Build Up Your Forearms

Throw in the towel for new gains.

By Martin Rooney

Your gym towel can be used for more than soaking up sweat and protecting your modesty in the changeroom. It’s a cheap, portable and highly effective tool for strengthening your grip and beefing up your forearms. Throw one into your gym bag and
follow the routine below to be done as part of an upper-body workout.

1 Towel Cable Row

Hook a towel to the cable pulley of a seated row machine. Set up to do a row and hold an end of the towel in each hand. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and row the towel to your rib cage. Perform three sets of eight reps.

2 Towel Row to Chest

Go to a lat-pulldown machine and attach the lat bar to the pulley. Loop a towel around it and hold the ends of the ­towel — your arms should be extended and at eye level. Brace one foot on the seat of the machine and pull the bar to your chest (the movement is the opposite motion of a bench press). Perform five sets of seven reps.

3 Towel Pull-up

Hang the towel over a pull-up bar and grip each end. ­Perform four sets of five pull-ups.

4 Towel Kettlebell Curl

Run the towel through the handle of a kettlebell and fold it in half. Hold the ends in one hand and perform a curl. Complete three
sets of six reps on each arm.

For each exercise, aim to hold the top (contracted) portion of each rep for one second. It will induce greater exhaustion in the muscle and more growth as a result.

Martin Rooney is the author of Warrior Cardio. He has trained champion martial arts fighters for the UFC and the Olympics. trainingforwarriors.com

Taking forearm strength in hand

Are you looking for a few more ways to build up those forearms without straining your hip-pocket nerve?
Try these inexpensive items in your workout regimen.

➔Tennis Ball Squeezes: Squeeze the ball as hard as you can for 10 to 15 seconds and then change hands. Continue alternating hands for three to five sets to thoroughly work the forearms.

➔ Sand Grabs: Fill a bucket with fine sand then thrust your open hand into the bucket and proceed to make fists, trying to grab as much sand as you can. Keep your hand in the sand and continue making fists until your forearms are fatigued. Repeat with the other hand.