I'm Sick Of Losing! Please Help...

[dimeisgod]

Hi,

this is my first post here..

I arm wrestled at a party about 4 months ago, and i lost to some really weak looking guys. so i started adding the forearms to my workouts and 4 months later I'm still losing.. this is my forearm routine maybe you guys can help me improve it so i can kick these guys asses next time they offer a match! :

wrist curls: 3 x 20

reverse wrist curls: 3 x 20

hammer bar (front raise: 3 x 20

hammer bar (back raise): 3 x 20

heavy grips: I got my set yesterday so i don't have a workout planned yet..

i would really really appreciate it if you could help me improve my workout maybe add some more exercises (not necessarily forearm exercises) , and a good routine with the HGs.

thanks a lot,

Jonathan.

[Robert Bishop]

i would do heavy weight for lower reps like a weight you can handle for 5-8 reps but some people do high reps. I would do a couple of higher reps to warm up first. I would get a dumbell and sit in a chair and do concentration curls also or some kind of a curl. Think leverage when AW and dont get sreched out.If your pulling someone with no exp than i would grip as high as possible on his hand and try and control his hand or turn his hand. On the start i would pull back hard and try to seperate his hand farther out away from his body which will give you the leverage advantage with someone who is inexperienced but has a stronger arm. Think leverage and hand control and the farther out your arm is the less power you have. Its hard to explain on here

[MRabich]

Since you said your matches took place at a party, I presume your friends are not competitive arm wrestlers, so you need to build your general strength with squats, benches, deads, pullups, that should be enough to beat 75% of your friends.

[Dave H]

Most Powerlifters lose as well. Benchpresses and squats will not help you in that area. Most of the top armwrestlers don't do those things. Just continue to do the things you are doing for the hands and arms and add an armwrestling workout at least twcie a month to your routine. That is with people that you can actually armwrestle with. That is the key, getting stronger in those muscles and those movements. Once you have started all of this, then just give it time. It will take time to get stronger and better. Find some pro's to pull with in your area.

Allen Fisher - 25 time world champion - told me that when he started out he spend the first year in the losing postiton. He said that he actually build his strength up by fighting out of the losing position. Now, he is very, very strong in the hands and arms and has some HUGE hands.

Bob Sutton - a Super heavyweight national champ told me that he spent the first 2 years losing before he won his first match.

Merle Metter - the armwrestling writer and many time Masters and Grandmaters champion told me that it takes about 3 years to get to the point where you are winning regularly.

Just train and give it time.

Dave...

[Robert Bishop]

what ever happened to Bob Sutton because i pulled him a few times but i have'nt heard his name at any tournaments in the last couple years? Some people will pull against cables or bands to simulate AW and myself i have a bunch of intertubes i pull against and bands that i hook up to a d-ring and handle when i cant practice with my training partners. The reason i mentioned concentration curls is because you are working out exersizes that help the back-pressure but you need to add one that builds side-pressure and in my oppinion 20 reps isnt what i would do for power atleast not every set. In my training i do a couple high rep 10-15 sets followed by 3to4 heavy sets anywhere from 3to8 reps ending with a couple 10-15 which works for me but try different things to see what works best for you. On my arm day i do around 8to10 sets for curls around 5or6 for hammer curls and about the same for wrist curls and i use only dumbells which i do because i AW and i like to hit each arm seperate but just starting out you wouldnt probably be able to do that many sets right off the bat

[bobbrown]

wrist curls: 3 x 20

reverse wrist curls: 3 x 20

hammer bar (front raise: 3 x 20

hammer bar (back raise): 3 x 20

What type of weight are you using? This is all for your wrist. What about your arm? The fastest way to beat the average guy is learning to Top Roll, which does require hand and wrist but also your arm with back pressure.

Pull ups on Rolling Thunder and Rope Climbing are two of the best exercise you can do for general arm conditioning. Then like the above post says, get some bands and put them at a 45 degree angle and simulate AW. Have the band wrap over top of your hand(over your knuckles). This will put pressure on your wrist then wrap around back of your hand. This will put pressure on your pronater. Also do Hammer Curls.

Good Luck

Edited January 4, 2008 by bob brown

[Aftershock]

I don't think that your forearms are your weak link. It's your upper arms. Train pullups alot and do alot of tricep work. But that doesn't mean stop training your forearm.

[Patrik_F]

What technique are you using? The number 1 thing that is probably stopping you is technique, not strength. Also you need to train the actual armwrestling movement like the other guys have told you, the best thing is to use rubber bands if you dont have someone to train with. Go light, have patience and have fun

[dimeisgod]

hey,

thanks a lot for all the advice i really, truly appreciate it.

I already work my other body parts regularly, with dumbbells and this home gym thing.

pushdowns are the only exercise i do for triceps. although bench presses and shoulder presses are also supposed to work the triceps.

for biceps i alternate hammer curls and regular curls every other week. and the "wide grip lat pulldowns" and cable rows should also be complimenting the biceps.

i think i should be doing a lower number of reps, but exactly how much?

MRabich : some are complete amateurs but some of them weightlift. what do i do with the other 25%?

bob brown : i use dumbbells for all of them, for the hammer curls i take the weights of one side of the DB and hold it there. where can i get a good description of the toproll ?

Aftershok : what tricep exercise should i add for my triceps?

Patrik_F: I saw magnus samelson explaining some moves on youtube, hook, toproll etc. but thats surely not enough.

thanks a lot!

Jonathan.

[Robert Bishop]

you could go to youtube and watch some AW and look at how they set up and where different ones grip up. I myself like to do the close grip bench for Triceps after i do the normal bench along with the pulldowns. I think 3to5 sets of 5 reps wouldnt be bad to start with along with your warm up sets but everyone is different so change it around as you go. They say people have different combinations of red[slow twitch] and white[fast twitch] muscle fibers in which red are weaker but have greater endurance like a long distance runner where as a sprinter is much faster but has far less staying power. If that is true than you would think doing lower reps with higher weights would be better for white while higher reps 12-15 would be better for red so thats why i do a combination of both

Edited January 4, 2008 by Robert Bishop

[bobbrown]

Posting Top Roll

Rolling Top Roll

Add in some straight bar Wrist Curls. This will work the wrist for a Top Roll.

Dumbells work wrist for hook.

Edited January 4, 2008 by bob brown

[Robert Bishop]

i see they have a couple videos of R Lupkes on there and he's massive. I here he's pulling again will be one of the top before long

[Dave H]

The last time I saw Bob Sutton he had moved back to Ohio from Georgia and was living in Akron and training with Mike Bowling and Dan Victor. This was a few years ago, so this might be old news, I don't know.

Dave...

[Whimp]

work your hand and wrist so you can top roll or hook most any amateur at a party.. tricep is also good one... but young people usually have weeker wrists.. old man strenght is the best

[dimeisgod]

hey,

i guess the training i do is working, it probably was technique i was lacking..

i beat my dad today in an armwrestling match at home!

I'm 16 he's 40 btw and he is stronger than me in upper body strength and weighs about 50 pounds more than me...

i top rolled him cause he doesn't do any wrist training . he was amazed i won .. but in the next match he realized what i was doing. so he hooked and pressed and won easily..

but still it was an awesome feeling beating him for the first time...

anyway now i train AW with him once a week.

We're moving back to California in the end of the year so I'll be able to find a serious place to train at.

Jonathan

[shippling]

Hey Jonathan,

Im not an expert on armwrestling by any stretch, but I recently read the Naked warrior by Pavel and have applied some of the techniques to my bending and am having success, I think this might help you also. Check it out "The Naked Warrior"

hope this helps

Ship

[bicio]

Hey guys can someone of you explain what are the best

exercises to train TRICEPS??

I've read "Aftershock" say ... do a lot of triceps work.... but

if we make the bodybuilders exercises we'll become bodybuilders...

not armwrestlers... so what are the right exercises for armwrestling??

sets, reps, tips about the movements etc...

I'm still feeling pain at the end of the table training because a friend

pull in a particular way and it hurts a lot externally on the insertion

of the tricep/brachioradialis/under the bicep...

Making hammer and bicep curls i feel only a minimum pain but the

tricep for me is too difficult to train.

Thanks to all!!

[bobbrown]

Sounds like some tendinitis is in your arm. Make sure you stretch and warm up a lot before practice and than ICE after every practice and workout.

As far as an exercise....I like Push Downs with the Rope attachment. I'll always do a couple of light sets for about 15-20 reps than go a bit heavier for about 8 reps. I have learned over the years that PERFECT form is important for the HEALTH of the arm.

Good luck

[dima700]

Have you tried Close-Grip Bench Press for triceps? I started doing this exercise recently because I've had pain in my right elbow from tendonitis. I found that this exercise doesn't bother my elbow and it trains triceps at the same time. I used to get pain in the elbow from doing skull crushers, dips, and overhead dumbbell extensions.

[Robert Bishop]

i do a combination of both myself

[Aftershock]

PanterA Jonathan, For triceps, try doing tiger bend pushups. you start out in a pushup position, and then lower down onto your forearms, keeping your uperarms perpendicular to the ground. Then press back up. These do a number on your triceps and will help build the strength up.

http://judoforum.com/lofiversion/index.php/t11560.html This is a link to a site that shows how to do them.

Edited January 21, 2008 by Aftershock