[Hardy Daytona]

I'm going to advocate chin-ups and pull-ups.
I've been going to my gym for almost a year now and my forearms are much bigger than they have been in the past. I like to cross my arms whenever I can now just to show off the results.
Start off with narrow-grip facing in. After a couples of month I found I was able to do 6x6 (albeit with a little leg kicking at the end) and then switched to wide-grip facing out. Still need to make more progress there.
It's an energy-consuming exercise if you do reps with full shoulder extension so I'd recommend bringing it somewhere into the beginning of your routine.

[Kamikaze]

They make a big difference in my forearms when I use them, specifically for back exercises and the rare bicep curl. Still got bitch wrists though, dat bone structure.

If you're a cheap ass mofo, you can DIY

[OBERYN_]

I'd echo the use of Fat Gripz (I've never used them, though), deadlifts, captains of crush, farmers walk, etc.. However, realize that some of these exercises are meant for grip strength, not forearm hypertrophy. They'll help, for sure, but their intent is strength over size.

Forearms are like your calves, they are worked rather intensively throughout the day through simple grasping, typing, etc, so you have to shock them more than your chest, for example, for growth. I've had the most success with high rep wrist curls.

Also, your forearms can grow well. Your actual wrist bones are going to stay relatively the same. And there's not a lot of meat around your lower radius and ulna to really beef up. I have rather muscular forearms but I'm still using A LOT of my watch strap for a secure fit. Such is life.

[JacksonRev]

Any cleans. Snatch and the clean and press being particularly effective.

One arm kettle bell clean and press.

Work on a car/bike. Ever seen a mechanic with small wrists?

[Moma]

I also third the use of fat gripz. I've used them and they are bananas. Can't change the size of your wrists but you can thicken the tendons around them and cause the forearm muscles to snarl around the wrists giving the perception of raw gripping power.

[Gosh900]

You can't enlarge your wrists. It's shocking to see people recommending thing that are plain useless and not backed by anything. There aren't muscles in your wrists so the size is given by your genetics and you can't do anything to fix it.
The forearms are another thing. You can definitely grow them especially by doing heavy deadlift.

[Fortis]

Uh, correct me if I'm wrong but you can't add muscle to your wrists really. It's mostly just tendons and bone. You can mask your wimpy wrists with impressive forearm size, but the actual size of your wrists can't be modified (without surgery).

[PHC19]

WRT to training economy, deadlifts and chins are great. I have fat gripz, CoC grippers, and various other grip implements. They've mostly laid fallow in favor of the basics.

A "grease the groove" chinup program can be useful, without producing sub-optimal stress. Google "Recon Ron".

Ultimately, it comes down to genetics. Big benchers are typically big-boned. Strength training lays down bone tissue, but it's largely negligible.

Also, wrist wraps are cheap and highly useful. I have very small wrists (6.75"), have used them for years and can bench 350. Assistance gear can be invaluable in fortifying your weak points, so you can derive greater benefits from higher load training.

[Saweeep]

There seems to be some misunderstanding about what people mean by wrists.

If you mean the narrowest part, just below the bottom of the hand...there isn't much one can do.

If you mean the forearm itself...then all the gripper exercises etc are going to work brilliantly; but only from an inch or so away from the gnarly bone bit of the wrist.

[Spike]

Wear a big watch on both sides

But seriuosly, there's not much you can do on size but you can work the muscle on top of the wrisk. Don't know what its called. Stretch out your arm, like in a punch and pull your hand up, (knuckles facing eyes) the muscle that pops up then is trainable.

I workout forearm twice a week after biceps. (wednesday and saturday) Sometimes one time a week. You dont want a wrisk injury, it will have consequences for all you upperbody lifts.

[Spike]

https://youtu.be/A6dNNvWgtGY

I use this exercise for muscle mentioned above. At 0:24.

[H1N1]

I completely agree with everyone who has said you can't add significant size to the wrist in the same way you can a forearm. However, this is not to say you can't add significant strength. If you flex your wrist and touch the underside, you can see there are a number of tendons and ligaments going up to the bottom of the hand. These can be strengthened and thickened. You aren't going to add an inch to your wrist, probably, but these can be developed a bit, and as far as strength is concerned, you can build tremendous power in your hands and wrists despite a smaller bone structure. If you talk to any grip specialist, they will most likely tell you there is not necessarily a correlation between grip strength and forearm/wrist size.

The forearm is one of those areas where genetics are going to be particularly obvious, based on insertion points and bone structure. However, a lot of the forearm is tendon and ligament, most of which run down to the base of the hand. Strengthening these can give you strong, stable wrists and a powerful grip.

[H1N1]

Interesting paragraph in Alex Viada's new book:

"In addition to the enlargement of skeletal muscle, the connective tissue
surrounding the muscle is similarly enhanced/built up. Tendons strengthen
as muscles come under stress (though at a slower rate), and bone
attachment points become more robust. On top of this, the bone itself
responds to imposed load (both compression load and warping forces,
such as a muscle causing the bone to bow out under load) by layering
down new bone tissue, a process that is similarly slow but far more
permanent than other adaptations."

[Gumbril]

Pick up 2 plates and hold with a pinch grip until your grip gives
Sledgehammer supination/pronation (progressively increase distance from hammerhad to grip)

Take up grappling or rock climbing.

[Blackwell]

A. Forget about addressing the width of your wrist directly. It's largely a genetic component. The tendons can be strengthened as a consequence of your forearm training which is as follows.

B. Buy some Fat Gripz. Start off using them with your usual bicep routine. Then maybe add them to more of your pulling exercises. Pull ups, rows or whatever. Be creative. Add them to your pushes. Barbell curl with them. Dumbell curl with them. Cable curl with them. Find a way to use them that makes your workout difficult for you and figure out your progressions from there.

C. Once you have exhausted every single applicable training method with the standard blue Fat Gripz then purchase the XL Orange ones. The ones that are like the thickness of a coke can. You can find them on Amazon same as the originals.

D. Exhaust every training angle with the orange advanced Fat Gripz.

E. You now will have jacked forearms. Your grip strength will be so powerful you will be able to use it to assist all your other lifts. You will also have strengthened the tendons in your wrist in the process as a secondary consequence and will have wrists and forearms within 90 percent or so of their genetic capacity. (Natural)

F. Enjoy. You know longer have bitch wrists. Roll up the sleeves on your long sleeve work shirt. Have a stiff wank. Show everybody how you can now palm a basketball. Who cares. You have achieved success.

[Nascimento]

(05-26-2015 09:25 AM)Blackwell Wrote:  

A. Forget about addressing the width of your wrist directly. It's largely a genetic component. The tendons can be strengthened as a consequence of your forearm training which is as follows.

B. Buy some Fat Gripz. Start off using them with your usual bicep routine. Then maybe add them to more of your pulling exercises. Pull ups, rows or whatever. Be creative. Add them to your pushes. Barbell curl with them. Dumbell curl with them. Cable curl with them. Find a way to use them that makes your workout difficult for you and figure out your progressions from there.

C. Once you have exhausted every single applicable training method with the standard blue Fat Gripz then purchase the XL Orange ones. The ones that are like the thickness of a coke can. You can find them on Amazon same as the originals.

D. Exhaust every training angle with the orange advanced Fat Gripz.

E. You now will have jacked forearms. Your grip strength will be so powerful you will be able to use it to assist all your other lifts. You will also have strengthened the tendons in your wrist in the process as a secondary consequence and will have wrists and forearms within 90 percent or so of their genetic capacity. (Natural)

F. Enjoy. You know longer have bitch wrists. Roll up the sleeves on your long sleeve work shirt. Have a stiff wank. Show everybody how you can now palm a basketball. Who cares. You have achieved success.

Have you noticed a big difference using the gripz in terms of hypertrophy?

When I used to deadlift frequently I started doing farmers walks around the gym 2-3x a week so that I could strengthen my grip to improve my DLs. My strength and grip resistance greatly improved, but my forearms stayed the same size.

I have thin wrists as it is and might need every bit of assistance I can get to maximize the size of my forearms.

[Blackwell]

@Nascimento

Absolutely I have. Increased size and vascularity. When I flex them they are solid as a rock.

I started off using them with all my standard bicep work that I do on pull day. I made solid gains that way.

I added them to chins up and man they blew up. They make your exercises so much harder you wouldn't believe. Your body quickly adapts in order to compensate.

Now I just mix it up and use them how I see fit to get the burn and pump I desire and go from them there.

Got the larger oange ones too. Haven't used them yet though I want to fully exhaust the originals before moving on up. Make sure you start with the blues first though.

Purchase them my friend, you won't regret it. They are the best training tool I have ever purchased. They are so versatile.

Since using them it has enabled to use kind of a hook grip on things like rows and deads. This is where you hook your four fingers round the bar, let it sort of hang and sit in that pocket and go from there. It means I don't shred up my calluses on the top of palm as much. I don't know if that's improper or not by standard training definitions but it works for me and feels more comfortable.

Shout out to MikeCF for the recommendation.

I believe they are a game changer. I'm going to do a fitness post soon with a whole of bunch of things I've come across in my experience that can help you take your training to the next level or help you catch up some lagging parts.

Look out for it.

[Nascimento]

Yeah eh. Perfect, sounds like exactly what I need.

Have you ever done farmers walks with them? I don't necessarily go heavy when I do them. I usually grab 40 lbs on each hand as my last exercise and do repeated sets until full exhaustion. Gets to the point I can't walk with them for more than a few meters.

Sounds like a game changer.

I only started taking measurements recently. My forearms are 28 cm at rest, unflexed. I'd like to see how much change this would bring about if I go hard with them for a few months.

I'll be on the lookout for that post for sure.

[Blackwell]

@Nascimento

Absolutely, I have. I normally wrap them around kettlebells that are 24kg so what's that? 55lbs ish? And yeah I do them burnout style similar to you.

I feel like a fat gripz sales rep haha but no I think you should invest in some for sure. I'm confident you will be pleased.

Will be up within the next week or so.

[germanico]

(04-05-2015 03:36 PM)TSC2295 Wrote:  

I can already do 10 pull ups before my grip fails.

Id say its your arms that should be failing, not your grip. Do you use free weights, or machines?

[christpuncher]

I can bench 195lbs 5x3. 2 weeks ago I went all out for a 1rm and got to 225, then couldn't make the lift at 230 (safety bars). All down the the exterior of my forearm ( in line with the pinky) just below my wrist it hurts. When I pronate my arm inward it REALLY hurts. Doesn't feel like muscle pain its gotta be a bone or ligament issue.

I have a feeling now it might be caused by weak wrists and the ligaments in my forearms not keeping up with my chest muscles. I also read it could be forearm splints, similar to shin splints, but now I'm thinking its a weak wrist thing.

I think also that my form was off a bit. I didn't have my grip wide enough and as a result my arms were angled inward at the bottom of the bench instead of vertical, so I might have been straining the outside of my forearm in an unbalanced way.

I'm going to keep it light weight on the bench for a while and work on my wrists and forearms. I already use the fattest bar at the gym and wear gloves, but I'll pick up some fat grips as well to try and improve.

[heavy]

I've had forearm tendinitis for about 6 years now. I started Arnold's plan a few weeks ago, which includes a lot of pull-ups and back exercises.

My forearms/hands have always burned like crazy after chest/back day. I went and bought these Harbinger Padded Lifting Strap from Dick's:
   

Used em today. They work like a dream. They take nearly all the hand and forearm out of back exercises.

Buy them if you have any wrist/forearm pain or concern you'll get pain.