Archive for the ‘Training’ Category:
Hyperbaric oxygen sessions
The other day, I was going through my usual web surfing list: TransworldMx, Racerx, MotocrossAction and VitalMx. As I was going through, I came across a video where Josh Hill was going to be treated for his injuries. Although he had not broken anything, he was extremely sore and wanted to take care of things before it developed into something more serious. His treatment consisted of a hyperbaric oxygen therapy session. Like something from outer space, Hill was placed into an air tight “pod” and underwent treatment.
This got me thinking about the idea of massive amounts of oxygen in the body. A little science lesson for you: Oxygen in the red blood cells provides the fuel for the body’s repair. This includes cuts, scraps, broken bones and anything else you can think of. The air we breathe is normally 20% oxygen and 80% nitrogen…plus some small amounts of other various gases.
So, when you immerse yourself in a 100% oxygen, you are providing the body with a massive amount of “fuel” to recover. In addition to the super concentrated air supply, the atmospheric pressure is bumped up from 1 ATA (measurement of the forced exerted by the weight of air) to 2 ATA. This increases the concentration of oxygen. These two combined provide enough oxygen that you don’t even need your blood. But don’t think that once you have been in the chamber, you don’t need blood. Once you return back to normal air and atmospheric pressure, the body utilizes the blood to get that normal level of 20% oxygen.
Okay, so you have a ridiculous amount of oxygen in your body…so what? This is where you start to see the accelerated healing process. Because you have so much oxygen in your body, new passage ways for blood and nutrients begin to grow. Existing blood vessels dilate (get bigger) and provide even more blood flow. Healing time can be cut down from months to weeks. Instead of being in a cast for 6 – 8 weeks, you can be out of the cast in fewer than 3. Granted, each session costs about $200, but the factories will gladly pay for 10 of these sessions instead of their rider sitting on the sideline. Usually, you go to sessions about 2 days a week and you feel better and better with each session. For most people, this is obviously a steep price to pay if you are feeling extremely sore after a gnarly crash. However, you have to money and you have a big race coming up, why not try it! If not, take some Advil.
Economics 101
Times are tough. It has been like this for quite a while. And I have always thought that things were starting to look up…at least that’s what the “news” has been telling us. Now, this is not a political site at all and I don’t want it to be, but some bad news yesterday hit me pretty hard. As anyone knows, if you own a dirt bike and ride/race consistently, that bike is like your child. I got a call yesterday telling me that I had to sell my bike (AKA my baby). This basically is like putting your child up for adoption. That’s the only thing I can compare it to!
So I thought that since this isn’t a site about the economy, I thought I would give you some tips on training without having to pay for a gym membership or if you don’t have equipment.
- Cardio – If you don’t have a $5,000 bicycle to ride on the road, don’t sweat. There are plenty of options to get your cardio in. If your state isn’t covered by a foot of snow, you can obviously go running. It might be a little cold, but you’ll be glad you went and you can get a buddy to push yourself and each other. Another option is to go to Sports Authority or a similar store and purchase a jump rope. Boxers use these trim down and get a Michael Phelps level of cardio. They are cheap and can be used almost anywhere, anytime.
- Strength Training – I know that I said you should be concentrating on interval sessions now, but you can use body weight exercises as cardio and strength training….circuit training anyone? Push ups, squats, lunges, crunches and pull ups. Yes pull ups. You can get that “Iron Gym” pull up devise that fits in your doorway. It works great. String all of these together with no rest between exercises and you will be sweating like crazy.
- I know this really doesn’t have anything to do with training, but supporting the motocross community is really important. If you can only afford to go to the track every other weekend, you are still contributing. However, if you are in the market for some parts or need some work done, try the local guys first. The bigger name companies are doing better than the small “mom and pop” shops. By contributing to the sport, we will have something to train for!
That’s it in a nutshell. You don’t have to have fancy equipment right now to be in shape. If you get your cardio in and do plenty of body weight exercises, you are much better off than complaining about the economy!
Cardio for the Upcoming Season
For most kids in school, spring break is coming up. For me, I’ve got about 3 more weeks and I’ve got a week of freedom. For those who are working, it’s just one step closer to warmer weather. With warmer weather comes more riding. Now is the time where you can start getting back into a more shorter, a little more intense cardio session and begin putting the strength training on the back-burners. You can start preparing your body for the higher intensity races that will be coming up (i.e. Loretta Lynn area qualifiers). Sure, you may think that those area qualifiers are pretty much like normal races, but you still want to be prepared.
Most of the time, interval training is the best way to get your cardio in. It combines a higher, more anaerobic range of your max heart rate and a lower, recovery range. Here’s a little sample to get you prepared for those area qualifiers….some have already started, so get to it!
Warm up – 5 minutes (don’t forget to stretch!)
30 seconds high, 60 seconds low – 2x for a total of 3 minutes
45 seconds high, 45 seconds low – 2x for a total of 3 minutes
1 minute high, 1 minute low – 2x for a total of 4 minutes
45 seconds high, 45 seconds low – 2x for a total of 3 minutes
30 seconds high, 60 seconds low – 2x for a total of 3 minutes
Cool Down – 5 minutes
That gives you 26 minutes of some good cardio. Again, if you choose to run, great; if you prefer to spin on a stationary bike, that works too. It’s up to you. However, rowing is probably your best bet for more of a motocross style workout. Like I said, the lists of Loretta’s qualifiers are up and some of them have taken place this past weekend. If you plan on attending these, you need to get start preparing now.
Periodization
Training the same way continually for months on end doesn’t work. In previous articles, I have stated many times how important it is to train in season. You keep the body off guard, confusing it and making gains with cardio and strength. Within each season, you can break things down a little bit further. Periodization is taking the intensity level of each week and varying it so you can recover, build endurance/strength and maintain it.
This type training is the best example of training smarter and not harder. By breaking the year into seasons, you can train specifically on levels that will bring you to the next level. As we come out of the off season, we get into the smaller races that will help us get back into the swing of things and work on techniques. Then, as you get closer to race season you start to do more cardio-based activities which gets you prepped for the race season.
During the race season, periodization can really make a difference because you allow your body to actively rest and maintain your level of fitness. Active rest? Isn’t that a contradiction? It may sound like that, but in reality, you can still do some light activities and still get your rest in. However, this does not mean you can do cardio while injured. Active rest is only done when you are not sick and injury free. This concept helps you recover and still stay active.
But the main reason this concept is so great for motocross is because you can train hard up to an event and peak, race and then maintain it for the next week. Here’s an example of periodiazation leading up to a big race:
Weeks 1 – 3 are building stages which are moderate to higher intensity workouts.
Weeks 4 – 6 are peak weeks where you are mostly in higher intensity training.
Week 7 is race week where you might do motos to get your practice in.
Weeks 8 – 9 are recovery weeks involving low intensity cardio and some weight training.
So you can see how to build up to the race where you are peaking in physical performance. Training at the same intensity all year round leads to plateaus and slower gains. By working in periods, you can make sure you are in the best shape for the race. You will be rested and prepared at the race, which hopefully yields good results for you. Following the race, recovery is needed to help the body rebuild from the stress from the race and training. This varying level of intensity helps throw the body off guard and keeps you prepared for anything.
Focus and Motivation
These past few days have been kind of weird for me. I have had the hardest time trying to get focused. It is probably due to the fact the Saints won the Superbowl and I’m pretty stoked about that. However, regardless of this, my time in the gym has suffered too. If you are a serious racer, keeping focused in the gym is something that is crucial because this is where you take your riding to the next step. This may even lead to the days you ride. This could be a serious problem because if you are not concentrating on riding, you will be on the ground faster than you can say “Who Dat?”
One thing that keeps me focused is to watch “The Great Outdoors.” I’m talking about the older ones like the 2002, 2003, and 2004 seasons. The epic slow motion scenes and music gets me in the mood to hit the track. This is really good if it is cold out and the track is ride-able, but you just don’t feel like riding. I have found that the days I don’t feel like riding are my best days. When I put my bike back on the stand, I always think to myself, “I’m glad I rode.” Sometimes, just forcing yourself to go the gym or track will get you to be focused on eating right and putting a 100% into your training.
The East Coast has been pelted with snow and this makes everything difficult. You’re frustrated because you have to scrap your car for 30 minutes…only to realize it’s not your car. That makes you late for class or work and your whole day is thrown off. Even there is no snow, putting on 5 layers of jackets suck. You have to take all of that anger/frustration and channel it to your riding or training. If you can’t until spring, go in the garage and look at your bike every day. This will remind you of why you go to the gym and do your 60 minute cardio sessions or help you to get one last rep out.
This whole idea of focusing goes with motivation. In order to be focused, you have to have some sort of motivation. Like I said before, I like to watch the old “Great Outdoors.” This reminds me of the best feeling in the world, riding my dirt bike. Finding that one thing to keep you focused no matter what else is going on will help you ride better and train better. When you train better, you ride better.
Carmichael vs. McGrath
Both Ricky Carmichael and Jeremy McGrath are extremely talented racers….so what happens when you put these two on the same Supercross track. Magic. That’s what happens. In light of the upcoming stop in San Diego, I decided to bring back some footage of RC and The King of SX in San Diego.
The video isn’t all that great, but the racing is. Put it on full screen, sit back and watch some brutal racing.
Part 1
Part 2
