Hello everybody

Due to ‘reasons’ I’ve not been out at all on a bike since the summer so decided a trip to bike park wales on New Years Eve was obviously the best option for easing myself back into action.

‘We’ve booked the up-lift’ I thought, it’ll be fine…

It was absolutely brilliant to be honest and I really enjoyed the whole rainy, muddy day but I was severely disappointed with my fitness.

It was probably only the morning session I was keeping up with the other guys then as I got tired I started making more mistakes which translated to time lost and them waiting for longer at the bottom each time. I mean we’re probably talking a minute max but in the morning we were perfectly bunched.

From the elbow down I faded dramatically after lunch to the point that by 15.00 I wasn’t safe to react to the trails so I was done.

Obviously with us perched at the top of the year it’s clearly the right time to address this. Or at least until I can be fecked!

Cardio I can sort and same for the legs but here’s the question:

What mountain bike specific arm and hand exercises can people recommend?

What mountain bike specific arm and hand exercises can people recommend?

Use a rowing machine to do your cardio?

I’d advise some different types of websites to this to help with your forearms. 😉

I know some guys that benefitted lots by using one of those powerball things.

Try here https://www.bikejames.com/products/

Deadlifting is the best exercise IMO, pullups are also not bad. Also relaxing & not death-gripping the bars helps massively as it delays fatigue.

What mountain bike specific arm and hand exercises can people recommend?

This is unlikely to be the issue. If your suspension & brake levers aren’t too firm or poorly positioned then it’s probably that you’re braking far to much – brought on your increasing fatigue and the adrenaline comedown from the morning.

If you focus on getting fitter all round and riding smoothly (even deliberately starting at a trundle & letting it build up) instead of trying to go fast there’s a good chance you’ll handle it better.

I wondered if there might be too much DeathGrip going on, rather than any specific weakness?

Ride your bike. Do more uplifts. Worked for me.

Climbing wall? I find bouldering 1 – 2 times a week in winter helps to maintain arm (and core muscle groups) at a reasonable level. It’s more fun than gym routines.

What Rob Hilton says. It could be that your brake levers are pointing down too far, so you are using your muscles to hold on to the bars. Try raising up your brake levers, say 15 degrees below horizontal. Changed that years ago after visiting Jedi and my arm pump all but disappeared.

Ride your bike. Do more uplifts. Worked for me.

Yeah, also this! What you need to do an exercise will develop from doing said exercise.

I agree with Zilog, deadlifts definitely help. James Wilson’s YouTube has a guide cycling specific ones (as well as loads of other exercises).

Making sure you up set up is right with good grips and working brakes and fork certainly help[, but some people are just more susceptible to arm pump than others. Remy Metallier recently put his lack of race results down to incurable arm pump.

Ride more, that’ll be the main reason, if you haven’t ridden since the summer then you probably did well to do what you managed. The should get you back to the level of performance you had previously.

Second option is gym exercises, deadlift, pull up, barbell row, tricep cable pull up/pull down. Anything that requires strong grip will improve the forearm strength.

Final option is too look at lever height, grip thickness, bar width, hand placement on bars etc.

For me, changing my controls worked wonders. Brakes biting closer to the bar, skinnier grips and levers rotated closer to horizontal all helped.

Also riding more.

Slow pushups. I had to do the same for the motorbike, the reasons are a bit different but the result’s the same.

And yep, do consider fannying about with the controls.

Push ups, inverted rows, wrist mobility/strengthening exercises, hand stands, planks. That’s what I’ve been trying at least, but now I’ve got an elbow issue.

First couple of runs gets me in exactly the same way.
Got it in mind to do some lower arm exercises for a few weeks before the next trip.
Last trip wasn’t as bad though, possibly due to higher rise stem I fitted.
(60mm x 5deg to 70mm x 25deg). Lifted some of the weight off my ageing hands.

Hmm,

Ride your bike.

Probably this, if you’d gone out on a “proper” ride you’d probably have noticed your feeble legs and heart trying to burst out of your chest due to your lack of fitness, as you booked an uplift day only the noodly forearms showed the strain.

Get bikefit again and your forearms will probably be fine.

Having said that I’m bikefit (ish) but still have noodly forearms, was looking at a training contraption in a store while xmas shopping, Iron Arms I think it was called, wondered if that would be of use for mtbers, but TBH I think a short section of broom handle, some rope and a weight would probably do the job just aswell (rope tied to middle of handle, weight at other end, roll the handle to wind the rope/weight up)
it’s the willpower I’m missing more than the kit.

Any MXer will tell you arm pump is less about strength and more about cardio fitness. Strength training can actually exacerbate it, you need to get more oxygen inyo your blood not construct your blood vessels further.

Everyone in this thread is giving you the wrong advice.

Ride your bike.

Probably this, if you’d gone out on a “proper” ride you’d probably have noticed your feeble legs and heart trying to burst out of your chest due to your lack of fitness, as you booked an uplift day only the noodly forearms showed the strain.[/quote]

How does having strong legs and good cardio help with the arms exactly?

On local group rides I have no trouble staying with the guys I went to the Alps with, but I moaning like a sissy in Alps due to forearms & wrists strain for never ending braking, and yearning to ride up a hill!

swimming is good for arms also

try setting your brake levers so they’re just below horizontal, not 45 degrees down.

this means you can still work the handlebars, and the brakes, without really having to ‘grip’.

weirdly, this advice, which is free and easy to try, provokes some very odd and aggressive responses…

+1 for trying to keep a looser grip and also for just riding more.

Bike set-up could be an issue, try what ahwiles suggested if applicable and I’d also recommend winding your brake levers in close to the bar and seeing if that improves things.

Because arm pump is actually caused by a lack of oxygen to the forearm muscles caused by your own muscles constricting blood flow.

swimming is good for arms building massive shoulders

Any MXer will tell you arm pump is less about strength and more about cardio fitness. Strength training can actually exacerbate it, you need to get more oxygen inyo your blood not construct your blood vessels further.

This is interesting – and sensible. The ability to squeeze more strongly could well have you squeezing more strongly.

Some people are just genetically/physiologically unlucky as well and need surgery to fix the issue.

If you get it really bad, its time to get some Renthal ultra tscky grips and as powerful brakes as you can eg Zees with 203mm rotors.

Get a single speed. Works everything.

Single speed isnt a bad idea, you want to do interval training as well. Its also best to do 15 minutes of interval training before a DH run and you should also remember to breathe properly, a lot of people dont as theyre pointing downhill and a bit scared. Im pretty sure some downhillers on the WC circuit hum songs to get them to breathe properly.

Im pretty sure some downhillers on the WC circuit hum songs to get them to breathe properly.

Possibly a good aid for developing unconscious competence too.

Part way through a ride on Sunday and giving it the beans on a a few short ups & downs I realised that:

1 I’d been thinking about sex constantly for at least 10 mins
2 I was riding a bike
3 I had a semi

Go to an indoor climbing wall…. hugely beneficial for reducing arm pump.

Climbing wall helps, as long as you don’t plan on doing any uplift days for about a week after your first session (I think I first went on a Monday, my forearms were still sore on the Saturday after).

It’s got the bonus of being enjoyable, too, and certainly the smaller/differently shaped holds give you much better grip strength than you would get from pull ups/weights/rowing.

Although probably riding the bike down hills is the best short term solution!

Thank you very much all, probably the most useful set of responses I’ve had to a forum post.

I think much like the summery from those infuriating diet programmes the answer is going to be a combination of things!

General fitness (cardio and strength) is definitely going to help and I will look at the lever angle/reach and grips. Never really considered it before.

Really interested in the braking too much/poor braking technique/riding style theory as well.

I ski pretty averagely and I know the faster and trickier the terrain the more turns and speed checks I put in which is effectively braking with your legs. The more leg braking the more tiered I am and elements of what I felt on Saturday reminded of that same feeling now you mention it.

I’m a very much ‘self-taught’ rider and none of our group is into big jumps. In fact at BPW we were all talking about how we roll the blues (except the little kickers).

When I roll the ‘lumpy doubles’ instead of jumping I have to scrub off speed on or before the ramp to keep the front wheel on the trail.

Doing this time and time again probably requires more effort than I’d mentally budgeted for so that will contribute to the fatigue.

In a sense if I don’t improve technique increasing strength will just facilitate bad or lazy habits.

Soooo…

– Improve bikefitness (cardio, legs & arms)
– Review grips and lever angle/reach
– Actively work on technique to reduce reliance on brakes and death grip

One thing no one mentioned: how much will a boost rear dropout set up help…

there is a difference between arm pump and general fatigue though and its about identifying the issue. i dont think there are that many places in the UK with long enough descents to get that proper ‘peeling yer fingers off the bar’ arm pump.

its if you havent ridden for 6 months and then smash a load of laps uplifting you will definatly feel it. especially if you are a desk based slacker like most of us on here. it wont be arm pump though. my shoulders give out after 1/2 – 2/3 of a day uplifting depending on the location. i live down south so ploughing through the rough isnt an option for day to day rides.

i found swimming pretty good for my bike handing – be it better cardio, core strength or arm strength i`m not sure but it definately made a difference (tri training so front crawl only for 400m 2 times in a lunch time 2or3 times a week for 4 weeks)

wfwc – Member

One thing no one mentioned: how much will a boost rear dropout set up help…

not one bit.

Tom_W1987 – Member

Any MXer will tell you arm pump is less about strength and more about cardio fitness.

And a lot will declare tired arms to be “arm pump”. The problem is diagnosis, arm pump is very specific condition and shares some symptoms with just having weak or tired arms.

Yeah technique helps, I dont really ever brake to roll small doubles – I just kind of suck the jump up into my chest and pump them.

It’s definately about riding with a bit more thought as to your technique as you say, think about braking points, where you dont need to pedal etc in an aim to ride smartly and decrease your energy expenditure.

Well if you really want to get into the specifics NW, read this.

Handlebar Grip, Arm Pump, and Forearm Fatigue: Why and How to Alleviate It

Which agrees completely with what I said, and contradicts your declaration that everyone else is wrong. Good link!

“Several factors may cause loss of grip strength and power. Lack of muscular tone and mass in the hand/forearm is a major contributor. Just like a couch potato can’t wake up one sunny morning and run a marathon, training is necessary to provide the proper tone and endurance to withstand the energy requirements demanded by the sports mentioned here. Simply put, the more you train your muscles, the more they will adapt to the particular stresses placed on them.”

OP returns to riding after a break, discovers muscular weakness. Diagnosis- muscular weakness.

Did you notice that I posted that its less about strength? The strongest guys get issues with it, cardio is more important in that it should always be within a level that is able to accomodate your grip strength – simply – you dont need to go and get ripped to bimble along blues.

Manon carpenter probably has less muscle tone than the OP, giess who probably has the better cardio fitness?