If you have dealt with the humiliation by your friends after you lost in an arm wrestling match, you now want to make a comeback proving your friends wrong.
While there will be always a bigger fish, you can still defeat an opponent who is stronger than you if you have the right approach.
Arm wrestling is surely a great form of exercise and competition, an adrenaline-filled activity that tests strength, endurance, and skill. But to win every match you face off in, you’ll need to practice smartly and use some simple steps.
Here’s how to win in arm wrestling in 11 different steps.
Start Training
Start first by improving your grip strength and forearm strength. To do this, get yourself a hand gripper, and do exercises like rope curls, hub lifts, and arm twisting with a resistance band. Depending on your intensity level, you can train more than once a day and increase the number of reps with time. This will help you to increase the strength of each muscle you use in arm wrestling.
Research Your Opponent
Before your match, try to learn more about your opponent. Check out their arm wrestling experience, body type, muscular stature, and primary technique such as hook or top-roll as all of this could be useful depending on the match. Also, observe the way they prepare and strengthen themselves for the match by learning the strategies they use.
Warm Up
After researching your opponent’s routine, warm up your body properly. Arm wrestling is an intense physical exercise, and if you’re not ready for it, you would not have the energy to perform 100%.
Prepare your body by doing dynamic exercises, movements, and stretching exercises to loosen up skeletal and muscular structures. This will help with gaining momentum and improve performance during the match.
Choose the Right Hand
Choose the right hand – either your left or right – that has the right balance of power and agility to move the opponent’s hand. Some people are right-handed fighters, while some are left-handed fighters. Whichever hand you decide, be sure to practice with that hand more often.
Apply the Right Pressure
Pressure is key when facing an opponent. Over-pressuring your opponent will create burnout which will weaken you while under-pressuring your opponent gives them the upper hand. Find the perfect balance of pressure that works best for you.
Don’t Panic
When the opponent moves his hand, regulate yourself from panicking. When your opponent begins to move your arm, breathe in and stay calm. This will help you remain focused on controlling the match and powering your own body.
Trick Your Opponent
Lastly, do something unexpected during the match like changing your movements. This will mess up your opponent and give you the leverage to overpower them.
Mind Your Position
When arm wrestling, the position of your body and arms is also essential in winning the match. Ensure that your head and chin are placed forward and your shoulder is in a straight position. This will help you keep a greater power to move the opponent’s hand. Placing your elbow on the table further stabilizes your position.
Apply Pressure
Always apply pressure to the opponent’s arm consistently, but also remember not to over-pressurize it as it will weaken you or may even break your arm. Make sure that your body’s power is concentrated on your forearm, and this pressure is enough to pin down your opponent’s arm. Apply pressure with your thumb and index finger while defending with other fingers to protect your wrist.
Improve Your Grip
To shift the advantage in your favor, increase your grip power. This is a great way to gain leverage. You can do this by targeting your gripping muscles with exercise, using gripping tools such as a gripper and hand-squeezing tool, or by using a wrist roller.
Leverage
Leverage is your friend and your opponent’s enemy. During the match, try to tilt your wrist or rotate your body, which can result in your opponent’s loss. This unbalanced motion starts to shift the position of the arm and hand in your direction to provide the advantage.
Final Words
Strength might not be enough to pin your opponent’s hand if your opponent knows how to take your hand. Therefore, along with having good strength and techniques, it is important to remember the above tips to conquer your opponent.
