Throttle Arm IRL

[Voutare]

Drink water while your drinking and you'll do better*

I suck at typing today.

[Gideon#67]

Stop grabbing your bars so tightly! And relax on the bike!

exactly, dont "hold" on to the bike through bars, but use your legs, squeeze the bike with legs ans use minimal amount of grip power to maintain control of bars. Also as ppl have said warm up. I have found this method described in video a real help, between using my legs more and using this method i rarely experience any type of arm pump. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl00Qu3xad4

[haydugjr]

I need to find a workout that keeps my clutch hand from locking up.

[Jones221]

I need to find a workout that keeps my clutch hand from locking up.

My fingers lock up, and that blows.

[Stormz]

Drink a LOT of water before races, it helps keep the lactic acid build up to a minimum during your riding times. Don't hold onto the bars tightly, use your legs to stay on the bike.

Before a race, i'll do some stretches and/or jumping jacks and push ups to get myself warmed up.

Just a few tips that I use regularly.

[Voutare]

Drink a LOT of water before races, it helps keep the lactic acid build up to a minimum during your riding times.

No it doesn't. It stops your muscles from cramping, which is an entirely different process than the typical lactic acid buildup we're all thinking of. Lactic acid is purely because your muscles aren't getting oxygen, and the sugars are fermenting. Drinking water is necessary, but not for that reason.

[Ballsfalsky]

I need to find a workout that keeps my clutch hand from locking up.

yep me too hahah

[Shadow]

I came to this thread expecting pics of massive forearms gotten from jerki... err... jack... err.. "riding" a dirtbike and "twisting" the "throttle".

I am disappointed.

Start working out if you don't already. I used to get armpump aswell, but after 2 months of solid working out, I no longer get it. I am also ALOT faster and last alot longer on the track. I go to the gym 3x a week (all I can get time for) and here is what I do AFTER STRETCHING AT HOME!

Start with weights (this is so you can burn off the acids that build up in your body with cardio afterwards).
10 sets of 20 reps reversed curls with the 40lb bar
5 sets of 15 reps Leg presses @ 90% weight (500lbs)
and a lot of other things that i'm not going to try to explain

Never, NEVER do static stretching before a strength workout. It causes strength loss for an hour to two hours afterwards and does not lessen risk of injury. In fact, it can increase it as the muscles are lengthened and can't contract as forcefully as they should.

Lactic acid is a byproduct of anaerobic exercise, when your body converts simple sugars into lactate via fermentation instead of the regular cellular respiration. That is what your trying to avoid. Essentially arm pump is an extreme buildup of lactic acid. You can not lower your threshold for it through weight lifting. Cardio definately helps though. So, given a very simple education of dirtcycles and biochem, you can figure that the best way to avoid arm pump is to use them less. I.E. hold on with your damn knees. It'll make you faster too.

I never really studied this at all, but I believe the circulatory system sends lactic acid to the liver to create pruvate

Lactic acid is created because the body cannot fuel the muscles enough by regular cellular respiration, because of a lack of available oxygen. But it is not a too adverse thing as it does function as fuel for the muscles helping one to perform longer.

One can improve the lactic acid threshold through weightlifting by at least two ways. First, an increase in maximum strength causes a drop in the relative strength needed to hold on the handlebar making it easier and less tiring as the muscles don't have to work so close to their peak performance, and secondly, doing a lot of work during lactic acid buildup will force the body to adapt to working under such conditions better.
Try a few weeks of 20-rep squats every day and upping the weight every time. You'll definitely notice an improvement on both.

And protein powder is a sham. Your body has natural limits for the amount of protein it needs, and your average US dietary intake of protein is more than what a triathalon athlete needs.

If you want to be healthy, eat plants and whole grains, limit processed food, and limit your caloric intake to what you need.. For me, I eat 2500 on days I do nothing, and training/cycling ill eat around 3500.

Avoid caffeine on racedays as this messes with your circulatory system. Warm up to get muscles warm. Starting cold is terrible for your muscles. Its essentially shocking them. They are like women, ease them into it.

Funny how I know this shit, considering I'm majoring in criminology. Hah.

Protein powder is a sham but not in the way you mean that the body wouldn't be able to utilize it. The body very well will use it, but getting more than enough protein from whole foods like meat and eggs is ridiculously easy, not to mention the proteins' quality is better in whole foods than in powders and it is cheaper, coupled with the micronutrients that are present in natural foods that are either destroyed by food processing or just lacking, makes whole foods always win over protein supplements. Pretty much the only time when powders would be useful is out of convenience as it's a lot faster to do a protein shake than to fry a steak.
Also, what is needed by an average chump and what is optimal for an athlete is not the same thing.

Grains are not healthy. The human body is not adapted properly to eating grain based foods and they cause a myriad of ill effects ranging from skin problems like acne to type 2 diabets, inflammation, energy levels etc.
Do note Voutare, that any grain based food that's in edible form is processed like hell. It has to be as our digestion can't use them otherwise.
Mainly unprocessed foods (there are exceptions, like cheese), meat, non-starchy vegetables and saturated fat. That's the diet humans thrive on.


USE caffeine on racedays. It is a stimulant that improves reaction time, focus and improves physical performance, both endurance and high intensity ie max strength and it also primes the body to better utilize fat as a source of fuel for muscles. The amounts of caffeine needed to have an effect is not massive and in studies at best it increased endurance by one third.
The diuretic properties are greatly exaggerated and can easily be fixed with drinking just a little more water, and problems with circulatory system means overdose, which quite naturally is bad.
For reading, in case interested. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/healt ... 6best.html

Really all you should drink is water, as soda is obviously bad, energy drinks are the same, and sports drinks such as Gatorade only assist in post workout environments. Contrary to popular belief, the best and only thing to drink during and before workouts is water, and as your body loses it's salts through sweat, then you should replace with the electrolytes and other nutrients which are in sports drinks.

I'dd add sports drinks on the same line as sodas. They're pretty much nothing more than sugar water and some salts and coloring.
So far, the optimal drink I know is just regular milk, raw milk if you can get it. It's much better than just water as it has a lot of the necessary nutrients the body needs during physical exertion and in studies milk was found to be better for recovery compared to water and sports drinks.

Funny how I know this shit, considering I'm majoring in criminology. Hah.

Funny how I know this shit better, considering I major in mech engineering.

[Axle McOctane]

This is the new grip training method that all the factory riders are using:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/R2ewsEKVJVA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I've heard from a pro that they also use Shake-Weight, no joke.

[adhkcrfhonda]

fap more. less armpump

[Voutare]

Never, NEVER do static stretching before a strength workout. It causes strength loss for an hour to two hours afterwards and does not lessen risk of injury. In fact, it can increase it as the muscles are lengthened and can't contract as forcefully as they should.

I did not know that. I'll think about it next time I work out. I know when I was working out for the Marine Corps we did pull ups with required stretching before hand, and I'd do the same amount of pullups as without. I'll defiantly look that up, good to know.

Lactic acid is created because the body cannot fuel the muscles enough by regular cellular respiration, because of a lack of available oxygen. But it is not a too adverse thing as it does function as fuel for the muscles helping one to perform longer.

I never said it wasn't anaerobic... And it isn't a fuel. But that second part is interesting, I never thought of it in that manner. I just googled it and UC - Berkeley did a report. Pretty interesting.

"He and his UC Berkeley colleagues found that muscle cells use carbohydrates anaerobically for energy, producing lactate as a byproduct, but then burn the lactate with oxygen to create far more energy. The first process, called the glycolytic pathway, dominates during normal exertion, and the lactate seeps out of the muscle cells into the blood to be used elsewhere. During intense exercise, however, the second ramps up to oxidatively remove the rapidly accumulating lactate and create more energy."

Didn't know that. I always viewed lactate as a purely bad thing. Never really thought of it being able to be burned. Then again, I just read that the only way for it to be burned within the muscles is for it to be aerobically converted to pyruvate. So, essentially if you get arm pump the only way to get rid of it is to get back oxygen to your muscles.

One can improve the lactic acid threshold through weightlifting by at least two ways. First, an increase in maximum strength causes a drop in the relative strength needed to hold on the handlebar making it easier and less tiring as the muscles don't have to work so close to their peak performance, and secondly, doing a lot of work during lactic acid buildup will force the body to adapt to working under such conditions better.
Try a few weeks of 20-rep squats every day and upping the weight every time. You'll definitely notice an improvement on both.

I don't believe I said weightlifting ever didn't benefit it. I just said that it can't lower it. And I still believe that. Of course it helps to be more physically fit, but proper technique (and a strong lower body and core to compensate for the arm strength) is key. By your logic, a bodybuilder would be able to abstain from getting arm pump, correct? The relative strength needed to hold on would be incredibly low considering what is needed. But think about arm pump. When you get arm pump when your riding it is because your holding on as tight, or nearly as tight as you can, which is damn near 100% of your strength, well enough to constrict your circulatory system, and regardless of your measurable arm strength abilities. I know guys who have some massive forearms that still cramp up in a practice situation...

Protein powder is a sham but not in the way you mean that the body wouldn't be able to utilize it. The body very well will use it, but getting more than enough protein from whole foods like meat and eggs is ridiculously easy, not to mention the proteins' quality is better in whole foods than in powders and it is cheaper, coupled with the micronutrients that are present in natural foods that are either destroyed by food processing or just lacking, makes whole foods always win over protein supplements. Pretty much the only time when powders would be useful is out of convenience as it's a lot faster to do a protein shake than to fry a steak.
Also, what is needed by an average chump and what is optimal for an athlete is not the same thing.

I said the exact same thing regarding protein supplements, I just cut it down so your average MXS'er can handle it. Haha. And really the difference between what your average chump gets, and what a professional athlete needs isn't too far off.
Here's a stat backed by the ADA, Dietitians of Canada, American College of Sports Medicine, and USDA:

Recommended protein intake per day:

Average male (70 kg) : 56 g/day
Endurance athelete (70 kg): 84-98 g/day
Average U.S. Intake: 102 g/day.

So it tells you right there, yes you need more as an athlete, but it's still LESS than the average american intake. So about 60% of US citizens are within peak endurance athlete range. Sure you are from Finland, and I know your protein intake isn't as high, but going off of that... (And I said 'average U.S. Dietary intake". I never specified the needed rate of a person in sentience.

Grains are not healthy. The human body is not adapted properly to eating grain based foods and they cause a myriad of ill effects ranging from skin problems like acne to type 2 diabets, inflammation, energy levels etc.
Do note Voutare, that any grain based food that's in edible form is processed like hell. It has to be as our digestion can't use them otherwise.
Mainly unprocessed foods (there are exceptions, like cheese), meat, non-starchy vegetables and saturated fat. That's the diet humans thrive on.

Paleo diet?
Our body runs off of carbohydrates. I intend to feed it that. Yes, white grains are bad, but I stand behind whole grain. I guess we can just differ on this opinion. Every medical professional and nutritionist I've talked to says whole grains are an integral part of our diet.

USE caffeine on racedays. It is a stimulant that improves reaction time, focus and improves physical performance, both endurance and high intensity ie max strength and it also primes the body to better utilize fat as a source of fuel for muscles. The amounts of caffeine needed to have an effect is not massive and in studies at best it increased endurance by one third.
The diuretic properties are greatly exaggerated and can easily be fixed with drinking just a little more water, and problems with circulatory system means overdose, which quite naturally is bad.
For reading, in case interested. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/healt ... 6best.html

I just pulled out my old nutrition book and I realized I was wrong there. It states that 3-6 mg's per k of body weight can boost performance in endurance athletes. However, nothing happens for sprinters or short term. I had those mixed up, my apologies.

I'dd add sports drinks on the same line as sodas. They're pretty much nothing more than sugar water and some salts and coloring.
So far, the optimal drink I know is just regular milk, raw milk if you can get it. It's much better than just water as it has a lot of the necessary nutrients the body needs during physical exertion and in studies milk was found to be better for recovery compared to water and sports drinks.

I wasn't intending to say use sports drinks. I just said that it does have electrolytes that can assist in recovery after. Do I use them, hell no. Should you? Honestly, probably not but it won't hurt if you drink them at the right time. And I've heard the stories about drinking milk while working out. I've tried it , both raw and 1%, and I've held down neither. Must just be my stomach can't handle it when riding. BTW, raw milk is delicious (although potentially dangerous if you aren't accustomed to it), just make sure you stir it before you drink it. Haha.

Funny how I know this shit better, considering I major in mech engineering.

I'll admit I was wrong on a couple things. Nothing more. At least I can admit it.

You know what irks me more? We can have a insightful conversation and no one else even bothers to acknowledge it's existence, for education or practicality.

[Shadow]

I don't believe I said weightlifting ever didn't benefit it. I just said that it can't lower it. And I still believe that. Of course it helps to be more physically fit, but proper technique (and a strong lower body and core to compensate for the arm strength) is key. By your logic, a bodybuilder would be able to abstain from getting arm pump, correct? The relative strength needed to hold on would be incredibly low considering what is needed. But think about arm pump. When you get arm pump when your riding it is because your holding on as tight, or nearly as tight as you can, which is damn near 100% of your strength, well enough to constrict your circulatory system, and regardless of your measurable arm strength abilities. I know guys who have some massive forearms that still cramp up in a practice situation...

Ah, but with that increased grip strength one doesn't need to hold on so tight to stay on the bike, which allows one to increase the time spent riding without using a death grip. It's how one applies the increased grip strength that matters, not whether they just have strong grip.
And of course proper technique is key like you said, never tried to mean that increasing grip strength would fix all arm pump issues, just that it is indeed possible to improve it.

I said the exact same thing regarding protein supplements, I just cut it down so your average MXS'er can handle it. Haha. And really the difference between what your average chump gets, and what a professional athlete needs isn't too far off.
Here's a stat backed by the ADA, Dietitians of Canada, American College of Sports Medicine, and USDA:

Recommended protein intake per day:
Average male (70 kg) : 56 g/day
Endurance athelete (70 kg): 84-98 g/day
Average U.S. Intake: 102 g/day.

So it tells you right there, yes you need more as an athlete, but it's still LESS than the average american intake. So about 60% of US citizens are within peak endurance athlete range. Sure you are from Finland, and I know your protein intake isn't as high, but going off of that... (And I said 'average U.S. Dietary intake". I never specified the needed rate of a person in sentience.

Again, it's not what is needed, but what is optimal.
For reading, in case you're interested.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle ... letes.html
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/protein_ ... quency.pdf

I may very well be an exception in Finland but my daily protein intake is 200-300 g, and I weigh about 74kg, so ~3g-4g/kg, all from whole foods. Excessive? Maybe, but it certainly hasn't hurt my performance.

Paleo diet?
Our body runs off of carbohydrates. I intend to feed it that. Yes, white grains are bad, but I stand behind whole grain. I guess we can just differ on this opinion. Every medical professional and nutritionist I've talked to says whole grains are an integral part of our diet.

More like ketogenic based paleo. Here I don't have many studies or experts to back me up, simply my own experience from playing around with macronutrient percentages. When I was severely limiting carbs and pretty much staying in ketosis indefinitely, my physical performance was noticeably better than any other time, also mood was improved and felt more alert.
Grains have been an integral part of our diet only for about 10 000 years versus the millions of years eating animals and foraging plants. There's evidence covered from bones of ancient people (whether it's reliable enough is another thing though) showing that as we turned to agriculture humans' health and height dropped.
You could try doing a near ketogenic diet for a month or so and see how you feel on it compared to your usual diet with grains. It's short enough time to not cause any long term damage and long enough to allow the body to adapt to the changes. If there's one thing I've learned about nutrition, is to trust on how my body reacts much more than what anyone says how I should feel.
If you do try it someday, there's a week to two weeks of feeling like crap when the body is adapting to function without carbs.

I just pulled out my old nutrition book and I realized I was wrong there. It states that 3-6 mg's per k of body weight can boost performance in endurance athletes. However, nothing happens for sprinters or short term. I had those mixed up, my apologies.

Np man, though, it's nowadays been found to increase performance in short term and strength related exercises too, though not as noticeably as in endurance tasks.

I wasn't intending to say use sports drinks. I just said that it does have electrolytes that can assist in recovery after. Do I use them, hell no. Should you? Honestly, probably not but it won't hurt if you drink them at the right time. And I've heard the stories about drinking milk while working out. I've tried it , both raw and 1%, and I've held down neither. Must just be my stomach can't handle it when riding. BTW, raw milk is delicious (although potentially dangerous if you aren't accustomed to it), just make sure you stir it before you drink it. Haha.

Here comes the "trust your body" bit I said up top. For me, milk works wonders on both during and after riding or working out, but for you it seems to do jack shit.
Regardless whether anyone says something's the thing of the gods, if it doesn't work for you, ditch it. Experimentation is key as everyone's an individual.

You know what irks me more? We can have a insightful conversation and no one else even bothers to acknowledge it's existence, for education or practicality.

That's mxsim boards for you.

[Judge]

Ey, I'm reading all you two are posting and its quite interesting!

[Voutare]

Haha, so we have the exception of Judge.

Ah, but with that increased grip strength one doesn't need to hold on so tight to stay on the bike, which allows one to increase the time spent riding without using a death grip. It's how one applies the increased grip strength that matters, not whether they just have strong grip.
And of course proper technique is key like you said, never tried to mean that increasing grip strength would fix all arm pump issues, just that it is indeed possible to improve it.

That does make sense. It really doesn't matter how strong you are if you don't know how to hold on/use your legs/have proper technique. Basically the one thing I've been telling everyone who gets arm pump for the past 10 years. I'm just tired of all the kids on here going around saying do this workout, use this shakeweight, drink this shit, when really, you need to point your toes in, hold on with your knees, get your head over the bars, and lighten your grip. A guy I used to ride with on my private track raced professionally, and his best advice he's ever given me is two things. One: Look where you're going, not where you are. And Two: Think of the bike as pushing you, not you being pulled by it.

Again, it's not what is needed, but what is optimal.
For reading, in case you're interested.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle ... letes.html
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/protein_ ... quency.pdf

I've always been weary of taking facts from bodybuilding websites. They tend to be so overly ridiculous that I just go right to personal preference and medical fact.

More like ketogenic based paleo.

Ketosis can also be very dangerous. I've thought of trying the paleo diet, because in theory it works, however I don't know if I'm willing to allow my brain to convert from sugars to ketones. That's kind of scary. Haha.

[haydugjr]

I'm reading it all too, I just don't have anything to contribute so I stayed quiet