"If you master building up your forearms you can lift the world" - So said the tree trunk with a Jamaican accent when asked how to gain bigger forearms.
The tree trunk in question was a former competing bodybuilder I had happened to ask at the gym what it took to get the Popeye sized forearms. His were bigger than a Louisville Slugger. And looked like he could take down walls with them.
The trunk in question was named Dennis. He was a professional bodybuilder at one point in his life. He seemed content to have left that world and entering the "retired" leg of working out. One thing he did point out though, his metabolism was so high, if he gave up heavy lifting he'd shrink. Now whether or not that was all paranoia in his head...you couldn't argue with results.
He was a very philosophical man. He told me to look around the gym and look at all the wrong way people work out. Bland. Bored. Just doing what they see others doing it. And it was all wrong. He never pointed anything out specifically but he seemed to enjoy giving and listening to all advice.
A very simple idea that Dennis pointed out: "If it hurts doing, then you're not doing it right, so stop doing it." Sounds simple. Not really. Too many people have too ingrained in themselves a technique that worked for them in the past. Yes that's good, if you're getting results. But bad form follows complacency. What he was reminding me was that I should look outside the box of working out and incorporate a form that isn't "common knowledge." His idea was that people forego form due to "common sense". Generally when doing a row, what do we do? We square up with a bench. Not so says he. Turn to the side at a slight angle and all of a sudden your triceps start to pop. It's all about slight adjustments.
The other thing he pointed out...look at what the serious bodybuilders are using as weights? Light weights. 25 pounds and under. Why? Because they care more about form then tugging painfully at a weight trying to induce muscle growth because size yields size. Not so says he. Muscle failure yields size and tone. All these guys at the gym curling huge weights seemed ridiculous to him. It was nothing but show and no grow. His advice...weight doesn't matter. The biggest strongest bodybuilding guys don't do the weights we think they do.
Lastly, before we parted ways he was kind enough to tell me his secret to larger forearms. Failure. Always to failure. Your muscle grows when it thinks it needs to do more weight. The more you exert, the more the muscles freak out and need to up the ante so that they can do the "work" involved. Not so much a secret as much as his way of telling me, don't worry about counting out the reps. The guideline is when you feel winded. He rarely did cardio. He called it "weight training cardio." Which seemed to mean he was burning fat doing weights. Proof was all there.
Most lifters get smug about their workouts. Dennis loved recommending magazines to get your knowledge. I asked him which one was best. His response "Any of them."
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