You can train with the best of the best, but if you do not eat and drink properly on race day, all of that training could fall apart.  During the week, keeping enough fluids in you is very important.  Hydration does not happen overnight; it is a process that takes days.  The same goes for solid foods.  Training and racing on an empty stomach is not a good idea.  Your body does not have enough energy to fuel you throughout your moto.  So when it gets hot and you aren’t hungry, you still need to eat some fruits or some other complex carbs.

As I have said before, there are two branches of carbohydrates: complex and simple.  Eating too many simple carbs can give you a great energy boost, but the crash from the sugars will leave you fatigued and exhausted.  Avoid sugary soft drinks and food.  Pastas, breads and brown rice are some complex carbs that will not let you crash.  If you eat about 75g of complex carbs an hour before your moto/training, you should have plenty of energy and fuel.  This is usually about a cup of pasta or brown rice.

Another overlooked aspect of endurance training is protein intake.  Making sure you are eating enough protein is essential for recovery.  Muscle tissue is broken down and the amino acids in protein help repair the broken tissue.  Building muscle is not a priority for motocross, but keeping strength up helps with your form.

Your bike can’t run without gas and your body can’t perform at its best when you are hungry.  Make sure you are eating every 2 to 3 hours and keep your carbs complex.  You will avoid any kind of sugar crashes and fatigue.

Heat exhaustion and heat stroke are no joke.  Before heat stroke, you get heat exhaustion.  This is when you are losing too many fluids and therefore, your body overheats.  The body’s temperature is raised but not too crazy, maybe a mild fever.  Many symptoms include pale, moist skin, sweating a lot more than normal, muscle cramps, dizziness, feeling weak, and sick with elevated heart rate.  Heat stroke on the other hand is much more dangerous.  Your core temperature is above your average fever.  At this point, the skin is dry and one begins to become confused and hyperventilate.  Sure, this sounds pretty intense, but knowledge is power.

A typical American does not drink as much water as they need.  The “average” person needs about 64oz of water.  However, since serious racers are training, they will need more than this.  And when the mercury rises, you need even more water.  Depending on your size and perspiration rate, you lose about 4 cups of fluid per hour of exercise and this is in air conditioned climate.  If you are training and riding, you need to be drinking a gallon of water a day, minimum.  Summer is in full effect and you can’t be too careful.

My best advice is to get a water bottle and sip on that all day.  The more times you refill the bottle, the better.  I don’t really think measuring out a certain amount of water is realistic or convenient, so make sure that your urine is clear and keep on sipping.  Eventually your body will become accustom to the water intake and you won’t have to pee every 5 minutes!

Most people have basic knowledge on what carbs are.  They are basically sugar molecules joined in different types of structures to provide the body with energy.  The main difference between simple and complex carbs lies in the structure.  Simple carbs contain structures that can be broken down faster and easier by the body while complex carbs take longer to digest.  Many processed foods like white bread and sugary cereals contain simple carbs.  Since they are digested quickly, your blood sugar rises faster than whole bread and grains.

With this in mind, we can tailor our daily eating habits to keep our energy levels up without crashes.  Most whole wheat and grain products take longer to digest and keep your stomach full, longer.  For example, oatmeal is great in the morning because I have class and it is a long time before I eat lunch.  So, I’ll heat up some oatmeal, throw in a fruit flavored whey protein and cut up fruit.  The sucrose in the fruit keeps me awake right off the bat, while the slower digesting oats break down over time to keep my energy up.

However, right after training, your blood sugar levels are low, so eating a simple carb can help keep you from getting that tired and weak sensation.  Drinking a soda or eating a Butterfinger is not what I am talking about.  White rice, fruit, or even a small bowl of a Raisin Brand Crunch will prevent any type of crash.  The oatmeal may be good for you, but the sugars broken down are not enough and supplied fast enough for you to recover.  Remember, keep it simple before and after workouts and complex at meals.

Creatine monohydrate is a naturally occurring, organic acid that is in animals and humans.  Creatine was not invented; it was made popular in the 70’s and 80’s through professional body builders.  The liver produces creatine and most of the time, it ends up in your skeletal muscles.  It aids in the production of ATP, one major source of energy for the body.  This source of energy is mainly used when you are doing explosive exercises and/or in the anaerobic heart rate range.  Remember, this range is when you are weight training or in the more intense intervals.

Okay, so our own bodies have creatine and we can get some very small amounts from meats…do we need to go to GNC and get some creatine monohydrate powder?  In my opinion, not really.  Since most of the time, you are using creatine to produce ATP and ATP is used in the anaerobic ranges, it really isn’t useful for motocross.  Sure, we have times when we are using some explosive movements that require this sort of energy, but we need a balance of aerobic ranges as well.  Creatine, for the most part, benefits sprinting and weight lifters.

When training, motocross racers do not need to concentrate only on those things.  As I have said before, the off season is used to build up strength because you may not be on the bike that much and we need to do longer, less tedious cardio sessions.  As you move into race season, high intensity intervals are a good thing to have, but the weight training is not as required.  The products on the market don’t have substantial research behind them to show that creatine can benefit endurance athletes.  Power lifters and track stars are not endurance athletes and although a 20 minute moto is not considered by many to be long, it sure isn’t an explosive, 30 second race.

One last thing that concerns me about creatine powders is that is draws water into your muscles.  Sure you will look bigger, but this might draw water away from other parts of the body.  I have not taken it personally, but my roommate takes it and he has to have a bottle of water with him all day or he feels extremely thirsty.  It sounds good because you are drinking plenty of water, but you are also not hydrating your whole body, just your skeletal muscles.  So, I do not believe that creatine is really necessary for motocross.

So I looked and asked around and found that if you are feeling up to it, then go for it.  However, there are a few things to take into consideration.  Remember that I had gotten plenty of rest and was just feeling a bit tired.  I was not running a fever and I was able to get out of bed and go to class.  Training with a fever is something that is not advisable.  Your body is running a higher than normal temperature as it is and elevating the temperature could lead to a more serious illness.

If you have a head cold and can barely get off of the couch, you are better off to stay on the couch.  Once, you start to feel better, you still have to take it easy with the exercise.  I have learned this the hard way a few years ago.  I was sick for a few days during the week and started to feel better on Friday.  I was wanting to race on Saturday and convinced my dad I was feeling better.  Although I had an okay finish that race, the next day I felt terrible.  I had the cold again, but it was twice as worse.

So, really what I am trying to say is that if you can perform everyday activities fine, then take it easy in the gym.  You have start listening to your body and you will know when you can and can’t train/ride.  Light cardio is probably the best idea because you are not exerting a lot of force on the body.  Just remember to have plenty of water with you before, during and after your workout.  It is even more crucial when you are sick.  If you are good from the nose up, you should be okay.  Just be smart about it!

www.your-adrenaline-fix.com

Here are 4 tips to help you ride at your best:

Good Breakfast – Eating something in the morning gives your body fuel for the day.  If you are skipping out on breakfast, you are seriously hindering your chances at having a couple good motos.  You are “breaking the fast” your body enters each night.  Think of it this way, you wouldn’t line up on the gate with no gas in your tank would you?  A few good foods for breakfast are low sugar cereals, fruits, juices and egg whites.

Staying Hydrated – Although it is still cold out, drinking plenty of water is still a must.  Even if you are wearing a hoodie while riding, your body is exerting force and at work, resulting is heat and sweat.  You might not feel as thirsty, but your body needs to replace those fluids.  At lunch time, you can even mix a little bit of a sports drink in your water.

Snack Right – I love going for the concession stand at the track between motos, but most of the time, that stuff is fried or covered in powdered sugar.  Having a few snack foods from home will keep your stomach full and prevent you from getting too hungry.  When I say snack, it doesn’t have to be a complete meal; you can get some fruit, vegetables or a granola bar.  For skinny guys, like me, keeping calories in while exercising is important because our metabolism is so high.  We burn food off quickly and it needs to be replaced, before the body starts taking glycogen from our muscles for energy.  This is when you start to feel tired and weak.

Meals at the Track – Lunch (and dinner if you stay long enough) should be light like the snacks.  Meats like turkey and chicken are great and throw in some vegetables and you’ve got a nice sandwich.  You don’t want to be bogged down when you are done with lunch, so eating a little bit will help keep you light on your feet.  If you are still feeling hungry, grab a banana or something to hold you over during your moto.

There you have it, 4 tips to keep you going throughout the day at the track.  Although track food maybe delicious, you are better off to eat some food brought from home.  There will be less sugars, sodium and crap to bog you down during the day.  This isn’t a crazy diet, just smarter choices that will pay off at the end of the day.  And probably less trips to the nasty Porto-potties.

Eat and drink a lot

Eating numerous small meals throughout the day helps provide your body with the necessary energy to keep going.  Instead of the traditional 3, big meals, you will keep your body from getting in the “sugar crash” mode.  When you wait to eat those 3 meals, you wait too long and starve yourself.  When you do finally get to eat, you gorge yourself with massive portions.  Eating every few hours, your body will metabolize your food faster and more efficiently.

Drinking a lot does not mean drink more beer.  I mean to drink plenty of water throughout the day.  Get a water bottle and sip on it.  Chugging water before a workout makes you feel bloated and you are not properly hydrated.  If your piss isn’t clear…drink more water!

Don’t Body Build

The difference between bodybuilding and training for motocross is simple; muscle isolation.  When training for MX, you want to use multi-joint exercises such as the clean and press, dead lift, pull ups and front squats.  This moves the body in a manner that is close to the way you ride.  Muscle isolation focuses movement over a single joint, like using curls to work the biceps.

Remember that the main muscle groups for MX are legs, core, back, and chest.  Your arms are more of a hinge connecting your upper body to the handle bars.  Sorry, but your arms are not as important as you think (no guns to show off!).  Your legs can take a greater load over a longer period of time.  That is why you squeeze with your legs to relieve your arms; so they don’t get arm pump.

Change it up

Confusing your body is a great way to make gains in your training quickly.  If you do the same cardio routine for months on end, you will grow stagnant and won’t continue to improve your training.  That is why training seasons work so well.  In the off season, you do longer, less stressful cardio and in the spring (pre/race season) you start to hit the interval sessions again.

Incorporating a few variations of cardio will also keep you fresh and wanting to train.  Varying your days as well makes a big difference.  If you are used to doing cardio Mondays and Wednesdays, try to do it Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Get some R&R

Rest is not only a time for your muscles to rebuild, but it gives you a chance to relax.  If you are going and going and going at a break-neck pace, you will get burnt out.  However, most importantly, you could over train and lose all of your progress.  For strength training, wait at least 48 hours to give your muscles a rest and for cardio, no more than three sessions per week.

As far as sleep, 8 hours minimum.  Sleep is a time for your body to grow and get stronger overall.  If you are doing cardio every day, you are not giving your legs, heart and lungs a chance to recover.  Make some time to rest and it will pay off.

Have fun!

Why are you training?  To ride longer or to get better results?  Just remember that for most people, the sport of motocross is a hobby.  Have fun with it and you will reap the benefits from the time in the gym.  Use the training as an outlet for your stresses so you don’t take that to the races.  That way, you can enjoy what all us do as well, riding with our friends!

This applies to training as well.  If you have a certain aspect of your riding or fitness you want to work on, waiting until the 1^st only gives you less time to prepare for the next season.  Granted the New Year is only in 2 days, but if you want something bad enough, you shouldn’t need to wait for a holiday.  This is the time of year where you can really gain some ground on your competition.  While they are eating themselves into a coma with left over stuffing and chugging champagne, you can keep training and get a step ahead.

Granted, this doesn’t mean to train like the pre-season with intervals and sprints, but this is where you work on your weaknesses and change your program if it wasn’t working too well for you.  This goes along with the other posts as last week; if you wait till the New Year to get your Off Season training started, you have already lost half of the time.  So don’t wait till the ball drops and bottles are popped, get on that new program ASAP!

Low blood sugar.  I had work that day and I didn’t eat anything during my shift.  I went about 5 or 6 hours without anything in my system.  My body resorted to taking glycogen (which gets converted into glucose) from my muscles to sustain energy.  When this happens, you feel tired, weak and you are not as focused.  Because a good amount of my glucose stores had been used to keep me going at work, my workout suffered since there was no glucose left to supply energy to my muscles.

Consuming small meals throughout the day helps maintain your sugar levels.  A good interval between meals is usually around 2 – 3 hours.  Now, keep in mind, this doesn’t mean having lunch every 3 hours.  You could have a salad and then a sandwich a few hours later.  Avoiding sugary foods also helps maintain a constant amount of sugar for your body and you will avoid those “crashes”.

As I stated in my post workout nutrition article, these sugars are essential after a workout as well.  Technically, they are considered carbs because of the chemical makeup.  This does not mean you can eat junk food and drink a Coke after training.  The right sugars are found in sports drinks like Gatorade or Powerade.  Drinking a little bit of these within 15 minutes of training will help replenish the glucose in your body.  A good idea I heard recently is to get the Gatorade powder and put a little bit of it in your post workout drink.  That way, you get your protein and necessary carbs to keep you from “crashing”.