CW’s Training Tip #3!…

“Got Forearms??”

I remember when I first started training with weights, many moons ago, I was frequently getting intensely annoying forearm niggles and injuries.

Of course, back in the early 1980’s, no one was training forearms directly and were only interested in training (and overtraining) their biceps.

About a decade later I decided to train them directly with three basic exercises, the reverse barbell curl or dumbbell hammer curl and seated wrists curls.

Not only did my forearms quickly grow in size and become notably stronger, but my upper arms (via the brachialis) looked more impressive too. The most significant improvement, however, was that with the improved development the injuries started to go away.

I usually work my forearms straight after my biceps.

2-3 sets of Barbell Reverse Curls (or Dumbbell Hammer Curls) to hit the brachioradialis followed by 2 sets of seated wrist curls (palms facing up to hit the forearm flexors) is all you need.

Worth a shot…you will be pleased with the results!!

I always like to train triceps after either deltoids or biceps.

This way the elbow joints have been sufficiently warmed up but you haven’t completely fatigued the tricep muscles like you would after training chest.

Also, if you do overhead tricep extensions or skull crushers (and if you don’t, then you should!!) make sure you do this exercise after a tricep pressing movement like dips or pushdowns.

And finally, I see a lot of people performing tricep exercises very fast with snappy, bouncing motions from the negative to the positive part of the movement.

Always try to do a 3-4 second eccentric motion followed by a focused contraction of the muscle at the end of the concentric part of the exercise.

This way the gains will come, but at the same time, you will preserve those precious elbow joints!

“Mass on the Back”

Here is a great back workout for you to try:

1. Underhand grip barbell bent rows

2. Seated close grip cable rows

3. Close grip chins

4. Wide grip front pulldowns

5. Dumbbell rear delt raises

6. Dumbbell shrugs

As 8 time Mr Olympia Lee Haney once said…

“If you wanna great back, then ya gotta ROW!!!”

As you can see this workout starts with the rowing which is probably the most gruelling aspect and the biggest compound movements listed.

Rowing, when performing correctly, will target not only the middle back and trapezius, but will also hit the lower lats all the way down into their insertions near your hips. And this is an area that seems to be lacking in many physiques these days as not many people enjoy performing bent rows, which as I mentioned before are hard work and similar to that of deadlifts and squats.

Rear delts and traps IMHO are muscles that are more akin to the back in that they are used to pull rather than push, hence why I like to train them in this workout and not on shoulders day.

Give it a go, you will be surprised how sore you will be over your entire back musculature in the days to follow.

Oh and don’t forget to stretch after cranking out this workout!