Relieve Tight Forearms With These 5 Moves
When you move to grab anything—a box, a baby, a kettlebell—you’re using grip strength to hold on to that item. Grip strength is a combination of strength and stamina in both your wrist and forearm, meaning many of your regular activities, whether you’re gripping dumbbells or (let’s be honest) your phone, can cause uncomfortable forearm tightness.
A strong grip is important—you certainly don’t want to drop a baby or a dumbbell on your toe, and research points to grip strength as a biomarker for better overall aging and longevity. But you also need healthy, mobile forearms, not tight, achy limbs. Here’s what to know about forearm tightness, and what to do for relief now and continued ease later.
Why you might have tight forearms
There are lots of potential reasons you could be experiencing tension in your forearms: your work desk setup, daily tech usage, your exercise recovery routine, even carpal tunnel syndrome. However, when it comes to your everyday habits, including your workouts, there are a few key culprits to watch out for.
Poor exercise form
“Improper technique when exercising or not being aware of technique can overextend parts of your body you don’t want to absorb load, such as the back, knees, and other joints—your forearms are no exception,” says Lacee Lazoff, CPT, a NASM-certified personal trainer, StrongFirst kettlebell level 1 and 2 trainer, and founder of Bells Up, an online strength training platform. “If you’re holding weights with a ‘broken wrist’ (flexion at the wrist, knuckles pointing downward), you’ll overload your forearms and can experience tightness.”
Inappropriate weight selection
The foundation of progressive overload training focuses on leveling up your workouts to make steady improvements in your performance and toward your goals, but the word progressive is there for a reason. You want to slowly, steadily increase the weights you’re working with, as going too heavy, too soon can set you up for injuries to your forearms or elsewhere.
“It’s important that you follow a well-programed strength-training routine that takes load management and movement variation and balance into account,” says Lazoff. Basically, don’t wing it.
“If you’re overloading the grip with back-to-back movement sequences that challenge the grip, it’s possible to overwork the forearms and experience unnecessary tightness,” she says. If you’re a gym-goer, mixing up exercises between machines and free weights can help you avoid this, she adds.
Everyday activities
Conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, arthritis, and inflammation can cause tightness in the forearms, so repetitive patterns of movement should be examined, then varied, suggests Lazoff.
So, your forearms could certainly get tight if you spend most of your workday typing at a computer, then spend most of the evening scrolling and texting on your phone. Reduce this tension by regularly stretching your hands, wrists, and forearms (find some examples below) and scheduling time away from tech, she says.
5 movements to relieve forearm tightness
These exercises from Lazoff will help to strengthen and stretch your achy forearms to ease tightness now and help prevent soreness later.
1. Self-release hand massage
Release tension in your forearms by starting at your hands. The relief can have a ripple effect.
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Squeeze the webbing between your thumb and forefinger of one hand using the same two fingers on the opposite hand.
Gently massage the area, applying light-to-moderate pressure for 5 to 10 seconds.
Release and repeat 5 to 10 times per hand. Massaging this area can feel uncomfortable at first, but can provide stress relief, as well as release tension in the hand/forearm.
2. Forearm foam roll
This can be done before or after a workout, or at any time your forearms are feeling tight, says Lazoff.
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Place a foam roller on the floor and kneel behind it.
Interlace your fingers, then hinge your hips to bend forward and down to place your forearm on the foam roller.
Apply gentle pressure by pushing down with your opposite arm as you roll the bottom forearm side-to-side and back-and-forth. Continue rolling for up to 60 seconds. Alternate sides and repeat.
Flip your grip to apply pressure to the underside of either forearm if your source of tightness is there as well.
3. Wrist stretch
Stretching the extensors and flexors of the fingers and wrists is a great way to alleviate forearm tightness, says Lazoff.
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From standing, extend one arm straight in front of you, palm facing up.
Flex your wrist, pointing your fingers down (your palm will face forward).
Keeping the arm in a static position, gently push the fingers of your outstretched hand back using your other hand to feel a stretch in the bottom of your wrist and forearm. Hold 10 to 20 seconds.
From there, flip the palm of your static arm the opposite direction so that your palm faces you and fingers are pointed down.
Holding your arm still, gently push your fingers toward you using your other hand to stretch the top of your wrist and forearm. Hold for 10 to 20 seconds. Repeat on both sides 2 to 3 times.
You can also do this stretch while in quadruped position on all fours, just repeat the same over and under positions with your palms, and apply gentle pressure into the floor.
4. Romanian deadlift
“Release is important, but so is strength,” says Lazoff. Romanian deadlifts are a great way to not only build posterior-chain strength in the hamstrings, glutes, and back, but also grip strength thanks to holding heavy weights, she says.
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Begin standing tall with your feet directly under your hips, and hold two heavy-to-you dumbbells or kettlebells at your sides.
Maintain strong control over your core as you hinge back at your hips, bending your knees slightly. Your weights should simultaneously move in front of your shins as you hinge. Keep your weight evenly distributed throughout the soles of your feet.
From the bottom of the position, push your entire foot into the floor to return to standing , squeezing your glutes at the top, being mindful not to arch your back. Repeat for 3 sets of 10 reps.
If you’re an experienced heavy lifter using a barbell, you may want to try using wrist straps to alleviate pressure on your wrists and forearms when the weight gets very heavy and your grip is a limiting factor to moving weight, explains Lazoff.
5. Kettlebell strict press
Training with kettlebells helps to build strong forearms, because the weight of the bell (the ball portion) rests on your wrist and forearm for many classic exercises—including the shoulder press.
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Begin standing with the kettlebell in the racked position in one hand. (Your thumb should be close to your collarbone with your elbow tucked toward your side, wrist straight and knuckles pointing toward the ceiling as the kettlebell rests gently on your forearm.)
From there, press the kettlebell overhead while driving your feet through the floor and maintaining a strong core.
From the top position, your palm should face forward and your arm will be fully extended.
Pull the kettlebell back to the starting racked position, maintaining a straight wrist with knuckles pointing up as you descend. Perform 3 sets of 5 to 8 reps on each side.