Wondering how to get bigger wrists? Check out these simple workout exercises!
Maybe you don’t feel confident about your skinny wrists. Perhaps some people noticed them and made a comment or two, knocking your confidence. Or perhaps you have an average wrist size, but you’d rather they were thicker.
Whatever the case, welcome. How do you get bigger wrists? Here’s how to build up your wrists without making any huge sacrifices to your lifestyle.
In fact, you can easily implement these exercises into your daily routine. You’ll never look back once they’re part of your wake-up regime or your nighttime routine.
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How Can I Get Bigger Wrists?
So, “How can I get bigger wrists,” you’re thinking? You can do curls and extensions, knuckle pushups, and squeezing exercises to get bigger wrists. These include pull-ups, chin-ups, and deadlifts. Or you can use hand grips.
Don’t overtrain; it will impair your everyday life and set you back weeks in your progress. And beware that your wrists can’t actually grow much in size, so expectations shouldn’t be too high before you start.
In the rest of this article, I’ll explore these exercises more deeply and explain why you might have small wrists in the first place.
Do You Have Small Wrists?
You know you have small wrists when pretty much every modern watch you try on seems enormous. You try them on, and they swamp your arm.
Most men’s watches are 40mm in size or above, many of which measure around 42mm.
If you have slender wrists, those watches will appear very big, or the lugs may overhang your wrist. The same goes when you’re trying men’s bracelets on (like beads, roped, or metal designs). They’re all too loose.
If you know your wrist size, shopping for suitably sized watches is easier. The easiest way to measure your wrist circumference is to take a soft ruler and wrap it around your wrist, just above your wrist bone.
You will have a reading in inches or centimeters, depending on what you prefer to work in.
Most men with wrists smaller than 7 inches (17.8cm) consider themselves as having small wrists. It may make you feel better to learn that the average-sized wrist sits between 6.5 and 7.2 inches. So, large wrists are less common.
Check out our in-depth guide at The Slender Wrist on measuring your wrist size. By following this, you can ensure you measure it accurately.
Anyway, the actual measurement of your wrists doesn’t matter that much. It’s all about perception.
While we can consider a 36-38mm case size sufficient for small wrists, each watch case wears differently. I briefly explain how large cases can wear smaller in our watch case guide.
But if you feel your wrists are too small or skinny and want bigger wrists, here’s what you need to know.
Why Are Your Wrists So Small?
Because your body is the way it is, your bone structure defines the size of your wrists.
If you were active before adulthood and practiced physical activities involving heavy arm use, the chances are you’ll have bigger wrists.
If you didn’t, then your radius and cubitus bones and ends probably solidified closer together when developing. This results in smaller-than-average wrists.
Now, having small wrists is not a bad thing. It’s not unhealthy, either. It doesn’t mean you’re in bad shape, nor does it mean you’re any less of a man. It’s just the way you are.
Most men with slender wrists will be aware that the majority of watch cases are big. The good news is that we are gradually seeing trends change, and small watches are becoming more common. Still, if your small wrists bother you, continue reading.
Can You Get Bigger Wrists?
So, the main thing you want to know is, can you get bigger wrists, right? The good news is that, yes, you can enlarge the size of your wrists with some simple workout exercises.
Even so, building your wrists up is a complex process with slow results. It does take considerable time. Why is this, you wonder?
Well, unlike your arm, where you can train your biceps and triceps, no actual muscle is present in your wrist. This is why it’s very difficult for your wrists to grow in size.
So, how can you deal with small wrists? Here’s the least popular option — gain weight. Since fat stores itself all around your body, including in your wrists, this is one way to grow them. It’s also the most unhealthy option (in most cases).
Perhaps we’ll shelve that idea here. I hold no accountability for advising people to gain weight so that their watches fit better.
You can train your forearms until you have thicker wrists (to some extent). Remember, this is no quick process, however.
Working out will grow your forearms. However, the actual size ratio between your forearms and your wrists will increase. This could give the impression that your wrists are smaller than they actually are.
How To Get Bigger Wrists
By training to increase your wrist’s circumference, the difference in millimeters seems minimal on paper. However, like a watch case itself, a millimeter here and there can make all the difference between a small and a large watch.
There are many ways to get bigger forearms and, therefore, wrists. Here are four examples to help get you on the right track.
Curls and Extensions
These are the typical exercises to grow any body part, including your forearms and wrists.
Since we are looking for hypertrophy, aim for 3 to 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps. 3×12, or 5×8 works well. Carry these exercises out for 4 to 6 weeks. You could also try using different reps on different arms to see if there are differences in your gains.
Wrist extension exercises work well since they work the outer part of the forearm.
You can grab any weight and rest your forearms flat on a surface, with your hands hanging and your palms facing down.
You lift your hands towards the ceiling without moving anything else from that position. It’s like turning a bike’s throttle handle.
Wrist curls are the opposite of that. The position is the same as the extensions, but now your palms face up. Grab a weight and lift those hands towards the ceiling without moving any other part of your arm. It’s a bit like a mini version of your typical biceps curls!
You can do those curls and extensions with dumbbells, kettlebells, or barbells. They all serve the same purpose, requiring your arms and wrists to grab something heavy and lift it.
Even if it’s possible to increase your wrist size without weights, they will always get you there quicker. And probably better since it’s very hard to match the kind of mass you can gain with weights.
That being said, resistance bands are another great option. They are small, which makes it easy to put them away when you finish.
They’re also cheap, so you can get many in different “weights.” They’ll work your forearms just as hard as regular weights, and these loop bands with carrying pouches are easy to grab.
Knuckle Pushups
Another great way to strengthen your wrists at home is to do pushups. But not the regular ones; we want knuckle pushups.
A knuckle pushup is a pushup that you do with your fists closed. It differs from a regular pushup, where your hand is open and your palm rests on the floor. With this exercise, your fist closes, and your knuckles rest on the floor.
This exercise will significantly work your forearms and wrists because you squeeze your fists hard to stay balanced. When you bring your chest closer to the ground, you’ll feel a forearm-working lateral movement.
Keep those thumbs outside your wrists to avoid hurting yourself.
If you can’t do full-body pushups, that’s okay. You can still do knee pushups but still on your knuckles. These will work your way up to 20 to 30 rep sets. When you consistently hit that target, you’re ready to transition to full-knuckle pushups.
Most of the time, you can do pushups with your wrists, shoulder-width apart.
You can push your hands further apart or bring them closer together for added difficulty.
You can also rest your wrists on the floor in two different ways. These include the traditional way (pictured in the photo above) or rotated 90° outward. Both will make your forearm work, so it’s up to you and what exercise you can actually do.
Knuckle pushups can sometimes cause discomfort since all your weight rests on your fists. Pushup handles can help with this. They make knuckle pushups almost pleasurable (almost).
This set of 2 pushup handles on Amazon is a great solution.
Pull-Ups, Chin-Ups, and Deadlifts
On to the heavy stuff. Pull-ups, chin-ups, and deadlifts are also great exercises for wrist thickening.
Any heavy lift or exercise involving squeezing a bar really hard with a lot of weight attached is good. These could be weights or yourself. They’ll make your forearms work and grow.
Three favorite exercises to do at the gym are as follows.
Pull-ups work your upper back a lot and enhance your standing position.
Chin-ups work the biceps more.
Deadlifts are a go-to exercise. They work on every major muscle group in your body. This includes glutes, thighs, abdominal muscles, and back muscles.
Of course, you will need a gym membership, but squeezing those bars really hard will help you get bigger wrists.
Hand Grips
There are many devices to help you work your forearms and wrists, but hand grips are the most useful.
Once again, they allow you to squeeze something really hard to get those muscles working. It’s pretty much the same mechanics as the previous exercise types. But the added benefit is that they work your forearms anytime, anywhere.
Here is a set of 2 hand grips on Amazon. They’re cheap and small, so if you’re looking for a home-based forearm workout without equipment, this might be for you.
Don’t overtrain with these! It’s really easy to get excited the first day and overuse them, but your muscles will pay for it the next day. The key to this is patience.
Disclaimer and Precautions
I’m not a personal trainer or doctor, so if you decide to train, always get proper advice or help from professionals.
Some precautions before you start:
Check with your doctor that you don’t have any condition preventing you from working your arms, forearms, and wrists. These could be problems like carpal tunnel. You don’t want to injure yourself.
Before and after each session: stretch, stretch, and stretch again. You don’t want sore muscles. Also, always use your full range of motion.
You want to go as far as you can in both directions. Making really small movements around the middle of your motion range will not get you anywhere.
Work slowly: Use a 1-3 timing. This means 1 second from the rest position to the full extension and 3 seconds to go to the rest position. You should do this without any pause.
Work 3 times a week maximum. Yes, you read that right. Overtraining will hurt you and set you back weeks or months. What’s the point?
Stop if it hurts: training should be challenging but not painful. If it hurts, stop immediately and check with your doctor promptly. In any case, go slowly. Slow and steady wins the race, remember? The same goes here.
And be patient, as your gains will take weeks or months to be measurable. Remember, wrists can’t gain that much volume.
Wrapping Up
Remember that there is no easy answer to “How to get bigger wrists.” There is no quick fix to increasing your wrist size fast. It just won’t happen, sorry! It takes time and dedication. But if you’re up for trying it, these four exercises should be helpful.
And you know what? Some bodybuilders actually find that having small wrists is a blessing. Because they are so thin, their forearms appear bigger than they actually are.
There are actually ways to deal with your small wrists when you love watches. Choose watches with tapering lugs that will hug the wrist. Or opt for larger hour tracks to create the illusion of a smaller case.
Or even better, you can accept your wrists the way they are. That way you don’t need to keep asking “How do I get bigger wrists?”
This will save you a lot of emotional and cognitive stress. You won’t think about your wrists negatively anymore, or at all. Acceptance is halfway to happiness here.
Good luck!
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