THE BEST FULL-GYM FOREARM WORKOUT

A gym towel can be used for more than soaking up sweat and protecting your modesty in the locker room. When used as a handle, it’s a cheap, portable, and highly effective tool for beefing up your forearms.

HOW IT WORKS

The forearms are best activated by exercises that have  you pulling and squeezing. Using a towel as an attachment for cable rows and pullups intensifies muscle recruitment. A lthough this workout targets your forearms, you can’t help but strengthen your back and biceps doing these exercises as well. A fter a few weeks, you’ll probably notice that conventional barbells, dumbbells, and cable attachments feel thin as pencils.

DIRECTIONS 

Perform the workout one day per week, spaced at least a day between any other back or biceps training. Hold the top (contracted) position in each rep for one second. Complete all sets for one exercise before going on to the next. 

1 TOWEL CABLE ROW

SETS: 3 REPS: 8 REST: 60 SEC.

Hook a towel to a cable pulley and stand in front of it. Set up to do a row, holding an end of the towel in each hand. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and row the towel to your rib cage.

 

2 TOWEL ROW TO CHEST

SETS: 5 REPS: 7 REST: 60 SEC.

Loop a towel around the bar of a lat-pulldown machine and hold an end of the towel in each hand. Your arms should be extended and at eye level. Brace one foot on the seat of the machine and pull the bar to your chest as in a normal row.  

3 TOWEL PULLUP

SETS: 4 REPS: 5 REST: 90 SEC.

Hang a towel over a pullup bar and grasp an end in each hand. Hang from the towel and then pull yourself up until your chin is above your hands. If that’s too difficult, simply hang from the towel for as long as you can.  

4 TOWEL KETTLEBELL CURL

SETS: 3 REPS: 6 (EACH SIDE) REST: 90 SEC.

Run the towel through the handle of a kettlebell, or wrap two towels around a pair of dumbbells as shown, and fold it in half. Hold both ends in one hand (for kettlebell), or both ends in each hand (dumbbells) and curl, keeping your upper arm stationary.