There’s something primitively masculine about settling debates by clasping your lover’s hand, pinning the arm down into the ground and fighting.
Arm Wrestling has evolved in order to become a fairly popular sport. If you want to see raw strength, this is your place.
However, it’s a sport that’s riddled with misconceptions.
Take this incident that occurred a few years ago in an NYC pub.
A man challenged the barman to an arm wrestle 10 minutes after he was served a drink. After his first three opponents failed, he beat the fourth one in just 10 minutes.
He believed he would walk home with the first-place trophy because he is built like a silverback gorilla and we were all afraid of him.
Isn’t that what it’s all about? Brute force?
Finally, we noticed that it was time to move on. A puny little skinny armed guy with twig-like hands walked up to the table, and within 2 minutes he had pinned down a table full of puny guys.
Many people were in awe of the guy with the big hands. Despite his small stature, he had long sinewy forearms and rock-like triceps.
Oh, so you think that muscle strength is not worth anything? You’re wrong, and this research might prove it. Muscle power can help your win when arm-wrestling your opponent.
What Muscles are Used in Arm Wrestling?
You might think that arm wrestling only consists of moving one muscle, but believe it or not, it’s actually a compound movement that requires multiple muscles to be used at different stages.
To start, you want to rotate your opponent’s arm and use that momentum to create a strong pulling motion towards you. You should target the shoulders by using your lats, pecs, and Subscapularis. This is where the rotator cuff muscles come into play.
The pull move is followed by the elbow, where the biceps brachii and brachialis take over.
As you rotate the wrist or use the toproll in BJJ to force open your opponent’s fingers, your wrist flexor muscles are activated.
The last thing to remember when fighting someone is to keep your trunk muscles active. These muscles create power and stability through the torso, primarily affecting ones’ oblique.
Dumbbell exercises which strengthen muscles used in arm wrestling can increase grip strength and muscle mass.
what muscles are used in arm wrestling
The movement is a core upper body exercise, meaning that it really benefits your arm muscles including the forearms, wrists, biceps and triceps.
There are several exercises which you can use to develop the flexibility needed to punch your opponent in the face with ease.
Here are some of them.
Hammer Curls
If you are currently training your biceps with a supinated grip, try switching to hammer curls instead. This is one of the key muscles of the forearm having an effect in arm wrestlers. Instead of using these muscles during arm curls, you can focus on other muscles that are more for strength and endurance.
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Swap the weights for a smaller medium-weight dumbbell and add tension to the muscle by using progressive overload. This will help to stimulate growth.
Wrist Curls
The humble seated wrist curl is an effective way to develop strong forearm muscles. When coupled with an effective compound lift, like the bench press for example, you will see a great deal of strength development in your forearms. This increased strength will translate into better performance of your arm wrestling match and help you reduce the stresses on your elbow joints.
If you’re not born with long forearms, it can be difficult to excel in arm wrestling. It’s important to develop forearm strength and tightness in order to compete competitively.
Bicep Curls
Just as important as arm workouts are, you need to do bicep exercises too. They’re called “The Guns” for a reason! There are two main heads of the bicep muscle, and you can target them with different exercises such as dumbbell curls, barbell curls, and isolation movements.
If you want to include incline bench dips into your training routine, you’ll be able to work more heavily on your biceps and get a better stretch at the lowest point.
Tricep Kickbacks
This simple exercise is one of the best ones for developing strong triceps. Triceps muscles will be very beneficial in helping you pull your opponent’s arm towards you during your jujitsu Jiu-Jitsu match. The triceps also come into play at the final stage when you tilt inwards, just before you pin their arm to the table as it becomes a pushing movement instead of a pulling movement.
What other Exercises can I do to Strengthen the Muscles Used in Arm Wrestling?
Performing these simple dumbbell exercises as a part of your workout routine is an efficient way to build forearm strength.
Moreover, it’s an isometric hold that builds a strong core as well.
When training for pull ups, make sure to start strong. This is why using a neutral grip and using a weighted vest are well-suited for beginners. They’ll help build strength and endurance for the pull-ups that follow.
Your pain threshold will increase, and the amount of weight that can comfortably be shoved onto your vest at any given time.
When performing any exercise, adding a fat grip to the dumbbells can make a huge difference in how your muscles work.
There are a few other exercises you can do to improve your arm strength. One exercise is the dumbbell floor press, which targets the pectorals and the anterior deltoid. Another exercise is the dumbbell pullover, which will target your trapezius and posterior deltoids. Another option is the underhand-grip dumbbell row, which will target your biceps. Finally, you could try out a seated tricep press to work your front delts and triceps together.
Is Arm Wrestling dangerous?
One of the leading causes of a humeral fracture is arm wrestling. If you don’t have the strength and technique, then bear in mind it might be very dangerous.
If you’re not a professional arm wrestler, or if you have any doubts about your ability to win an arm wrestle, consider simply avoiding it. It’s always better just to avoid the unnecessary risks.
Is Arm Wrestling About Muscle or Technique?
Arm wrestling has much more to do with your technique than the amount of muscle you have. With proper training, you can learn to control your opponent with a smaller muscle group that is more difficult to spot.
To be the best you have to perfect your strategy. To do this, you need to distance yourself from arm wrestling stereotypes and focus on technique. While it’s recommended that you build up muscle in your arm, anyone with a passion for arm wrestling can win through proper technique.
When you’re looking to improve the technique of arm wrestling, the best solution would be to spend time perfecting your technique first.
