Best ways to build forearm strength and hand strength?

[ilikegunspdx]

It actually says it's for tennis elbow in the description =).

I like them because you can squeeze, bend, twist etc so it works pretty much every muscle in your hand thru shoulder and if you really want to you can use it for some pectoral exercises.

I'd would start with the easiest one as you would be very surprised at how fast they will fatigue your muscles.

They are super durable (I was introduced to them in rehab) and I can't imagine anyone using them to the point of needing to order another in the same strength range.

That's my 2¢ for what it's worth.

There are a lot of ways to skin a cat and ideally I would think a person would have multiple ways to work out and strengthen whatever your intended target is.

Thx I'll order with a couple different resistance sizes. If help with tennis elbow would be worth it. If can be used to strengthen forearms and hands that would be a bonus!

 

[ilikegunspdx]

What got me thinking of this is a was watching a Rob Leatham training video and one guy in the class was into wrestling? and boxing and he was way ahead of the others simply due to hand and forearm strength.

 

[Horatius]

What got me thinking of this is a was watching a Rob Leatham training video and one guy in the class was into wrestling? and boxing and he was way ahead of the others simply due to hand and forearm strength.

You are correct in the assessment that shooting well over long periods improves if fatigue is reduced, Pointing and dryfiring your firearms builds strength and familiarity with said firearms as well!

 

[bbbass]

Computer porn works for me!

Got one of these for the wife when she started taking shooting seriously, she had failures to cycle because of limp wristing, but I tried it and it sure worked my forearms too!!



https://www.amazon.com/s?k=gyro+wrist+ball&crid=275WUSZG5QXCB&sprefix=gyro+wr%2Caps%2C167&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_7


Just remember, forearm strength is much more important to an isosceles grip than a weaver grip. IMO one is better for competition, the other better for house clearing.

 

[jbett98]

Buy a milk cow. Twice a day whether you feel like it or not.

 

[RVTECH]

12 or 16 oz curls.

 

[sobo]

12 or 16 oz curls.

And then straight to the range! Or to save time, do your curls in the range parking lot. No lost strength!

 

[Alexx1401]

A shake weight, of course

Now I will have to watch that episode South Park did on those. Laughed till my sides hurt.

 

[Nick Burkhardt]

 

[thebigbaby]

Couple Q's for you competitive handgun shooter types:

1) For speed steel type shooting, do you think there is any difference in building forearm strength and hand strength via active, dynamic movement such as grappling, martial arts, boxing, other? vs building via isometric exercises such as dumbells for forearm curls, reverse forearm curls, other? and regular grip "squeeze" exercisers?

2) What are some good exercises to build forearm strength and hand strength?

Thx for any thoughts

Cheers!

 

[Stomper]

Not going to say it. Not going to say it. Not going to say it. Haha

I thought every guy had this figured out getting through puberty….

 

[spookshack]

Fast twitch fibers, good hand/eye coordination and athletic ability are also valuable assets in the shooting sports….

 

[TNThomas]

Couple Q's for you competitive handgun shooter types:

1) For speed steel type shooting, do you think there is any difference in building forearm strength and hand strength via active, dynamic movement such as grappling, martial arts, boxing, other? vs building via isometric exercises such as dumbells for forearm curls, reverse forearm curls, other? and regular grip "squeeze" exercisers?

2) What are some good exercises to build forearm strength and hand strength?

Thx for any thoughts

Cheers!

I played O-Line at UW, my strength coach, now with the Seahawks (Ivan Lewis), had us do a few different things in this area. A few good ones:

-Get two 5 gal bucket and fill them with sand. Set them so they are on either side of you. Force your hands all the way on so they are completely submerged. Then just simply go from fully opened to closed, almost as if you are grabbing at the sand. This one is great. Literally had buckets of sand in our weight room just for this. You could get by with just 1 bucket too, and simply rotate hands.

-One of my favorites, and its a killer:
1 minute long per set, and this consists of 4-15 second long seperate lifts all as fast as you can, just make sure you are doing the full range of motion. Try to do this 3 times. I use a 45 lb plate, but most folks will probably want a 25lb plate. But you could really do this with any heavy item, standard plates work the best though.

Sit down on a bench/chair, log/whatever. Just make sure you are sitting on the very edge. And you are sitting the whole time.

Look at a clock on the wall, and choose a starting time (if you are doing this right, you will be moving too fast, and be too tired, to look at a watch). Choose a time to start, I usually start at the 12 mark. Grab either side of your iron plate, your hands will generally be in the same location for all 4 lifts. At the go mark, start doing as many military presses as you can as fast as you can. If you can do about 20reps, you have a good weight. Once the 15 seconds is up you move straight to the next lift.

The next one is called "punches," you are just violently pulling that weight towards your chest and "punching" it out away from you, as fast and hard as you can for 15 seconds. Then to the next one dont freaking stop!

Not sure what these are called but essentially you keep your torso still (as to focus on shoulder/arm muscles), drop that weight between your legs (remember your sitting on the edge), holding on to either side of your plate, keep your arms straight, and then lift the weight up in front of you, as high as you can comfortably do (full range of motion), similar to a lateral raise, but in front. Do this as fast as you can for 15 seconds. Quit feeling sorry for yourself you are almost done, haha.....

Last 15 second lift is called "bus drivers". Keep that plate at a 90deg angle out in front of you the whole time, and do exagerated wide figure 8's, almost as if the plate was a steering wheel, and you are swerving side to side. Do this non stop for 15 seconds.


Once you are done, rest for a minute, and repeate. Do the above lifts 3 total times. So that should be 5 minutes total. This is a fantastic lift for pretty much every muscle from your shoulders on down. Killer for shoulders and forearms though. Realistically you dont even need a plate, you could pour cement into a circular container and use that, alot cheaper too. Just make sure you dont rest too much, if you are doing it right, you will be really struggling on those bus drivers.

-last lift I think was called the farmers walk. If you have 4 small steel plates (5-10lbs) those would work best. But you could swap them for any flat object in this weight range. You simply clamp your hands ontop of, and either side of two plates (thumb on one, fingers on the other). Make sure its a flat surface and you cant really grip anything. That way its literally just the horizontal force of your fingers, hands, and forearms that are clamping the 2 weights together. Find some sort of path (aka the perimeter of a backyard), and speedwalk that path while holding the weights down at your sides. You should be nearly dropping them by the time you get back. Do this 3 times, short rest in-between.

 

[TNThomas]

A good exercise for arm strength. Get get a 2 foot segment of clothes hanger bar or similar diameter wood or metal bar. Drill a hole in the center and add 5 feet of paracord or rope. Tie a 5-10 pound weight to the other end of the rope. Now standing on a workout bench, roll the rope up and down the bar with your arms parallel to the floor. You can also buy a fancy one.
View attachment 1276293
Feel the burn!

This one is great. Cut whatever you are using (I use a big wooden dowel), to whatever width is comfortable on your wrists too. Too narrow is no bueno.

 

[jbett98]

 

[41mag]

regular grip "squeeze" exercisers?

Several centuries ago when I was involved in increasing my own forearm/finger strength, 2 specifics worked well:

The antiques mechanical 'squeeze grip' coiled spring device, and finger-tip push ups. Plus working in truck tire service shop for a few years helped.

Good luck. Daily routine increasing single set reps until you can do 10x whatever your starting level was. Then add a second set. Daily is important.
One advantage is practically zero cost. Another is you learn a bit about self motivation & observing effects of such in measurable time frame.

ETA: almost forgot the 'Potato sack' exercise:

Get a 10# burlap potato sack. Stand with extended arms in front of you, both hands on brim of sack. Roll up sack, repeat. When you get to 50 reps without break, add a potato. Then a second, etc.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

I played O-Line at UW, my strength coach, now with the Seahawks (Ivan Lewis), had us do a few different things in this area. A few good ones:

-Get two 5 gal bucket and fill them with sand. Set them so they are on either side of you. Force your hands all the way on so they are completely submerged. Then just simply go from fully opened to closed, almost as if you are grabbing at the sand. This one is great. Literally had buckets of sand in our weight room just for this. You could get by with just 1 bucket too, and simply rotate hands.

-One of my favorites, and its a killer:
1 minute long per set, and this consists of 4-15 second long seperate lifts all as fast as you can, just make sure you are doing the full range of motion. Try to do this 3 times. I use a 45 lb plate, but most folks will probably want a 25lb plate. But you could really do this with any heavy item, standard plates work the best though.

Sit down on a bench/chair, log/whatever. Just make sure you are sitting on the very edge. And you are sitting the whole time.

Look at a clock on the wall, and choose a starting time (if you are doing this right, you will be moving too fast, and be too tired, to look at a watch). Choose a time to start, I usually start at the 12 mark. Grab either side of your iron plate, your hands will generally be in the same location for all 4 lifts. At the go mark, start doing as many military presses as you can as fast as you can. If you can do about 20reps, you have a good weight. Once the 15 seconds is up you move straight to the next lift.

The next one is called "punches," you are just violently pulling that weight towards your chest and "punching" it out away from you, as fast and hard as you can for 15 seconds. Then to the next one dont freaking stop!

Not sure what these are called but essentially you keep your torso still (as to focus on shoulder/arm muscles), drop that weight between your legs (remember your sitting on the edge), holding on to either side of your plate, keep your arms straight, and then lift the weight up in front of you, as high as you can comfortably do (full range of motion), similar to a lateral raise, but in front. Do this as fast as you can for 15 seconds. Quit feeling sorry for yourself you are almost done, haha.....

Last 15 second lift is called "bus drivers". Keep that plate at a 90deg angle out in front of you the whole time, and do exagerated wide figure 8's, almost as if the plate was a steering wheel, and you are swerving side to side. Do this non stop for 15 seconds.


Once you are done, rest for a minute, and repeate. Do the above lifts 3 total times. So that should be 5 minutes total. This is a fantastic lift for pretty much every muscle from your shoulders on down. Killer for shoulders and forearms though. Realistically you dont even need a plate, you could pour cement into a circular container and use that, alot cheaper too. Just make sure you dont rest too much, if you are doing it right, you will be really struggling on those bus drivers.

-last lift I think was called the farmers walk. If you have 4 small steel plates (5-10lbs) those would work best. But you could swap them for any flat object in this weight range. You simply clamp your hands ontop of, and either side of two plates (thumb on one, fingers on the other). Make sure its a flat surface and you cant really grip anything. That way its literally just the horizontal force of your fingers, hands, and forearms that are clamping the 2 weights together. Find some sort of path (aka the perimeter of a backyard), and speedwalk that path while holding the weights down at your sides. You should be nearly dropping them by the time you get back. Do this 3 times, short rest in-between.

Excellent info., thx much! Having watched Leatham teaching I'm realizing how important arm and hand strength is. He had one guy with very strong forearms and hands hold the gun on target. Then he (Lataem) hit the trigger with a magic marker as hard as he could (ie worst possible trigger "jerk") and bullet was exactly on target because gun did not move (was on target) at the time it went off.

 

[BWH]

milk cows...by hand!

 

[carpcousin]

So many ways... https://ironmind.com/Grip/

But for something that you can keep within reach and squeeze off a set at any given time at your desk, in the car, walking to the restroom, etc. - the gripper can't be beat for it's combination of convenience and muscle group engagement. You need to move beyond the silly novelty versions with soft, cheap springs we are all familiar with and treat this element of strength building the way you would any other resistance training. Starting with getting at least two real grippers. If you want to go down the rabbit hole and obsess over building your grip, there's lots more you can explore, but real grippers are square one if you aren't already in a trade or sport that naturally builds and maintains hand strength. The link above has a lot of great product.

 

[Dr Prepper]

Very interesting. Do you know does this help with tennis elbow? Seems to take around 4 months for that to go away for me. Drives me nuts in the rare times I get it.

This whole shebang is totally bait.! No literally!