5 Best Phil Heath Forearm Workout

Phil Heath 34, is an American 246lbs bodybuilder and current Mr. Olympia. Starting bodybuilding in 2002, Phil now stands as the King of Brachioradialis in the professional bodybuilding industry with his massive arms.

Brachioradialis or forearms is one muscle we simply ignore because of not finding it worth the training. While this may stand correct considering forearms get used and therefore trained in every arm exercise, a dedicated workout is still essential.


Forearms, if not trained properly can limit your arms' performance. This is probably why professional bodybuilders train them separately.

Phil Heath, the three times Mr. Olympia winner has competed with several noted bodybuilders and won. His 22" arms are more huge than they sound. Forearms is one muscle he gave some major attention to.

While he only performed one or two forearms exercises per day, its his dedication and motivation that gave him the best forearms in the professional bodybuilding industry.

Building forearms like Phil Heath is not hard. With time and the right set of exercises, it's not much of a hassle. The picture below compares Phil Heath from school and now.

Now let's take a look at some of the best forearms workout that ensure speedy mass gain whilst properly shaping your forearm muscle group. The exercises are for both the upper and lower portions of the forearms.

1. Standing Reverse barbell Curls w. wrist Extension

This exercises targets both the upper and lower portion of your forearms and is considered one of the best forearms exercise by Phil himself. Stand with a barbell in your arms at shoulder width apart and lift the barbell up.
At the top of the movement, do a reverse wrist curl, flex the arm muscles and turn the barbell back to the starting position.

However, care must be taken while performing this exercise, it can cause wrist injury if done improperly.

2. Alternate dumbbell Reverse wrist curl

Hold a dumbbell in your hand and rest in your knees while sitting on a bench with palm facing downward. Now curl your wrist upward, hold and let it go. Repeat for the other hand.

This exercise is easier to perform but works amazingly on your forearms.

3. Barbell wrist curls

Hold a barbell in your hands with a close grip. Rest your forearms on your knees or on a bench. Curl your wrists downward to the extent that you're holding the barbell with just your fingers. Curl it back up as much as possible.

4. Standing Palms-Up Barbell Behind The Back Wrist Curl

This is similar to the wrist curl workouts mentioned above but the orientation is opposite. You hold the barbell behind your glutes now with a forward close grip. Curl your wrists upward, hold and let them go.

5. Wrist rotations with Barbell

Hold a barbell with both hands shoulder width apart and palms facing downwards. Alternate between both hands. Extend your wrists as though you're rolling up a newspaper. Repeat until failure for both hands.


Phil Heath and several other noted bodybuilders have always talked about motivation and proper form of exercise paired with a proper diet because this is just about everything you need to take care of while bodybuilding.

Forearms are an important muscle of the body. The exercises mentioned ensure a speedy mass gain in these muscles. Make sure to train your forearms on alternate days and perform one or two of the exercises mentioned per day.

Try the exercise mentioned and let us know about the results in the comments section.