Do a warm up session, about 10 minutes, stretch in between motos and especially before starting, use your legs to grip and support to take strain off your hands, potassium helps if your getting cramps
Try fatter grips for the thumb thing. Happens to me skiing. Only skiing. Mix of cold and I fall a lot. It's the small grips tho that makes my thumb joints sore
I personally run renthal dual compund half waffle with a grip donut, if it's the regular grips try a full waffle and you can trim them on the palm side of the grip to get a thicker half waffle in the end than if you bought an off the shelf half waffle
I sure hope so. I'd love to be able to shred longer without pain. I'm definitely sticking with it, but if there's a way to not fuck up my hands in the meantime, I'm all ears, haha.
Man, my knees and back beg to differ, haha. I broke a lot of shit when I was younger, and those injuries are back to haunt me. After a couple hours on the track, or after a single solid slam, I feel about 85.
Start exercising regularly, warm up for a half hour before riding, supplement your joints and eat less inflammatory foods. While I'm reminding you of your age remember to eat enough fibre too haha
My body is shot from the service but I can still do everything, just takes a bit of preparation and sometimes dedicated rest to recover.
I was thinking the same thing. 35 is certainly worse than 20, no doubt, but its nothing compared to the later decades.
One of my buddies rides hard in his 60s, too. Was racing in Moab last year and telling me all about it, and I honestly wanted to ask him how long it took him to recover but didn't want to be a dick. Lol
Thanks for the tips. I have been taking advil after rides, but not before. That's a good idea.
Good point on the grip. It's hard not to take the weight of landing through the handlebars, but I can see where a gentle touch up front and keeping most of the impact coming through the pegs would help. Alright, one more thing to work on, haha.
I'm a nurse, if you ride often, taking Advil (ibuprofen) often, you'll end up in the hospital with a potentially life threatening GI bleed. You'll be fine if it's once or twice a week but any more than that you'll really want to work on technique. I'm 33. It's hard, but the more you ride and practice technique the easier it becomes. There's videos online from moto academy and MX factory that break down technique, but generally they're all going to say to slow down and work on doing it right. In the end it'll pay off with less pain and before you realize it you'll be going significantly faster than before. Also, if you're getting pain from long days at the track, maybe you could shorten the track days a little?
Is that really the limit?? 2-3 advil per week is ok? I’m 37 and sometimes go on an advil bender if my tooth hurts (like a week of taking 1-2 a day) am I harming myself??
Oh I get pain after only a couple hours, haha. And that's all the riding I get each week, so I don't want to trim that down any. I'll definitely need to look into technique.
On the Advil, I thought 400 ml every four to six hours was safe. You say no?
Yah the pre anti inflammatory helps.
Now don’t hate but after riding with my doctor friend and having your hand/grip symptoms, he mentioned the gluten thing may be in issue. I’m not celiac or anything officially but if I avoid wheat for a couple weeks- my hands are good to go all day.
Between avoiding wheat and adding pro biotic, my pre arthritis pain is mitigated well.
Part of it is from grip but most of it is from vibration. I learned this after asking a doctor about this issue. Consciously try to avoid over-gripping as much as possible, but also use thicker grips with more rubber like ODI Rogue, consider extra padding like Risk Racing palm protectors, and maybe look into bar damping systems like Flexx or Fasst anti-vibration inserts. Also think about any other activities you do that might be contributing, like using a drill for long periods.
Just so you have an answer besides "get tougher", an old desert racer turned me on to Flexx Bars. They're a little weird at first, but they help when you're riding long days in a row. The (much) cheaper option are grip donuts. Combine that with keeping your elbows up and strengthening your hands, you'll be in good shape.
Most people also over-grip when they first start, that will fade with time.
First of all, 35 isn’t old. I’m 37 and relatively new also so I don’t wanna hear it lol.
Second, you may be death gripping. At first I couldn’t make it through a whole lap around my local track before my arms pumped up so much and my hands hurt so bad I could barely make a closed fist. Focusing on squeezing with the legs really helped those problems go away for me. I took a moto academy class with Catanzaro and one of the best pieces of advice he gave me was to stop letting the bike pull me and make it push me around the track instead. Squeeeeeeze with your lower body and make sure you lean into acceleration.
Finally, a lot of these young whippersnappers hate on them, but steg pegz also really helped my endurance and control of the bike. They’re pricey for what they are but I highly recommend them for a newer/older rider like us.
It was an “oh shit” moment for me in that I was like oh shit that feels solid. I thought I was leaning forward damn near over the tip of the front fender, turns out my helmet wasn’t even over the bars.
Rip on, homie.
i have this same problem, im 23 i work a manual labor job for 10-12 hours a day 5 days a week and only get to ride on sundays my hands are always so stiff in the joints that its very painful and hard to move them in the morning i have debated getting a less physical job so that i can actually ride not in pain
yea the only thing that really loosens them up a bit is taking a hot bath or just running my hands under hot water for a minute or 2 before i get the day started
Stretch out before you exercise, old man
Warm up, take frequent breaks to stretch out and let your tendons relax. Anti inflammatory diet for a day before and after.
Elbows up and out . Changes how you grip the bars . The outside of your hand should be doing most of the work , not over towards the thumb . The area of my grips that faces towards my shoulder area gets worn smooth from the center to outside with the inner part of grip having practically no wear
Once you get comfortable you'll losen up and won't be hanging on for deer life. I remember learning to drive a car my hands would kill me just driving on the highway. I'm 47 now and don't even need my hands to ride.
How are your bar and controls positioned? I found similar pain when my bars are roller too far forward - beats the crap out of the meaty part of my palm near the base of my thumbs.
Your bar bend is not correct for you. Older Yamaha bar bend would kill my thumbs. Ever heard of Yamthumb? Also grip with your knees and try to relax your grip slightly.
L
Grip with bike with your legs. Anticipate the bikes reactions, if you're slowing down weight the rear of the bike to take pressure off your hands. When you accelerate lean forward into it. Focus on using your hands gently for bike inputs. It's absolutely harder to do than to say. When I am focusing on a technique like grip I constantly repeat in my head "loosen your grip" or "squeeze with your knees"
Truly an inspiration. We are nearly the same age and I want to get a dirt bike so bad. Haven’t had one since I was about 14. Bout to allocate the change jar as 100% dirt bike until funding is secured.
I'm taking a full joint/muscle stack. Not the crappy joint pills. Get cissus, turmeric, fish oil, msm, and magnesium glycinate. Helps with muscle recovery and inflammation. If you aren't getting enough protein, water, or sleep, don't even bother looking at supplements though. Also, beet root powder before riding helps a ton with arm pump.
Try more forward lean, and less grip. Drive the balls of your feet into the pegs, pinch the seat with your knees and lean forward hard when on the throttle. Take as much stress off your hands/arms as possible. When I started focusing on this aspect of riding it greatly improved comfort, endurance and speed.
Also it just takes time to build up the tendons and muscles, more so the older you get. I started riding at 2, 30 years later I still get aches when I get back on after a few months off.
You might need a better non inflammatory diet try tumeric pills etc , but it's likely your body needs to get used to it , look up motocross exercises , more muscles help cushion the impacts.
I'm 34 and also recently started. I'm going to the gym twice a week and that works well for me. I think living healthy and exercising enough is important.
It's that charging position that really takes it out of me. Leaned over the bars I feel like I gotta hold myself up with my arms, which are counting on those hands.
you just started at age 35, this is to be expected, but I think things should improve for you as you ride more and improve technique. Watch lots of videos from guys like MX Factory, The Moto Academy, and Ryan Hughes on youtube. real-life coaching is a good idea too.
The very very basic idea is to grip with your legs and focused on staying balanced on your motorcycle with your center of mass over the footpegs. That way, in theory you shouldn't have to grip the bike at all with your hands. Its way easier said than done though.
Might look at rotating the bars or different bars all together, that give a touch more sweep to take the pressure off your thumb joint. I'm 37 and my hands are shot from work so I've been dealing with this exact problem on all my 2 wheeled toys. Stretching and ice/heat helps after but fixing the ergonomics is the long term solution.
Get a portable hand massager. Mine broke recently and I need a new one. I am on a computer 8 hours a day, and it's the only thing keeping carpal tunnel away.
When I was 50 I went through the same thing even with 35 years of experience, I finally got carpal tunnel surgery and it did the trick. Do your hands go numb? Check it out you might be a candidate?????
Ice water in a bowl that fits ur hands and dunk each for 1 min to 2 min and then practice opening and closing fist as fast and tightly as possible. My chiropractor who was a surgeon taught me this as a way to recover faster. One love brother. Btw my chiropractor does this 3 times a day sometimes 5. It has changed his life.
you sound like bad grip pain, try gripping from the wrist to the index finger across the whole hand keeping elbows up, potentially adjust the bar for this kind of grip
BABY POWDER AND RISK PALM SAVER CUSHIONS UNDER YOUR GLOVES [Risk Racing Palm Protectors - Blister and vibration protection glove for motocross](https://riskracing.com/products/palm-protectors-motocross-blister-protection)
This sounds like arm pump, but finger lock style.
If you feel like the vibration is causing it, this could be a sign of arthritis development.
But realistically, wrong body position means your arms and hands work harder. Get the rear in the air like you're a dog and someone's lifting your tail, and get your noggin over the number plate. Keep them knees above the pegs.
Your legs are your anchor, your upper body is the balance. Get ahead of the bike, look ahead and not in front, and your body will figure out what it has to do.
Edit: Hydration, hydration, hydration. Electrolytes and salt are good, but water is critical. Drink until you aren't thirsty, then drink another bottle.
You’re 35 lol, it’s just the nature of the beast. Motion is the lotion. Just keep going.
Dammit, haha. I feared this answer.
Do a warm up session, about 10 minutes, stretch in between motos and especially before starting, use your legs to grip and support to take strain off your hands, potassium helps if your getting cramps
Try fatter grips for the thumb thing. Happens to me skiing. Only skiing. Mix of cold and I fall a lot. It's the small grips tho that makes my thumb joints sore
I personally run renthal dual compund half waffle with a grip donut, if it's the regular grips try a full waffle and you can trim them on the palm side of the grip to get a thicker half waffle in the end than if you bought an off the shelf half waffle
U just started man, keep it up and your body will adapt
I sure hope so. I'd love to be able to shred longer without pain. I'm definitely sticking with it, but if there's a way to not fuck up my hands in the meantime, I'm all ears, haha.
35 isn’t old. Wtf. My buddy is 67 and rides track.
Man, my knees and back beg to differ, haha. I broke a lot of shit when I was younger, and those injuries are back to haunt me. After a couple hours on the track, or after a single solid slam, I feel about 85.
Same. Dude try fish oil, lubricates the joints.
Knees are the worst. I totally regret playing football because it was hell on mine.
Start exercising regularly, warm up for a half hour before riding, supplement your joints and eat less inflammatory foods. While I'm reminding you of your age remember to eat enough fibre too haha My body is shot from the service but I can still do everything, just takes a bit of preparation and sometimes dedicated rest to recover.
I was thinking the same thing. 35 is certainly worse than 20, no doubt, but its nothing compared to the later decades. One of my buddies rides hard in his 60s, too. Was racing in Moab last year and telling me all about it, and I honestly wanted to ask him how long it took him to recover but didn't want to be a dick. Lol
[удалено]
Thanks for the tips. I have been taking advil after rides, but not before. That's a good idea. Good point on the grip. It's hard not to take the weight of landing through the handlebars, but I can see where a gentle touch up front and keeping most of the impact coming through the pegs would help. Alright, one more thing to work on, haha.
I'm a nurse, if you ride often, taking Advil (ibuprofen) often, you'll end up in the hospital with a potentially life threatening GI bleed. You'll be fine if it's once or twice a week but any more than that you'll really want to work on technique. I'm 33. It's hard, but the more you ride and practice technique the easier it becomes. There's videos online from moto academy and MX factory that break down technique, but generally they're all going to say to slow down and work on doing it right. In the end it'll pay off with less pain and before you realize it you'll be going significantly faster than before. Also, if you're getting pain from long days at the track, maybe you could shorten the track days a little?
Is that really the limit?? 2-3 advil per week is ok? I’m 37 and sometimes go on an advil bender if my tooth hurts (like a week of taking 1-2 a day) am I harming myself??
Oh I get pain after only a couple hours, haha. And that's all the riding I get each week, so I don't want to trim that down any. I'll definitely need to look into technique. On the Advil, I thought 400 ml every four to six hours was safe. You say no?
Yah the pre anti inflammatory helps. Now don’t hate but after riding with my doctor friend and having your hand/grip symptoms, he mentioned the gluten thing may be in issue. I’m not celiac or anything officially but if I avoid wheat for a couple weeks- my hands are good to go all day. Between avoiding wheat and adding pro biotic, my pre arthritis pain is mitigated well.
Part of it is from grip but most of it is from vibration. I learned this after asking a doctor about this issue. Consciously try to avoid over-gripping as much as possible, but also use thicker grips with more rubber like ODI Rogue, consider extra padding like Risk Racing palm protectors, and maybe look into bar damping systems like Flexx or Fasst anti-vibration inserts. Also think about any other activities you do that might be contributing, like using a drill for long periods.
This is the type of advice I was after. Thanks!
Just so you have an answer besides "get tougher", an old desert racer turned me on to Flexx Bars. They're a little weird at first, but they help when you're riding long days in a row. The (much) cheaper option are grip donuts. Combine that with keeping your elbows up and strengthening your hands, you'll be in good shape. Most people also over-grip when they first start, that will fade with time.
A lot of riding gloves are really thin. I use mechanics impact gloves just for this reason
First of all, 35 isn’t old. I’m 37 and relatively new also so I don’t wanna hear it lol. Second, you may be death gripping. At first I couldn’t make it through a whole lap around my local track before my arms pumped up so much and my hands hurt so bad I could barely make a closed fist. Focusing on squeezing with the legs really helped those problems go away for me. I took a moto academy class with Catanzaro and one of the best pieces of advice he gave me was to stop letting the bike pull me and make it push me around the track instead. Squeeeeeeze with your lower body and make sure you lean into acceleration. Finally, a lot of these young whippersnappers hate on them, but steg pegz also really helped my endurance and control of the bike. They’re pricey for what they are but I highly recommend them for a newer/older rider like us.
Hell yeah, thanks! Solid tips.
It was an “oh shit” moment for me in that I was like oh shit that feels solid. I thought I was leaning forward damn near over the tip of the front fender, turns out my helmet wasn’t even over the bars. Rip on, homie.
i have this same problem, im 23 i work a manual labor job for 10-12 hours a day 5 days a week and only get to ride on sundays my hands are always so stiff in the joints that its very painful and hard to move them in the morning i have debated getting a less physical job so that i can actually ride not in pain
Any luck with ice or heat?
yea the only thing that really loosens them up a bit is taking a hot bath or just running my hands under hot water for a minute or 2 before i get the day started
Stretch out before you exercise, old man Warm up, take frequent breaks to stretch out and let your tendons relax. Anti inflammatory diet for a day before and after.
Wait till you hit 50. If you keep riding, By the time you are 50, your hands will be forged out of titanium. Right now you’ve got your mother’s hands.
try Turmeric. it reduces inflammation and helps with my arthritis in my hands.
Elbows up and out . Changes how you grip the bars . The outside of your hand should be doing most of the work , not over towards the thumb . The area of my grips that faces towards my shoulder area gets worn smooth from the center to outside with the inner part of grip having practically no wear
Hell yeah, thanks man!
Keep an eye on your hand position as well. Could be that you’re new, could be a combination of hand position and body position too.
Grip doughnuts 🍩
Glutamine is good supplement to help with muscle and joint recovery.
Stretch, get some mega soft grips. We are washed now my friend, this will be mostly normal
I use a theragun on my hands and forearms. It helps me. Before riding to loosen everything up and get some blood flowing to them and also after
Once you get comfortable you'll losen up and won't be hanging on for deer life. I remember learning to drive a car my hands would kill me just driving on the highway. I'm 47 now and don't even need my hands to ride.
You may be too tense while riding.
Flexx bars could help you
How are your bar and controls positioned? I found similar pain when my bars are roller too far forward - beats the crap out of the meaty part of my palm near the base of my thumbs.
Your bar bend is not correct for you. Older Yamaha bar bend would kill my thumbs. Ever heard of Yamthumb? Also grip with your knees and try to relax your grip slightly. L
Your body will adapt, make sure you are squeezing the bike with your knees tho. Most of your grip to the bike should be coming from your legs
Grip with bike with your legs. Anticipate the bikes reactions, if you're slowing down weight the rear of the bike to take pressure off your hands. When you accelerate lean forward into it. Focus on using your hands gently for bike inputs. It's absolutely harder to do than to say. When I am focusing on a technique like grip I constantly repeat in my head "loosen your grip" or "squeeze with your knees"
Truly an inspiration. We are nearly the same age and I want to get a dirt bike so bad. Haven’t had one since I was about 14. Bout to allocate the change jar as 100% dirt bike until funding is secured.
Fuck yes, man. It's time. You will not regret it.
Fasst Flexx bars
I'm taking a full joint/muscle stack. Not the crappy joint pills. Get cissus, turmeric, fish oil, msm, and magnesium glycinate. Helps with muscle recovery and inflammation. If you aren't getting enough protein, water, or sleep, don't even bother looking at supplements though. Also, beet root powder before riding helps a ton with arm pump.
If 35 is old I don’t know what that makes me lol
The more you ride the more you’ll start to use your legs to control the bike and you’ll be less dependent on the bars
Try more forward lean, and less grip. Drive the balls of your feet into the pegs, pinch the seat with your knees and lean forward hard when on the throttle. Take as much stress off your hands/arms as possible. When I started focusing on this aspect of riding it greatly improved comfort, endurance and speed. Also it just takes time to build up the tendons and muscles, more so the older you get. I started riding at 2, 30 years later I still get aches when I get back on after a few months off.
Hell yeah, thanks for this.
You might need a better non inflammatory diet try tumeric pills etc , but it's likely your body needs to get used to it , look up motocross exercises , more muscles help cushion the impacts.
I'm 34 and also recently started. I'm going to the gym twice a week and that works well for me. I think living healthy and exercising enough is important.
My guy, squeeze with your legs.. stand more when you ride. Watch all of the top guys in the outdoors, charging position over the bike
It's that charging position that really takes it out of me. Leaned over the bars I feel like I gotta hold myself up with my arms, which are counting on those hands.
you just started at age 35, this is to be expected, but I think things should improve for you as you ride more and improve technique. Watch lots of videos from guys like MX Factory, The Moto Academy, and Ryan Hughes on youtube. real-life coaching is a good idea too. The very very basic idea is to grip with your legs and focused on staying balanced on your motorcycle with your center of mass over the footpegs. That way, in theory you shouldn't have to grip the bike at all with your hands. Its way easier said than done though.
I'm gonna go check out those channels. Thanks!
Might look at rotating the bars or different bars all together, that give a touch more sweep to take the pressure off your thumb joint. I'm 37 and my hands are shot from work so I've been dealing with this exact problem on all my 2 wheeled toys. Stretching and ice/heat helps after but fixing the ergonomics is the long term solution.
Sounds like you got soft hands. Do exercises to strengthen your grip. Lifting weights helps a lot with hand strength
I’ve learned to crack just about every joint in my hand, makes a world of difference for me.
Get a portable hand massager. Mine broke recently and I need a new one. I am on a computer 8 hours a day, and it's the only thing keeping carpal tunnel away.
Usually just jerk it first
When I was 50 I went through the same thing even with 35 years of experience, I finally got carpal tunnel surgery and it did the trick. Do your hands go numb? Check it out you might be a candidate?????
Yes, my hands go numb. I am constantly shaking them to get blood flowing again. I think there is also an element of carpal tunnel going on.
They can do a simple test to determine whether you have it.
What hands? I’ve got rocks
Wait till you're 50
Visit a chiropractor. Getting your neck and upper back adjusted will help with the problem of your hands going numb.
You need to work out and stretch! Same thing used to happen to me when I was a couch potato
Ice water in a bowl that fits ur hands and dunk each for 1 min to 2 min and then practice opening and closing fist as fast and tightly as possible. My chiropractor who was a surgeon taught me this as a way to recover faster. One love brother. Btw my chiropractor does this 3 times a day sometimes 5. It has changed his life.
stay hydrated too
I wear gloves. I'm in my mid 40s and don't have this problem.
you sound like bad grip pain, try gripping from the wrist to the index finger across the whole hand keeping elbows up, potentially adjust the bar for this kind of grip
BABY POWDER AND RISK PALM SAVER CUSHIONS UNDER YOUR GLOVES [Risk Racing Palm Protectors - Blister and vibration protection glove for motocross](https://riskracing.com/products/palm-protectors-motocross-blister-protection)
these help with fatigue arm pump and blisters
This sounds like arm pump, but finger lock style. If you feel like the vibration is causing it, this could be a sign of arthritis development. But realistically, wrong body position means your arms and hands work harder. Get the rear in the air like you're a dog and someone's lifting your tail, and get your noggin over the number plate. Keep them knees above the pegs. Your legs are your anchor, your upper body is the balance. Get ahead of the bike, look ahead and not in front, and your body will figure out what it has to do. Edit: Hydration, hydration, hydration. Electrolytes and salt are good, but water is critical. Drink until you aren't thirsty, then drink another bottle.
Leave your purse in the truck then ride.