How To Get Bigger Wrists With Cable Machine Exercises

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If you feel ashamed of having tiny wrists, you are not alone. I do have small bone wrists, and there are many guys out there struggling to build huge arm muscles to make their wrists and forearms look bigger. I have been to the gym, and I have tried it. Dumbbells are among the best exercise equipment for getting bigger wrists at home.

Being a gym freak, I noticed that most bodybuilders use dumbbells, barbells and cable machines to build bigger wrist sizes. So if you are going to make your skinny wrist bigger and much stronger, I will share with you some tips. This article is all about how to get bigger wrists with cable machine exercises.

Why make wrists bigger, anyway?

We have seen that many people with smaller wrists face a lot of challenges. I have 5.6” wrists circumference, which is far less than the average wrists sizes of a woman. Sad to say, for me, it isn’t an easy task finding a perfect fitting small bracelet or watch for my small wrists. I got lucky with the few watches in my box.

In addition, I receive stigmatization among friends, and I am being judged as weak in fitness activities. Why was I cursed with slim wrists?

To be sincere, I did some wrist exercises last year but gave up my goals to increase my wrist size to 5.9-6 inches. I guess I accepted who I am, sound much like defeat, but I am not done with it.

You can build more arm muscles and get bigger wrists for watches, if not, to appear manly, powerful and tough before your girlfriend.

Research has shown that women quickly notice men with big muscles and beefy arms. If gender isn’t your goal, and you can’t find an elegant wrist watch or smartwatch that fit skinny wrists, increasing your petite wrist size should be your concern.

Can you build muscle with cable machines?

Yes, Cable machines are the multifunctional gym & home fitness workout equipment. They are particularly very good for resistance training because they work and grow your wrists and forearm muscles at different plane of motion.

If you have used dumbbell weight to increase your wrist size and build huge forearm muscles, cable machines can do it much faster. Many bodybuilders incorporate this piece of equipment into their exercise routine to get ripped arms.

If you seriously want to get a positive return on investment of your precious gym time, incorporate cable machines into your blasting those forearms – the unsung heroes of your body. If you have been busting bicep curls for sometimes without results or positive gains, try cable machines.

How to get bigger wrists with cable machine exercises

How do I bulk up my forearms and wrist size? Cable machines are really good. This piece of exercise equipment will allow you to work out perfectly in the muscle fiber direction, with little forearm twist.

Moreover, the machine helps to work your muscles from every conceivable angle, and provides an ideal strength that is remarkable, compared to free barbell or dumbbell weights.

How do I build muscle in my wrists and forearms with a cable machine? I have tried dumbbells but have never used a cable machine to build forearm and wrist strength or increase wrist size.

If you want to start hitting your biceps, triceps, and forearms with cables, let us get going!

Behind-the-back cable curl exercise

This cable pulling exercise is intended for toning one wrist or arm at a time. Its just a single cable, which you can either use to train your left wrist or the right wrist, then interchange later.

How to get bigger forearms fast with behind-the-back cable curl

Use your left hand to grab the handle of a low pulley cable machine.
Walk one of more steps away from the cable machine.
Let your right foot stay in front, while the left foot lag behind
Gradually, start to pull or curl your left arm,
Bend your elbow and bringing your left hand upward
When your hand/handle reaches your shoulder level, pause for 1-3 seconds before lowering your arm to the starting position.
Focus on 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps
Switch to the right hand and repeat the same exercises.

Towel cable rowing arm exercise

If you don’t want to go by holding the cable with one hand, a better alternative is to use your towel. This exercise works your upper arm muscles, triceps, and biceps, including the brachialis.

The bigger these muscles, the larger your thin wrist would appear to be. How do I bulk up my forearms and wrist by rowing a cable machine?

How to get bigger wrists for watches with Towel cable rowing exercise

Pass a towel into the triangle-shaped pulley handle
Grab the two ends of the towel strongly in each hand
Step behind and Stand in front of the cable machine
Pull the towel as much as you can, towards your chest like you do with a rowing machine
Do 3-5 sets of 10-15 repetitions and rest for a minute

Low Cable Curls forearm workouts

Unlike the behind-the-back cable curl, you can train your two arms simultaneously with a dual pulley cable machine. If you want your forearm muscles to really worked, especially the biceps, try a dual pulley cable machine as shown below.

How to get bigger forearms and wrists with Low Cable Curls

First, adjust the cable machine to the lowest pulley settings.
Stand facing away, hold the two cables, one on the right and the other in the left hand.
Move away a few steps from the cable machine with the cable handles at your sides.
Note your starting position – your arms are fully extended behind, and you one foot is ahead of the other.
Curl the pulley handle bar, moving your hand forward, and up to shoulder level.
Hold for a few 3-5 seconds, then lower or release the cable
Do 3-sets of 10-15 reps,
Then repeat the wrist and forearm pulling exercise.

Note: do not pull the cable with a lot of momentum. As you pull to drive the weight up, contract your biceps muscles strongly.

Cable curl forearm exercise

If you got petite wrists, bulking and getting bigger forearm muscles would make the skinny wrists look normal or large. Another cable wrist /forearm exercise that works the biceps is the cable curl.

This forearm, strengthening and muscle building exercise can be done on a single pulley cable machine. When pulling, please make sure to contract your biceps muscles forcefully. Lets us go thicken your wrist bone and forearm muscles.

how to make wrists bigger with cable curls

As usual, set the cable machine to the lowest pulley setting.
Grab tightly the pulley handlebar at arms shoulder width.
Make sure your palms face upward to the ceiling
Keep your feet flat on the floor
About one step away, stand and face the equipment,
Note your starting position – arms fully extended downward
Pull or curl the pulley bar up to your shoulder height
Pause for 3-5 seconds then lower your hands
Do 3-5 sets of 10-15 repetitions
Repeat the cable wrist curl

Single Arm Cable Curl workout

Another biceps widening exercise can be done with a single pulley cable machine. Similar to the behind-curl workout, a single cable curl forearm pull can produce gains on your biceps, as well as increase your wrist size. Here is how to get bigger wrist and larger forearm with single pulley cable curl training.

how to get bigger wrists for skinny guys with Single Arm Cable Curl

Start by setting your cable machine to its lowest pulley setting.
With your right hand, grab the cable handle firmly
Stand about a step away, while facing the mounted cable machine
Note your starting position – fully extended right hand down, one foot ahead of the other
Curl the cable handle up to your shoulder height
Pause for a few seconds, then release or lower the cable
Do 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps
Rest and repeat the cable wrist curl exercise on the left hand

Note that you should always keep continuous tension on the biceps. This means, while curling up, you contract your biceps muscles. When you build more biceps, your slender wrists will appear even bigger.

One Arm High Pulley Cable Curls workout

Another wrist and forearm exercise that will get your biceps muscles worked is the high pulley cable curl. The right gym workout equipment to use is the cable crossover machine.

How to make arms stronger and enlarged with high cable curls

Adjust the pulleys to their highest level on your cable crossover machine
Grab the cables in your hands and stand between the pulleys
Keep your elbows up at shoulder level and maintain this position throughout the entire forearm movement
Note your starting position. Your elbows are at your shoulder level and arms stretched out to the sides of your body.
Curl up your hands and bring them close to your ears.
Pause for few seconds and then lower the handle
Do 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps.

Rope hammer curl wrist and forearm workout

If you want to grow both biceps and forearms muscles and make your small wrists look bigger, a rope hammer curl is a great arm workout. The forearm pull exercises are better on a single pulley cable machine with rope attached.

How to get massive arm muscles with rope hammer curl

Firstly, set your single cable machine to its lowest pulley setting.
Hold the rope handle and turn your palms to face each other.
Step away and stand facing the cable machine
Note your starting position – your arms are fully extended.
Curl the pulley rope up, until it gets to your chest level and lower it.
Do 3-5 sets of 10-20 reps if you can, but 10-15 is ok
Repeat the forearm workout

One perfect thing I discovered while doing this forearm and wrist training is: do not swing my back while curling the rope upwards. This helped me to tone and work the biceps well than I could imagine.

Reverse cable curl wrist training

You probably have heard of reverse curl exercise with dumbbell weights. Reverse wrist curl can also be done with cable machines, and they target especially your forearm and wrists muscles.

The equipment which we are going to use is a single pulley cable machine. Let us go check in a few steps how to expand forearms and wrist sizes with this exercise.

how to make wrists and forearm bigger with reverse cable curls

You start bet setting the cable machine to its lowest pulley setting.
Grab the handle bar with palms down grip
Stand and face the cable machine and keep a strict movement–no swinging
Your starting position is when your arms get fully extended.
Then, curl the handle bar, bending your elbow, right up to your shoulder level.
Pause for a moment, say less than 3 seconds, and lower the handle
Do 3-5 reps of at least 10 repetitions
Repeat the massive forearm exercises.

Triceps pull-down exercise

If you never tried triceps pull down exercises, I am going to show how it works. The main muscles targeted and worked is your triceps. The muscular your triceps, the massive your arms look and the more your wrists grow and get attention.

Our ideal forearm training equipment here is the single cable pulley machine. You will need to hook a straight bar attachment to the cable machine. There you adjust so that it’s at its highest point. Let us see how to do it.

how to increase wrist size by building upper arm muscles

First, set the cable machine to be at the highest pulley setting.
Grab the handlebar with a palm-down grip – slightly closer than shoulder width
Stand and face the exercise machine.
Place your feet about shoulder width apart
Note your starting position. Your elbows are at the sides and your hands, raised to upper chest level.
Press downwards in an attempt to fully straighten your arms.
Pause for few seconds, then lower it
Do your desire number of sets and reps, then repeat.

Forearm Overhead Cable Extension exercises

Overhead cable extension is another less common wrist and forearm exercise that targets triceps to make them massive and stronger. It is slightly complicated on a single pulley cable machine with a rope attachment.

how to make wrists look bigger and forearm muscular with cable extension

As usual, set the cable machine to the highest pulley setting.
Stand away, and face the machine.
Keep your feet shoulder width apart with your right leg forward
Hold the rope handle with palms down grip, above your head. Let your hands be slightly closer than shoulder width.
Extend your arms at about a 30-degree angle to full extension
Pause for some seconds, then release
Do it in many sets and reps

Forearm and wrist training tips: I do not use momentum to drive the weight forward, so you can avoid it too.

One Arm Cable Pushdown exercise

You can equally do a one arm cable pull down and get your triceps muscles really worked and bulged out. We are going to use a single cable pulley machine again.

how to increase wrist muscle by swelling triceps with cable pull down

Set your cable machine to its highest pulley setting.
Grab the handle firmly in your right hand with a palm down grip.
Stand away and face the exercise machine
Note your starting position – your right hand at upper chest level
Maintain your elbow at the side throughout the entire arm movement
Press down to fully straighten your right arm.
Release and repeat the one arm workout

Cable Wrist Curls wrist exercise

If you are looking to try a straightforward cable machine wrist exercise, cable wrist curls is it. This cable machine workout will greatly increase your wrist size. It targets the forearm and wrist muscles.

We will use the single pulley cable machine, with a short bar handle. You will start by hooking the handle to the cable machine, and making adjustment until it is at the lowest point.

Let us see how to do this cable arm workout.

how to make wrists bigger with cable wrist curls

Set your cable machine to its lowest pulley setting.
Stand a bit far(2 steps away) but face the cable machine
Hold the handle on your fingertips with a palm up grip. Keep them slightly closer than shoulder width.
Fully extend your wrists downward, to lower the cable.
From there, curl your wrists back up until they are full contracted.
Pause for few seconds, then lower back the handle
Do the cable wrist workout in 3-5 sets of 12-15 reps.

You should focus more on getting arms to full extension and contraction for every rep you make.

Lying Straight Bar Curls exercise

Lying straight, is this posture awkward to exercise forearm muscles? Let us go see how lying straight bar curl can get your biceps muscles toned and enlarged.

The forearm workout equipment needed is a single cable pulley machine, with a straight bar handle attachment.

One of the wrist training tips in this exercise is that you do your repetitions gently, while you contract your every arm in every rep you make.

how to make wrists stronger and biceps bigger with bar curls

Adjust your cable machine to its lowest pulley setting.
Grab the hand bar and lie down on the floor, facing the machine.
Note your starting position – give your arms full extension towards your upper legs.
Curl the handle bar up, over your belly, to your shoulder level.
Pause for 3 secs when your hands reach your shoulder height
Lower the cable and repeat the exercise in many 3-5 set of 10-15 reps

Low Pulley Triceps Extension exercise

To swell your arm size, build your biceps and triceps muscles and your wrist will become bigger. Let us see how to use single pulley cable machine, with rope handle attachment to bulge wrists and forearms.

Set up for supine triceps extensions is the same as for cable biceps curls. But this time, you are going to pull the bar ( rope attachment) up over your head.

how to increase wrist width and build muscular triceps

make the cable machine adjusted to its lower pulley setting.
Hold the rope handle bar with palms down grip over your head. Let the hand be less than your shoulder width.
Stand in front of the cable machine, a few steps away.
Place your right leg, and foot slightly forward and maintain that staggered stance
Extend your arms outward, in an angle of 30 degree to full extension.
Pause for a few seconds and then release
Repeat in several sets and reps

Arm Cable Preacher Curl workout

Another excellent exercise that will pump your arms and improve your overall functional fitness is the arm cable preacher curl. It is one of the more effective cable arm exercise.

A single cable pulley machine with a straight bar attachment and a preacher bench is great for blasting your forearms and wrists.

how to increase wrist and forearm size with Cable Preacher Curl

Set the cable machine to the lowest pulley setting.
Place your preacher bench about one of two steps in front and facing the machine.
Take a seat on the bench
Grab cable bar with your palm facing up
Drape both arms over the bench pad, and extend your arms fully.
Curl the cable handle up until your arms get full contraction
Pause for a few secs, then return to the starting point.
Do it in several sets and reps.

The trick to work your arms and dilate those blood vessels in them lies in positioning the preacher’s bench. Make the bench height adjust to help your arms get draped right over the bench into your armpits.

Are cables better than dumbbell weights?

Both are exercises tools but cable machine are really expensive, bulkier and not readily portable. Dumbbells range from small weights (1 pounds) to heavy dumbbell sets, but are more portable and cheaper to purchase.

Is the cable machine better than dumbbell to make wrist size bigger and forearm muscles massive? Although dumbbells are portable, and can be used anywhere for wrist training, the cable machine has some advantages in growing muscles around your tiny wrist bone and the upper forearm.

For resistance training to increase wrist size and larger forearms, cables beat the dumbbells because they are allow you to tone and work your arm muscles from different angles. Cable machine offer many planes of motion when training your forearms. We will see different ways how to get bigger wrist sizes and stronger arms with cable machine.

A cable machine produces consistent resistance or tension during your forearm and wrist pulling exercises. The intensity, tension, and resistance do not vary as it does with dumbbells weight lifting. The stable cable brings help to isolate the arm muscles and brings your forearm and wrist exercise under control.

Cable machines are a lot safer than single weights like dumbbells. Free weights can easily drop and cause injuries than compound equipment like the cable machine. According to the American Journal of Sports Medicine, most gym injuries are caused by barbells and dumbbells.

Wrap Up

That is how to get bigger wrists with cable machine exercises. As you have seen here, there are plenty of cable machine exercises for the upper body and when you ever think of flexing and building strength in your upper body parts, cable machines should come to your mind. It does not actually matter what’s your goal is. Whether your purpose is to build strength in your arms, or to increase your arm size, cable machine workouts are absolutely tested and proven tools for busting wrist and forearms.

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Gear Smartly

Gearon is a 6 foot active young man, with 5.5″ wrist he feels looks small. The struggle to grow big wrist with exercises and to pick gorgeous watches for his skinny wrists, have earned him an unbeatable passion for wrist watches, especially smartwatches. As an entrepreneur and a handy project manager, he knows exactly what product quality is, in the eye of a customer and what value they expect for their money. He combined all these talents, and created this blog to share his knowledge to everyone and the fashion community.