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Overview
Reverse curls place direct stress on the outer forearm or the top of your forearm. This is because reverse curls require you to rotate the wrist until your palms are facing downward toward the floor when you curl your arms. Stress is also placed on the bicep muscles throughout this movement and they provide a considerable amount of the pulling force. Variations of this exercise can also be performed using a cable and straight-bar attachment for a slightly different forearm workout.
Setup
Obtain a moderately heavy curl bar and stand with your feet approximately shoulder width apart. Take a grip with your hands that is also about as wide as your shoulders, and stand with your arms fully extended so that the bar is in front of your thighs. When doing reverse curls to work the upper part of the forearms, use a straight bar when performing this exercise instead of the EZ Curl/Scott bar.
Forearm reverse curls can also be performed using a cable and attachment. Set the cable pulley to the lowest setting so that it is close to the ground by your feet. Connect your attachment and take a step back, gripping the attachment with an overhand grip and the arms fully extended.
Movement
Use your forearm muscles to slowly pull the bar upward until it stops just below your chin. Be careful not to move or rock your upper body throughout the movement, and keep your upper arms tight and pressed close to your body during the motion. Squeeze your forearm muscles for a moment at the peak of the contraction, and then resist as you slowly lower the bar back to the starting position with the arms fully extended.
Tips From the Trainer
Your inclination might be to lean backward when performing forearm reverse curls, but your forearm muscles will benefit if you lean slightly forward throughout the movement. This helps to reduce the rocking motions and keep the movement more strict, thus focusing more on the forearms you are trying to train.
Consider experimenting with a variety of widths for your grip. Taking a grip wider than shoulder width is probably difficult and awkward, but you can try a variety of narrower grips. You may have to use a lighter weight on the narrower grip, but it may also help your forearms to grow more rapidly.
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