Popeye-Proud Forearms
by: Josh Bryant
I first met Brother Barrett at a quaint little gas station in southwest Arkansas. Lo and behold, there’s a wet t-shirt contest goin’ on in the back and there was Brother Barrett, the life of the party, dishing out corn liquor like it’s water.
Brother Barrett was a back-slidin’ Pentecostal preacher, who led gator hunts in Red Slough Swamp, in McCurtain County, Oklahoma. Brother said it was all legal and he was contracted by the WMA the for population control, but a little stay in crowbar hotel for poachin’ sure raised an eyebrow or two.
Brother wasn’t exactly a poster child for chasity, obedience, poverty, or sobriety. He was raking in 250k a year from hunts and ruckus juice on his 150-acre kingdom. I will say he certainly lived life on his own terms.
Brother may not be the biggest guy, but those forearms were like steel cables on a lean 185 pound frame at 5’10.
I asked brother ’bout them forearms. He’s like, “I do a lot, all the time.” Real helpful, right? Then, I mosey on by his beat-up pickup truck and what do I see? A copy of “The Development of Physical Strength” by Anthony Ditillo. Did some research, turns out, that book’s a favorite of the legend Charles Poliquin, too. Man, even in the middle of nowhere, you stumble upon gems!
Back in the day, forearm development was a badge of honor—it proved you weren’t camping your ass on the latest chrome machine and drinking soy milk. It was proof you had been throwing around some serious pig iron.
Outside of the weight room, big forearms establish respect right off the bat. Bullies know the difference between the pec and bi warrior, and the “old head” that can pull out your pancreas through your nose. Bottom line, regardless of social circle or socioeconomic status, big forearms scream power!
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ANTHONY DITILLO FOREARM ROUTINE
Since forearm development is considered “old school”, let’s go back and look at one of the strongest and most powerfully-built men of all-time—Anthony Ditillo. In 1969, Ditillo wrote a game-changing article titled, Developing the Lower Arms. Ditillo was on a mission to increase the size of his forearms.
“I train my forearms 4 times per week; twice at the end of my upper-body training days and again twice at the onset of my lower-body training days, said Ditillo. I perform the Reverse Curl first, doing 5 sets of 10-8-6-4-15 repetitions using progressively heavier weights each set (except the last). I then perform the seated wrist curl, palms up, for 5 additional sets of 20 repetitions using the same weight, increasing it whenever possible.”
The results: Anthony put over a half inch on his forearms in less than two months. He deadlifted heavy and did strict curls with over 200 pounds prior to this, so he was no newbie. Anything that works so well on an advanced lifter is worth a shot.
FINAL THOUGHTS
In a training world paranoid about overtraining and reliant on shake weights and eight-minute abs, this workout may seem crazy, but crazy often produces results. Buck the establishment, give Ditillo’s forearm routine a shot and be on your way to building forearms that would make Popeye proud.
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