Arm Pump!

1. Drink plenty of water everyday.
2. Maintain a Healthy Diet.
3. Stand up more and get over the tank and bars.
4. Loosen the grip on the hands and grip more with the knees (that is what you use anyways to control the bike).

All else fails, ride slow like me.....


No one believes your slow so stop it. By the way.Thanks for waiting for me.I am the definition of slow in websters.
 
For me hydration is the key. Caffine does not seem to effect arm pump either way. I know asprin does not thin the blood, just works on platlets but it helps me a lot at high altitudes when I climb or ski above 10k feet. I start taking it a few days before I climb and I rarely get the high altitude headaches any more.
 
This may sound like going in the wrong direction but it works for me. You know how you get arm pump while riding or in the middle of a race and then a little bit into it it goes away?? I race dessert out here in utah and one thing I do is take a small dumbell to the race or just get my forearms all pumped up before the race and then when things get going in the race my plumbing is all ready to get the blood pumping.
 
This may sound like going in the wrong direction but it works for me. You know how you get arm pump while riding or in the middle of a race and then a little bit into it it goes away?? I race dessert out here in utah and one thing I do is take a small dumbell to the race or just get my forearms all pumped up before the race and then when things get going in the race my plumbing is all ready to get the blood pumping.

i did this to the last race but with a stress ball. my buddy drives and i squeeze my stress ball the whole way to the race :D not too sure how it would've worked out though, i promptly had a get off and twisted my knee up putting me out of the race :( suck :foul:
 
i did this to the last race but with a stress ball. my buddy drives and i squeeze my stress ball the whole way to the race :D not too sure how it would've worked out though, i promptly had a get off and twisted my knee up putting me out of the race :( suck :foul:

Stress balls can be very taxing on knees Milk :smirk:
 
there has got to be some kind of work out one can do on off days to help strengthen your arms to combat arm pump.... i just need to learn the most efficient one and start doing that. i know just plain old riding will help. my 2nd time on teh track i doubled how many laps i could do before my arms where begging for me to pull off.
 

James

Staff member
I've been trying the "banana & lots of water" technique and it's helped greatly. Basically I drink water all day (you'll pee a lot :smirk:) and eat 3-4 bananas with in 3 hours before I ride. Plus I'll eat a high energy protein bar on the way there.
 
Your gonna be plugged up from eating all those Banannas or Start swinging from the flag poles and scrathing your arm pits and making monkey noises at the track if your not carefull.:smirk:
 
I'm sure this is old news, but here is what I posted on TT awhile ago;

Best way to reduce it is ride more often. Try some hand squeezers during the week.

What armpump is, is the failure of your old blood cells to leave your forearms fast enough. Therefore the new blood comes in and creates pressure in your arms, which causes the numbness and pain. The pressure then compresses all the nerves and muscles around your blood stream and you lose the proper function.

Now, the best way to prevent it from happening sooner in the race is to get your blood flowing nicely before the race. Jogging for about 20 minutes before your moto, will work. Also, jumping jacks, etc. Anything to get your blood flowing.

Another thing, teach yourself to grip the gastank with your knees so you can loosen your grips on the bars. Good luck!
 
I don't have an issue with arm pump. I site this to drinking fluids the night before, before, and during the day of riding.. Deathgripping the bars as mentioned before affects alot of people.

Yup I know jack!
 

James

Staff member
I don't have an issue with arm pump. I site this to drinking fluids the night before, before, and during the day of riding.. Deathgripping the bars as mentioned before affects alot of people.

Yup I know jack!
:thumb: I can vouch for this as I'm the same way. :ride:
 
One other thing that is important ! , do not drink anything with Caffene in it right before or during riding , the caffene will cause the blood vessels to contract as well i just remembered that because i used to get real bad leg cramps while riding , everyone thought it was dehydration but i had a camel pack and was getting plenty of fluid , only thing wrong was it was Code Red Mountian Dew , after i quit drinking that and went to Powerade and Gatorade the cramps stopped !

Man this one is the truth. I was struggling on the ride over to where we were hunting. It was 11pm and I still had a few hours to drive i stopped and grabbed an AMP, Snapple Tea and MTN Dew. I made the drive fine but the next day my legs cramped sooooooo bad. Oh man I wanted to :cry:
 
Top