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To each their own
Everyone who has commented has tried to help your symptoms but not address your problem.
I am gonna guess that you have some serious shoulder instability going on that is causing you to overuse your forearms. Pumping up as significant as you are on the first lap usually indicates improper warm up, but reading all of the stuff you have tried up to this point again leads me to believe that you have some serious instability and shoulder weakness.
I would suggest you get a proper evaluation by an Athletic Trainer or Physical Therapist to determine if this is the case. If so, depending on the severity your looking at 2-3 months of strength training to see some improvement.
That's my 2 cents.
Not sure if that works or is an option.
That will tell all everything we need to know to diagnose your problem.
Not joking.
Life saver. I cycle and suffer from tight hamstrings.
That thing saves me every day.
eg
Stretching ,wont make it worse ,but what need s to be stretched is the fasica not the muscle ,it helps get rid ,once your arm is locked up,but its a bit late them .
Massaging ,it can work ,if the person knows what there doing ,just doing it yourself is pointless and can make it worse imo
Heat rub expand s the muscle
That gyro ball thing among many other arm strengthening exercises ,this about the worse thing you could do imo, the reason it was the best after you stopped riding so much ,is ur muscles in your arm got smaller. and had more space to fill the fasica.
i have been like you, and have the op as while with the same results as yourself . the big thing s that i found got rid of it was getting more aerobicly fit . i was very anaerobicly fit .theres a big difference . loads of long slow cardio as a base is huge imo .then being flexible enough to maintain proper riding position ,head always over the bars or futher ahead . and last i think overgriping and hand position is huge .never letting your wrist get bent ,its just a stright line all the way up your arm from ur hand when at full acceleration
Thanks for all the replies , I really appreciate each on of you
I will go to a specialist that actually knows something about Chronic exertional compartment syndrome.
I don't have the time to continue struggling each time I ride, I'm very busy at work and don't have extra time to work on other exercises.
I will let you guys know if there is any news
I literally tried all the things you mentioned, but to no avail, I still got arm pump when I started doing a fast lap.
I have a contact with one of the team managers of Red Bull KTM here in South Africa who happens to be a certified Fitness coach as well. I'll try and contact him and ask for a few pointers.
Thanks once again
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Pit Row
Thanks !
I know that my right shoulder is a lot weaker than my left, and coincidentally my right arm is the one that pumps up the most.
I would do high reps low weight , and then the next week I would be doing low reps and high weight, but when I'm doing shoulders my left one can do the 20 reps but after a few sets my right shoulder can only do about 14-16, before it 'fails' and I cant push the weight up.
I think you maybe onto something here
I'll try and exercise my shoulders more and concentrate on the right hand one .
I'll let you know if there's any improvement.
Thanks for your reply, I appreciate it !
Put a stop watch on your cross bar and make a goal of 7 minutes. Seriously. 7 minutes seems like a week when you pump up in one lap. I think a good long term goal for an amateur is 20 minutes.
I'm pretty knowledgeable about this because I fought it for years when I started riding big bikes. Tried aspirin, water, diet, running.....blah blah.....It's a fitness problem with the muscles that are giving you problems.
Then you go to the track and can't finish 2 laps ?
whatever your doing isn't working.
what are you doing for a cardio training base off the bike ?
I'm 41 now and have no physical issues at all day to day. I MTB a fair bit nowadays. I'm not as fit as I used to be but through out that 20 year period of fighting arm pump I went through many different training programs (I haven't ridden a dirt bike for 5 years now BTW). Cardio wise I was as fit as Australia top pros for some of those years because I trained with them every day full time. I really do believe it has nothing to do with fitness or seat time on the bike, I proved that with myself over and over. Honestly I believe its a physiological problem you can literally be born with. People can have it to different degrees of coarse but basically the fascia tissue that surrounds the muscles does not stretch no matter what you do and if there isn't enough room in there for blood flow that's basically it. I actually went through a lot with physical therapists to trying solve it with running and my lower legs. At the end surgery was the answer as there was nothing else wrong I could fix. I didn't go that route though and I still run occasionally. The thing with running is you can keep going in pain to a certain extent unlike riding when it's basically too dangerous.
I know I should be cycling longer and running further but I simply don't have the time . My kind of work expects me to be available 24/7, 365 days of the year , if I could put more time in , believe me I would, but unfortunately I can't.
So, the solution is to stop using your forearms to much while riding (squeezing too tight, or riding tight from the shoulders to the hands) so your arms require less oxygen (less blood), get in better cardiovascular shape (so your body can get the extra blood out of your arms), and breath better (so that there is more oxygen in your blood, so less blood will be required in your forearms sot hey won't pump up as bad).
Every person that I know of that struggles with arm pump, especially those that say they can just "ride" forever with no issue, but as soon as they start to "push it", their arms pump up immediately...what are they doing differently when pushing it over just riding? subconsciously gripping the bars to tight, holding their breath, technique goes out the window, etc. and they don't even realize it. So most guys will say they breath the entire time...but when they really try and focus on breathing they realize just how often they hold their breath while riding hard...every corner, every jump, when battling, etc. They end up holding their breath for a huge percentage of the track, this elevates their heart rate higher than it should be (because there body is trying to get enough oxygen to the muscles so they can continue to function at the level they are being asked to perform) and when they are also squeezing the bars to tight (which means it requires more oxygen-more blood).
Breathing right (long deep breaths the ENTIRE time you are riding), and keeping your grip, elbows and shoulders loose (which is made easier by proper technique, and being in shape, and riding more often) will virtually eliminate arm pump.
My forearms tell me immediately when I start gripping the bars to tightly...and its always in a section of the course that is more technical when I have to focus on surviving the course and I take my focus off of proper technique (its still not "automatic" and "habit" for me to ride a motorcycle properly, so when I stop focusing on it, I go back to old habits and hold my breath, grip the bars to tight, drop my elbows, hunch my back, and my entire body tightens up etc....the good news is that its getting easier and easier).
That's my experience after being absolutely frustrated with arm pump for years, and how I got it under control.
stop going to the gym, save the travel time and thats your training base
you need to change your attitude, you can train indoors while your on call.
you can't overlook a fundamental because you have an excuse.
you need seat time.
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