How to Work Your Forearms With Wrist Curls (and Reverse Wrist Curls)
The humble wrist curl is an underrated exercise unless you live in one of the corners of the internet where it’s popular, in which case you’ll have a million questions about how to do wrist curls and which types are the best. The truth is, they’re not magic (and the details don’t really matter), but they’re definitely worth a try.
What are wrist curls?
Think about biceps curls, in which you work your biceps by bending your elbow. Wrist flexion is the same idea, but you use the carpi flexors (the fleshy muscles on the inside of your forearm) to flex your wrist.
Wrist curls can be performed standing (arms hanging down) or sitting (forearm resting on a horizontal surface, such as the top of your thigh, palm facing up). They are most often performed with dumbbells, but you can also use a barbell, resistance bands, or anything else comfortable.
What are reverse wrist curls?
They use the opposite muscles – the wrist extensors. To do this in a seated position, place your forearm on your knees or on a bench, palm down. To perform a reverse wrist curl, lift the back of your hand toward the ceiling.
Reverse wrist curls, like the regular version, can be performed seated or standing, with any weight, but are most often performed with a dumbbell.
What are the benefits of wrist curls and reverse wrist curls?
Muscle mass . These exercises strengthen the muscles on the front and back of your forearms, so if you’re training for muscle mass or appearance, wrist curls will help you get meatier forearms. If you think your vein-covered forearms look hot, curling your wrists will help you accentuate that look (though it’s important to remember that the appearance of your veins has a large genetic component, and also depends on the amount of fat you have in your body).
Grip strength . This also has a big functional benefit: wrist curls (especially regular, palms up) curls improve your grip. It’s impossible to isolate just the wrist flexors, especially if you’re holding something heavy, so you’ll end up working the finger flexors and hand muscles as well. A comprehensive grip strength workout will not only include wrist curls, but wrist (and finger) curls will form the basis of almost any grip workout.
Tendon health . Wrist curls may help if you’re prone to golfer’s elbow or tennis elbow, two conditions that involve irritation or pain in the tendons surrounding your wrist. Anecdotally, wrist curls often help people with golfer’s elbow, while reverse wrist curls often help people with tennis elbow. Feel free to try these exercises as a preventive measure or to see if they help calm a flare-up, but if you’re experiencing real pain or the pain doesn’t go away, seek help from a physical therapist or other health care professional. . Not everything can be fixed with a magic exercise from the Internet.
How to do wrist curls?
There are several ways to do this, so try a few types and choose your favorite.
Standing Wrist Curls
I like to work out standing with a barbell. I hold the barbell with an underhand grip and raise my wrists up with my palms facing the sky. Then I lower the barbell and pick it up again with my palms facing me. I do another set, this time doing reverse wrist curls, trying to lift the backs of my hands toward the sky.
I also like to add finger curls to this routine. I’ll actually do a finger curl first in the same position as a regular wrist curl (palms facing away from me). When I can no longer curl my fingers, I switch to wrist curl and then change my wrist curl. Then I rest for a minute and start the cycle again.
Another way to do this is to stand with a barbell behind your back. Palms facing away from you. Bend your wrists to lift your palms up. Some people like them better than the type I described above.
Wrist curls while sitting on your knees (or on a bench, or on a table)
This type combines wrist and finger flexion. You can do this with a barbell or dumbbells. Rest your forearm on your knees (or kneel behind a bench, or use any comfortable flat surface, such as the top of a reverse hyper machine).
With your palm facing upward, allow the dumbbell to roll toward your fingertips, descending as low as possible toward the floor. Then curl your fingers toward your palm, and once the dumbbell is secure in your hand, continue the movement so that your palm faces your body.
In the reverse version there will be no finger. Simply hold the dumbbell in your hand, palm down, with your forearm resting on the surface as above. Raise the back of your hand as high as possible, keeping your forearm completely flat on the surface.