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9/24/2018
Location
GB
after not racing for over 5 odd years thought it would be a wise idea to throw my leg over a hussy 250 and I'll be starting my first race back this sunday coming. Thing is I've been practicing a handful of times and even though i feel good my arm pump doesn't seem to shake off, any tips?
I've given up any hope of trying to 'fix' it now and just assume it's something I have to deal with, might stop me winning races but at least I can still enjoy riding!
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Ryno has a short Instagram clip explaining this. I'm 100% a believer that most arm pump is 100% related to bad body position.
Cardio. Once I became a 'cyclist' I noticed big gains. It wasn't overnight, but after a few months of consistent bicycle training everything I did on a motorcycle became a lot easier.
Might be different for everyone, but after 20+ years of struggling with arm pump these two things pretty much cured it.
Is the rear suspension is to stiff in relation to front - arm pump right away. Cone Valve, Stock WP, Ohlins. Same with all.
Changing to softer grips and a brace less handlebar (I used the ODI Flight) helped my arms a lot mate. They have a lot more flex in them so they soak up more vibrations. You can also try rubber mounted bar clamps. I suffered from it and my hands going numb and I narrowed it down to being my controls mostly. I recently also put an ARC RC8 clutch and perch on with a new cable and my clutch feels hydraulic now which helped even more.
Everyone's different of course but this helped me a lot! I still get it in my hands late in the day especially when my breathing goes to shit but arm pump? Not anymore. Some people are more sensitive to feedback from the front to the hands arms etc. I'm one of those people!
Most of it is going to be Cardio fitness in my case, I know it's something I need to do a lot of work on over-winter this year so will see where I'm at when the next season starts and go from there. If it's still bad when I know I'm getting close to being fit, then I'll go see a specialist.
If you only get it when you are trying to go fast...then the issue is that you aren't riding relaxed and/or is a mental thing. You are probably gripping the bars to tight, holding your breath, raising your shoulders, locking your elbows, etc. etc.
ride with a loose grip, loose wrists, loose elbows, and loose shoulders...breath, breath, breath, breath....go as slow as necessary and practice this often enough that these things are muscle memory, so that no matter how hard you push, you just automatically ride that way.
If you get it when you ride slow and well within your limits, then you probably have medical condition.
Anyway what I have learned is that I need to have good “base” fitness, running a few times a week, and riding a few days a week. And to get to those 20-30min motos, I also need to mix two days at least of rowing. I found that the rowing helped the most. And even that if I rowed with my C2 at 5 vs 10, I’d have a different result (my arm pump is diminished a lot when I row with more resistance).
I feel like this topic is a YMMV quite a lot more than most. So try a few things and see how it goes.
As response to some earlier posts, I never ride “slow and within my limits.” I am almost always pushing myself so that I am nearly at my limit. Otherwise I am not having much fun!! If I ride slow I never get arm pump. But I also don’t have much fun.
Pit Row
Seat time is obviously the most important thing.
Fork setup is important to comfort, and unless you are comfortable you will over-grip and pump up.
Cardio is important too.
But it's Wednesday now and you're racing Sunday, so you aren't going to fix some of those things in a few days. Avoid salty foods the day before and the day of your race, stay hydrated, and pop a couple aspirin before your first ride.
Warmup is important and overlooked all the time. It cracks me up to watch racers warm up their engines extensively but do NOTHING to warm up their muscles. Do some warmup off the bike before practice - I usually try to walk/jog the track as it also helps get to know the track. If at all possible, find a place to goof around on the bike for a few minutes before you hit the track on race day too to help you get warmed up. Anything to reduce the shock of going from standing around to WFO.
Have fun, push as long as you can then back it down, stay in your limits and build for next time!
For race day, I put in some nice practice laps with this effort and then I am fine rest of day. If I overdo it at the beginning, I suck all day.
OP, mine was right arm only, as well, but was completely nerve related. As the nerve(s) SLOWLY re-heal, the function is returning. Strength, nutrition, form, skill, etc could only do so much for me if I couldn’t hold on with a dead arm/hand
That’s all it is.
I’m always baffled the amount of riders who don’t warm up at all! I’ve seen pensioners warm up more before a game of bowls. Going to readjust my levers, breath more ect
Being told to grip a 250 2 stroke less seems counterintuitive when it’s trying to throw me off the back of it ?
Arm pump comes from gripping the bike to tightly with your hands. When you change your suspension to something stiffer and more uncomfortable you're simply just griping the bike harder with your hands and less with your legs/core.
If arm pump is related to body position only, you would get arm pump almost no matter what suspension settings you run. That is not the case for most people. Tomac got arm pump badly last year, because of to stiff suspension. They fixed it with fixing his suspension.
There are two scenarios, and you can diagnose your scenario by telling how quick arm pump comes.
1. If it comes after some 8-15 minutes and only in beginning of days it is more related to warm up, tension, stamina or tuning setup or riding style.This is fine tuning and is personalized.
Assuming your are not a complete rookie and do know how to grip your bike with legs:
2. If arm pump comes after two corners, half a lap, maximum a lap: Most of the time the suspension, handlebar position or grip size is not right (specially if you go outside main stream settings). You dont fix that by riding more or changing your position on the bike. You are just to far of from what you can ride with. For sure needs different springs, valving, sag, handlebar position etc.
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