Armwrestling Question

[paul valpreda]

I know that there are quite a few armwrestlers who contribute to the GripPage and I have a question for you. If you had to list the five absolute best exercises for developing armwrestling strength and power, what would they be? I know that table work is probably the best, but outside of that, what would you suggest?

I appreciate any input.

Thanks,

paul

[Guest CanadaCrush]

Well, it depends on what size of hand you have, and the techniques you are accustomed to using. I myself have average sized hands, which presents a problem. In turn, I train exclusively to strengthen them to the point where the size factor becomes nominal. I do this through cleans on a thick handled dumbel, one handed dead lifts on a thick handled dumbell, pinch grip, CoC grippers, and I add plenty of wrist strength in there through several types of wrist curls. You can't neglect the arm, however. If someone can get past your hand through speed or trickery, your arm is all that stops you from the pin line. For this, as you stated, armwrestling is the best. Weights often do not exert the same vector forces on the arm, with near the intensity.

-Mark

[Guest woody36]

Paul,

     Found a link you may want to look at

http://www.armwrestling.ca/Exercises/exercises.htm

[paul valpreda]

Thanks for the information! Everything helps. Do any of you ever suffer from that tendon pain right in the crook of your elbow? How do you deal with that?

Thanks,

paul

[Guest CanadaCrush]

Well, I think every armwrestler suffers from minor tendon inflammation on a very regular basis. I know I do, although not on the inner arm, but the outter and inner elbow. I take Advil(Ibuprofin) before practice or a tournament, which seems to help me quite a bit.

-Mark

[paul valpreda]

How much do you guys think that the grippers help in armwrestling strength? Also, is there any way to work the inside portion of the forearm without actual table work? Maybe this is not possible, but I thought I'd see what everybody's ideas were.

Thanks again,

paul

[Guest Luke Reimer]

Paul,

Grippers have helped my armwrestling measurably.  They're

still my favourite exercise (despite their heavily debated

idiosyncracies) for armwrestling, outside actual armwrestling

practice and competition.  Thick bar work has helped my

armwrestling too, but I seem to gravitate somewhat less to it

now than grippers (maybe just because it takes more setting

up).

For the wrist I've tried dumbbell and barbell curls, plate curls,

and weaver stick and sledge hammer leveraging.  Somehow I

prefer the barbel curls, but anything done for the wrists

seems to help somewhat.

As for the rest of the arm, I'm experiencing some uncertainty

about supplementary routines myself now.  I haven't been

able to get nearly as much payoff from supplementary

routines for the arm, as for the hand.  I think this is where

actual practice becomes so indispensible.  For me the next

best thing has probably been isometric workouts mimicing

various positions I use at the table, rather than standard lifts.

This isn't from personal experience, since I'm not exceptional

at hooking, but I've noticed that a few of the best hooking

pullers in West have something in common--they like lat pulls.

In a similar vein, I hear that in Russia a popular exercise for

hooking is rope-climbing. I'm thinking now that lat work may

be something I need more of.

It's hard to pick five favourite exercises for armwrestling,

outside of actual practice, but if I had to, at the moment

this  is what I would pick: grippers, thick bar deads, wrist

curls, lat rows, and maybe the ever popolar (in armwrestling)

hammer curls.

Good luck,

Luke

[paul valpreda]

Hello Luke,

Thanks for the information. Armwrestling training is a complex issue due to the fact that competitors have vastly different approaches for developing strength. Some guys get most of their power from table workouts and others swear by their weightlifting training. I think that I'll just put the two together and see how that goes. Are you familiar with an armwrestler named Richard Lupkas? He definitely looked as if he combined weight training with the table to me!

Thanks again,

paul

[Guest baldy]

Wasn't Dennis Rogers an armwrestling champ before going on to doing strongman shows? He has done a lot of weight work. He must have genetics like a wolverine or a fighting chicken or something to be so strong lb for lb.

BTW Luke, good to see you around again.

[Guest CanadaCrush]

Paul,

Richard was one of, if not the, most explosively powerful armwrestler around. You are correct about the weight training. Some very successful pullers simply implement armwrestling into their weight lifting regimen, instead of the other way around. You have to find what works best for you, depending on the style you pull, and how well your body reacts to weight training. Pullers like Travis Bagent, and Devon Larratt, I've heard, train armwrestling only twice a month. The rest of their training consists of gym work. I would assume specifically targeting certain body parts to increase their strength in their unique styles.

-Mark

[Guest Luke Reimer]

Paul,

I've seen some photos and video footage of Richard Lupkas

pulling. He's a monster, for sure.  I wouldn't doubt that he's

done some weight training.

Baldy,

Thanks for welcoming me back out of hibernation. I guess it

has been a little while.  

:p

[paul valpreda]

Luke,

Do you do any training specifically for your thumbs? How important would you say the thumb is in armwrestling?

paul

[Guest Luke Reimer]

Paul,

I'm not sure myself exactly to what degree thumb-strength

helps in armwrestling. My pinch strength is mediocre at best,

and maybe even weak,  but I don't seem to have an

inordinate amount of trouble hooking or toprolling, at least as

far as I can tell (I don't know how much easier it would feel

to do these things with a stronger thumb). That's not to say

that the thumb doesn't do anything, only that I, given my

style and perspective, haven't detected it.  On the other

hand, I've heard the opinion of at least one top puller that

the thumb-strength is important in the toprolling game, and

I've seen another top puller suddenly loose his ability to

toproll effectively after injuring his thumb.  

In my opinion, thumb-strength may not be quite as important

as thumb-dimensions. As others on this board have pointed

out, the thicker the base of your thumb is, the less your

opponent's fingers can encircle your hand, and the more

easily you can toproll him.  To this end I've started an

experiment to see if I can even marginally increase the

thickness of the base of my thumb through high-frequency

paper tearing. (Every day, or almost every day,  I'll tear up

the flyers that come in the mail into smaller and smaller

pieces, layering them after each tear until I can't tear

anymore. I try to keep going, one way or another, until some

of the pieces are postage-stamp size).  

Regards,

Luke