hitters out there.
There are a few things you need to understand prior to working out your forearms.
1. You want to do 10 - 15 reps instead of using to much weight as I've found it easy to injure the forearm and wrists with heavy weights.
2. My forearm muscles tighten up after exercise and it takes 3 days with massage and stretching to loosen the forearm up to a level to play tennis without tightening.
3. Following proper form and squeezing the muscle when contracting will produce faster results then to heavy of weight and jerking any weight.
4. Diet, especially protein, potassium, magnesium, and zinc are all important for muscle development and recovery.
The exercises I do are at bodybuilding.com/exercises and are
Palms-Down Dumbbell Wrist Curl Over A Bench
Palms-Up Dumbbell Wrist Curl Over A Bench
Palms-Vertical Wrist Curl over a Bench, this is a modified exercise I use and works well for top spin and wrist strength for using your wrist to direct the ball.
There are a few things you need to understand prior to working out your forearms.
1. You want to do 10 - 15 reps instead of using to much weight as I've found it easy to injure the forearm and wrists with heavy weights.
2. My forearm muscles tighten up after exercise and it takes 3 days with massage and stretching to loosen the forearm up to a level to play tennis without tightening.
3. Following proper form and squeezing the muscle when contracting will produce faster results then to heavy of weight and jerking any weight.
4. Diet, especially protein, potassium, magnesium, and zinc are all important for muscle development and recovery.
The exercises I do are at bodybuilding.com/exercises and are
Palms-Down Dumbbell Wrist Curl Over A Bench
Palms-Up Dumbbell Wrist Curl Over A Bench
Palms-Vertical Wrist Curl over a Bench, this is a modified exercise I use and works well for top spin and wrist strength for using your wrist to direct the ball.
Mighty Matteo
Semi-Pro
Wrist roller is great.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/wrist-roller
Pull ups, not chinups.
If there's a rope machine, you can spend intervals pulling it really hard. You also might want to invest in something called FatGripz. It is an attachment that makes the bar thicker and spins around, requiring more gripping strength. Attach it to a pull up bar and you will get great results. Good luck!!!
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/get-a-grip-the-importance-of-forearm-strength.html
http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/wrist-roller
Pull ups, not chinups.
If there's a rope machine, you can spend intervals pulling it really hard. You also might want to invest in something called FatGripz. It is an attachment that makes the bar thicker and spins around, requiring more gripping strength. Attach it to a pull up bar and you will get great results. Good luck!!!
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/get-a-grip-the-importance-of-forearm-strength.html
charliefedererer
Legend
What kind of shape are you in?
The reason I ask is that keying on the forearms is not the place to be starting, or greatest emphasis.
Yeah, Murray has big forearms, but if you want prevention of injury so you can practice your strokes do all the Thrower's Ten exercises: http://www.muhlenberg.edu/pdf/main/athletics/athletic_training/throwers10.pdf
(You'll notice forearm dumbbell curls, reverse curls and pronation/supination exercises are included in this set, and are great for forearm strength.)
Lots of posts here in the Health and Fitness section on the benefits of working with the Theraband Flexbar to build up the forearm and prevent a recurrence of tennis elbow. The rotational component of the exercise (Tyler Twist) takes the forearm muscles through their full range of motion probably better than any other single exercise.
Thera-Band FlexBar Video Demonstration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB3TVb8a5mk
A great part about the Flexbar (and maybe a hand gripper as well) is you can take breaks from watching tennis or doing paperwork and work on the forearms pretty painlessly.
But if you want to get overall stronger and faster, your forearms are not the area of greatest emphasis - check out the Tennis Training Section of Health Fitness Advisor for an overal program: http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/tennis-training.html
You'll notice weight training gets emphasis like in almost all strengthening programs because it incrementally lets you get stronger step by step as you slowly can lift more weight over time.
What did I notice at the Australian Open?
Djokovic, Murray, Fed and Ferrer all made the semis because they are the best movers in tennis.
Djokovic and Murray made the finals because they have the best combination of insane fitness, movement and strength.
Single most important exercise for Murray's improved serve that let him beat Fed and and get off to that great start before running out of gas - the squat. He is powering his serve and groundstokes with his core and legs - not his forearms.
As for Djokovic, he can bend like crazy, but having a strong core and legs are what allows him to keep his balance and power his strokes - not his forearms.
