Getting Started- Advice?

[hockeyrob]

Hey guys.

Been following armwrestling for a little while now through ArmTV and this and other forums and was going to give it a shot. Even though I don't consider myself naturally strong or anything, I'm competitive and armwrestling looks like a blast. Found some people in my area and will be going to a practice sometime next week. To be honest, I'm afraid of sucking-- we're talking rank beginner here (and old!! well, 34 isn't so old I guess). I'm going in with the attitude to learn and have fun, but no one likes to be the weak link, especially in a strength sport lol. Any advice for the first few weeks (months? ) while I spend time getting my a** handed to me on a regular basis?

--Rob

[Andy Ox]

I'm a newbie too,only been AW for 5-6 weeks.The first thing i'd say is keep plenty of painkillers close by as your tendons will hurt.The more you push your self ,the more they'l hurt but the quicker they'l become stronger and the pain will ease.

Good luck

[kyle102887]

I'd say take no painkillers or anything that numbs the pain......deal with it and let your body heal itself. I read somewhere that if you take something that reduces inflammation and pain. The body thinks it's healed and doesn't continue trying to fix the situation. Thus only leaving it less healed than it would have been if you would have avoided pain medication.

Basically I think the whole thing behind it was that the inflammation if a trigger for the body to start healing the tissue and making it stronger if there is no inflammation the body will think there is no need to repair itself.

But I can't remember the source to well, or the sources validity. So don't take this as gospel or anything.....but it was enough for me to not mess with them. ( even though I have a predisposition to not taking pain meds anyway)

Also I think this just has to do with tendon and ligament inflammation and pain. Not with anything like a headache or something.

Could be complete BS, but I think it makes sense.

[pdfk20]

I'm a newbie too,only been AW for 5-6 weeks.The first thing i'd say is keep plenty of painkillers close by as your tendons will hurt.The more you push your self ,the more they'l hurt but the quicker they'l become stronger and the pain will ease.

Good luck

Ignore this advice.

If you get pain when you first start training, simply stop training, let the pain dissipate do lots of contrast baths etc. Then continue training.

For advice with grippers if you've just started, don't go too heavy too quick as this will lead to injury - work on a gripper that you can get mabye 5-10 reps with and do sets, until you get some good base strength. Also make sure you work your extensors with rubber bands etc.

Good luck and train safe,

Pete

[Florian Kellersmann]

Pull with a lot of backpressure first, not too much sidepressure, that could be too hard for your joints. Be careful at the table and try to improve slowly. The strengh and technique will come. Take a break if it hurts.

[The Mac]

I'm a newbie too,only been AW for 5-6 weeks.The first thing i'd say is keep plenty of painkillers close by as your tendons will hurt.The more you push your self ,the more they'l hurt but the quicker they'l become stronger and the pain will ease.

Good luck

Ignore this advice.

If you get pain when you first start training, simply stop training, let the pain dissipate do lots of contrast baths etc. Then continue training.

For advice with grippers if you've just started, don't go too heavy too quick as this will lead to injury - work on a gripper that you can get mabye 5-10 reps with and do sets, until you get some good base strength. Also make sure you work your extensors with rubber bands etc.

Good luck and train safe,

Pete

Pete,

I think this was an arm-wrestling specific question.

I don't think there's any way to start arm-wrestling without going through a break-in period of pain - given the source of the advice to have plenty of painkillers at hand was David Horne (amongst others), a man who knows a thing or two about the sport, I would think it is pretty reliable.

[pdfk20]

I'm a newbie too,only been AW for 5-6 weeks.The first thing i'd say is keep plenty of painkillers close by as your tendons will hurt.The more you push your self ,the more they'l hurt but the quicker they'l become stronger and the pain will ease.

Good luck

Ignore this advice.

If you get pain when you first start training, simply stop training, let the pain dissipate do lots of contrast baths etc. Then continue training.

For advice with grippers if you've just started, don't go too heavy too quick as this will lead to injury - work on a gripper that you can get mabye 5-10 reps with and do sets, until you get some good base strength. Also make sure you work your extensors with rubber bands etc.

Good luck and train safe,

Pete

Pete,

I think this was an arm-wrestling specific question.

I don't think there's any way to start arm-wrestling without going through a break-in period of pain - given the source of the advice to have plenty of painkillers at hand was David Horne (amongst others), a man who knows a thing or two about the sport, I would think it is pretty reliable.

My bad i missed that the topic was targeting arm wrestling that i have no knowlege about really. Still i wouldn't advise someone to train with an injury by masking their pain with pain killers. But if you can do this and not end up injured fair play to you!

[pawel r]

weighted pull up + the table

[fightertrainer]

I thnk ice the sore elbow is the best remedy for joint pain. Alternate with heated pad is an option. Ice make pain much more managable and better than medicine which upsets your belly. Ice have no side effects. I use a large elastic knee brace on my elbow then stuff ice bag (freezer bag) underneat for 15-20 minutes two to three times a day. On other hand you know what they said about kitchen? If you can't handle the heat stay out off the kitchen. Well, if you can't handle the elbow pain...

[bobbrown]

Hey guys.

Been following armwrestling for a little while now through ArmTV and this and other forums and was going to give it a shot. Even though I don't consider myself naturally strong or anything, I'm competitive and armwrestling looks like a blast. Found some people in my area and will be going to a practice sometime next week. To be honest, I'm afraid of sucking-- we're talking rank beginner here (and old!! well, 34 isn't so old I guess). I'm going in with the attitude to learn and have fun, but no one likes to be the weak link, especially in a strength sport lol. Any advice for the first few weeks (months? ) while I spend time getting my a** handed to me on a regular basis?

--Rob

Biggest advice for newbies. Don't get discouraged. I have had hundreds of newbies come to practice and get killed by all. Most quit, The ones who stick it out always get much stronger. I currently have a guy who started about 1 1/2 years ago. Back then, I did not even feel him going. Now he is winning Novice classes and starting to win some Open matches. Another Year and look out.

Give yourself at least 3 years. I know this is a long time, but tendons take longer to get strong than muscles.

Good Luck

[Andy Ox]

Pete,

I think this was an arm-wrestling specific question.

I don't think there's any way to start arm-wrestling without going through a break-in period of pain - given the source of the advice to have plenty of painkillers at hand was David Horne (amongst others), a man who knows a thing or two about the sport, I would think it is pretty reliable.

Yes it was David who gave me this advise when i started and if your training hard then i would take this advise too.

I've been training with 1998 British champion Mark Cook and the last couple of weeks my tendon strength has really come on and i don't get half the pain anymore so i know longer take the pain killers.But those first 3 - 4 sessions i was in agony.All good though.

I'd say take no painkillers or anything that numbs the pain......deal with it and let your body heal itself. I read somewhere that if you take something that reduces inflammation and pain. The body thinks it's healed and doesn't continue trying to fix the situation. Thus only leaving it less healed than it would have been if you would have avoided pain medication.

I think what your talking about is muscles.I came from the sport of Strongman and remember reading about pain killers stopping muscular recovery.

Edited August 16, 2007 by Andy Ox

[kyle102887]

Pete,

I think this was an arm-wrestling specific question.

I don't think there's any way to start arm-wrestling without going through a break-in period of pain - given the source of the advice to have plenty of painkillers at hand was David Horne (amongst others), a man who knows a thing or two about the sport, I would think it is pretty reliable.

Yes it was David who gave me this advise when i started and if your training hard then i would take this advise too.

I've been training with 1998 British champion Mark Cook and the last couple of weeks my tendon strength has really come on and i don't get half the pain anymore so i know longer take the pain killers.But those first 3 - 4 sessions i was in agony.All good though.

I'd say take no painkillers or anything that numbs the pain......deal with it and let your body heal itself. I read somewhere that if you take something that reduces inflammation and pain. The body thinks it's healed and doesn't continue trying to fix the situation. Thus only leaving it less healed than it would have been if you would have avoided pain medication.

I think what your talking about is muscles.I came from the sport of Strongman and remember reading about pain killers stopping muscular recovery.

Ahhh maybe I am.....in any case I won't take any pain killers until I deem the pain debilitating.

[QuietSet]

I've been in armwrestling for about a year now and I'm going to only my third tournament tomorrow, but I'll share what

I can from my newbie experience:

Don't get too worried if it hurts. It's going to hurt. Probably really bad, but it will go away, you'll sleep it off. Rest a few days or a week and tear the ole arm down again. Rinse and repeat for a little while and eventually it just kindof stops hurting.

The advise to pull with mostly backpressure and only some sidepressure is a good piece of advise I think. This will keep you from stressing the tendons too much to quickly.

Focus on learning how to armwrestle, not just getting stronger. My first tournament I went and got crushed. I'm talking about CRUSHED. One of my matches of getting crushed was even on ArmTV. I thought really hard about how I had pulled and what had happened. I realized that I was pulling only to the side, and if I had loaded backpressure I would not have been beaten nearly as badly. My next tournament was only a month later, so I couldn't have been much stronger, but this time I went in with the goal of loading a ton of backpressure and just making sure my arm stayed close. I actually won a match in that tournament, so it was a big improvement.

Figure things out for yourself. It helps a lot to have a training partner or mentor who is better than you who can show you technique, but you can actually figure a lot of it out on your own. Just think about it. Go through scenarios in your mind.

Watch video. Then try your ideas the next time you pull.

Don't get discouraged. I have been in this thing for a year and I could get discouraged that I'm not better than I am now, but I realize that it takes time. Also, it has taken me quite a while to get as dedicated as I am now and to figure out how to properly train. Now that I've gotten all that lined out a lot better, I expect to be MUCH better when I've got 1 more year under my belt.

Don't be afraid to talk to people and ask questions. I've been amazed at how nice all of the well-known armwrestlers have been to me. I've sent messages back and forth and gotten tips from people like Engin Terzi, Harold Owens, Simon Berriachoa, talked with Michael Todd a little bit, and trained with Mark Maxey a few times. Armwrestlers are generally great people and glad to help, so make some friends and learn everything they are willing to offer.

[Patrik_F]

My advice would be to take things very very slowly the first months of AW. The better your patience is the better off you will be. It takes years to fully develop the tendon and ligament strength used in AW. You have plenty of time.

Train technique only. With lots and lots of warmup. Use around 50% of your strength. Learn the basics and try to find the techniques. Train 1-2 times a week.

Never ever dream of going near max. This is advice you have heard before, but nobody listens to it, and you will probably miss a few weeks/months of practise because you have pushed it and have pain in your elbow. Or even worse, you could injure yourself permanently, forever stopping your real potential and spoil the fun with armwrestling.

Like I said, you will probably push a little too hard too early and end up with pain that limits the amount you can train. Training with pain will only take you backwards and prolong recovery, if you are lucky to not get injured.

Good Luck, and I hope you will look back to my advice when the pain comes. It will pay off.

[lifesnotfair]

Patrik_F !! I've seen many of your posts while browsing "old" threads, but I don't think I've ever seen you post since for at least a year. Glad to see you back. Can you still mash a #3?

[Patrik_F]

Hey man! I have been checking the post here every once in a while, but havent posted anything. I tried my #3 about a year ago and couldnt close it, I was pretty close though. I think I am about as strong now as then. I dont train grip anymore, besides from whats worked when I train armwrestling. Cool that you remember me

[pbo4muscle]

My advice would be to take things very very slowly the first months of AW. The better your patience is the better off you will be. It takes years to fully develop the tendon and ligament strength used in AW. You have plenty of time.

Train technique only. With lots and lots of warmup. Use around 50% of your strength. Learn the basics and try to find the techniques. Train 1-2 times a week.

Never ever dream of going near max. This is advice you have heard before, but nobody listens to it, and you will probably miss a few weeks/months of practise because you have pushed it and have pain in your elbow. Or even worse, you could injure yourself permanently, forever stopping your real potential and spoil the fun with armwrestling.

Like I said, you will probably push a little too hard too early and end up with pain that limits the amount you can train. Training with pain will only take you backwards and prolong recovery, if you are lucky to not get injured.

Good Luck, and I hope you will look back to my advice when the pain comes. It will pay off.

Petrik, just my very thoughts as I go to my first real practise today... And everybody here give the same basic advic: Start slow and build up over time but be prepared for some soreness in your elbow. Good to get confirmation of your thoughts as a newbie.

[hockeyrob]

So I was the original poster here...it's been an interesting couple of months, not always armwrestling related. So I hooked up with the Vegas guys (where I was living) and went to a few practices....learned a lot, didn't really get to practice all that regularly (lot's of tournament travel for the guys- Bulgaria, Kansas City, etc...). Then I started doing a lot of travelling for my job and, long story short, ended up in the Philadelphia area right before Christmas.

For armwrestling, this was probably the best thing that could have happened. I contacted the guys in New Jersey and talk about a difference-- the practices are regular (with a lot of people), they have non-table training a few times a week, and everyone is helpful. After just one week I a) don't have arms anymore, b) feel like a complete girly-man and b) know that after 6 months I'm going to be a completely different and better arm-wrestler.

So I think for newbies, finding a good group to train with is really the key to the best progress! And the side pressure training does hurt like hell!!!

[bobbrown]

So did you hook up with Jim Bryan in NJ.

[hockeyrob]

So did you hook up with Jim Bryan in NJ.

Yup