How to Start Armwrestling: A Beginner's Guide

Armwrestling looks simple: two people, one table, one winner. But the athletes who win are the ones who understand technique, train the right muscles and protect their joints. This guide is where to start.

The basic rules

Full details: armwrestling rules and fouls explained.

• Your elbow stays on the elbow pad for the whole match.
• Your free hand holds the peg.
• The grip is palm to palm with your thumb knuckles visible. If you can't agree on a grip, the referee sets it for you.
• The match starts on the referee's command: "Ready… Go" in WAF tournaments, "Don't move… Go" in East vs West.
• Fouls include lifting your elbow off the pad, false starts, and crossing the centre line with your shoulder. Two warnings make a foul. Two fouls lose the match in a WAF tournament, or the round in an East vs West supermatch.
• You win by pinning your opponent's hand to the touch pad (also called the pin pad).

The three basic styles

Toproll

An outside move. You rise your wrist, pronate and pull back to take your opponent's fingers and open their hand. Toproll guide →

Hook

An inside move. You cup your wrist, supinate and pull your opponent's arm toward your body. Hook guide →

Press

You put your shoulder and body weight behind your arm and push over the top with your triceps. Press and side pressure guide →

Training safely in your first months

• Tendons adapt slower than muscles. Start light and add load gradually, even if you feel strong.
• Keep your shoulder behind your hand and always look at your hand. Never turn your body or head away from your arm when you are losing. This "break-arm position" is the most common cause of serious injuries. How not to break your arm →
• Pull with people at your level and with someone experienced watching.
• Two or three sessions a week is enough at the start. Rest days are part of training.

Equipment

You can start with normal gym equipment. Over time, an armwrestling table, a lifting strap or judo belt, a towel and a few handles (rolling handles, a wrist wrench, a fat grip) make specific training much easier. If you build or buy a table, check it against the official table dimensions.

Your first program

If you don't know where to start, our BASIC armwrestling training plan is an 8-week, 3-day-a-week program with a video for every exercise.

More technique videos

New to the words? See armwrestling terms explained.