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Help Me Select Exercises


Kaskelotten

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Hi people :)

I've been doing some arm wrestling specific type of strength training in the last months (mainly lever wrist work, grippers and rice bucket stuff), and while I've gotten stronger, I'd like to get more specific. Currently this is my routine:

Monday: Full body weightlifting + 2 kg hammer lever (I do front raises, reverse raises, reverse static holds, wrist rotations - all for 2 sets of 15 reps)

Tuesday: Wrist roller + rice bucket

Wednesday: Same as monday

Thursday: Rice bucket + grippers (Trainer and #1)

Friday: Same as monday

Saturday: Wrist roller + rice bucket

Sunday: rest, or light bucket / hammer work

However, I have a feeling i may be doing too much work without much foucs on AW. I don't do wrist curls, but I do neutral grip pull ups 1-2 times a week on my weightlifting days.

What should I change or add if I want to become stronger at arm wrestling? Would really like opinions on this. Thanks!

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Do you arm wrestle?

If you train actual arm wrestling it is more useful than anything else. More experienced wrestlers could help with technique and maybe you could find some weakness which to improve.

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Do you arm wrestle?

If you train actual arm wrestling it is more useful than anything else. More experienced wrestlers could help with technique and maybe you could find some weakness which to improve.

No, I don't. I really have no one to train with besides friends. And there aren't ANY clubs in my area, I've looked...

I know one of my weaknesses though: being weak. I get beaten by most of my friends already...

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Hand and wrist is obviously important, but you need to build up your bicep lock strength if you want to excel at armwrestling. By bicep lock, I mean the ability to maintain a 90 degree angle (or smaller) while resisting heavy weight. I like static holds for this. For example, a few sets of holding a heavy dumbbell with your arm curled at a 90 degree angle for about 10 seconds. Or, when doing neutral grip pull-ups, you can try holding at the top position for as long as possible.

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Eric what do you consider a heavy weight, for yourself? I have been doing some heavy preacher curls, table tops curls, single arm eccentric chins, and hitting eccentric and isometrics with the single arm preacher. As I am def interested in getting into some AW in the future (after nationals), but I also want to do some table work prior which James Retarides got me into contact with Storm Chellino so I will be able to hit a practice in the future.

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Depends on the exercise, but I usually work with dumbbells close to 100 lbs. Table curls a bit more, 90 degree standing hammer curl holds a bit less. I'll post a link to a video later tonight of Devon Larratt demonstrating a great exercise to develop lock strength.

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-it wont let me embed the video like usual, not sure why

I did this last night but definitely went much more ROM than Devon's video...a what point in ROM do you feel you don't really need go past. Or just stay heavy in the 60 deg elbow flexion and higher and work lighter at the end range elbow extension?

Edited by Lucasraymond
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In armwrestling, you never want your arm to open up--you want to get your arm used to stopping at 90 degrees. For this reason, I feel training full range isn't extremely important for the sport. I do do some full range work, mostly to keep my arms healthy.

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Thanks everyone.

I'm going to do static neutral grip pull up holds. Atm i can do 3 sets of 9 reps unweighted, and then i do 2 sets of 15 seconds holds. When do you suggest i add weight and should i aim for high weight low reps or lower weight with reps? And should i only do neutral grip, or also chin and pull ups?

Also going to try the exercise you posted in the video. How often should i do it? Prolly with a 15-20 kg dumbbell.

On another note, i have very tiny, frail wrists - all my muscle is in my forearm to complete that popeye look, and i doubt my wrists will ever get much bigger - will this limit my arm wrestling potential, or does it not matter so much?

Edited by Kaskelotten
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For now, I would focus on building strength. So use a weight that is a challenge for you to hold for 10 seconds. Maybe twice a week to start. Your body will tell you when you are ready to move up in weight.

As is any sport, genetics plays a role. Tiny wrists may be an obstacle in armwrestling, but there’s no doubt that you can get significantly stronger if you train regularly.

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If your friends are willing to AW with you that is by far the best thing you could do to get stronger at AWing. Table time is crucial when it comes to training, focus on that and I promise you that your arms won't be able to take much more in a given week.

Your friends will eventually lose heart and won't answer your texts anymore, it is inevitable. That's when you try alternatives, I love a strong rubber band myself. Go to a competition and make some friends, you have to if you want to do this sport.

Watch every video Devon Larratt has on inthehook.com at least three times.

Most important, hands, wrist, arm lock( arm lock involves everything.. Bi, back, abs, pectoral). If your on this site I assume the hands are above average, now you need to learn how to use your hands to beat your friends.

If you experience horrific toothache type pain in your arms, something you have never felt before, your doing something right.

Just always look at the hand and keep it between your shoulders and your good to go.

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you could try this with your friends:

2 of my favorites:

-supination-pronation with sledge hammer and adding AW wrist movements.

-hammer curl position elbow on table partial range with holding a kettle bell upside down. I came up with this exercise during training and not sure if other people are doing it but I feel that it really works the same muscles you need when pulling someone closer to you during AW

I also recommend a lot of abdominal work such as trunk lateral flexion resisted.

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  • 1 month later...

I just wanted to bump this thread, so the more experienced people can take a look at my routine now, after I implemented some of your ideas:

I do an Upper / Lower 5-6 days of the week, and of the AW-specific exercises (My forearms get lots of work from rows etc. too), I do these:

Day 1: Wrist curls, neutral grip pull ups, and an exercise where I stand with a rope attached to a pulley machine and do partial hammer curls, 3 sets, 20-25 reps, lever lifts to back (2 sets, 10-20 reps)

Day 2: Lower body

Day 3: Rest

Day 4: Pronated pull ups, hammer curls, wrist curls, lever lifts to front (2 sets, 10-20 reps)

Day 5: Lower body

Day 6: Rest

Day 7: Same as day 1

I feel like I'm not doing nearly enough AW specific work. I want to do what some suggested here, which is just hanging with a neutral grip weighted, but I don't know which day I should put it on. Also, I think Fat Gripz would be good, or are they too advanced since I have been training for only 8 months? In short, can I do more work - if so, which days?

Edited by Kaskelotten
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I recommend watching James Retarides recent vid on forearm/wrist exercises if you haven't already.

When it comes to sets/reps and training frequency/duration there is no formula that is optimal for everyone IMO. For example, there are weeks that I train for arm wrestling almost every day (different intensities though). One could say I'm over training but I feel just fine and my body is able to adapt and recover very well in between workouts. Some other weeks I don't train specifically for arm wrestling at all. i'm not saying that this is the best way even for me to get as strong as possible, all I know is that up to this point I'm getting stronger, I'm injury free, and I love working out.

Having said that, If there is one workout that I recommend planning frequency/duration is when actually practicing arm wrestling with your buddies. How often are you doing that?

btw keep in mind I'm no expert or experienced arm wrestler. Perhaps the experts can chime in.

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I recommend watching James Retarides recent vid on forearm/wrist exercises if you haven't already.

When it comes to sets/reps and training frequency/duration there is no formula that is optimal for everyone IMO. For example, there are weeks that I train for arm wrestling almost every day (different intensities though). One could say I'm over training but I feel just fine and my body is able to adapt and recover very well in between workouts. Some other weeks I don't train specifically for arm wrestling at all. i'm not saying that this is the best way even for me to get as strong as possible, all I know is that up to this point I'm getting stronger, I'm injury free, and I love working out.

Having said that, If there is one workout that I recommend planning frequency/duration is when actually practicing arm wrestling with your buddies. How often are you doing that?

btw keep in mind I'm no expert or experienced arm wrestler. Perhaps the experts can chime in.

Thanks for replying. I see your points. What do you think about my choice of exercises? I'm more worried about the frequency, but I guess it'll be ok. Some lighter work on rest / lower body days would be better I guess - do you have any recommendations as to what would serve as good exercises on off days? Maybe specific finger, hand work? (Also considering my training schedule)

Thanks

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I think the exercises are ok, It's been said before but I would add

- holding elbow in lock position from different torso angles or do partial rom (80-100 degrees elbow rom) with heavy dumbbells with let's say table or preacher curl setup.

- supination and pronation exercises with your wrist in flexed position or going from neutral to flexed (like pronation when top rolling). For example, instead of just doing hammer curls with a rope at cable machine you can do that but at the end range pronate while your hand goes towards your opposite chest. You can do the same for supination with the rope attached at the top of cable machine. Instead of a rope I use a climbing nylon sling and wrap and towel around it where the contact with my hand is (For comfort when using heavy wts). James demonstrates very well these movements in his vid. I also use my body wt for this by attaching the sling at a pullup bar.

- I like wrist curls or isometric holds at cable machine with a rolling handle elbow at 90. Do you have a rolling handle? I also do pullups with a rolling handle (cupping movement) on one handle going more towards that handle (like trying to do one arm pullup) while the other one holds a more stable handle.

On off days your can do lower intensity more reps supination, pronation, cupping more for rehab. Do you train with grippers? I don't think it's necessary but it adds to working the forearm/wrist and hand intrinsics.

(also keep in mind this is what I find most helpful at this point in time, if you ask me next month I might mention different exercises)

Edited by Evan Raftopoulos
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and another thing for the rolling handle also mentioned before: you can move your thumb to the finger side to avoid stressing the thumb joints if you decide to do a lot of training with it. I'm waiting for the day that someone will come up with a rolling hand handle, one that looks like an actual hand and it's perfect for arm wrestling open hand grip position.

Edited by Evan Raftopoulos
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just got an ankle cuff to practice hook like movements

ankle%2Bcuff.JPG

hookankle%2Bcuff.JPG

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I think the exercises are ok, It's been said before but I would add

- holding elbow in lock position from different torso angles or do partial rom (80-100 degrees elbow rom) with heavy dumbbells with let's say table or preacher curl setup.

- supination and pronation exercises with your wrist in flexed position or going from neutral to flexed (like pronation when top rolling). For example, instead of just doing hammer curls with a rope at cable machine you can do that but at the end range pronate while your hand goes towards your opposite chest. You can do the same for supination with the rope attached at the top of cable machine. Instead of a rope I use a climbing nylon sling and wrap and towel around it where the contact with my hand is (For comfort when using heavy wts). James demonstrates very well these movements in his vid. I also use my body wt for this by attaching the sling at a pullup bar.

- I like wrist curls or isometric holds at cable machine with a rolling handle elbow at 90. Do you have a rolling handle? I also do pullups with a rolling handle (cupping movement) on one handle going more towards that handle (like trying to do one arm pullup) while the other one holds a more stable handle.

On off days your can do lower intensity more reps supination, pronation, cupping more for rehab. Do you train with grippers? I don't think it's necessary but it adds to working the forearm/wrist and hand intrinsics.

(also keep in mind this is what I find most helpful at this point in time, if you ask me next month I might mention different exercises)

Hey, thanks for all the inputs.

I'll try to integrate those movements you listed.

Which levering exercises do you find helps with arm wrestling the most? (Right now I only do front and back lever lifts)

What do you think of the rice bucket for strengthening the hand and forearms? :p

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By the way - which exercises do you people think are best for building hand and finger strength? I have no clue on this one - I do finger walks with a sledgehammer occasionally, but it seems to hit the thumb and forearms the hardest. My hands are very weak, so I'd really like a response on this one. :-)

Oh, and what do you think of plate pinches?

Edited by Kaskelotten
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I think the exercises are ok, It's been said before but I would add

- holding elbow in lock position from different torso angles or do partial rom (80-100 degrees elbow rom) with heavy dumbbells with let's say table or preacher curl setup.

- supination and pronation exercises with your wrist in flexed position or going from neutral to flexed (like pronation when top rolling). For example, instead of just doing hammer curls with a rope at cable machine you can do that but at the end range pronate while your hand goes towards your opposite chest. You can do the same for supination with the rope attached at the top of cable machine. Instead of a rope I use a climbing nylon sling and wrap and towel around it where the contact with my hand is (For comfort when using heavy wts). James demonstrates very well these movements in his vid. I also use my body wt for this by attaching the sling at a pullup bar.

- I like wrist curls or isometric holds at cable machine with a rolling handle elbow at 90. Do you have a rolling handle? I also do pullups with a rolling handle (cupping movement) on one handle going more towards that handle (like trying to do one arm pullup) while the other one holds a more stable handle.

On off days your can do lower intensity more reps supination, pronation, cupping more for rehab. Do you train with grippers? I don't think it's necessary but it adds to working the forearm/wrist and hand intrinsics.

(also keep in mind this is what I find most helpful at this point in time, if you ask me next month I might mention different exercises)

Hey, thanks for all the inputs.

I'll try to integrate those movements you listed.

Which levering exercises do you find helps with arm wrestling the most? (Right now I only do front and back lever lifts)

What do you think of the rice bucket for strengthening the hand and forearms? :p

hey man no problem, but as I mentioned I'm not an experienced arm wrestler so I can't answer with much certainty these questions. I assume that loading the wrist from every possible direction is helpful. At this point in time if I had to choose I would emphasize levering that loads the most radial deviators and pronators. I haven't tried the rice bucket.

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I think the exercises are ok, It's been said before but I would add

- holding elbow in lock position from different torso angles or do partial rom (80-100 degrees elbow rom) with heavy dumbbells with let's say table or preacher curl setup.

- supination and pronation exercises with your wrist in flexed position or going from neutral to flexed (like pronation when top rolling). For example, instead of just doing hammer curls with a rope at cable machine you can do that but at the end range pronate while your hand goes towards your opposite chest. You can do the same for supination with the rope attached at the top of cable machine. Instead of a rope I use a climbing nylon sling and wrap and towel around it where the contact with my hand is (For comfort when using heavy wts). James demonstrates very well these movements in his vid. I also use my body wt for this by attaching the sling at a pullup bar.

- I like wrist curls or isometric holds at cable machine with a rolling handle elbow at 90. Do you have a rolling handle? I also do pullups with a rolling handle (cupping movement) on one handle going more towards that handle (like trying to do one arm pullup) while the other one holds a more stable handle.

On off days your can do lower intensity more reps supination, pronation, cupping more for rehab. Do you train with grippers? I don't think it's necessary but it adds to working the forearm/wrist and hand intrinsics.

(also keep in mind this is what I find most helpful at this point in time, if you ask me next month I might mention different exercises)

Hey, thanks for all the inputs.

I'll try to integrate those movements you listed.

Which levering exercises do you find helps with arm wrestling the most? (Right now I only do front and back lever lifts)

What do you think of the rice bucket for strengthening the hand and forearms? :p

hey man no problem, but as I mentioned I'm not an experienced arm wrestler so I can't answer with much certainty these questions. I assume that loading the wrist from every possible direction is helpful. At this point in time if I had to choose I would emphasize levering that loads the most radial deviators and pronators. I haven't tried the rice bucket.

Alright, thanks :p

If I could just ask you this: what do you think of plate pinching? And when I do the neutral grip pull up isometric hold, should I do it with wrists bent like in a hook position, or can I do it with straight wrists and still get the rewards?

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Alright, thanks :p

If I could just ask you this: what do you think of plate pinching? And when I do the neutral grip pull up isometric hold, should I do it with wrists bent like in a hook position, or can I do it with straight wrists and still get the rewards?

I'm new to plate pinching and Grip Sport in general. I think improving grip and hand intrinsics strength can help with arm wrestling, however, I don't think it's a priority if you only care about arm wrestling. I've never tried hook position while pinching, it sounds intense. You asked earlier:

which exercises do you people think are best for building hand and finger strength? I have no clue on this one

a few I can think of: grippers, finger curls with wts, rolling handles, hubbing, fingerboards/campus boards, plate pinching as you mentioned. also some great advice for thumb and pinch grip specifically here

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