The forearm extensors are a group of muscles on the top of your forearm. If you hold your arm out with your palm facing down, these are the muscles you see on the upper side. Their job is to straighten (extend) your wrist, fingers, and thumb.
They work together so you can do everything from holding a coffee cup without spilling and typing to curling a dumbbell or leaning on a desk with your wrists cocked back like a philosopher. Without forearm extensors, you’d be walking around with claw-hands all day.
In this article, you’ll learn how they work, the best exercises to train them, a complete workout for a stronger grip and impressive-looking forearms, and more.
Table of Contents
Forearm Extensor Anatomy and Function
Your forearm is split into two compartments: the flexors (on the palm side, for making a fist and bending your wrist) and the extensors (on the top side, for opening your hand and bending your wrist back).
We’re focusing on the top guys here, the extensor muscles.
They mostly start up near your elbow, on the outer part (a knobby bit of bone called the lateral epicondyle), and run down your forearm, turning into long tendons that attach to your wrist and finger bones.
This is not medical school, so let’s keep it simple and introduce you to the key players and what they do:
Wrist Extensors
- Extensor Carpi Radialis Longus and Brevis: “Carpi” means wrist, “radialis” tells you they’re on the thumb side of your forearm, and “longus” and “brevis” mean long and short. These two muscles work as a team to bend your wrist back and pull it towards your thumb side (abduction). You can vizualise them in action by thinking about how you rev a motorcycle throttle.
- Extensor Carpi Ulnaris: This is a long and thin muscle on the pinky side (“ulnaris”). Like the duo above, it extends your wrist, but it pulls it towards your pinky (adduction).
Finger and Thumb Extensors
- Extensor Digitorum: “Digitorum” refers to your digits, or fingers, for us laymen. This is the main muscle that straightens out your four fingers. Go on, wiggle your fingers now. That’s your extensor digitorum firing.
- Extensor Indicis: This narrow muscle gives your index finger its independence, allowing you to point an accusatory finger at someone without extending your other fingers.
- Extensor Digiti Minimi: A dedicated muscle for extending your pinky finger.
- Extensor Pollicis Longus and Brevis: “Pollicis” is Latin for thumb. These two are responsible for extending your thumb, like when you’re giving a thumbs-up.
- Abductor Pollicis Longus: This guy is also on Team Thumb; it lives in the right neighborhood (the extensor compartment) and helps with extension, but its main job title is “abductor” (pulling your thumb away from your palm).
What Do They Do?
Functionally, your forearm extensors are the opposite team of the flexors on the palm side of your forearm.
Their main jobs are to straighten (extend) your wrist and fingers, lift your thumb, and help rotate your forearm. Here’s an example: hold up your hand and signal “stop” with your hand. That’s your forearm extensors doing their thing.
They are also important for your grip strength. Your flexors do the squeezing, but your extensors stabilize your wrist and give you a much stronger and more controlled grip.
Exercises for Your Forearm Extensors
In this section, we’ll take a look at five of the best forearm extensor exercises that complement each other, covering:
- Isolation
- Compound integration
- Dynamic endurance & grip stability
- Balance & injury prevention
By putting them all together, as we’ll do in the next section, you can create a great forearm extensor workout.
1. Dumbbell Wrist Extension
The dumbbell wrist extension is an isolation exercise for your forearm extensors.
Your two big cues are “lead with your knuckles” and “control the way down.” Most people go too heavy, curl their fingers to cheat, or bounce at the bottom. Pick a weight that lets you feel the extensors burn, keep your wrist aligned with the forearm (don’t drift side-to-side), and take 2–3 seconds on the eccentric.
For more advanced and specialized training, you can slide your grip to one end of the dumbbell:
- Slide your grip toward the thumb side plate, and gravity will try to tip the dumbbell into ulnar deviation, so you have to counter with radial deviation: you bias the extensor carpi radialis longus/brevis while you extend.
- Conversely, slide your grip toward the pinky side plate, and the mass sits more toward your thumb side. Now it wants to tip into radial deviation, so you’ll counter with ulnar deviation, shifting more work to the extensor carpi ulnaris.
But those variations are for people who know they need it and why they need it. For regular forearm extensor training, stick to the middle of the handle where it feels the most comfortable.
2. Barbell Wrist Extension
The barbell wrist extension trains the same muscles as the dumbbell variant, but it’s easier to load progressively because both wrists move together on the bar.
Forearm extensors respond really well to higher reps, so you might want to experiment with a rep range of 12–20 (or even higher; I’ve seen some bodybuilders’ forearms blow up by going up to 25–30). Regardless of how many reps you go for, keep the bar in your fingers with a full wraparound grip, and don’t bounce at the bottom or over-crank into end-range at the top.
Also, because a bar locks your wrists into the same angle, it’s not uncommon for it to feel uncomfortable, especially if your wrists are already irritated or you have some kind of limited mobility. If it doesn’t feel great, stick with dumbbells for a more natural wrist path or rotate between barbell and dumbbell to get the benefits of both stability and symmetry.
3. Reverse Curl
The reverse curl flips the script on your usual arm day antics. Instead of the palm-up grip of regular bicep curls, you use a pronated (palms-down) grip, shifting some of the work away from your biceps and onto the brachioradialis (the meaty part of your forearm near the elbow). In addition, you recruit your wrist extensors, especially the extensor carpi radialis longus/brevis, to stabilize things.
In other words, reverse curls build strength in a compound movement pattern, not just isolation like wrist extensions. You can do them with either a barbell or a pair of dumbbells (often the most comfortable option if you have cranky wrists). Either way, expect to use less weight than a regular curl; the pronated grip puts your biceps at a mechanical disadvantage (which is the point).
If you want to hit your extensors even harder, try pausing for a bit near the top while you maintain active “knuckles-to-ceiling” tension without actually curling the wrist, and you’ll feel your forearm extensors light up.
4. Wrist Roller
A wrist roller is essentially a handle with a rope or cord attached to the middle, from the end of which you hang a weight. You wind the rope to lift the weight, then control the weight as you unroll it. It’s especially good for high-rep, pump-style training.
Keep your wrists in line with your forearms (no wobble), and don’t lean back. If you feel it more in your biceps or traps, your elbows are likely moving; pin them in place and shorten the rope so the weight doesn’t swing.
Pick a load that lets you reach the top with clean reps but forces you to fight for the last few turns. That load will probably be lighter than you think if you’ve never used a wrist roller before, because the time under tension quickly adds up to burn-level.
The wrist roller is best used as a finisher or towards the end of a session, or it’ll likely wreck your performance in other forearm/wrist exercises.
5. Band Finger Extension
The band finger extension is a simple exercise where you use a band to train what the name implies: your finger extensors. It’s great for balancing all the gripping we do (outside the gym, too, like typing and gaming) and can prevent/eliminate elbow pain (common treatment for tennis elbow). If you don’t have a purpose-built band, double up a few regular rubber bands; it’ll work fine in a pinch.
Keep your wrist neutral (don’t cock it back) so all the movement stays in your fingers, don’t snap the band back, and don’t go for overly heavy tension that limits your range. Full, smooth reps if you please.
These smaller muscles thrive on endurance-style training, so higher reps work well: try sets of 15–30 reps, or 45–60 seconds of continuous openings.
Forearm Extensor Workout
So what does an effective forearm extensor workout look like?
For a comprehensive forearm workout that covers both flexors and extensors, try our Forearm Workout:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Reverse Curl | 3 | 8 |
| Wrist Curl | 3 | 12 |
| Wrist Extension | 3 | 12 |
| Bar Hang | 2 | Max time |
Go directly to the Forearm Workout in StrengthLog.
But if you’re only interested in the extensors, give our Forearm Extensor Workout a go:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Reverse Curl | 2 | 10 |
| Wrist Extension | 2 | 15 |
| Wrist Roller | 2 | 25 |
| Band Finger Extension | 2 | 20 |
Go directly to the Forearm Extensor Workout in StrengthLog.
You start with a compound strength movement, move to isolation work, go for the pump with wrist rolling, then finish off with muscle-endurance-building finger extensor training.
Both these workouts are free in our workout log app, StrengthLog. Download it and start tracking your gains today.
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Forearm Stretch for Tight Extensors
For most major muscle groups, taking them through their full range of motion under load is a great way to build both strength and flexibility. Multiple studies show that it improves flexibility as much as stretching.1
Learn more in our in-depth article What Does Stretching Do? Benefits Backed by Science.
However, during a typical strength workout, your forearm extensors often work isometrically or through a very limited range of motion. As it should be: in many exercises, they are stabilizers rather than moving dynamically through extension/flexion.
Now, some exercises, like reverse wrist curls, do take the forearm extensors through a fuller range of motion. If you do them, you’re already ahead of the game.
Still, they likely don’t get the same end-range loading stimulus as, say, your hamstrings in Romanian deadlifts or your hips in Bulgarian split squats.
So, if your forearm extensors feel tight, you might benefit from some direct stretches. For example, after a heavy session of deadlifts, your forearms can feel like they’re pumped to the gills.
Or, it can just feel good to stretch them, and that is reason enough.
You don’t need to go crazy. A simple stretch at the end of your workout or during the day can be enough.
Wrist Extensor Stretch
- Extend one arm straight out in front of you with your palm facing down.
- Use your other hand to gently press down on the back of your outstretched hand, bending your wrist towards the floor.
- You should feel a stretch along the top of your forearm.
- Hold for 20–30 seconds and repeat on the other side.
Want to get started with mobility training? Try StrengthLog free for more than 50 of the best mobility exercises and both static and dynamic stretches.
Frequently Asked Questions About How to Train Your Forearm Extensors
The forearm extensors are a group of muscles on the top (posterior side) of the forearm. They straighten the wrist, fingers, and thumb and stabilize the rip.
Strong extensors improve your grip strength and wrist health and balance out the forearm flexors. Training them can also help prevent injuries, including tennis elbow.
There’s no single “best,” but wrist extensions, reverse curls, wrist rollers, and band finger extensions all hit them effectively. Combining them gives the best results.
Most lifters benefit from 2–3 sessions per week. They respond well to higher reps and endurance-style training and can often handle more frequent work than larger muscle groups.
Yes, strengthening the extensors (especially with exercises like band finger extensions) can reduce stress on the tendons and relieve symptoms. Always consult a professional if your pain persists.
Final Rep
And that’s it! By now, you have a good grasp of your forearm extensor anatomy, some of the best exercises for these guys, and how you can combine them into one awesome workout.
Remember to download our workout log app to train this workout (and many more) and track your gains. Increase the weight you use in each exercise to make sure you enjoy continued muscle growth and strength gains.
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Last reviewed: 2025-09-15
