Gym goers, need some advice - arm pump

[dobbyhasfriends]

to all you lot that hit the gym..
I have been doing 4-5 days a week for about 4-5 months now and love it, fitter, stronger etc..

one downside is that most lifting involves gripping and this involves forearms and that is causing me savage arm pump when I go riding, especially on steep tech.

is there any way around this?

 

[Bones]

Probably not as motogp riders have to have operations to sort it out.

 

[Spangoolies]

Maybe try adjusting your controls a bit. I recently started getting myself fit again and had a trip to BPW a couple of weeks ago where I suffered terrible arm pump on the first run. Simply rolling the brake levers forward a bit fixed it for me. Other options are trying different size grips, dampening grips, different bar angles and widths and even carbon bars can help as I’ve read that carbon helps dampen vibrations compared to metal. Maybe even spray some expanding foam into your bars to create your own version of spanks vibrocore system…

 

[James_C]

what is your front suspension and when was it last serviced? Also - are you using too much pressure in the front?

 

[Doomanic]

Are you gripping the bars too tightly?

 

[Doomanic]

Is Sam suffering the same? If not, ask yourself what might a teenager be doing away from the gym that's different to an old bloke who should know better...

 

[dobbyhasfriends]

what is your front suspension and when was it last serviced? Also - are you using too much pressure in the front?

Brand new, pressure is perfect

Are you gripping the bars too tightly?

Probably, but I still lost a hand off the bat last time at bpw

Next time I’m just gonna try breaking a lot less, for shorter time rather than dragging then which I catch myself doing so the time

 

[audistwo]

Have you tried using ibuprofen?
This can help, maybe not a long term solution though.

 

[dobbyhasfriends]

Have you tried using ibuprofen?
This can help, maybe not a long term solution though.

not for arm pump, is that a thing that works ?

 

[audistwo]

Have you tried using ibuprofen?

not for arm pump, is that a thing that works ?

A good number of years ago I used to do a bit of motocross, nothing serious. More a hobby and mucking about with mates.

There were a couple that said it helped. Seemed to help anyway.

 

[yorkshire89]

If your bikes setup well it's probably just too much training without chance to fully recover. Should get easier with time.
I used to really struggle on long descents if I'd been climbing the day before.
Try not to deathgrip the bars. If there's an easy section of trail/fireroad mid descent I sometimes stretch my fingers out for a couple of seconds which helps a bit

 

[irie]

to all you lot that hit the gym..
I have been doing 4-5 days a week for about 4-5 months now and love it, fitter, stronger etc..

one downside is that most lifting involves gripping and this involves forearms and that is causing me savage arm pump when I go riding, especially on steep tech.

is there any way around this?

Suggest going to the gym every second day so that you have a recovery day between sessions.

 

[Plummet]

Do more descending and less gym.....

 

[RickBullotta]

Make sure you're doing adequate stretching of forearms, wrists, elbows and hands. Unfortunately, fascia is hard to stretch. And maybe switch your gym routine to add more core/legs and less on the "glamour muscles".

 

[dobbyhasfriends]

Make sure you're doing adequate stretching of forearms, wrists, elbows and hands. Unfortunately, fascia is hard to stretch. And maybe switch your gym routine to add more core/legs and less on the "glamour muscles".

yea its true, I do stretch but its hard to get 'in there' and feel like its making a difference, I also have a massage machine thing..
the 'glamour muscles' have definitely stopped me going OTB a couple of times where my max pressup dynamic adaptation has been tested strongly
even deadlifts.. they are great for all round but take a lot out of the forearm..

Suggest going to the gym every second day so that you have a recovery day between sessions.

yea, its on the cards, I have been planning to go to 3-4 days rather than 5-6, the relentless lifting takes its toll but cos im new to it, I wanted to hit it hard before chilling

 

[Doomanic]

"glamour muscles"

Glamour? Clearly you've never met Dobby...

 

[Hobo Mikey]

Sod the gym just stick to lifting pint glasses full of beer, the more you drink the lighter they get.

 

[Zimmerframe]

yea, its on the cards, I have been planning to go to 3-4 days rather than 5-6, the relentless lifting takes its toll but cos im new to it, I wanted to hit it hard before chilling

I think when you get to our age, you need more recovery time (I'm talking gym). Once every two days is more than enough for what you're doing. You won't make more gains being more frequent, you're just not letting your body recover between.

Presumably you're doing a split if you're doing 5/6 week, but even then, there's only so much your body can do now that you're not in your 20's or 30's or even 40's ..

Just eat well, and focus on core exercises so you don't waste loads of time doing dumb sh1t which is just tiring you (Sam can do it). Eat well and watch your carbs.

Lots of sex. You live in Wales, to not have a sheep looks suspicious !

Ignoring the line above, there's a good chance your arms just haven't recovered between gym and ride.

I was getting hand cramps the other day. A combination of unknown trails, hot, not enough water. It wasn't DH megafun, but we all work harder and flow less on the unknown.

 

[Mikerb]

I agree with many of the a bove comments...................you gym routine is ill advised!! Probably on 2 counts
Firstly for almost all sports you mostly need lean and flexible muscle.................not muscle build. Muscle build may look impressive but it comes at the expense of flexibility. Get some advise on you gym routine.
Secondly, the majority of gains from exercise of any kind, including gym routines, happens when you rest...not when you are doing the exercise. 4/5 days a week is far too much. When you go weights of any kind you incur muscle tissue damage. It then needs time to regenerate. 3 sessions a week would be more than enough especially if you also adding one or 2 rides to that routine per week.
It is also the case that your recovery time between any form of exercise extends with age. Your son can do 4/5 days a week...chances are you will do more harm than good if you do the same! Sad but true!!

 

[Ark]

Cut out the Death Grip syndrome, get some more ergonomic grips and check if your brake levers are in a natural position for your hands

 

[Binhill1]

What is arm pump

 

[Canyon Shawn]

Learn to ride with your grips literally banging around inside your hands. You should be sitting back off your hands and turning with your feet and hips. You should be doing as little as possible, controlling the bike, with your arms and your hands. When you learn how to do that your arm pump will go away. It has very little to do with that fact that you work out with weights. You’ll also find out that you’ll be fitting the bike less and it will handle better.

 

[dobbyhasfriends]

Learn to ride with your grips literally banging around inside your hands. You should be sitting back off your hands and turning with your feet and hips. You should be doing as little as possible, controlling the bike, with your arms and your hands. When you learn how to do that your arm pump will go away. It has very little to do with that fact that you work out with weights. You’ll also find out that you’ll be fitting the bike less and it will handle better.

I know what you are saying here although someone reading this might have a terrible accident after taking the advice
Im already fairly 'light fingered' on the bars to the point where i lost a hand off the grip last time at bikepark Wales, not a pleasant expereince
happens just after vid starts

 

[Binhill1]

I know what you are saying here although someone reading this might have a terrible accident after taking the advice
Im already fairly 'light fingered' on the bars to the point where i lost a hand off the grip last time at bikepark Wales, not a pleasant expereince
happens just after vid starts

Know what you mean I wouldn't advise been there myself. Might even get sued for wrong advice in this day and age . Enjoy

 

[yorkshire89]

I know what you are saying here although someone reading this might have a terrible accident after taking the advice
Im already fairly 'light fingered' on the bars to the point where i lost a hand off the grip last time at bikepark Wales, not a pleasant expereince
happens just after vid starts

Watching that, I'd be tempted to try and drop your lever angle slightly, and possibly move them slightly closer to the grips.
It looks like you might be dropping your elbows to compensate for the lever angle?

It also looks like your fully extending your braking finger, if you can bring the lever closer to the bars you will take some load off your forearms

 

[Zed]

I would really have thought exercises like heavy deadlifts would be excellent for forearm pump. I do deadlifts with both hands pronated to mimic the bars. Myself I found 35mm bars knackered my forearms on long descents. Looks like you're using 31mm in the video anyway though.

I would also say good tacky grips and gloves but looks like you got that covered too.

Are you doing exercises that have a lot of grip demand on too many days maybe?

 

[Spangoolies]

Are you doing exercises that have a lot of grip demand on too many days maybe?

Yer that’s my problem, borderline addiction. There’s only so many times I can lie to the missus I’m going for a poo. Always thought that would help with arm pump, well that’s what I used to justified my actions…

 

[Canyon Shawn]

I would really have thought exercises like heavy deadlifts would be excellent for forearm pump. I do deadlifts with both hands pronated to mimic the bars. Myself I found 35mm bars knackered my forearms on long descents. Looks like you're using 31mm in the video anyway though.

I would also say good tacky grips and gloves but looks like you got that covered too.

Are you doing exercises that have a lot of grip demand on too many days maybe?

It’s a myth that heavy weight training causes arm pump. It neither causes it nor makes it better.

 

[Binhill1]

Probably relative to the amount of cycling and type you do. Also personal physique and if you are a manual worker or office worker that has to play a part I would think . I used to get itchy forearms after a really fast downhill I use regularly , not so bad with front forks . Get out there

 

[dobbyhasfriends]

Watching that, I'd be tempted to try and drop your lever angle slightly, and possibly move them slightly closer to the grips.
It looks like you might be dropping your elbows to compensate for the lever angle?

It also looks like your fully extending your braking finger, if you can bring the lever closer to the bars you will take some load off your forearms

yep im gonna try that, cheers.

I would really have thought exercises like heavy deadlifts would be excellent for forearm pump. I do deadlifts with both hands pronated to mimic the bars. Myself I found 35mm bars knackered my forearms on long descents. Looks like you're using 31mm in the video anyway though.

I would also say good tacky grips and gloves but looks like you got that covered too.

Are you doing exercises that have a lot of grip demand on too many days maybe?

probably too many days so ive pulled it back to three days now..