Arm Pump!

James

Staff member
I was talking with a guy at the track and he was saying eat a lot of bananas. He'd eat about 8 bananas on a race day and never get arm pump. Would that be from all the potassium in :banana:'s? If so would a potassium supplement work as well, that way I don't have to eat 8 friggen banana's? :bonk:
 
I have heard that bananna's help as well for racing , the potassium is supposed to relieve muscle cramps , but i have tried eating them when and before i rode and didnt notice any difference and i did this for a few months , the asprin is still the only thing so far that i have noticed truely relieves it , at least for me , but unless you have high potassium levels already or kidney problems , i doubt eating bannas will hurt anything , and might give some people relief
 
I was talking with a guy at the track and he was saying eat a lot of bananas. He'd eat about 8 bananas on a race day and never get arm pump. Would that be from all the potassium in :banana:'s? If so would a potassium supplement work as well, that way I don't have to eat 8 friggen banana's? :bonk:

I have heard that bananna's help as well for racing , the potassium is supposed to relieve muscle cramps , but i have tried eating them when and before i rode and didnt notice any difference and i did this for a few months , the asprin is still the only thing so far that i have noticed truely relieves it , at least for me , but unless you have high potassium levels already or kidney problems , i doubt eating bannas will hurt anything , and might give some people relief


Too much potassium has the potential for arrhythmia, but you would be hard pressed to eat that much. A potassium supplement is cheap. Hydration and and a potassium supplement are probably good. Too many :banana: can block you up, too. Hydration hydration hydration and some exercises that involve the upper extremity might help, james...... If we took a poll as to who gets arm pump and their occupation, I would say those that perform labor intensive jobs (not all are blue collar--say, oh, I don't know--orthopedic surgery?) have less of a problem with arm pump. Like I said previously, it is most likely could be considered like form of shin splints, but in the arms. (please see early comments on exercise induced compartment syndrome). You have to train for ride.......not ride the train......


:ride:
 
Lets not forget that Hydration meaning Water or something of the type , not Soda's or Energy Drinks , as they actually contribute to arm pump because of the Caffine
 
Too much potassium has the potential for arrhythmia, but you would be hard pressed to eat that much. A potassium supplement is cheap. Hydration and and a potassium supplement are probably good. Too many :banana: can block you up, too. Hydration hydration hydration and some exercises that involve the upper extremity might help, james...... If we took a poll as to who gets arm pump and their occupation, I would say those that perform labor intensive jobs (not all are blue collar--say, oh, I don't know--orthopedic surgery?) have less of a problem with arm pump. Like I said previously, it is most likely could be considered like form of shin splints, but in the arms. (please see early comments on exercise induced compartment syndrome). You have to train for ride.......not ride the train......





:ride:

B+ AJ; Good effort, next time please show your work. :prof:
 
Potassium suppilment help for sure......but the one(I mean 2) things that helped me the most was having Carpul Tunnel Release Surgery done on both wrists. I used to have horrible arm pump, after the *fix*, I can ride motos(30 mins), a Hare Scrambles(1.5), or an enduro(2hr loop) and have not suffered pump but 3 or 4 times in the past 3 seasons:thumb:
 
I think that there are a lot of different things that get lumped into arm pump. True arm pump is a mild form of compartment syndrome when the pressure around the muscles increases. The emergency forms usually come from and acute injury like a fracture or blunt force trauma. We bike riders usually get a chronic mild form. Still no fun, but usually not an emergency that requires them to cut you open.

I've got the other kind that results in numb hands. I have had tendinitis in the finger tendons for since the early 90's. It's that death grip. It causes stiffness, but in the last few years I get transient carpal tunnel. My hands will go pretty much totally numb unless I release the death grip. It has really slowed me down. Only happens while riding though. If I can't demonstrate it to a doctor they will not do the release surgery so for the moment I'm stuck with it.

Anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen, naproxen, help me and I take them before most rides these days. They cut down on the inflammation and the symptoms a little. The can help "true" arm pump a little as well. Effectiveness varies.

A banana has about 450mg of potassium and quart of OJ has about 2000mg. A container of yogurt is 300 or 400 I think. The pills are normally only 100mg each. A little extra potassium can help stave off cramps, but too much is not a good thing. Some medications cause your body to hang on to potassium and extra can cause problems. In extreme cases it can kill you.
 
I think that there are a lot of different things that get lumped into arm pump. True arm pump is a mild form of compartment syndrome when the pressure around the muscles increases. The emergency forms usually come from and acute injury like a fracture or blunt force trauma. We bike riders usually get a chronic mild form. Still no fun, but usually not an emergency that requires them to cut you open.

I've got the other kind that results in numb hands. I have had tendinitis in the finger tendons for since the early 90's. It's that death grip. It causes stiffness, but in the last few years I get transient carpal tunnel. My hands will go pretty much totally numb unless I release the death grip. It has really slowed me down. Only happens while riding though. If I can't demonstrate it to a doctor they will not do the release surgery so for the moment I'm stuck with it.

Anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen, naproxen, help me and I take them before most rides these days. They cut down on the inflammation and the symptoms a little. The can help "true" arm pump a little as well. Effectiveness varies.

A banana has about 450mg of potassium and quart of OJ has about 2000mg. A container of yogurt is 300 or 400 I think. The pills are normally only 100mg each. A little extra potassium can help stave off cramps, but too much is not a good thing. Some medications cause your body to hang on to potassium and extra can cause problems. In extreme cases it can kill you.

WhoTF is this guy? :excuseme:
 
Top