Forearm Bar Review by Dr. Wong

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-Dr. Wong

Review from Flex Magazine 2011

As unusual as it is for a bodybuilder to bring his own barbell to a pump-up room, Toney Freeman took it a step further at the last Mr. Olympia. He carried something his fellow competitors had never seen before: a Monster Barbell Forearm Bar. This unique, padded bar has a plate sleeve in the center, and it forms an elongated M. The angles allow you to perform wrist curls, reverse wrist curls and forearm flexion curls all while standing with a fuller range of motion than its straight-bar seated counterparts. It nails the crucial contractions that other forearm excercises miss. You’ll Probably never use it before posing at the Mr. O, but it can give you an O-worthy arm pump.

-Greg Merritt

I received the Forearm Bar and I have to tell you... You've done it again! I was highly impressed with the original Pro Series Forearm Bar and it's versatility in training baseball players, but this updated version adds a whole new dimension to preparing my ball players for the demands of the diamond.

It's no secret that forearm strength and power will help batters with more solid contact at the plate, more bat speed through the hitting zone, and greater distance on hits. But until now they have had to change from barbells, to dumbbells, to squeezing tennis balls, to buckets of rice. Now you can get superior results with one piece of equipment.

And it works great for pitchers, catchers, and outfielders who need to get every bit of strength in their throws as well. Getting that last explosive snap of the wrist adds that "little something" to throws that would have otherwise not gotten the job done. Add to that the ability to work a pitchers forearm in a "pitching specific" motion of snapping off a curveball or slider and you've got a great tool in your hands.

Simply put, any baseball player that does not train with the forearm bar is not reaching their full potential... Period!

-Coach Dan Huff, CSCS
Owner BaseballStrength.com

This is Julian Garyk, the tennis pro from Connecticut. I wanted to give you some feedback on how my testing of your equipment is going so far and its impact on my tennis (and golf game). Initially I struggled using it but once I reduced the weight it worked great. Anyway, yesterday I played two tough back to back matches against players much younger and stronger than me.

In the past I would hold my own but would falter down the line. Yesterday my ball striking was unbelievable and this was the first time in two years that I dominated both players. Additionally, I have been hitting golf balls on the driving range and feel so much stronger (I notice that I am using less of my back & hips to drive into the ball... feels almost effortless). I am going to have a couple of my other players work with the bar and see how it impacts their game as well. This is great stuff.

-Julian Garyk
Tennis Professional

The Following Artical Is From Steve Holman’s Critical Mass Column

In the December ’04 Critical Mass I outlined how to build forearm mass; however that was before I discovered a new bar that Jonathan Lawson and I have been using in our workouts. It’s called the Forearm Bar and it was sent to us by Monster Barbell Co.

It’s a uniquely angled short bar, shaped like a wide V, with a weight sleeve in the middle so you can add barbell plates. You stand gripping the bar at arm’s length and do wrist curls, reverse wrist curls and extensor wrist curls over the full range. Jonathan and I have been using it along with X Reps in our forearm routine, and we’ve gotten some wild new detail in our lower arms, not to mention strength and vascularty.

The Unique shape of the bar enables you to do full-range wrist curls and reverse wrist curls while standing allowing for dramatically increased forearm muscle activation.

Does this uniquely designed piece of equipment have the potential to quickly pack muscle and strength onto your forearms? Find out here.

Strong forearms and grip can make or break your training. If your forearms are weak, you won't be able to lift as much weight and you won't be able to hang onto bars or dumbbells as long. That means lower overall strength and muscle development.

Also, large, vascular forearms make you stand out in a crowd even while you've got your shirt on! Powerful-looking forearms simply jump out and make people take notice.

The Forearm Bar, an innovative piece of equipment from the Monster Bar Company, has taken a very unique approach to forearm training: use leverage to maximize the tension on the forearms.

Is this approach effective?

In the words of the maker of the Forearm Bar:

"The Forearm Bar off-sets the weight at 35 degrees and sets the hands at a seven degree angle. This allows you to stand and directly flex the weight for optimal range of motion resulting in substantially increased muscle concentration and forearm/wrist strength development. If you are currently using the barbell method, rolling up a weighted rope, using a tension controlled device or dumbbells to develop your forearms and wrist strength you're working with 50-60% efficiency."

So does the Forearm Bar live up to its claims? Here are my experiences with the bar:

1. The leverage mechanics of the bar definitely make the bar more effective in placing tension directly on the muscles of the forearms, even when in a standing position. With the unique design of the bar, the weight is located a few inches in front of the bar itself, allowing for a direct line of pull while in a standing position.

The benefit of this is dramatically increased forearm muscle activation without having to use as much weight, which means more muscle building for the effort you put in with less chance of injury!

2. The 7 degree angle of the handles is a more natural position for the wrists than a simple straight bar. One of the main problems with doing straight-bar barbell wrist curls and reverse wrist curls is too much is in the forced supination (the position where your palms are facing up), which places stress on the wrist joints. Over time, this can lead to injury. The Forearm Bar, by angling the handles, makes the wrist curl and the reverse wrist curl movement much more natural, giving you better results without wrist pain.

3. The construction is commercial-grade...very high quality and able to take the toughest abuse. This bar will last a lifetime.

4. This bar allows for one of the best pre-exhaust supersets for forearms that I've come across, allowing a person to really push the forearms hard for faster results in forearm strength and muscle-building.

5. The Forearm Bar, by working with leverage, allows you to use less weight than with regular barbells and still get greater tension on the forearm muscles. This means less joint stress and more muscle-building tension.

Conclusion:

If you're interested in a very effective and versatile piece of training equipment for the forearms the Forearm Bar is definitely something to add to your equipment roster. The Forearm Bar gives you a very strong pump in the forearms and the unique angles of the handles allows a more natural feel during the forearm exercises, making your hard forearm work more productive.

Forearm Bars

Monster Curl Bar

Olympic Bars

Standard Bars

EZ Curl Bars

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