Prueba trayectorias con el robot Mitsubishi RV2AJ

You will notice in the previous chapter that although I set out to find the bogey in forearm and calf development, I did not write much about the forearms. Towards the close of the chapter, I did call your attention to them, but I purposely let the subject slide for different reasons, all of which revolve around the fact that so little seems to be known about successful calf and forearm building. It must be this, otherwise we would not be so everlastingly confronted with complaints of failure from so many who crave muscle upon these two sectors. If there is a bogey, it is in lack of knowledge, and in absolutely nothing else. I devoted practically the whole of the last chapter to calf construction, and I find if I am to give you the best forearm information, it is going to take at least two chapters. But I believe your interest is strong enough to stand it, as I know you will find much refreshing information as your interest will be centered around new material.

The title of this chapter may lead you to believe that the forearm is not going to be very much discussed in this chapter after all; but it is, and thoroughly. I chose that title because I want you to get the idea out of your head, that you have to own large wrists before you can own a better and larger forearm. It is the forearm that makes the wrist, rather than the wrist making the forearm. I have listened to the wails of scores of young men who lament that they will never have a decent forearm because their wrist is far too small; and that is the accepted idea. But it is wrong. You have to get the forearm first, and in order to get the forearm you have to get the grip. We always see a powerful clasp go hand in glove with a strong forearm. However, you can readily recall many friends who apparently have a strong hand clasp but no unusual forearm size. That is true. You will find salesmen have a hand clasp above the average, but they specialize on that grip only, and are often on the look-out to take a quick grip and secure an advantage over the ordinary person, who usually is not interested in hand clasping resistance. Yet there is no denying the fact that when these worthies shake hands, the wrist ligaments are fairly prominent. On the other hand, they soon know when they meet a strong armed man. There is something in a strong clasp.

Everything we pick up in our hands calls for a certain amount of grip. That grip calls into motion the forearm muscles, and the ligaments of these muscles control the wrist and hand movements. This is the case and the common assumption that the wrist

controls the forearm and the grip of the hand is all wrong. Your grip will always be measured by the amount of forearm strength you have, and your ability to carry objects and raise them off the floor. So in order to increase the forearm muscles, we have to cultivate our gripping qualities to their fullest, and the wrist will be taken care of automatically.

It has taken up a large number of words to tell you what I mean when I say "get away from the idea because your wrist only measures six and a half inches or seven inches, that it has placed a fatal seal on your possibilities for forearm growth." Get over this idea that a very ordinary fellow you know having naturally a seven and three- quarter inch wrist has it all over you. This is not so. I don't say you will make an eight inch wrist out of six inch wrist, but I know you can improve it a lot, and its quality will manifest itself in the strength and shapeliness of your forearms. Many people

naturally have very heavy bones around the wrist. Well, you can't offset that, but you can acquire thicker wrist cables, and the bones will slightly increase their structure, from resistance, as it is applied in its proper place.

A lot of exercisers write to me to complain that when they do that certain leg exercise where they straddle a bar bell and hold it in their hands while they do a slight knee bend, their grip plays out before their legs get their workout. In their mind, it is always their poor grip, but they are mistaken; as the forearm strength and hand grip of no man was ever sufficient to cope with the vigorous play of which the large hip and thigh muscles are capable. There is too much disparity in the relative strength of these separate members of the body. The best way to overcome this, so that the legs get the best results, is to make a harness of canvas to fit over the head and rest upon the shoulders, with a hook sewn in at each end. You simply allow the bar bell to lie in the hooks, and the body supports the weight instead of the grip. Some have more trouble than they ordinarily should with this exercise. They find that the weight straightens their fingers out and pulls away. This cause is as much the lack of finger strength as of the hand grip, but the next chapter is going to be devoted to the cultivation of finger strength, so I will stick to my initial discussion.

There are numerous muscles in the forearm, which are classified as pronators, extensor and flexor muscles. The pronators are the muscles of rotation, while the extensors straighten out the arm, and the flexor bends the forearm upon the upper arm. Taking our first survey on the anterior forearm, which is the front, we find four muscles that have a common origin, on the extreme end of the humerus bone, at the elbow joint. They divide and spread, to compose the bulk of muscle so pronounced on a well developed arm. It is the second muscle from the inside that has the largest bulk of the four, and possesses the roundness which gives the canoe like shape to the front of the forearm when in repose, and is more forcibly evident when flexed. They are some of the pronator muscles and flexors. The muscles on the dorsal part of the arm are seven in number, and included among these is the supinator longus, also known as the Brachio-Radialis, which is the most important extensor muscle in the forearm. Running by its side is the Extensor Carpi Radialis Longus, which is the accessory extensor muscle that co-operates with the supinator.

capable of twisting. The supinator longus and its accessory muscle have a

remarkable spiral twist to them. It arises from the humerus bone (on which the biceps rests) underneath the bicep, but twists over the outside of the elbow joint to become attached to the front of the forearm. I am inclined to believe that the supinator longus is the most important muscle in the forearm. It is capable of rotating, flexing, and powerful in extending or straightening the arm. It sets an arm off also, giving breadth to the arm at the elbow when viewed sideways. Did you ever notice the arm of a pick and shovel laborer or a man who is accustomed to carry objects in his hands? For instance, a railroad porter. Of course, the majority of porters keep their arms covered, but if you ever see one with his arms bared carrying a heavy object, just notice the forearm at the elbow and you will see what appears like a deep indentation and then a hump of muscle. That is the effect this muscle gives to the arm when an object is being carried. On the arms of porters, it often is pronounced, and also upon laborers. Just clench your fists, and thrust your arms straight down by the sides, then bend the wrist back to the outside, and notice how this muscle stands out. Yet another

interesting way to view this muscle is to bend the arm so that the fist rests upon the chest. Bend the arm more forcibly upon the biceps by employing the other hand, and the muscle will accentuate greatly. Then while in this position, twist the wrist and just notice how firmly it becomes tensed in the process of a wrist rotary movement. When a weight is raised overhead, and held at full arms' length, it is this muscle and its accessory muscle that do all the work, co-operating with the triceps of the upper arm. The other muscles being flexors should never be employed to any extent when

raising a weight overhead, as they counteract the extensors.

The muscles on the front of the arm, being flexors, apply their force more powerfully in movements that bend the arm at the elbow. Their contraction is even greater whenever any object is being raised towards the shoulder while the hand is bent at the wrist, downwards. Forearm builders liken this position of the arm to a swan's neck, as it is the position which a youngster will form with his arm when patterning a swan on a shadow screen. This is why, when advising a person to practice a

movement with the wrist turned downwards, the movement is termed a swan's neck formation.

It is the flexor muscles on the front of the arm and the supinator muscles that are always the least developed among beginners. It is in these regions that muscle builders, with poor arms, fall down. Well, we cannot blame them too much, because like calf exercises, they only seem to know one or two exercises, and that ends it. When a person becomes more familiar with the uses of these muscles, he can see that something else, in the way of exercise, has to be done. I am satisfied that if any of you follow out the advice I am going to give you will soon be piling up muscle on those stick pin arms.

You may wonder how your wrist will become improved by any forearm practice, so before we go any further let me enlighten you upon the fact that the muscles all taper off into ligaments. The weaker the muscles, the more stringy and thin are these cables. The stronger and bulkier they build up, the thicker the ligaments become. As these ropes of connection taper off at the wrist, it is only a natural condition that the wrist size should be increased.

When I commenced heavy exercise, I only had a seven inch wrist, just an average size