Main muscles worked
forearms
Capsule description
with your elbow straight, lift a bar by moving at your wrist (and, perhaps, at your shoulder, too)
First are the two basic movements shown on the next page. Take a dumbbell rod and load only one end with a few pounds. With your arm hanging vertically by your side, and elbow straight, hold the unweighted end. With the weighted end to the front, move the rod up and down by moving at your wrist only. Don’t bend your elbow, or move at your shoulder. Do maximum reps to the front, and then do the same with the other hand. Then repeat but with the weighted end to the rear. The second action is stronger than the first, so you’ll be able to do more reps to the rear when using the same weight. Alternatively, use a heavier weight for the stronger action, and target the same rep count for both movements.
You don’t have to use a dumbbell rod or a purpose-made lever bar. You could use a cricket or baseball bat, a sledge hammer, or a broomstick with a broom attached. If you can’t handle the whole length of the fixed-weight item with one hand, grip it down the length a little and, over time, progress to the end. As an alternative you could use both hands and hold the item at its full length. Progress to exercising each hand separately once you’ve developed sufficient strength from training with both hands together.
There are many variations of the two basic lever bar movements. You don’t have to do the exercise while standing. You could, for example, kneel and pick up the lever tool from the floor in front of you. Raise it until your arm is parallel to the floor, keeping your elbow straight and the lever bar parallel to the floor. From the front, use one hand at a time, or both hands together. With the lever bar behind you, you could squat down, take the bar, and stand while keeping the bar parallel to the floor and your lifting arm vertical, and elbow straight. Or, you could take the bar from a bench rather than the floor. Use your imagination and you’ll find a number of ways to work your forearms and wrists to their limit with a lever bar.
Lever bar work where you raise your arm in front until it’s parallel to the floor is very demanding on your elbow and wrist. Take several weeks of gradually increasing resistance and intensity before you start to train with maximum effort. If you rush into intensive lever bar work, especially the type that keeps your arm parallel to the floor, you’re likely to injure yourself. Lever bar work with a vertical arm is safer.
Small discs—those lighter than 2.5 pounds or 1.25 kilos—have great value for all exercises. But for exercises that don’t have a big poundage potential, like lever bar movements, little discs are essential. Without them you’ll be unable to apply a gradual increase in resistance.
An example of lever bar work, using a dumbbell rod loaded at one end
An example of lever bar work to the rear.