Arm Pump Remedy

It's just you
I can suggest changing your grip. Use less of your thumbs wrapping around the grips(relax them). Just hook your fingers and use them to hold onto the bike. When you feel your forearms starting to fatigue, you will notice its because you have a tight grip on the bars.
Also try changing your bar position up. I like mine forward and up.

The reason I suggest grip is that I too used to get arm pump untill I suffered a major injury and lost total use of my right wrist permantly. I adopted the method of just hooking my fingers to hang on and have never had armpump again.
I have suggested the method to others, but it seems hard for them to get there head around it.

tightening the steering head a little might help

regards
Bushie

I used to get arm pump until I got a set of squeeze grips from my local sports shop. They look like a couple of handles connected by a spring, you have two of them one for each hand. Kind of like a hand workout but they work your whole forearm too! After doing this twice a day after a month you'll have forearms like popeye and arm pump is reduced considerably! Combine this with a more relaxed grip and you'll be just fine! If not though I have heard that the thickness of a grip can make a difference, try getting some thicker or thinner grips and see if that helps also! Highly recommend the squeeze grips though!

Ben

squarehead2 said:

Thanks, yes I have tall pro tapper's and I just installed large spacer's, because I'm 6'3'', still need to try them out. I will try and relax my grip, I have heard that before, sounds easier said then done. What about a stearing dampner?????

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I dont really prefer dampers on the older bikes although I may consider one on the 09. The couple of times I did use one they kinda wore me out. Not worth it in my opinion unless you do alot of high speed work.

berger said:

It's just you
I can suggest changing your grip. Use less of your thumbs wrapping around the grips(relax them). Just hook your fingers and use them to hold onto the bike. When you feel your forearms starting to fatigue, you will notice its because you have a tight grip on the bars.
Also try changing your bar position up. I like mine forward and up.

The reason I suggest grip is that I too used to get arm pump untill I suffered a major injury and lost total use of my right wrist permantly. I adopted the method of just hooking my fingers to hang on and have never had armpump again.
I have suggested the method to others, but it seems hard for them to get there head around it.

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Hi Squarehead,
I would follow bergers advice 100% on this one.
Dave Thorpe, the MX champ, said to us on track, 'why is evryone using the death grip on the bars'?
He advised using such a loose grip on the bars that you had freeplay but without losing control.Let the bike do the work and the legs on pegs help suspension and steering.
It is easy to say it and you do have to keep reminding yourself to relax your grip but the tighter the grip the more tired the muscles and tendons become, right through your arms and into the shoulders neck & back.
Keeping fit obviously helps, flexibility, press ups on fingers etc and like Ben said, the finger grip springs are good for the hands.
Keep a check on the weights, fast reps and lightish is ok but heavy weight lifting and bulking up top can sometimes aggravate tendons and make arm pump worse.
I think a damper may help you, ride on a mates for a while and see how it feels.
I have a scotts on my fe570. I have it turned down low and it freewheels back to centre. I like to think it helps a bit, especially when racing. It also gives me peace of mind for high speed deflections.
Dont get rid of the 550 and good luck!
Cheers, Nick

lost total use of my right wrist permantly

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wondered why you've been so grumpy ater your injury :twisted:

ned37 said:

lost total use of my right wrist permantly

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wondered why you've been so grumpy ater your injury :twisted:

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It only happened 25 years ago....I been grumpy along time

One reason for a death grip can be suspension valving/setup, if its not with you, its against you. You could also try some magnesium salts. I take slow acting ones before a ride and carry and consume fast acting ones with me on the trail to manage cramps, wonderful stuff. Might help with arm pump too.

Steve

Improving your forearm muscle is the worst thing you can do for arm pump lads. Arm pump is caused when your muscles in your arms require oxygen. They make such a large demand of oxygen that blood flow is increased to the arms, swelling the muscles. eventually they swell so much that they restrict movement of tendons and ligaments and even the vessels carrying blood away from your arm muscles, further compounding the problem. The best way to counter this is to increase the amount of oxygen your blood can transport around your body by increasing the amount of red blood cells in your blood. Cardio' training is the way. Aerobic cardio to make your heart and lungs stronger, and anaerobic to help increase the number of red blood cells in the blood. :glasses7:

oh yeah, bein relaxed on the bike is definitely the way forward aswell :wink: :thumbup:

I used to get it really bad but no so much now. I dont follow any fitness regime but time on the bike is the best way of getting "race fit". Like Chris#64 said, being relaxed is the biggest thing you can do. Before the pump gets really bad, grip the bike with your legs & concentrate on riding smooth & how hard you actually have to grip the bars. It's amazing how much extra effort you use hanging on when you're out of control. 8O

I had problems with arm pump before I learnt to relax when possible, I tend to try to much at times, and it's as simple as backing off slightly, remember to breathe properly and just relax and enjoy it (usually I'm quicker when I'm relaxed and enjoying myself).

/J

I have 2 different handlebars. Have been riding a ProTaper Mini Hi bar lately and getting numbness in throttle hand. Swapped my old Renthal "Enduro" bend bars for a ride and had no problem. What I think is the difference is that the Mini Hi has a greater sweep angle than the flatter Enduro bend. Problem is that the Mini Hi sweep is about as small as one can find short of a stock KTM bar.

Problem with the stock KTM bars is that there isn't enough straight space for handgrips and controls when cut down to 29".