Weak Links

When you lift weights, what part of your muscle lets you down? Is it your pecs? Or, your lats? Or, your quads?

“No” is often the answer I hear because people often say “it’s my grip or my fore arms” that let you down when you lift heavy! Not the main muscles you are trying to hit!

So, let’s fix those weak links so you don’t stop lifting until your muscles are fully fatigued.

There are several ways to strengthen your grip and forearms. The first is an easy one you can do at home.

Take a newspaper and open it up at the central pages. With one hand screw up as many pages as possible then do the same with the other hand. Keep going until the paper has gone.

In the gym try doing a bicep curl with your hands over the bar rather than under it. You still hit your biceps but by holding it upside down you work your forearms too. Try the same with tricep push downs. Hold the bar with an underhand grip and get the same benefits as normal plus your forearms being strengthened.

Pick up 2 or 3 5kg weight plates in each hand and hold them as long as possible to work your grip strength. Hold them by their sides not the hole in the middle.

Or, hold a light dumbbell at one end and slowly rotate the wrist left and right to strengthen the forearm.

These four simple exercises can help you to improve your workouts and make them more efficient.

By Mark Dopson
Reynolds at Rainham