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A Six Day Routine


Shenandoah

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In reading over posts concerning when to workout the forearms, there are some who advocate long periods of rest in between workouts, and there are those who exercise their forearms daily.

Well, I'm going to give a six day a week routine a shot for awhile for two reasons; one, it's difficult to wait one to two days before doing my beloved forearm exercises, and two, I like feeling my forearms pumped every day, except Sunday.

I'm not quite sure how to divide my exercises in half, and I would greatly appreciate any advice on this.

Here's how I'm thinking of doing it:

Day One

Underhand Wrist Curls

Overhand Wrist Curls

Bar rolling - back and forth

Screwdriver twisting - using a Twist-O-Grip

Finger expansions with some heavy rubber bands

Day Two

Gripping

Pinching

Jar Twisting – back and forth

Leverage:

Pronation (rotating your fists inward)

Supination (rotating your fists outward)

Ulnar deviation (hammer to the back)

Radial deviation (hammer to the front)

Thanks!

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O-VER-TRAIN-ING, you will not grow on that plan.

Yes, but what about all the people here who do train daily and continue to make gains in size and strength? One person here mentioned the fact that Blacksmiths swung their hammers and gripped pincers daily. Granted, they might not have had a choice in the matter, but nonetheless, those gentlemen had some powerful forearms.

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I have used this approach for about a year - everyday training (5 or 6 ds / week) with my main focus being on wrists. This has worked well for my wrists, but I would question its value for grip. It would be hard to describe my exact program but it has involved high frequency and medium volume on bending and grippers, and regular high-rep work with light-weight thick-handled dumbbells for the reverse wrist curls (overhand grip). (I have two Ivanko neoprene dumbbells - 12 lb. and 15 lb.)

It is important to vary the rep ranges of your sets from day to day, and don't neglect the high rep sets, e.g. 25 to 40 reps of the wrist curls. I also like using something called the Gripstik. The IM Expand Your Hands bands are good for high-volume extensor work.

I would do only two to three workouts a week on the following heavy lifts and exercises: wrist curls (6 to 10 rep range), wrist roller, no-set gripper workouts (full reps, and also negatives, etc.) with grippers that are near your 1-rep max.

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Thanks for your imput, Grh122!

Looks like you've got it all down to a science.

I have a Gripstik, too, but some time ago I purchased a Twisto-O-Grip, which, I believe, is far superior to the Gripstik. I've provided a link in my first post up there. I'm sure you've noticed that the Gripstik can only be tightened just so far, which isn't enough, and that it loosens as you use it. Those problems don't exist with the Twist-O-Grip, and the action is smooth. It doesn't bind. I've been through six different types of commercial wrist rollers now, and each one has had its flaws, except for the Twist-O-Grip. I highly recommend it.

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while blacksmiths do swing their hammers and grip their pinchers all day and everyday, every swing is not a 100% effort swing. the same with using blacksmithing pinchers. they are not trying to do crush their pinchers every second of their work day.

when you are training your forearms, you will be working to near failure on every set.

Edited by tomorrow
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O-VER-TRAIN-ING, you will not grow on that plan.

:rolleyes

I guess that settles it. Everyone responds to the exact same type of training that king crusher does. There are not people that will grow when doing high frequency.

Yep....

:help

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ok. It looks as though the OVER-TRAINING school makes perfect sense. And, besides, I already know I would never do the same body exercises day after day. I suppose it's self evident that the muscles of the forearms adhere to the same physiological laws as the rest of the body. duhhhhhhhhhhh.......

So, I'm going back to plan A.

Thanks for the responses!

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tennis, you simply cant recover in time to do 6 friggin days in a row of the same type of excersize. if you thik you can, i feel sorry for you.

someone who works with there hands everyday as a profession is not working anywhere near 100% intensity, you can not compare the two.

hell, i rarely even to forearm specific training at all and mine are over 14.5 inches, lean.

everyones diff. but know one is going to grow on a six day on forearm routine lol.

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hell, i rarely even do forearm specific training at all and mine are over 14.5 inches, lean.

everyones diff. but know one is going to grow on a six day on forearm routine lol.

ok, king. You've convinced me, as stated in my previous post.

14.5 inches? That's my initial goal. In all my years of weight lifting, I always exercised my forearms as sort of an addendum to my body routine. I could never quite get them up to 14". Close, sometimes, but no cigar. Now I'm going full bore on those appendages!

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We can all argue the amount of training forever - might I suggest reading about some of the most studied strength progams in the world. The Russians did extensive work over many years on their Olympic lifters. They tried about everything and kept track of what worked best for them - Sportivy Press has these available and I highly reccommend reading them. Another highly successful program is the so called "Bulgarian" approach of twice a day training sessions of a tightly limited numbers of movements. When reading these, keep in mind that all these were professional athletes doing their JOB. They had "every" restorative measure at their disposal. The Bulgarian approach is also quite famous as a meat shop - with only the very best able to last long doing it. Then read the Elington Darden books on Auther Jones training and theories - I won't try to expalin it here, you can only begin to understand it by reading the whole thing. Read everything you can find, Pavle has a lot of interesting stuff but he's never put it all together very well as a "program" - you have to do that yourself. Only by studying the programs already out there can you begin to understand where you want to go with your training and how best to make it meet your goals.

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yeah the russians and bulgarians use alot of vitiman s to.

which allows much faster recovery.

dident they get caught awhile back, i dont follow powerlifting really.

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The Russians and Bulgarians were actually Olympic lift studies which does introduce a big effect due to the lack of an eccentric componant. Westside is based on the old Russian (Soviet) programs as well. One of the points that will be made with the study of all this is that even with the use of steroids, they found very practical limits to the amount of total volume that could be done. Since reading as much as I could find about this and many other well studied training modules, I made large changes in my routine, with some very good progess, especially considering the number of training years I had under my belt at the time. I guess my point to all this is - if "enhanced" world class, hand picked, genetic freaks can't do a certain amount of volume, then perhaps we "mere mortals" shouldn't try to either. Now these are not about bodybuilding so don't look at them from that standpoint, these are sudies about strength developmant and what was found.

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tennis, you simply cant recover in time to do 6 friggin days in a row of the same type of excersize. if you thik you can, i feel sorry for you.

someone who works with there hands everyday as a profession is not working anywhere near 100% intensity, you can not compare the two.

hell, i rarely even to forearm specific training at all and mine are over 14.5 inches, lean.

everyones diff. but know one is going to grow on a six day on forearm routine lol.

Generally, speaking yes you can. I only mentioned frequency, not intensity. And I will choose not to use KTA as an example, though it would be a great one.

Small sessions of lower arm training six days a week is fine. Spacing similar exercises out, and making sure not to work too hard, recovery can be easily had.

If you can't recover from that, then it is I who feels sorry for you.

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If i would do a six day routine before my muscles literally burn , i would bore my self to death...every day training the forearms 30 - 40 minutes plus the norml training?.....nightmare...

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Shenendoah,

I think the only way you are going to find out is to give it a try and seen how your body responds to it. I myself feel that overtraining is overrated and I thrive on it, but then I do take occassional breaks when needed to recharge when I start to stagnate. If progress stalls or your feeling rundown, take a break and then restart with less volume. You can't compare what someone who works with their hands does with training all out. I work in the construction business and I see how the "Newbies" work compared to the veterans. A newbie will swing an pickaxe full blown while the wilie veteran will swing it up to the waist an use the hips. The point being the old timer will work smart and not all out as it can't be sustained. It is also based on genetics as everyone knows, for all the old timers who can still swing a pick, there are dozens who are flagging because their joints are shot from years of abuse. Experiment, find out what works or doesn't work for you. You will know pretty quickly.

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com202,

So that's what everybody's talking about. Heavy stuff! Thanks!

denisbeck,

Thanks for your input. I have ultimately decided to train the way I've already known deep down is the right way, and that is to allow periods of rest in between the workouts. I certainly wouldn't train my body doing the same exercises everyday. I was just kind of hoping that someone here had figured a way to circumvent the laws of nature.

So, my training will now be:

Monday - 15 minutes of forearm work after my back/biceps workout.

Wednesday and Saturday - 40 minutes devoted exclusively to forearms.

Thanks, everyone! There are some very knowledgeable people on this forum.

Edited by Shenandoah
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good choice shen. let us know how it gos.

I'll do that. I'm going to give it three months before recording any progress. After twenty years of working out, three months is a walk in the park.

Thanks again for your sound advice.

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I'd say you should defenately experiment with your training frequency.

I tried gripping 5 days on 2 days of but it was too much for me.

But I will try a different aproach to daily grip training one time for sure.

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If you want to feel a pump in your forearms, but want to avoid overtraing, why not give a powerball hell on your offdays?

Chris.

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If you want to feel a pump in your forearms, but want to avoid overtraing, why not give a powerball hell on your offdays?

Chris.

Hey, thanks, Chris!

I just looked up the Powerball on the net and it looks like a really nifty tool. I'm gonna get one!

Thanks again.

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