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Will squats make my forearms bigger? (Read 34592 times)

reeve

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#75 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 07, 2011, 11:37:16 pm
Can anyone clarify for me please, if the intention is to create better conditions for hypertrophy of the forearm muscles, does that mean that the complexes are likely to induce hypertrophy in the shoulder muscles too? Or perhaps more accurately, a lot of hypertrophy in the shoulders? A bit of extra shoulder burl would probably benefit me, but I'd be quite paranoid about gaining a lot of muscle there.

Paul B

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#76 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 07, 2011, 11:41:14 pm
no offence but you're hardly Ronnie Coleman.

Muenchener

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#77 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 08, 2011, 06:32:47 am
i stopped reading here

Quote
You can send your athletes to all the yoga classes in the world, but the overhead squat develops athletic flexibility.

he clearly knows nothing
If you're not being ironic, then you're utterly wrong.

(a) Dan John, from the articles I've read by him, seems to very thoroughly know what he's talking about
(b) He's definitely right on this particular point. I have practiced yoga for over ten years, including five months at a yoga school in India. Having climbed for years before I started yoga - and being a western male who sits on chairs - I had almost zero hip mobility. Normal yoga exercises helped somewhat, but is wasn't until I started (bodyweight) squatting that I made real progress. My yoga teacher in India explained that the reason squatting isn't taught much in yoga schools is because it's an undignified posture no self-respecting brahmin yoga teacher would want to be seen in in public, not because it doesn't work.

Krank

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#78 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 08, 2011, 07:49:54 pm
easy now, its a joke mate.

Falling Down

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#79 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 08, 2011, 07:50:56 pm
I thought that might be the case  :)

Muenchener

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#80 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 08, 2011, 08:26:40 pm
Oops, sorry, near-total failure of my internet irony sensor.

Anyway, I like explaining that the reason squatting isn't taught in yoga much/enough is because senior Indian yoga teachers don't want to appear to be taking a crap.

Krank

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#81 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 08, 2011, 08:32:49 pm
it never comes accross well, should have stuck in one these little fella's ;)

Serpico

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#82 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 08, 2011, 08:34:34 pm
it never comes across well, should have stuck in one these little fella's ;)

I prefer the ambiguity of leaving them out.

Stubbs

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#83 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 08, 2011, 11:09:36 pm
Overhead squats, even when only performed with an 8 kg powerclub hurt a lot, thanks all for introducing me to a new weakness testing exercise!  A bodyweight overhead squat feels about as likely as an 8C...

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#84 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 09, 2011, 08:31:30 am
Webbo/Shark (anyone with stiff upper back) maybe try these?



I do 2 sets of 10 Air Squats and 2 sets of 5 Wall Squats regularly now as part of a warm up in the gym, before running and before climbing - they have really loosened up my hips and my shoulders/thoracic spine. 

Once you get these down the OHS starts to feel easier.

Muenchener

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#85 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 09, 2011, 09:36:34 am
Why is he only doing some kind of half squat? He should try all the way down, arse to heels, with toes touching the wall: that's really hard.

(And iirc described in Self-Coached Climber as an exercise to illustrate why climbing front-on is a bad idea in many situations)

douglas

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#86 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 09, 2011, 03:05:39 pm
Overhead squats, even when only performed with an 8 kg powerclub hurt a lot, thanks all for introducing me to a new weakness testing exercise!  A bodyweight overhead squat feels about as likely as an 8C...

Lucky you! I can't do a single overhead squat with a broomstick...

Paul B

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#87 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 09, 2011, 03:23:32 pm
I've avoided doing anything with my legs for ages (dead weight?) but recently a lot of things in my lower body have been going 'twang'. Monday being the worst yet with something hamstring related (I think) really going and hurting badly.

Would these be a good starting point (once healed) to rectify these issues? Its been 3 pulls in about a month which seems very high seeing as though I'd never suffered before!

shark

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#88 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 09, 2011, 03:26:06 pm
Webbo/Shark (anyone with stiff upper back) maybe try these?



Nice one. Can do the first variant ok and almost do the second one with hands up properly but I think Webbo might need a spotter  ;D

Edit: Now done second variant.  :thumbsup: Right down too as described by Muenchener. I think having good hip turnout and a flexible lower back helps a lot with this. Also helps to focus on your balance/weight not transferring back onto your heels.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2011, 05:23:47 pm by shark »

Serpico

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#89 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 09, 2011, 07:02:15 pm
I've avoided doing anything with my legs for ages (dead weight?) but recently a lot of things in my lower body have been going 'twang'. Monday being the worst yet with something hamstring related (I think) really going and hurting badly.

Would these be a good starting point (once healed) to rectify these issues? Its been 3 pulls in about a month which seems very high seeing as though I'd never suffered before!

I'd go for prone bridge with your heels on a Swiss ball, extend and then curl your legs on the ball so that you roll the ball towards you.



Start with both heels on the ball and work up to using just one.

webbo

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#90 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 09, 2011, 08:43:57 pm
those squats might help with a stiff upper back but what if you have a stiff lower back.i suspect this is all a piss take at my expence however i will live on the past glory of once being able to squat 140k which is probably why my backs fucked.

webbo

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#91 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 09, 2011, 09:27:22 pm
yet again i fall for it.
 suckered in to trying wall squats.i wont be needing a shave for work in the morning.what i did find out was if i put a weights bar on my shoulders it was much easier and i could get my toes within an inch of the wall.
what was possibly more intresting was i found gripping the bar was causing my forearms to cramp probably due to climbing earlier but clearly holding a bar on your shoulders does strain your forearms and therefore may make them bigger.

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#92 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 10, 2011, 09:14:34 am
Finally got round to trying the Bolton complex last night. As a lad from Bury it has taken me a while to overcome the Bolton bias and give it a go  :P

I did a couple of sets with light DB's to try the moves/form. The over head squat/press is an amazing exercise. My left shoulder and right lower back are weaker than their opposites and this pin pointed them exactly. Should be good for sorting imbalances out. What a weird feeling struggling to press just a few kg's. Proud to say that i came nowhere near falling over and squatted bum to heels  :ang:

My favourite though is the straight arm pullover. I go to a chiropractor now and then to be cracked - especially between my shoulder blades. I did my first pullover accompanied by a loud crack and instant feel good factor. It normally costs me £30 a pop.

Going to become part of a regular routine now.

Cheers Serpico  8)

Serpico

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#93 Re: Will squats make my forearms bigger?
February 10, 2011, 10:16:27 am
Glad it's proving popular. Which version did you do? I'm now definitely favouring the Swiss ball version (although a bench would also do) as the push up segment of the original was a bit too easy and was never going to be progressive, and the pullover on the ball has a much greater range of motion.
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