Can Strength training cause arm pump “Syndrome”!?

I often hear that riders avoid strength training because it causes arm pump. 

The reality is that arm pump is caused by death grip. Riders can learn a faulty motor pattern during strength training. Increasing the tension of your grip on the weights/barbell as the set gets more challenging possibly could carry over into motocross riding as a bad habit.
This can produce arm pump quickly as your efforts on the bike rise. While lifting and as the set becomes more challenging you reduce the tension you apply to your grip by relaxing your grip as the set progresses and requires more effort.

This can actually produce a good habit that you could transfer it over to your riding skill and can actually prevent you from tightening up on the bike as you strive for more speed.

Another major issue is when the rider’s body position on the bike is set incorrect, in another words, when your body position isn’t aligned correctly ( you either set your body weight way too much on the tail of the bike or on the nose of the bike).

Although motocross and mountain biking demands full body strength like most of the sports do, MX and MTB based predominantly on the hips and lower body strength and mobility. 

There is no magic pill for the arm pump –  at least I haven’t heard any yet. Some riders decide surgery in order to get rid of it but there is no guarantee that it will work.

“In my experience strength training, correct body position on the bike and a good warm up routine before riding could prevent it.“

Coaches need to question the above – communicate it with the rider and see if the rider ticks the above boxes, then take it from there.