2 minutes of full on downhill and my arms are absolutely burning.

What am I doing wrong?

my brake levers are at 60 degrees btw 🙁

If you don’t have a manual job, then perhaps some dumbbells. They should just strengthen up though.

i was thinking of maybe doing push ups? would they work?

Must resist……..
But seriously have you tried a Powerball, ideal to stop braking pump.

Must resist……..

Balls to that…

…serious answer: Chin ups, palm facing towards you, are good to build lower arm strength.

Hand Gym

Monday Morning Debrief 53

I do love a ‘Jamie’ post.

What sort of sore arms? If it’s wristy/handy (ie from braking and gripping) then powerballs and squeezy things but also often that’s from deathgripping and overbraking

If it’s arms then slow pressups in as close to your riding position as poss, is the classic- that’s what sorted me for the motorbike… But also, do consider riding position, lots of people ride quite “on top of” the bars and that can mean you use a lot of muscle just maintaining your positions (and that stiffens you up as well).

And yeah, change hands- I know it feels like cheating…

And yeah, change hands- I know it feels like cheating…

Jamie?

Could be unnecessary braking? Don’t try to go fast, focus on smooth.

wow powerball, haven’t thought of that one. thank you!

it’s more like biceps/triceps pain especially when riding rocky sections and/or jumps.

Have a look here, OP:

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

Pick the muscles/muscle groups/bits of the body you want to sort out, and it will list relevant exercises.

For example:

Biceps

Triceps

Sweet! thanks for all the info! much appreciated 🙂

a piece od wood about the same diameter as your grips, a length of strong string fixed to the rope. a house brick fixed to the end of the string.
stand up hold the wood out at arms length and wind the the brick up and back down again.

my brake levers are at 60 degrees btw

60 degrees from the horizontal or the vertical?

If it’s arms/shoulders then pull-ups and push-ups work well.

What am I doing wrong?

Possibly its not your arms its the weakest bit i.e. your hands. Had very much the same problem meself and got great results by using a grip strengthener spring thing.

Helps to develop an iron grip that is purely hand strength and so takes all the strain off the arms and forearms. Keep control of steering/braking but the arms are not tensed allowing you to move around easily.

Like SPD grips

Chin-ups and/or parallel grip pullups are decent for fore arms and biceps. They will also help strengthen your shoulders and back.

For triceps you could either go with an isolation exercise like body weight dips where you should be able to do a lot of them, which will build endurance more than pure strength.
Alternatively you could do a compound like dumbbell incline press, chest press or push ups which will have the benefits of hitting the chest and shoulders as well.

Kettlebells and also make a pressup bar using an old bar the same width as your handlebars. I found that helped loads.

anyone have any lovely CRC vouchers going spare today?
I have £127 to pay and its all going on consumables – not even anything any nice upgrades to soften the blow 🙁

email in profile if your feeling generous

anyone have any lovely CRC vouchers going spare today?
I have £127 to pay and its all going on consumables – not even anything any nice upgrades to soften the blow

email in profile if your feeling generous

Erm…

Powerball is one that works (Used a lot prior to wakeboarding to work on grip.)

Another I used to do in my rugby days was to have a round rod (Like a length of broom handle) and a bit of rope attached to it and a weight on the floor. Grip the rod (fnaar) and wind the weight up and down repeatedly with both hands.