The Student Room Group

Gym Tips

Right ive been goin to the gym for about 4 months now and ive started noticing some parts of my bod are slightly out of proportion to the rest...

mainly my forearms but also my lower abs too. Can anyone recommend and resistance excercises to beef up my forearms (front and back). I do about 200 crunches when im at the gym but my upper abs are much more toned and larger than my 2 lower ones.

Again can sum1 recommend some good excercises for the lower abs (not cruches or sit ups) that will actually bring em out more!

thx :biggrin:
Reply 1
alkaeda
Right ive been goin to the gym for about 4 months now and ive started noticing some parts of my bod are slightly out of proportion to the rest...

mainly my forearms but also my lower abs too. Can anyone recommend and resistance excercises to beef up my forearms (front and back). I do about 200 crunches when im at the gym but my upper abs are much more toned and larger than my 2 lower ones.

Again can sum1 recommend some good excercises for the lower abs (not cruches or sit ups) that will actually bring em out more!

thx :biggrin:


wrist curls and 1minute holds - if you're training the rest of your body correctly most find they grow from other lifts indirectly.

200 crunches won't do ****. abs are made in the kitchen. start with weighted crunches and weighted leg raises, v-ups, leg raises from floor etc etc.
lower abs: lay on back, arms by your side, cross ankles over and bring them up to your chest, then out straight...do as many reps as you want...
Reply 3
alkaeda
Right ive been goin to the gym for about 4 months now and ive started noticing some parts of my bod are slightly out of proportion to the rest...

mainly my forearms but also my lower abs too. Can anyone recommend and resistance excercises to beef up my forearms (front and back). I do about 200 crunches when im at the gym but my upper abs are much more toned and larger than my 2 lower ones.

Again can sum1 recommend some good excercises for the lower abs (not cruches or sit ups) that will actually bring em out more!

thx :biggrin:


Okay. For lower abs, try hanging leg raises.. the name is self explanitory really. Also I think crunches on a decline bench works that as well.

200 crunches will not make the muscle grow nearly as fast as it could. You should use weights because brunches alone are pretty easy. Get a plate and hold it behind your head or to your chest (former is harder becuase further distance from the pivot gives greater moment against you). Aim for a weight that you can do 5-10 crunches with and that should be good.

For forearms.. lots of people dont train these directly becasue they are used in lots of other exercises but there are specific ones. If you have a plate at home there is a nice one to try. Get a short piece of wood about 1 foot long, put a hole through it and thread a piece of string 1.5m through it and tie a knot. tie the other end of the string round a plate. Hold the piece of wook in front of you and turn it with your hands to wind the string up around it and lift the plate. unwind it at the same speed, you should really feel it in your forearms.

Do you do deadlifts? these should work the forearms (as well as a ton of other muscles).

Wrist curls are also good like erk said and you can do this with a barbell or dumbells. Also maybe consider trying hammer curls instead if you are doing regular dumbell curls as that works the forearms too. You can also get those things that are like nutcrackers but dont actually crack nuts they just have a spring to give a resistance.

"abs are made in the kitchen"

Thats a good quote !
Reply 4
lessthanthree
Mik1w is usually relatively up on this stuff.

Ehy thanks!
imasillynarbm cambridgemuscle and erk defincately seem more experienced than I am though, their advice is good stuff
alkaeda
Right ive been goin to the gym for about 4 months now and ive started noticing some parts of my bod are slightly out of proportion to the rest...

mainly my forearms but also my lower abs too. Can anyone recommend and resistance excercises to beef up my forearms (front and back). I do about 200 crunches when im at the gym but my upper abs are much more toned and larger than my 2 lower ones.

Again can sum1 recommend some good excercises for the lower abs (not cruches or sit ups) that will actually bring em out more!

thx :biggrin:

ask lil q or somthing, his body = AMAZING! :eek:
Reply 6
The topic seems to be pretty well covered already, but as a general guideline:
high reps, low intensity = fat burn and toning
low reps, high weight = muscle building

the actualy proportions are very individual. I find i get good toning of hte muscle by just doing heavy weights a medium numeber of times (10 - 15). But optimal growth is at 6-8 reps.

Lower abs are the hardest muscle to build on the stomach. As mik1w said, leg raises are good. Also, lying down on your back, and jsut holding your your feet a foot off the ground with legs straight is good. There are lots of variations, I use a medicin ball between my feet for leg raises, so there is a little extra weight.

For arms different people like different things. I prefer to isolate muscles, while others prefer compound excercises. Try and see what works for you.

P.S. I know everyone says it, but it really is individual, it took me a few months to work out which excercises i liked. As some really dont do anything for me.
Reply 7
You can't work your lower abs seperately to your upper, so your upper abs are not infact more "toned" than your lower. The problem you will have is that the "last bit" of fat you can remove from your body so to speak, is for most people in the lower stomach region(covering those bottom 2), so if you want to see them, you need to lose fat.

Whats this **** about high reps toning? High reps do absolutely bugger all other than improve muscular endurance and fill the muscle with blood.

For forearms, its difficult, on the one hand there are a few specific exercise you can do to build your forearms, but the fact that your forearms are disproportionate to the rest of your body probably indicates that your routine is lacking in a few areas. Personally I've never done any forearm exercise ever, the closest I've come to isolating forearm muscles is a barbell curl - your forearms should get a massive workout from deadlifts/shrugs and other compound exercises. So if I were you I'd work on getting a proper routine going, one that is based on compound movements and leaves no muscle in your body un-trained.
Reply 8
I dont even know what "toned" means .. :-\
Reply 9
some great advice here thx alot youll all be repped pretty soon :biggrin:
one thing - what is a deadlift/ what muscles does it use and how can i perform one?
Reply 10
http://www.planetvids.com/html/Ronnie-Coleman-Lifts-800-Pounds.html

that is a deadlift. make sure you get your form right before using heavy weights though, you can do a lot of injury.
Reply 12
Can anyone explain the difference between mixed grip and overhand grip?
Reply 13
one underhand and one overhand whereas overhand is both overhand. :smile:
Reply 14
Thanks but I meant as in the effects of the different grips.. as in is one easier than the other, does one work forearms more?
Reply 15
most people find a mixed grip to be easier