Why lift?

Lifting has many benefits, most of which are centered around masculinity:

  • Becoming physically fit and healthier
  • Becoming physically attractive
  • Raising testosterone levels
  • Discovering your limits
  • Challenging yourself
  • Gaining confidence

The longer your lift, your physical changes are increasing noticeable: broader shoulders, thicker legs, reduced bodyfat, and generally more masculine features. These cues are picked up by the people around you -- women are attracted to such men, and men will measure themselves against you.

With this in mind, I want to call out one area that many men don't appreciate as being an important physical cue: grip strength and forearm size. Popular culture (and trainers) may focus more on abs and pecs, but once you observe someone with thick, muscular forearms, you will want to get to work improving your own toothpicks.

My arms are fine

I'm not talking exaggerated cartoon arms like Popeye, but well-defined and vascular muscles, the perfect extensions to strong biceps and triceps (upper arm) and deltoids and traps (shoulders). Rock climber's arms.

Want examples? How about Andy Serkis in Black Panther, Chris Hemsworth, or Brad Pitt? Even these pictures of Redditors.

And frankly, rolled up sleeves demonstrate strength and capability as well as wearing a tight tee or tank top, without coming off like a gym bro. It works anywhere you can dress casual: in the office or the shop, on the golf course or at the game, running errands or at the bar.

Testimonial

I recall many years ago when dating my wife, she casually mentioned one of the things she found attractive about me were my wrists. It struck me as odd, because I really didn't have much going on there. My arms were "normal sized", but I grasped that the interest was more symbolic than physical. While driving, working with hand tools, or just rolling up my sleeves, my hands and wrists were the physical embodiment of strength, action, and confidence.

Thus, even after nearly 2 years of lifting and joining the 1000 lb club, my grip strength was still lacking. All of my deadlift PRs were made using straps, and my forearms simply never kept up with my upper body improvements. Following advice from /r/fitness, I jumped over to /r/griptraining and incorporated a basic routine into my workout on January 1st. Now, with nearly 3 months of progress, there is a measurable and visible improvement in my forearms. This has become one of my new favorite "lifts", and I have already made it a permanent part of my program.

In addition, it also helps in the bedroom. Not only does she run her hands down my back and shoulders, she now grabs my arms during sex. And I can use them effectively for dominance play, being both strong and gentle: a tight grip when I hold her arms above her head, cradling the back of her neck when I pull her to me, or lightly resting a palm against her throat.

How to start?

This isn't just about ordering a hand grip trainer for use at your desk, but performing specific exercises:

  • Pinch Lift: Take 2 plates of the same size, facing each other so that the lip is inside and the flat is outside. Now use an overhand grip and pinch them together, then lift and hold for as long as possible (10-15 seconds).
  • Towel training: Instead of gripping a heavy object directly to pick it up, wrap a towel around and grip that instead for your lifts. Alternately, wrap a towel around the pull up bar, and build your forearms while training your back.
  • Barbell wrist curls: Starting with an empty or modestly loaded barbell, take either an overhand or underhand grip, and hold the bar so that your forearms are at about 45 degrees to the floor, the "back" of your hand is vertical and your knuckles are down. Now flex your wrists so that your hands "roll" up 90 degrees, lifting the weight, but keeping your forearms steady.
  • Sledge rotations: Grip a full size 8 or 12lb sledgehammer at 4-6 inches from the head, and hold it out in front of you horizontally. Now rotate your wrist, so that the head of the hammer lifts up and over, and the sledge rotates 180 degress, then rotate it back to the start position. The entire motion should be slow and controlled. As you progress, choke further down the handle (an inch at a time) to increase the challenge.

With each of these, find a weight that you can do comfortably for 3-4 sets at 12-20 reps, with 60 or 90 seconds between sets. The pump you will feel in your forearms is a reward all on its own, but seeing your skinny wrists thicken up will keep you coming back for more. And people will notice, because thick, vascular arms are a cue for strength and masculinity, even for those who don't pay specific attention to forearms.