Shirley press-ups

What's a Shirley press up?

Jedi's got it. Raise your brake levers to about 60 degrees from 45.
The rest of this thread is complete bollocks.

I would think it is a confidence factor, from riding motocross I find the only variable that remains constant when I get arm pump is how nervous/unprepared due to lack of riding time I am. It doesn't matter how rough the track is or how long I have been riding purely on my state of mind. Think about your hands as you ride and see if you are gripping on for dear life and relax your grip if you are. If you are getting hand cramp then try changing your leaver set up a bit to get the most comfortable position. Also your forearm muscle works harder if you have a wider grip so thinner gloves and grips could help to combat the problem but might give you blisters instead, changed to grips with no waffle on the mx bike and won't be doing that again any time soon! The converse of this is you can exercise your forearms as part of your normal exercise routine if you have access to your own free-weights, simply add a couple layers of duct tape to the part of the barbell, dumbell you grip, add more layers as your muscles build up.

Iain

I got it badly after a broken wrist. I got some heavy dumbells and do curls shoulder presses etc until I cant hold on to them 😀
This worked for me!

lol 🙂

Ride more +1 and relax!
You want to be like mercury down the hills, don't rely on the forks doing it all for you. You have more than 140mm travel in your arms. Firm but loose.

It doesn't matter how rough the track is or how long I have been riding purely on my state of mind.

Again, try the Megavalanche 😛

grum – Member
It doesn't matter how rough the track is or how long I have been riding purely on my state of mind.
Again, try the Megavalanche

I haven't done the mega (would love to though) but I would imagine that Glen Helen or Pala would be more than a match especially as your hands have an extra control on a motocross bike and the gripping the bike when accelerating out of the rutted corners in the sand works your arms like nothing else.

Iain

It seems to cover a lot of things though, not convinced that everyone's idea of arm pump is the same. I used to get it something awful on the motorbike, and the solution for that was long sets of slow pressups, it was just my puny arms working too hard under braking. But on the mountain bike I still occasionally get it and it does seem to be fork related when I do, I made a balls of the setup on the hemlock last time out and started getting it even though the ride was no way long enough or hard enough to cause it normally.

So, what I guess I'm saying is don't assume it's all one thing and that there's one fix.

breathe!!