Arm Pump....

So you think drinking a couple of litres of Pepsi Max a day would not be helping the problem.

Luckily my test came back negative. I was sweating it for awhile...

Buy a bike you can handle. That's the easiest solution.

Last year I had a pair of 2005 Yamaha two strokes. One was a slightly tweaked 125, the other a brutal 265. I raced my 265 twice and I bet I didn't put more than 5 hours on that bike. I got arm pump almost instantly on it. It was too much bike. I raced my 125 close to 30 times and never got tired on it. On top of that, I was faster on the 125 and enjoyed the bike much more than the 265.

How tall are you? I am only 6' 2", but I have a real tall upper body. Going to really tall bars, and softer suspension settings was the key for me to go from Intermediate, to the pro class back in the day. I found it was like I had reached my limit. Arm pump, fatigue, and couldnt seem to get control of the bike like I wanted. Then, I went to real tall bars, and I wasnt supporting all my weight over the bars. Made a HUGE difference. And, softer suspension helped too .You should be bottoming firmly a few times a lap, on an outdoor track. Weird, but the taller bars helped me a TON

Hold on with your legs like some have suggested. We went riding today (the kids) and my oldest who is 13 is on a 125 for the first time. He got arm pump instantly and I reminded him to hold on with his legs as much as possible and lose the death grip. It worked for him, no arm pump the rest of the day. If you have pro taper style bars, I have in the past wrote little notes on duct tape on the center pad, like relax arms, ect.

You see the top pro walking the pits with their ipods, well this is what they are listening to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMxqPRdR36I&feature=related

taking an aspirin before a race helps me w/ arm pump.

yea,that helps me also.

I grew up riding junk bikes that always had really hard controls (clutch and gas). I'm not the best at lubing my cables either. The controls on my bike now (CRF250) are really hard compared to other bikes. Neither of my sons will ride it because all they do is whine about the clutch or gas being too hard.

Everytime I ride or race I never get arm pump. There's times I have to sit on the bike for a minute or two cause my legs are so tired but never a problem with my arms. Could it be because of all those years of hard shit I'm just used to it? Just Curious.

Now that I've said this watch and see the next time I go ride. They'll be like bricks after a lap.

I have terrible problems with arm pump when I ride. I got the flexx bars but they didnt seem to help. But I have heard that step seats help. They create a sadle that keeps you from sliding back so you can loosen up your death grip...especially useful for torquey 4strokes.

i get it at the start of every year. the only way i can get rid of it is to ride it out. go out to a track to practice and ride till you start to pump up. don't stop once you get there just back the pace down a little so you don't have a nasty crash trying to push to hard. i just keep riding and try to stretch my hands out over the jumps and ride loose with my upper body using my legs to hold on. for me my arms start to feel better after a few laps and i can start getting back into picking up the pace again. normally after doing this a few times in the spring i don't have problems the rest of the season if I keep riding a few times a week befor racing on the weekends. The only times i have problems is if i don't ride for a week or race at baja mx in michigan. that place kicks my ass!

i have found these things to help
eat healthy, keep your system clean, eat fruits & nuts & cliff bar type foods/ healthy high protein foods throughout riding days, eat often small portions type of thing, hidrate throughout the weak not just riding days, WARM UP BEFORE YOU RIDE- i have found a few good ways to warm up everyone has there own ways but this was suggested to me and i see its results: stretch each finger 5-7 sec. then stretch back your hand/fingers for 5-7 sec. then stretch down hand/fingers for 5-7 sec. make fists and squeeze while rotating your wrists a few times relax shakedown, then put your arms out in front of you and open/close your fingers/hands as quickly as possible for 30 sec. and do this 4 times through daily. you have to condition for the squeeze factor. first time i did it i could barely do it for 30 sec. now i can do it for about 2 min. another way is taking a sledge hammer and hitting a tire repeatedly in the same spot, helps pump arms and coordinate your eyes for better reaction.
and stay away from energy drinks i cant see how those help at all.