Archive for November, 2009:
Turning with your legs
Turning your bike and turning a car are two completely different things. Not just because a car has more wheels, but it’s the way in which you turn. On your bike, you never just turn the bars; you lean into the corner. So, if you think about it, turning your bike is a whole body action, not just an upper body motion. However, if you listen to all of the pros, they all use their legs much more than most riders would think. Having your legs help you corner can give you that little extra edge you need.
Let’s get the basics down. By now, you should know that you need to come into a corner, gripping with your knees. This helps the bike settle down in the braking bumps and gives you more control with less headshake. As you start to lean over, you also want to begin weighting the outside foot peg. Combined with your elbows squared up, this provides you with as much traction as possible to the front wheel. You can also press your outside knee against the radiator shroud for more traction as well.
Okay, so you have heard that a million times before. What else could there possibly be? Well, this little technique really applies to sweepers and bowl turns, but also to the exits of corners. When you bring your inside leg back up to the foot peg, you can begin to help steer the bike with your legs. It’s almost like having a dumbbell between your feet. When you try to turn the dumbbell you pivot your hips and put more emphasis on your outside toes and inside heel. It may sound weird, but try to turn something heavy with your feet; it is the same principle when you are riding your bike.
When you do this, you are driving the bike in the direction you want while you are still gripping with your knees. When you are exiting a corner and you are feeling like you are swinging out too far, get your elbow up and start to “twist” your lower body. Your butt doesn’t need to be hanging off the side of the seat, but a steady amount of force should help you keep your line. This works really well with sweepers, so try it there to get a feel for this. Over time it will be second nature.
Training with Television
Training off the bike is crucial and so is riding. If you train your butt off, but can’t ride much, you will still get pretty winded after your motos. However, if you train like you’re in a race situation, you can dramatically improve your endurance. Take for instance basketball. You don’t see basketball players running for long periods of time at a steady pace. Instead, they sprint up and down the court because that’s what happens in the game; you sink a basket and then sprint down court to defend yours.
So how does this apply to MX? First of all, finding your heart rate during the moto is a good place to start. If you have a heart rate monitor you can wear during your moto, that is perfect. But if you don’t, just count the number beats per minute on your wrist when you are done with a moto (the radial pulse is where you would wear a watch…use your first two fingers and don’t press down too hard). This should give you a rough estimate as to what your heart rate is. This gives you a guide line to how hard you need to keep your training.
You can use this heart rate on a stationary bike to help “simulate” a moto. You could also throw in a few intervals of higher intensity to simulate a swap or you battling someone. If you have a stationary bike at home, set up a TV with a race, and go from the gate dropping to the finish. This gets you into a race mode and having that race on TV helps you run a long moto too. You get into that zone and it motivates you to push harder. This motivation can give you that extra little bit you need during the last lap of a race.
After workout nutrients
If you flip through a body building magazine, you see those muscle heads are taking fancy nitrogen, creatine, and “mass” shakes. For the average racer, these are not necessary, at all. A simple combination of protein, simple carbs and a few other vitamins/minerals will help take your training to the next level. And you don’t have to worry about bulking up.
Your most important nutrient after a workout is protein. It rebuilds the muscles after you break them down during your workout. When you train, you slightly damage your cells and they are hungry. Your body can take the protein from your daily intake, but food takes too long to digest to get the most from the protein. Whey protein is the best help for the cells and it is digested quickly. Therefore, your cells and muscles recover quicker and take advantage of the available protein. By the time your body gets the protein from, let’s say chicken, the muscle has already recovered and missed out on the valuable nutrients.
The most over looked nutrient needed after any hard training sessions are carbs. Although, whole wheat is better for you, it takes too long to digest (like the protein). The best things to eat is a baked potato. Because it is simpler, your body can break it down faster. Whatever you do, your body needs glycogen to supply you with energy. The simple carbs replenish the glycogen quickly so you can recover quicker.
Another good idea is to take a multi-vitamin. Everyone can benefit from a multi-vitamin at any age. Having these in you can make a difference in energy, recovering, and basic bodily functions. You will feel better overall and your training will go a lot smoother. If you haven’t taken any protein before, start with a simple whey protein because it will be lower in fats and sugars. Supplements can make a huge difference in your training. A good rule to remember: take your supplements within an hour. The earlier the better.
Get a grip!
If you have been riding for at least a week, you know to get your elbows up. This seems like a pretty simple thing to do, just square them up. However, everything in your body is connected somehow or another. That is why it is important to have a correct grip on the bars in order to have a correct attack position. Your form builds on each, individual aspect and this is not different.
The correct way to grip the bars is not always the same. It depends on the situation. Take for instance, your attack position. Your head is slightly over the bars, elbows up, gripping with the legs and back straight. But, no one really thinks about your hand position. A good way to grip the bars in attack position is over grip. What does that mean? When you are attacking the track, your wrist should bend slightly forward. This way, when you are accelerating and getting on the gas, you can just pivot your wrist. This prevents your elbow from dropping. This is really helpful when you are coming out a rough sweeper or corner.
Yet, over gripping is not always the best choice. What happens if you need to shift your weight back a little? Gripping the bars just below your calluses helps you still have plenty of grip and prevents your elbow from dropping. When you are leaning back, it is a little tougher to find a spot that will keep your wrist from a weird position. But play around with it and see what works for you. That’s really the main goal. If you drop the elbows, you essentially throw your whole form out the window. You will get headshake more often and more severe. Keep your hand position in mind and you will notice your form getting better and better.
