Forearm Training for Baseball

The number one question I am asked by hitters is, "How do I strengthen my forearms?" The good news is - athletes want to improve and want to know the right way to do it! So let's talk about training the forearms specifically and in some detail.

When describing forearm strength you have to first speak about gripping strength. Simply put, without a strong grip (hand strength) it will be impossible to efficiently use the larger flexors, extensors, pronators and supinators of the lower arm. The analogy I like to use is the one taught to me by former head women's UCLA track coach Bobby Kersee. To make a long story short, during the winter months his runners would jog barefooted at low intensities for what seemed like miles and miles. The philosophy behind this was to strengthen the muscles of the feet and lower leg so there would be no breakdown in the delivery of force to the ground by the more powerful quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes. And due to the delicately constructed racing shoe, the dynamics of sprinting could easily injure a weak foot or lower leg. I later successfully applied this barefooted philosophy to the men's basketball team during the off-season, in an effort to improve foot, ankle and lower leg strength. Keeping in mind that a baseball athlete throws, catches or swings with one or both hands, you can see how weakened or injured wrists or hands can not compliment upper body strength.

The hand (fingers) has its own flexors, extensors, abductors and adductors. The abductors and adductors are primarily for the 5th finger and the thumb and its rotation. The larger and longer muscles of the lower arm flex and extend the hand but also flex, extend, pronate (palm down) and supinate (palm up) the wrist. Another movement that is seldom talked about or trained is deviation. With the arms to the side and palms facing the body, deviation is the wrists ability to bring the thumb vertically to the forearms and the 5th finger to the rear of the forearm. This is a common motion when using a hammer and an important function of the wrist during the swing.

Now that we have discussed the boring but important anatomy, let's now discuss the nuts and bolts of strengthening. Beginning with strengthening the grip, the fingers need to be exercised individually. A tennis ball or a squeezable object that will fit in the palm of the hand is perfect. Pressing each finger individually into the object for a specific number of repetitions is a good start. There are some equipment companies that have rubber web-like finger exercisers that are beneficial. The strength of flexing (closing) the hand can be complimented by training the extending (opening) of the hand. For this, all that is necessary is rubber bands or the previously mentioned web-like apparatus. Connecting the rubber-band(s) from the thumb to the finger(s), extend (open) as far as possible. You might think this is easy but if you have not done this before, your mind will change quickly when you try this. Opening the hand is an overlooked exercise for pitchers who continually close their hand on a ball but never create balance in the forearm with opening the hand against resistance. This might prevent or reduce the risk of injury around the forearm musculature and elbow joint in the throwing arm.

Gripping with the entire hand is the next step in the progression. There are many good tools available and I think that the tennis ball (or similar objects) and the v-shaped spring-loaded gripper are the best. Additionally, squeezing objects of various size and resistances are beneficial. This changes the range of movement, thus changing the effect on the musculature.

Step three in the progression is performing the less familiar deviation. Performing deviation before flexion, extension, pronation and supination lies in the fact that the former is a finer, weaker movement and when performed after the work of the larger muscles, would result in a lesser quality effort. I prefer the use of a one-ended dumbbell to effectively train this movement. You will find that the movement performed with the weight to the rear of the grip will require more weight but to maintain the balance of work, keep the repetition range the same for both exercises.

Pronation and supination can be worked in one set. Using the same one-ended dumbbell that is used for deviation, rest the forearm on a bench where the hand can move freely in a metronome fashion, i.e., left, right, left, right, etc. The end of the dumbbell should never go below the level of the forearm during the movement. The medial and lateral collateral tendons of the elbow joint are very important to the throwing arm and should be strengthened but at a controlled, slow pace. Because of this, the weight being used should be such that there is no jerking of the dumbbell in any direction. Injury to the medial collateral ligament of the elbow is a common throwing injury and can result in surgery - Tommy John surgery - if the injury is bad enough. Since the throwing motion almost always results in pronation, it may be necessary to perform an extra set or two of supination only to balance the amount of work and strength ratios.

Flexion and extension are simple movements that are improved by using variety when performing them. Here are a few variations:

1. Cables - standing, one-handed with a handle or two-handed with a bicep or triceps attachment.
2. Barbell or e-z curl bar
3. Dumbbell
4. Seated placing the forearms on the top of the thighs leaving only the wrist to move freely.
5. Placing the forearms on top of a bench or table leaving only the wrist to move freely.

The repetition scheme should follow a normal periodized program in that a higher repetition range should be used to condition early, and a lower repetition range should be used for hypertrophy (if needed) and strength. Normally I would be able to assign a certain repetition range for various times of the year but I have found that for the forearms - and calves - gains in size and strength have been individual to the athlete. To generalize I can only say that off-season work seems to be in the 12-20 repetition range and in-season work is performed between 6-12. I will say this, be careful not to perform high volume work during the season regardless of the poundage. Swinging a bat and throwing a ball everyday takes a quiet toll on the forearm. Without warning, it seems wrist and elbow problems pop up out of nowhere and mostly from an overuse syndrome. In-season, once or twice per week is enough to affect forearm strength. I would also mention that forearm training should be done the last day of the training cycle, or at least after all upper body work is done and after any hitting or throwing drills.

An issue that invariably rises is that of using "straps" to help with the grip during certain movements, particularly pulling movements. It is the contention of some that straps should not be used because it limits the improvement of grip strength. To me it is an illogical thought unless your sport is solely dependent on grip strength. Why limit your pulling development by grip strength when you can maximize the development of the muscles being used with the use of straps and train your grip/forearm strength specifically and separately instead of indirectly. Weightlifters use straps when they train even though they cannot on the competition platform! If it is good enough for them then it should be okay for non-competitors. Sure, there are times when it is beneficial to put the straps or grips to the side but I would encourage the use of straps and schedule specific grip/forearm training as a separate body part.

Although the two most commonly used forearm exercise are wrist curls and reverse wrist curls (flexion and extension of the wrist), gripping strength and the less commonly known deviation should be the priority if one is to optimize forearm training. In summary, to effectively train for gripping and forearm strength, the training progression and priority should be as such:

1. Fingers
2. Gripping using the entire hand
3. Deviation
4. Pronation/supination
5. Flexion/extension

As a thrower and hitter, be careful not to over train this area, particularly during the season when the volume of specific baseball activities increase.