Why You Should be Training Your Forearms

Did you know that weak forearms could be preventing you from improving and strengthening other muscles in your body? Forearm strength is required for a variety of different exercises, from rows to deadlifts. This means that if you lack that strength, your grip may not be as tight as it should be to achieve the desired results from your training.

So, what does this have to do with badminton? While badminton is a full-body sport, your forearm will play a considerable role in itself. Like workouts, having a solid grip while holding the racket is critical, which comes down to forearm strength. It also allows a player to confidently send a shuttle back over the net, smash it, or perform any other type of hit.

What Are Your Forearms?

Anything falling below the lower half of your arm, or anything after your elbow, is a part of your forearm. This includes the elbow joint, your radius, and your ulna. The ulna and radius bones are what allow your forearm to turn, resulting in your palm being able to change directions.

Your arms should become accustomed to the weight and movements of the racket as you begin to play badminton more often. However, this may not be enough training for most players as their grip strength should be tighter than what they would use in a basic training session.

 Since your forearm ends where your hand begins, it has a lot of control over your fingers and grip strength. Meaning that if you can improve your forearm strength, then your game should improve as well. Plus, your other muscles should see improvement as well after training.

Exercises to Strengthen Your Forearms

 The nice thing to keep in mind as you attempt these exercises or decide to implement them into your routine is that they impact multiple areas. While it may take time to see and feel the results, it has excellent benefits. You need to hang in there and keep improving your forearms.

 As we mentioned, the exercises will improve your forearm strength, grip, and hand strength, allowing your other muscles to have a better work workout. It’s crazy how improving one muscle can affect so many others.

While there are several exercises you can implement to improve this muscle, we will share some of our favorite suggestions.

Wrist Roller

Our first recommendation for you is the wrist roller, which requires a weight holder and a five-to-ten-pound weight if you are a beginner. You can add more weight as you became more familiar with and used to the exercise.

The idea is that you will raise the roller to be the same height as your shoulder while ensuring that your feet fall below your shoulders. Raise the weight, hold it for a few seconds, and slowly lower it back down to your starting point. Sets of fifteen to thirty are good for beginners to try.

The action of holding on to the weight holder as you lift it will help your grip strength. While lifting the weights will strengthen your forearms themselves.

Single Towel Pull-Ups

These are a more advanced form of pull-ups that are ideal for anyone who finds the typical form to be a bit too easy. They require a towel which is the key to making the exercise more effective for the forearms.

To begin, you will loop your towel around the center of a pull-up bar so that each hand has a side of it to hold onto. Then each hand, which should be clean and dry, will grip the towel about halfway up. A firm grip is necessary since that is what you are using to pull yourself up. Lower your body a bit, get into a traditional pull-up form, and begin your exercise.

A tight grip is needed to hold onto the towel, ensuring that your gripping strength is trained. This should strengthen and grow your forearms while improving your grip. Between the movements and needing to squeeze the towel, your forearms will get stronger in no time.

Hand Grippers

When it comes to portable and on-the-go exercise options, a hand gripper is it. They can fit just about anywhere, making them convenient and easy to use for someone busy. It also makes it simple to squeeze in some extra forearm training during the day.

The idea is that you should have two grippers, one for each hand. This allows you to squeeze both of them simultaneously while holding the grip as long as possible. Repeating this action will enable your forearms to get stronger as the pressure and duration increase over time.

Once you find that this exercise is becoming easy, you can bump up the resistance to ensure that you are continuously improving. 

Training Exercises to Do

Improving your forearms is not limited to just gym-related exercises. There are also a few different training drills or equipment that you can use.

Wall Drills

Not only will wall drills enable you to get more practice in, but they will also help your forearm. The idea is that you need to hit the shuttle hard enough for it to return to you, which requires substantial force. As soon as you hit it a few times, you will get a better idea of the right amount of force needed, and you can work up to it. 

Continually practicing with walls can allow your forearms to build up endurance to playing and swinging, which can do wonders for you in a match setting since games tend to go on for a while.

Try a Training Racket

If you feel confident in your current workout and routine, maybe you want to try something a bit simpler. That's where the training racket comes into play. They tend to be heavier than usual, requiring the players to use more force and grip strength to hit the shuttlecock.

Practicing with one more often and even using it for drills can improve your forearm strength. It may not build muscle necessarily, but it will improve them. Just make sure you alternate hands as you swing.

Improved Forearms

The next time you consider working out, training, or running drills, consider your forearms and how you feel about them. If you feel they could be better and need improvement, consider any of the exercises or training, we mentioned.