The Forearm in Baseball: Strengthening

As with the shoulder muscles, the forearm muscles do a tremendous amount of work during an overhead throw. This is why it is also important to MAINTAIN not GAIN strength in your forearm muscles during the season to prevent injury to your elbow and also your shoulder if compensation occurs. For the first 1-2 weeks start with 1 set of ten repetitions and progress to 2-3 sets after that. 2-3 times per week is enough for the non-professional level of competition.

One minor modification to the video below is of benefit. Instead of going from one side all the way to the other as in the first two exercises shown, just go half way and then back to the starting position. This makes your forearm muscles work throughout more of the motion and prevents gravity from taking over. Do one half, for say ten repetitions, and then the other half before moving on to the next exercise.

Don't be put off by the massive forearms below. I had to do this video myself. These are just some simple wrist curl and wrist extension exercises. The weight used is again dependant on many things, but as a rough guide: the first exercise use between 2kg and 7kg and with the second exercise use between 3kg and 10kg. Remember these are rough guides for training in-season.