Hook Technique and Exercises for Armwrestling

The hook is the inside game in armwrestling. You close your wrist, turn your hand toward you and drag the match into a short, strong position where your biceps and side pressure do the work.

How the hook works

• Cupping: curl your wrist in to keep your hand and your opponent's hand close to you.
• Supination: rotate your hand toward you to turn your opponent's wrist.
• Biceps and elbow angle: keep your arm bent and close to your body.
• Side pressure: once you control the wrist, drive toward the pin pad.

The muscles that win it

Wrist flexors for the cup, the biceps and supinators for rotation, and the chest, lats and shoulder for side pressure.

Key exercises

• Cupping with a wrist wrench or handle
• Supination with a cable or rotating handle
• Biceps curls in hook-specific angles
• Side pressure pulls with a strap

Every hook exercise we've filmed

Supination (inside rotation)

Full program

The PRO training plan for hook is Jānis Amoliņš's WAL preparation, optimized for the hook, with a video for every exercise.