“Muscular Irradiation” is a physiological phenomenon that you may not have ever even heard of… yet it’s one that can bring you significant training benefits if you understand and apply it!
Its technical definition is “the ability of a muscle performing an action to generate greater tension (i.e. force) by being ‘innervated’ from the surrounding muscles.”
To get a sense for what that means from a practical perspective, try this little exercise right now. Start by gently closing your fist. Then tighten that fist. Then clench it even tighter. Now WHITE-KNUCKLE TIGHT – as tight as you absolutely can!!!
Now notice what muscles were involved in each of those steps. At first, it was only your intrinsic hand and forearm muscles. Then, as you clenched tighter, your biceps and triceps started to contract as well. And as you clenched as tight as you possibly could, even your deltoids, chest, and back muscles became engaged!! This shows you that with any action, the muscles directly required to perform that action can (and do) actually pull force from the muscles around it! So the actual strength of any of your muscles is partly determined by the strength of the surrounding musculature!
This has many applications, such as explaining the importance of your abdominal muscles in providing strength and stability to the rest of your core. However, the one I wanted to highlight today is the importance of working your forearms! They are often ignored or at least underworked… but among the many benefits of working your forearms (i.e. “5 Reasons to Work Your Forearm Flexors”) is the fact that the stronger your forearms become, the more strength and power your biceps, triceps, and shoulders will also have access to via the principle of muscular irradiation!
Want to curl more? Work your forearms! Want stronger triceps? Work your forearms! (As part of a comprehensive routine that also involves directly working the primary agonists of course.)
APPLICATION: If you want to increase your total arm strength, make the most of muscular irradiation by working your forearms!!
Note: My Hypertrophy Series Total Forearm program isn’t quite available yet... but it’s close! You can pre-register to beta-test it in return for 50% off by submitting this form. In the meantime, there IS a lot of forearm work in my Hypertrophy Series Biceps & Triceps Program! (See Deal of the Week below)
Relevant Research Article(s):
1) Force irradiation effects during upper limb diagonal exercises on contralateral muscle activation
2) Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation induces muscle irradiation to the lower limbs – A cross-sectional study with healthy individuals
Related Dr. Gains YouTube Video(s):
1) How to Build ALL 8 Forearm Flexors (4 Finger Flexors + 4 Wrist Flexors = Big & Ripped Forearms!) 💪
2) How to Build EVERY FOREARM EXTENSOR in ONE EXERCISE | Workout & Anatomy (Forearm Series Part 2/3)
3) The 2 Science-Based KEYS to Building the BRACHIORADIALIS!! (Forearm Series Part 1 of 3)
Dr. Gains 
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