Motocross Training Blog

Sorry

Hey guys, I am sorry I didn’t update the site at all last week.  I had exams all week and on top of that work…so it was a pretty crazy week.  However, I plan to make it up to you guys and I have started working on something.  It should be done around New Years.  So it will be my holiday present for you.  Stay tuned for more info!

Off Season Training

For most of you in the Northern states, you have put the bike away for a while.  There is snow on the ground and even in the Southern states; there really isn’t a lot of big races.  This is the perfect time to look back at the spring, summer and fall and see how you did over the last season.  Now, I am sure most of you are thinking, “Seasons are only for the pros.”  This is not true and you can actually benefit from training seasonally.

I know you are probably annoyed about logs and how much I talk about them, but they make a HUGE difference in training and your results.  If you have been keeping a log, you can look back and see what kind of training you were doing and how that translated to the track.  Going off memory alone won’t be much help.  A rider can look back and see what type of training benefitted him/her the most.

This is also a time to look back on your weaknesses.  I always had trouble with cradio, so I used to run 2 miles, 3 times a week.  Over the following weeks, I could see the difference in my motos and lap times.  What if you had trouble with swapping out or headshake?  You might need to work on lower body and core strength to keep your legs from getting tired.  This is the time you also need to work on the base of your fitness.

The main focus of off training is to build that base up so you can be better prepared for next year.  Longer, moderate cardio sessions are needed in order to get that basic aerobic base built up.  This prepares the body for the interval training used in the pre-race and race season.  I do preach about the interval sessions quite a bit, but the winter months require you to change your program up to help you for the next season.

As you already know, I am a firm believer in strength training.  It helps protect you from injury, you keep better form throughout your moto, and it looks good for the ladies!  The off season, like the aerobics, can be used to increase that anaerobic threshold of yours.  Combining the two, you can get yourself ahead of everyone else who is still in that race training mode.  Those people don’t give their bodies rest to recover from the season and get burnt out.  So have a look back at your last season, evaluate your results and work on your weaknesses.

Finding Some Extra Speed: Sprints

First of all, sorry I have not been writing much.  Thanksgiving threw me off and now I’ve got exams coming up, so it’s been pretty hectic.  Anyway, I was watching a few videos on RacerX and they are all Supercross testing.  A1 is coming up quickly and teams are trying to get things together for the West Coast.  The riders, however, have been training more on the bike, trying to get ready for the heats, possibly the LCQ and the main.  This got me thinking about that set up and how to prepare for that.

Unlike professional Outdoor races, amateur races are usually pretty short; maybe half the time of pro races.  The short races require you to get a good start and throw down quick, consistent laps.  Think about it.  A 450 heat race is 8 laps and you have 20 people on the gate and they only take the top 9.  With lap times under a minute, you are only on the track for less than 10 minutes.  Those laps need to count!

Starts help tremendously.  However, you need to practice the length of your race and race the clock.  Davi Millsaps, Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart all race the clock.  Mrs. Carmichael is stopwatch “Nazi”.  Racing against time also helps get you into that “race mode” and find some extra speed.  Speed isn’t everything though.  You need to stay consistent at your fastest.  Making small mistakes add up a lot more over a shorter race and when you have someone right behind you, that mistake is amplified.  Having a friend or parent take down your lap times can also show how consistent you really are.

This idea of doing sprints does not mean for you to ride over your head.  You have to remember your braking points and try to hold the gas a little longer or find a new line.  Be creative.  In short races, you need to be able to get out of the gate and ride your fastest.  Chad Reed broke down Jeremy McGrath’s reason for dominance and said that “McGrath would sprint out of the gate and ride as fast as he could.  By the half way point, even if he was a little tired, he was so far ahead it didn’t matter.”

One way to look at it is to run away and hide.

Standing Through Rough Corners

The GPs in Europe are different.  Plain and simple.  Everything from the tracks to the way the races are set up is unique to Americans.  This difference has also changed the riding style of many Euros.  The hard charging and flashy style, like Justin Barcia, is quite the opposite of the smooth, calculated style of the GP racers.  Now I am not saying the tracks don’t get rough here in the States, but the tracks across the pond can get notoriously brutal.

To ride in these conditions, riders have styles that make it easier to conserve energy and speed.  When the braking bumps get big, you know the turn is going to be chopped up.  So, instead of sitting down and having your spine take all of the force, why not stand up and let your legs do the work?  While I was in between classes today, I was just browsing YouTube and came across this little video of Stefan Everts training back when he was on Yamaha.

Most of the corners are pretty chewed up and if you listen to the bike, he is always carrying his momentum into the corners and chugging through the turn.  He never really dumps the clutch and cracks the throttle.  If you watch his helmet, he is looking well ahead of his fender and concentrating on the exit of the corner.  He is gripping with his knees so the bike is controlled under him and he stays loose on the bike.

He is never really stiff in the upper body and adjusts his body weight the bike accordingly.  He is neutral on the entrance of the corner with his head even with the bars, in attack position.  The key things to remember when standing through corners is that you to keep the elbows squared up, come in with momentum and chug.  If are in too low of a gear, your bike is going to bounce around and your rear wheel won’t be on the ground driving you forward.  Squeeze with the knees and weight the outside foot peg and you will be railing turns standing up like Everts in no time.

Some corners to watch are at 56 seconds and 1:35.  Watch closely.

Muscle Confusion

If you have been following most of the articles, then you know I have given you ideas for workouts and methods to improve your moto fitness.  Even if you haven’t tried my suggestions and you are taking on your own training, there is one key ingredient that should be thrown into the mix.  Confusion.  You might have heard this on the P90X infomercials, as this not only applies to muscles, but your whole body in general.

If you have been doing the same program for months on end, odds are you are not getting any further in your training.  The body is incredibly adaptive and will figure out your training regiment quicker than you think.  Some have said you need to switch things up every 2 weeks and others say 6 to 8 weeks.  I recently have been switching up my routine every 4 weeks.  I incorporate different body parts on different days and switch up my cardio as well.  Listening to your body will help you determine when you need to change your routine; not everyone is the same.

For example, if you have been doing heavy cardio on a stationary bike (doing intervals of 1 minute high, 1 minute low intensity) on Mondays and shoulders and back on Tuesdays every week for a couple of months, your body will get used to this.  When you get bored and your body figures out what you are doing, you plateau.  Simple changes are sometime the easiest way to get away from the mundane and avoiding a plateau.  If you are strength training, you can switch up the number of exercises, the number of reps, and your time between sets.  For cardio, try maybe a different set of intervals, go for an even pace, or try jogging if you have been on a stationary bike.

Bigger changes may be needed if these don’t work; such as switching days of riding, cardio/ strength days, and even intensity.  Making sure your body never gets stagnant is something that can not only help you try more efficiently, but you can also become a more rounded athlete.  Motocross is not something you can train for with a handful of exercises.  You need to use every available resource possible, so you can be prepared for anything on the track.  When you switch things up in your training, you can react quicker to changes on the track.