Arm pump or at least onset of arm pump can also be caused by muscular hypertonis/cramping...muscle cramps can and do occur a number of places/regions of the anatomy and this is again dependent on many factors...the hands,forearms...feet/calfs and legs are most often involved in motorcycling...however the lower back,neck and spine...shoulders/upper arm quadrants can also cramp up depending on the demands of the activity and your personal situation...muscles can cramp up due a a number of possible causes/triggers...fatique is a major one...when muscles are tired/fatiqued they want/need to rest...neuro-muscular reflexes can and do trigger these tired muscles to increase tone/overcontract as a way to protect them from injury and/or over stretch ...lack of oxygen and or nutients to the muscles also allow them to fatique sooner and make recovery/repair slower...muscles require a number of "foods" along  with "air"(oxygen)...magnesium,calcium,correct electrolyte balances,certain vitamins and trace elements improve muscle functions as well as neuromuscular communications...improving circulation to/from the muscles under load/demand is also of great importance to eliminate the build up of toxins/waste products from the muscles and surrounding tissues...ranging the muscle groups while under periods of lighter loads helps...on a straight section of track/trail open/close the hands/fingers...move the foot/ankle...wiggle the toes...stretch the body before the demand/activity...warm up...then push the body...after the demand/activity...stretch again,it helps relax and flush the tissues speeding recovery/repair,minimizes muscle pains caused by lactic/uric acid build up...let the body cool down and rest between demand/activities... if your diet sucks...eat better...take your vitamins/nutients,hydrate...drink water and/or electrolytes/sports drinks...dont smoke...nicotine constricts blood capilaries and interfers with the oxygen carrying ability of hemoglobin as does carbonated drinks(but to a lesser degree...carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide have different binding sites on the hemoglobin molecule...more on this late)...there are many small things that you can do to improve your bodies ability to perform...any one of these things alone may not seem like much and that is why many/most people just dont bother...you get out of your body what you put into it...in more ways than one...all these small things can add up to big changes...it all depends how far/deep you wish to go...our bodies are precise "machines"...we should learn how to care for/maintain and tune our bodies(and minds) as we do our motorcycles...it is the combination of man and machine that makes motorcycling the unique experience that it is...Ride safe...more to come...Doug,

Wow!  Thanks for your posts - incredibly insightful!

I suffered the absolute worst arm pump I've ever experienced at the races yesterday. My hands and fingers totally locked up. It was a rough track with a lot of braking bumps, acceleration bumps, and jumps that required bunny hopping.  But I've raced it before and have not had this much trouble.

Your thoughts on a few factors that may have contributed:
1) I gave blood 2 weeks ago.  Does that affect arm pump? I am in good cardio shape from mountain biking, but losing a pint of blood obviously affects red blood cell count.
2) I started weight training - just bench, military, common exercises. But I have not been doing them previously.
3) We received 40" of snow Tuesday-Thursday, so I did a LOT of shoveling.  I was quite sore on Saturday and Sunday.

Given that I race motocross most weekends, what sort of training schedule would you suggest?  Would it make the most sense to cardio Mon/Wed/Fri and weight train Tues/Thurs so my muscles can recover Fri-Sat?  

Any thoughts on vitamins to take/avoid?  

I got arm pump during practice, so I tried to relax as much as possible before the first moto. That strategy didn't work; totally pumped in a couple laps in moto #1. So I ran around and got my heart pumping before the second moto. I'm not sure if that helped or not as I still got arm pump pretty bad.

I really haven't had much trouble with arm pump in the past, so I'm not sure if it is the weight of the 4 stroke (this is my first year on a 4 stroke), the blood donation, shoveling snow, or what.  This was the first race of the season for me and I was shocked at the problem.

Please keep the thoughts coming - very helpful!

I noticed you mentioned magnesium - what is a good source for that?

Many people say bananas help and say it is the potassium. Your thoughts?

I tried an aspirin once and, while I didn't get arm pump, I did get a slight stomach ache and my arms felt like noodles the whole race - really sapped strength.

Any thoughts on Power Bars and such energy foods?  And the timing - 1/2 hour before before the moto, 1 hour, etc?

Do you think there is a difference between grocery store vitamins, brand names like One A Day, GNC, vitamin cottage?

I wish I could just ride more, but job/wife/kids/reality put the squeeze on my time.

sorry man.. It sounds like your are indeed, very aerobically fit. I was just saying that because it's what I've always been told about arm pump. I never get arm pump to the point that it's any kind of problem, as so many others often seem to get. I was always told it had to do with oxygen to the muscle, and therefore, lack of fitness. If I am misled by that info, I would be very interested to know what Actually causes the detrimental pump, other than the obvious rush of blood to the muscle from a high rep, low weight motion, such as riding.
Like I said, I was just repeating what I have always heard about it, and since I don't have that problem, I was never really concerned with it.

I may not know my stuff when it comes to aerobic fitness, but I can tell you from true life experience, Push ups are nothing compared to doing Heavy Bench presses/low reps, and deadlifts..These are great , and while you can include pushups, (low weight, high rep), I honestly don't see much point in it, to me, pushups are so easy they are a waste of time. You are only pushing up a portion of your body weight, which is a fairly useless thing to do when you can be doing bench presses.
Another note; Doing Deadlifts will find out if you are truly aerobically fit, I guarantee you that. That lift works more muscles than any other, and will get you winded and worn out no matter how fit you are. They are great, so start doing them, but find a site that describes proper form, it's very important to have proper form.
  I work out intensely with heavy weights 3 times a week, and believe me, if you do that, hard dirt bike riding/racing, will barely challenge your endurance or strength. Think about it, you are going to be bench pressing almost as much as your bike weighs, on a regular basis, and deadlifting at least as much, once you have trained up to that weight.

Smashinz2002 has the idea. Don't forget squats.

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I have to agree.  Anyone ever notice that when you take time off from riding and then get back into it how sore you are from using your muscles in a different way than you would in the gym?  I have seen many strong bench pressers that have to drop a bunch of weight from the bar when they do incline benches. This is because they focus on the flat bench most of the time. That is what they want, and by focusing on the bench, they are good at it. It's amazing what happens when you attack a muscle from a different angle.  This is why bodybuilders continually vary their workouts. They need to fully develope the muscle from all angles.  So, what I am saying is that riding will target the muscles you need to target.  I am not saying to not workout with weights. An all around strength training program is great. By mimicking the same muscle movements as when riding, you can get those muscles stronger and controlling the bike will be that much easier.  

As far as arm pump, I just recently read an article on vibration training.  It was very interesting and I'm sure it applies to arm pump when riding.  The theory is that vibrations can increase the force placed on muscle fibers by more than 3 G's. There is actually a product called the "Power Plate". You work out on it while it vibrates.

When exercising(riding) you are recruiting more muscle fibers that leads to a quicker pump. The vibrations are the bumps,jumps,the bike itself, etc. that you encounter while riding.  A tight grip that gets increased from these vibrations would cause excess lactic acid build-up and cramping.  
Another example that just came to mind to support this theory. Have you ever used a two man auger to drill holes in the ground??  The vibrations from the machine along with the turning of the auger and the weight of the auger goes directly to your forearms.  I drilled 12 holes last year for a deck I was building. I can still remember how bad my arm pump was. This made the arm pump while riding seem like nothing!


My suggestion would be to try and relax more. Drink lots of water,keep the potassium up and stretch.  

BTW, how big are you?  Are you a bodybuilder or are you in need of losing some unwanted fat?  If you are carrying excess weight, losing some will help. I don't say this to be mean at all. I read you had 21 inch guns. If you are 6'8" you may be proportional. If you are more like 6', you are either a bodybuilder or you are carrying excess fat.  
The less weight you have to push and pull around, the easier it will be on your arms.

In rehab/therapy a muscle can be externally stimulated to contract and or increase tonis and or call in additional motor units(have more muscle fibers contract) by using either electrical stimulation or vibratory imput ...this same response(increased tone and more muscle contraction) is what happens internally by neuromuscular reflex when additional demands for muscle contraction are required by task demands(for example...adding resistance to movement...or increasing volition/mental effort to the task) most exercises and exercise gadgets use these concepts to aid/speed results...if you want to lower arm pump triggers in riding you want to lower any/all unneeded/unwanted muscular facilitation(things that make the muscles contract more)...lowering vibration...lowering the mental/effort of the task...lowering baseline muscle tonis(relaxing)...all these things help decrease muscle facilition and/or contribute to muscular inhabition(relaxation)...things that help lower facilitory vibration would include stuff like:different gloves,grips,bar flex,bar mountings(fixed vs rubber),steering stem/bearing tightness and smoothness of operation,steering damper use and adjustment/smoothness of function,same goes for suspension front and back...wheel bearings,wheel balance and degree of true...anything that makes the bike vibrate more that it needs to should be minimized/eliminated...loose motor mounts,swingarm,nuts/bolts...having the motor blue printed/balanced...learning how best to ride your particular bike at its "sweet spot" where it/you seem to work the best and the smoothest...all this should be pondered...some bikes vibrate more/differently that others...you may need to find the bike that fits/works in harmony best to you and your riding...four vs two stroke...different displacement...different brand...history is full of examples where some riders where stellar on one bike and just couldnt get it if/when they changed to another brand...or even a different displacement/class...other topics I want to discuss/introduce for your consideration in the near future include topics of resistence vs effort,weight/mass vs balance,and submaximal effort/degree of effort vs maximum performance...later...one last thought...you could use a jack hammer to train...but I would rather ride to train...be safe...Sincerely Doug

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LMAO!  I swear I almost used a jackhammer as an example. I also used a jackhammer to remove some concrete on the same deck that I mentioned in my previous post.  
Do you think that EMS units would benefit that much?  I have used them before for minor injuries. From what I know, they are more to increase blood flow as oppposed to building muscle/strength.  Isn't this due to the relaxation phase not including an eccentric contraction and that a mini-stem can only produce a certain amount of concentric contraction?
You obviously are highly educated in human physiology and kinesiology.   Are you a Physical therapist? PTA?
I think we will see more products that help aleviate arm pump. Something like super spongy grips or liquid motor-mounts. Anything to reduce the vibrations!

I have to disagree with a lot of the comments made here.  If arm pump is the problem you are trying to correct, what you need to do is increase the "local" aerobic fitness.  This has little to do with your cardiovascular fitness, but does require some of that.  Mostly what is needed is training the muscles in your arms to funtion aerobically with more exercise.  The best comparison in my opinion is rockclimbing.  Falling off the rock before getting to the top, do to arm pump, has nothing to do with muscle size or and only limited to do with strength.  It has everything to do with the endurance training of that muscle group.  Endurance trained muscles are better at extracting oxygen from the blood, and are better equiped on a molecular level to utilze the oxygen.(read no build up of lactic acid)  Such training also increases the size and number of blood vessels to those muscles.  The more oxygen you can get to the muscle group and the more waste products you can clear out, the better off you are.  Increasing muscle mass and strength will not help much in this sport, because you are rarely if ever using your muscles that way.  Cross training is an excellent way to prevent arm pump.  Climbing, specifically bouldering on long traverses or going to a climbing gym and just spending an hour on the wall without getting off once or twice a week will get your forearms in better aerobic shape than hours upon hours on a bike.  I used to climb alot, and I have never had arm pump on my bike.  As for the deal about the tissue encasing the muscles---It is called the fascia.  It is a fibrous tough tissue, true.  As muscle size increases, so does the size of the "compartment".  What you described in slitting the fascia is actually called a fasciotomy.  We do it occasionally in trauma do to fractures or crush injuries.  It is to releive the pressure from swelling muscle which can get high enough to cut off the delicate blood supply to nerves and sometimes even the muscle itself, called "compartment syndrome".  I think it would be extremely unlikely that the fascia would be causing such a problem in a well trained muscle.  Go ahead and train as much as you want, just get some rest time in there.  The best training against arm pump is hours on the bike or crosstraining with something that requires fairly constant grip strength for prolonged periods of time.

I can tell you I bought a used "Sky-Trek" It simulates cross country skiing, only you are suspended via cables. A hefty overall workout as it uses gas shocks to create resistance. I also use one of those simple V spring palm exercisers, and I can feel it focusing reistance right under my forearm. I also do forearm curls with an 8# small dumbell. When I did my first ride, I immediately noticed a difference I now have minimal arm pump. I'ts still early in the season, but I hope to really get a grip on arm pump this year, so I can get serious about practicing. I have been working out most  every night for about an hour, since late Feb.
           Rich

Time for my 2 cents.  There seems to be some awesome advice already posted here.  A few key points are plenty of water, oxygen, protein etc.  Your body needs that.  Also, go buy a book or two on nutrition or just search the web.  Rippin in CO, you sound fit but something is wrong if you never had arm pump before and you have it now.  I would look into vitamin E and possibly some form of fish oil or amino acids.  My wife bought a book on "the Zone" diet and I read it and found it very interesting.  There was a lot of talk on great foods to eat.  I would recommend that to anyone just to read anyway.

Another good point was plyometrics.  I have never heard of that until reading this thread but after searching it on the web it seems to be like a lot of the crap we used to do in the military that I hated.  But talk about being in great shape.  I am not all about weights, weights and more weights.  I went through the phase of free wights and creatin (sp) and all that crap and I although I was strong as hell I felt like crap and did not look the way I wanted.  I was 210 and built but now I am 180 and in pretty darn good shape.  Kind of back to my military days because I am doing a lot of those old exercises I hated.  

Another form of exercise I am fond of is pilates.  It looks a little weird for a guy to be doing it but it works.  Go buy the Denise Austin video and you'll like it for sure.

Stretch.  I cannot say this enough.  You should stretch EVERYDAY regardless if you are going riding or working out.  Stretching is the best way to get the blood and oxygen flowing in your body.

Lastly is the bike set-up.  You said this was your first 4-stroke and the weight might be a little issue.  Someone mentioned the bike set-up for ergo's and this is probably the most important thing to look at.  Even more than all the exercise that has been discussed here.  The riding season just started.  You said you just raced your first race of the season.  On a new bike I assume.  Have you played with the set-up?  Go ride a friends bike for a while and see if there is any difference.  Still have some of those old 2-stokes?  Jump on those and see what the deal is.

Well, just my thoughts.  Good luck and I am interested to know if you find a great cure.        

Josh

I bought some Creatin and started taking it based on the advice of a body builder at a vitamin store.  Then I got the worst arm pump of my life at the next race. As mentioned above, there were other contributing factors, but I mentioned to a work-out-aholic friend of mine what I'm trying to accomplish and what I've been doing, and he immediately said "Stay away from Creatin!! That's exactly what it does - causes the muscles to fill with fluid and engorge with blood and that will cause arm pump instantly!"

Any thoughts/feedback?  Is it likely that Creatin caused my massive arm pump at the last 2 races?

As I said, I've not really had a problem with arm pump previously. I started upper body workouts and Creatin at the same time. Not sure what is causing what, but the arm pump has to stop!  It's killing my results and just about killing me when I try to go fast with locked up fingers/hands.

listen the best way  i found to work off arm pump is to ride through it. not during a race but when you are pratcing. it might work for u it might not. but think about all the workouts everybody is telling you to do make you stronger. you if holding onto your bike for 10 mins longer when you cant s going to what u think about it.

j_simmers - do you know anything about Creatin?  I paid $20 for a bottle of 150 and don't want to waste that money, but my arm pump was REALLY bad for the past few races. So I stopped taking the Creatin about a week ago (as noted above).  Haven't had a chance to race-test the results yet. The weather prediction was for snow on Sunday, so I went riding on Friday; no arm pump.  I rode pretty hard, though the track wasn't race-day rough.  I then found a section of whoops and pounded them back and forth for 10 minutes at a time and didn't get arm pump.  Curiously, my quads were burning though!  First time for that to happen.

But, as most racers will tell you, practice is different than racing. Some mixture of nervousness, not breathing right, intensity, and extra effort make arm pump occur on race day when it wasn't happening in practice.

So I'm hoping that not taking the Creatin will greatly reduce the arm pump problems.  If that was the problem, I'll wait until the off-season to use that stuff.

I'm doing various exercises to increase upper body strength using light weights and high reps (20-25).  Still doing the cardio workouts.  Hoping my next race will go better and I'll achieve better results!

Hahaha!! I did forget to mention squats!!! yeah, those are crucial also, in fact, they increase your deadlift.
And what's a 250lb bike to handle when you can deadlift that or more? It's nothing!
However, I was just reading one of the newer posts, and found the vibration thing interesting. Never even considered that actually. It's true, vibration disrupts blood flow to the muscle, and thefore, oxygen uptake. This could in fact be a major contributor to arm pump. I had not even thought of that, but I'm searching for more info on it right now.
L.L.

Hey Rippin,  I was wondering how you were making out.  I am not a nutrition or fitness guru but I do know that while taking creatin I bulked up, got much stronger, and added way too much water weight.  I was taking it for the wrong reasons.  I was not even riding then and I was going to a gym with a friend and all we wanted to do was get huge.  Like I mentioned in another post, I am all for loads of stretching and exercises like pilates and plyometrics and stuff.  Of course you need to work in the weights for strength but how much is the question.  What are you trying to do?  Why did you start taking creatin in the first place? Do you want to ride mx and continue mountain biking or compete in bodybuilding contests?  Not knocking anything you or anyone else chooses but you have to keep that in mind. I am totally against creatin and other weight enhancing crap if you can't tell.  I believe body builders should take it but not someone who is trying to race mx on a yz450f. I was so disgusted with some of the responses people put up here about being able to bench press twice your bike's weight and all that crap.  Look at RC, James Stewart, Reed, Ferry.  How much can anyone of them bench press or squat?  Not that lifting is bad, but look at what you are trying to do and train for your sport.  Another amazing, uh athlete I guess, is Tiger Woods.  He is a freakin toothpic but he can drive the ball as far and anyone that has ever played the game of golf.  Tiger works out for flexibility with low weight.  It is what is right for his sport and it obviously works.  I remember this awesome pitcher that started on the varsity team as a freshman in high school when I was young.  He had great speed and control.  By the time he was a junior in high school he was built like a brick [@#$%&*!] house but could not hit the broad side of a barn and lost so much speed.  These two examples are not related to mx riding but they are related to training for your sport.  You said yourself that you set the creatin aside for a week and did not have arm pump.  I would not take that during the riding season and if you plan to work out over the winter months I would seriously think about what you want your body to look and feel like before taking that crap.  Sorry to hear about the quads acting up.  New boots, pegs, or anything like that?  Stand up more last time?  Don't know, but leg strength exercises are always good but don't try to squat twice the weight of your truck to cure that problem.  Someone will probably post that here next.  Good luck.

Well, I re-read all the advice above and some of it is very contradictory.  I got very confused, so I decided to eat cookies, donuts, and ice cream while just laying around on the couch watching supercrosses that I've taped in the past few weeks.  Guess what? No arm pump!

But seriously . . .

My one and only objective is to go faster when I race.  I'm not interested in building muscles for the sake of muscles. I'm not interested in becoming a body builder.  I just want to go very fast, as safe as I can.  (In spite of the oxymoron with that objective!)

Unfortunately, I've been starting and stopping a lot of different things all at the same time, so it is hard to be sure what is causing what.  Kind of like twisting all the suspension clickers and then trying to figure out which one had which effect.

I tried heavy weight, low reps, and Creatin for a while and got the serious arm pump.  I started that program on the advice of a body builder sales clerk at the pharmacy in Safeway.  Seemed like a good idea at the time.  But, frankly, it just didn't seem right for my objective.  Plus I thought about RC and Ferry and Preston and Pastrana and LaRocco and all the top guys.  No massive chests/arms on any of them.  I really doubt Fonseca can bench press a YZ80, much less a 450.  But he goes pretty fast!

I really think the cardio work and light weight/high reps is more appropriate for my goal.  So I'm running 1/2 hour every morning with my new, patent-applied-for Arm Pump Buster devices.  I sawed off a section of an old handle bar and wrapped it in bubble wrap.  Then I wrapped the handle of the dog leash (the 10' retractable kind) with bubble wrap.  I squeeze the handles as I run - pulsating squeezes without ever totally letting up, trying to simulate mx racing.  I don't have proof that it is helping, but it certainly gives me arm pump while on my run!  

I did a mountain bike ride yesterday and did WAY better on the steep climbs than I have in the past (measured by a HRM), so the cardio work is effective.  I have actually gotten very minor arm pump on the mtb in the past. Not yesterday. That's not conclusive, but a good sign.

Next race is April 27 in Pueblo; that will be the acid test.  Until them, I'm off Creatin and not doing heavy weights. I am doing upper body work, trying to do it slowly and proper form, but the dead lift/squat/max weight/huge muscle thing isn't for me.  The top local guys and the top national guys aren't Hulks, so that gives me confidence that I don't need to be either.

We'll see!  Thanks for the advice and encouragement.  Ping me again if I forget to report back!

Rippin, sounds like you really have your head on straight man.  Glad to hear you are looking at the top pro's and realizing they are not competing for the world's strongest man contest.

You cracked me up saying you were confused so you just ate junk food last night but you forgot the beer.  What is wrong with you?  If you are going to do it, do it right.  A twelve pack of Rolling Rock a day is what I say.  The curls you do moving the bottle to your mouth is great exercise to reduce arm pump.  A twelve pack a night means six per arm.  Do this for a few days them move up to 14 a night and so on.  You'll be arm pump free in no time.

Heads up, just because you lift weights doesn't mean that you'll end up looking like a body builder or a power lifter. The average person (that's you and me) do not, and I repeat, do not have the genetics it takes to achieve the freaky look you see in the magazines and on the tube. What the average person can do is increase their strength 100-200%. NASCAR drivers strength train and they don't look like Arnold. The stronger you are the longer you can fight fatigue and keep mental focus. One pound of muscle is about the size of a basball, maybe a little bigger, and a pound of fat is some where between a softball and a cantalope. Ten pounds of muscle spread out over most of your body will not make you look huge. You'd be lucky to see 1/8" on your biceps. It will help you with your riding and everyday activities. All you need is the basic core exercises, nothing fancy.