Pullups and the strenght of forearms

Pull-ups are great for developing back muscles and that is the main reason for doing them. Sometimes, though, we cannot do the series of pull-ups needed to develop the back, because our forearms give out first and our fingers open up on the bar.

Hanging on a pull-up bar

The best exercise to develop your forearms is to hang on the bar with your arms straight. Try to do this exercise at least a few times a day for 20-30 seconds and your forearms will get stronger in no time.

Hanging for the advanced

If your forearms are strong but you want to make them even stronger, we suggest training with a towel. It is the same exercise as the one above, except that you wrap a towel around the bar. The bar gets thicker and the towel turns on the metal, so your forearms have to work much harder to hold on.

Other options

Hangboard

If you want to train your forearms the way climbers do, get yourself a hangboard. Hangboards carry many different types of hold, each loading the forearm to a different degree.

Grip trainer

If you have a grip trainer at home, you can train with that too. Remember, though, that what you are after is endurance, not maximum strength. Instead of squeezing it rhythmically, squeeze it once and hold it closed for as long as you can.