Every now and then you’ll see an amateur get flogged in an armwrestling match and then immediately start complaining that their opponent cheated by using all their bodyweight…
.
Armwrestling often requires leveraging your entire bodyweight to successfully pin your opponent – and yes, it is 100% legal!
Not only is it perfectly legal to use your bodyweight in armwrestling, but it’s oftentimes completely necessary to secure victory.
In this article I’ll explain why this is the case and how you can safely and fairly use your body to help you win the match.
Why You NEED To Use Your Bodyweight In Armwrestling
Contrary to popular belief, armwrestling isn’t about determining who has the stronger arm…
It really is a display of whole-body strength, or at the very least, upper body strength.
Quite often you’ll see athletes throwing their entire upper body behind their hit…
You’ll also get 300lb guys leveraging that weight by sinking their hips underneath the table.
This is simply part of the sport of armwrestling.
Almost every part of your body can be positioned in some way to give you a slight edge over your opponent and to be successful you need to understand this and use it to your advantage!
How To Leverage Your Bodyweight In Arm Wrestling
Elite pullers look for every possible angle they can take to overpower their opponent on the arm wrestling table.
Let’s take a look at some of the armwrestling techniques that leverage as much bodyweight as possible and why they’re so effective.
Flop Press: Body Slam Your Opponent
The flop press (or dead wrist press) is an inside armwrestling technique that really requires you to use more than just your arm.
Here we’re primarily using our shoulder, tricep, and chest to generate power.
To an amateur, this move might look like cheating…
And to be honest, you probably shouldn’t try to do this in a bar!
But in the world of professional armwrestling, this is a perfectly legitimate technique and is a great example of how you can really leverage your bodyweight to virtually body slam your opponent to the pin pad!
King’s Move: Fight From Under The Table!
One of the more controversial moves which is often looked down upon by armwrestling fans is the king’s move.
This technique is performed by sinking your hips under the table to the point where your arm is almost fully outstretched and then internally rotating your upper arm.
In this position, much of the tension shifts from your muscles to your bones, often making you extremely difficult to pin.
It’s a somewhat controversial move and can also be pretty dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing – definitely not recommended for beginners!
So No, You Didn’t Get Cheated!
If you’re brand new to armwrestling and thought you lost a match unfairly because someone used their entire bodyweight, and you just stood there and got flattened, well unfortunately you just lost…
Using your body is simply part of the sport and is perfectly legal and you should be doing it too!
And do you know what else is perfectly legal that you should also do?
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