Starting with the smallest cycle, a microcycle is only one to four weeks long.  Combining multiple microcycles together gives you a mesocycle.  This can last several weeks to several months.  The final culmination of all of the mesocycles results in the macrocycle.  This is typically an entire training year.

Let’s use Johnny Racer for an example.  Johnny just moved up from minis and plans race Loretta Lynn’s this year.  Last year, he did well at his area qualifier but had a bad regional qualifier.  It’s a new year and he just hopped on his 125.  However, he has a hard time controlling the bike at the end of the moto when it gets rough.  For the example’s sake, let’s say that the reason Johnny is getting so tired is because both his cardiovascular system and muscular system are not used to bigger bike.  He will need to increase his strength and work on his cardio.

Now let’s set a goal for little Racer: It’s almost February and Loretta’s is early August.  That gives us 7 months to work with.  Since it is early in Johnny’s training cycle, we will begin with higher volume, lower intensities.  Resistance training is light weight with 20 reps, only 2 sets and should be a total body workout.  With strength training, you want to give yourself at least 48 hours for recovery to avoid early burn out.  Some light cardio, or active recovery, for 30 minutes at 50%-60% of you max heart rate will help with soreness.    For cardiovascular work, you can keep the heart rate in the 60%-70% from 45 to 60 minutes 3 to 4 times per week.  For added recovery, you can throw a rest week in every 3 to 4 weeks where training is kept to a minimum.

By late March to early April, things can begin to get more intense.  However, with added intensity comes less volume.  Our resistance training set and rep rang shift as well as our cardiovascular work.  For strength work, we move to 3 sets, but drop down to only 10 reps.  You want to movements like a dead lift or squat for the first exercise then concentrate on lunges, pull ups, stability ball exercises and core work.  Just like the resistance training, cardio goes up in intensity significantly.  Our percentages would be 70%-80% and time is about 30 minutes after a warm up.

To wrap up the last 5 to 6 months, we move into more on sport specific training.  Our strength training sessions are high intensity with little volume.  You want to be fast as possible with reps as they should be in the range of 10 -12 reps and only 2 sets.  Cardiovascular training is high intensity as well.  You would shift from more of a longer, steady state to interval training.  Lower intensity bouts would be in zone 2 while the more intense bout would be in zone 4.  Recovery is king in this stage of the year.  You only need to be doing this strength training twice per week.  The same goes with the intervals.  Recovery rides in zone 1 are great for active rest.

This is a rough outline of what a training program would look like.  This is a general outline of what needs to be done, but the goals and weaknesses of each rider would determine the schedule.  Knowing where you want to be and what you need to work on will make the difference come race day.  Not having an idea of what you want to accomplish only leads to lack luster results.  Keeping a log of everything you do will help you determine goals and areas of strength and weakness.

Here are a few links for if need clarity on zones for interval training and finding your heart rate zones:

Zone Training Part 1

Zone Training Part 2

1. Front Squats – Normal barbell squats are revered as one of the best overall exercises.  Ever.  When you do these, you are utilizing the biggest muscle group in the body (legs) as well as the core and lower back for stabilization.  However, when you place the bar in front of your neck instead of behind it, this changes things quite a bit.  More emphasis is place on the quadriceps, core and lower back.  These will help with the attack position and correct form while riding with the quad work and core stabilization.
2. Atomic Push Ups – Push Ups are great for everything upper body.  They engage the chest, triceps, shoulders and once again, the core.  Throw your feet into a TRX or similar suspension training device and you have yourself one of the best upper body movements for moto.  Think about anytime you went through braking bumps or a rough section; the bars are violently thrashing side to side and the whole front end is moving up and down.  This requires a lot of upper body strength and muscular endurance to maintain a straight and steady course.  You can even place your hands on an Indo board for even more core activation and added intensity.
3. Dead Lifts – If you can’t squat, you dead lift.  This simple movement is only second to squats.  Deads are great for hip, hamstring, and posterior work.  If you are moving up in bike size or having trouble controlling the bike at the end of a moto, incorporating dead lifts will make a huge difference.  Forget the power lifting style of the wide sumo stance.  Go with a narrower stance with your feet about 12 inches apart.  For moto applications, it isn’t necessary to go super heavy with this, but still make sure you have the form down to avoid injury.
4. Rows – These can be done with almost anything that creates resistance: barbell, dumbbell, kettle bells and suspension training devises.  There are even more options with hand positions and going unilateral.  This is a great movement for the latissimus dorsi as this goes hand and hand with the push up movement and braking bumps.  Rows are the ying to the push up’s yang.  Doing these will complete a strong, versatile upper body.
5. Lunges – Another great lower body movement.  Like the rowing, there are so many variations like step ups, rear lunges, side lunges, etc.  This targets almost the whole leg: quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves, etc.  Lunges are not meant to be done with heavy weight so it is best done with higher reps.  Like the dead lifts, these can be extremely beneficial if you have a hard time keeping the bike under control at the end of a moto.  Lunges compliment and make a great end to a workout after dead lifts/ squats.

As you move away from aerobic systems, fat is used less and less as carbohydrates become the main fuel.  Looking at the picture again, you see that the red line represents the wastes.  This is not related to bowel movements in any way (or we would be in big trouble every time we rode!).  The line indicates the accumulation of lactic acid.  When the intensity is low and fat is still a prime fuel, the lactate acid can be flushed from the blood and muscles in a timely manner.

The aerobic base is the point where the highest intensity of your effort can still be maintained to be aerobically efficient.  Remember, aerobic means “with oxygen” so this is still in the lower heart rate zones.  You can actually shift this point with enough aerobic training.  This is the main goal when you say “I need to get my cardio up.”

As you move up the graph, you’ll see the lactate acid increase exponentially.  This is where you reach the anaerobic threshold.  At this point, you stop using oxygen and that burning feeling is rampant.  Training in this zone requires a lot of work and athletes physically cannot spend much time here.  Once you go past this point, you reach your VO2 max.  Quite simply, this is the maximum amount of oxygen the body can take in and use.

By now, you should see a pattern forming here.  Your heart rate zones used for training are directly affected by your anaerobic threshold, aerobic base and VO2 max.  The fuel required must be consumed in sufficient quantities to ensure that you have the body’s “gas tank” full (i.e. eat correctly).  I hope this helps you understand aerobic training a little more.

If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to email me!

Your energy systems are the means of producing energy that is called ATP.  This is molecule is essential for muscular contraction.  If you have no ATP, you aren’t going anywhere.  Depending on the intensity of the activity, you will get most of your energy from one of three systems: oxidative, glycolytic, or ATP-PCr system.  All three systems are always being used, but it is just a matter of which one is in the “driver seat.”

The first system is the oxidative.  This is the slow and steady way of getting energy.  Generally, this is used when activity is over 2 minutes.  Because it uses oxygen, this aerobic process takes place in the mitochondria of your cells.  Remember those things?  They used to call them the power houses of the cells when I was in high school.  As you train in this system more and more, your body will produce more mitochondria in order to keep up with the demand for ATP.  For the most part, the lower the intensity, to more fat is utilized.

The next system is the glycolytic.  In this system, things are getting a more intense and the heart rate is climbing.  At this point, you start to use a little less fat and more carbohydrate.  This is where glycolysis occurs and breaks down glucose or glycogen.  Since this is a higher intensity, if there is oxygen (aerobic), then the glucose can be broken down and sent to another cycle for ATP.  However, when there is no oxygen (anaerobic), the glucose is sent to a different cycle for ATP and eventually is converted in lactic acid, but it can be dissipated quickly.  This system is used when activity is under 2 minutes.

The final system used is the ATP-PCr system (CreatinePhosphate)  .  This is utilized when you are going all out.  Unlike the oxidative system where you are getting plenty of ATP, the PCr system only generates small amounts.  It cannot be sustain for very long before lactic acid and fatigue take place.  The main source of fuel here are carbohydrates.  The time for this system is very short, less than 30 seconds.

This is an extremely brief overview of these systems.  However, if you can understand what is going on, you will be able to train yourself more efficiently.  Like the old saying goes, work smarter, not harder.  Tomorrow I will tie this in with the VO2 max so you get a better understanding.

To get a good, strong base, you’ll need to hit the legs hard.  To me, when the legs get lactic acid built up, it is the worst burn ever.  But you have to remember, this will pay off on race day.  So, to start off, you might want to do this leg work out for a few weeks:

Front Squats:  12 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps

Leg Press:  20 reps, 20 reps

Lunges: 12 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps

Leg Curls: 20 reps, 20 reps

Calf Raises: rep out 3x

Front squats put a lot of emphasis on the quadriceps as well as the abdominal muscles and lower back.  If you have never done them before, it may be a little awkward at first, but your get the hang of it the more you do it.  It is performed just like a regular squat except you place the bar in front of your neck instead of behind it.  The same concept applies when executing: keep your back straight all the way down, head and chest up.  The rest are pretty self explanatory, but for the lunges, make sure you explode off of the foot to be most effective.

However, don’t just concentrate on this one routine; you must work on all of the muscles.  To work your squats a little different, try to put your feet closer together with your toes pointed out, or you put your feet out wider than shoulder width.  This will mix things up and keep your muscles guessing.  Again, don’t just go through the motions, work your legs hard and it will pay off when the track gets rough in the later motos.

1. Run 200 meters
2. Overhead Squats
3. Run 200 meters
4. Dips
5. Run 200 meters
6. Dead Lifts
7. Run 200 meters
8. Inverted Rows

This workout is best utilized in the middle of week or if you are short on time.  For this reason, you want your rep range to be 12 – 15 and your rest should be around a minute.  For beginners, start out with 3 sets, and then advance to 4 sets when you complete 3 sets easily.

• One leg push up – Jump Squats – Medicine Ball Crunches
• Stiff Leg Deadlifts – Pull ups with Legs held up – Dumbbell Press on Medicine ball
• Lunges – One leg and alternating Dumbbell shoulder presses – Plyo crunches

Let me explain this work out a little bit.  For the one leg push up, simply get into the push up position.  Instead of having both feet planted, raise one leg and begin the push ups.  Switch legs half through your rep count.  For you jump squats, you want to perform a regular squat, but with much lighter weight.  When you go down, you want a smooth and controlled descent. On the ascent, you want to explode up and jump just a few inches off of the ground.  When you come down, you want to land “lightly” on your toes.

For your stiff leg deadlifts, you want to be careful and not put too much weight on.  This is supposed to work your lower back and hamstrings, so make sure you stretch for this one.  The next exercise adds some intensity to the whole workout.  Simply perform a pull up, but pull your knees up so that they are parallel with the floor.  If you are feeling really crazy, straighten your whole leg out as well.  The presses on the medicine ball are really for balance.  This is basically bench press on a medicine ball, so have someone hand you the weights to avoid injury.

This shoulder exercise hits the core with fury.  You can stand on one leg or grab a bench to place one foot on and simply do your shoulder presses.  Standing on one leg adds a balancing act while your core muscles are used to keep you up straight.  With the plyo-crunches, you need a friend.  If you don’t have a friend, face a wall.  Start by lying down on a medicine ball with a 10 lb. ball in your hands.  Stretch back with the ball touching the ground behind your head, crunch back up and simultaneously throw the ball to your friend.  Then have your friend toss it back to you.

Tomorrow I’ll be back with another workout that hits your cardio and muscular endurance.

The main part of the shoulder girdle is where the head of the humorous inserts into the scapula (shoulder blade).  The point at which these two bones meet is called the glenoid fossa (fossa refers a small indentation in a bone).  Thus, the joint is called glenohumoral.  From here, you start to get into the tendons and ligaments.  What’s the difference between a tendon and ligament?  Tendons connect bone to muscle and ligaments connect bone to bone.  There are a number of rings that are composed of tough fibrous tissue and synovial membranes in this area similar to the knee.

Now that we have an idea of the main joint, we can look at the “roof” of the shoulder, which involves the clavicle.  The clavicle (collar) bone is considered to be part of the shoulder girdle and is one of the most common injuries.  Because runs across the body, it is open and easily accessible to forces.  The clavicle connects to the scapula at a point known as the coracoid process.  Ligaments attached to the coracoid process, the clavicle and acromion (another part of the scapula that helps form the “roof”) form a web of connective tissue that holds everything in place for the “roof”.  When you separate your shoulder, this web is ruptured.

Looking more closely at a separated shoulder, the ligaments that form this “roof” are stretched when the clavicle come apart from the web.  Like the other joints, the mild to severe categories are called Grades for the shoulder.  Grade 1 separation includes the tearing of the acromioclavicular ligament, Grade 2 is rupture of the acromioclavicular ligament plus strains of the coracoacromial and coracoclavicular ligaments; Grade 3 is a rupture of the acromioclavicular and coracoclavicular ligaments plus strain of the coracoacromial ligament.

In addition to the separated shoulder, you can also have rotor cuff injuries.  The rotor cuff is comprised of the teres minor, infraspinatus, supraspinatus, and subscapularis muscles.  These all are attached to the scapula and extend to the humorous.  These muscles help give you all of the controlled motion of the shoulder, plus they help stabilize it as well.  Most of the time, when you tear the rotor cuff, it is the supraspinatus.  Usually, you can tell if something is injured in the area when you lift your arm out directly to the side.  Depending on the severity, rest is the best answer.  However, surgery may be necessary if there is a rupture.

As I have stated before, strength training helps the tendon and ligaments get stronger.  Not only that, but the muscles in the shoulder girdle become stronger and help provide you with a greater source of protection.  If injured, apply the RICE method until certified medical help arrives.

The ligaments that hold your tibia, fibula, calcaneous (the heel), and foot together are a little more complicated than the knee.  The lateral (outside) portion of the ankle has about four ligaments attached to the bones.  On the medial (inside) and posterior (behind) portion of the ankle, there are another three ligaments.  Each one is named to the bone they are attached to and whether they are posterior or anterior.  So there is a little more to the ankle than most people think.

When someone says they have sprained their ankle, they are most likely talking about the anterior talofibular ligament, which is located on the front part of the foot, towards the lateral portion of the ankle.  Just like the knee, whenever the ankle is pushed too far past the normal degree of the ligaments, they are going to either get stretched, torn, or ruptured.  This is the same scenario for a major tendon, the Achilles Tendon.  Injuring this can be from having your feet too far back on the pegs and landing off of a jump.  This sends all of the downward force on your ankles and pulls the Achilles Tendon away from the insertion points.

The healing process should start as soon as possible.  To get this going, a great place to start is to use the RICE method; Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevate.  Depending on the severity of the accident and condition of the ligaments, putting the ankle in a brace for a couple of weeks is pretty normal.  After a few weeks, close supervision of movement helps the joints from getting too stiff.  Like the knee, any tearing of the ligaments or tendons takes a lot of time to heal.  Tomorrow I will go over the shoulder girdle.

Knees

Every part on the human body is important, but the knee is extremely critical in motocross. And it probably takes the most abuse. Your knee is a simple ball and socket joint with lateral (outside), medial (inside), anterior (front) and posterior (back) ligaments. Supporting your knee, you have a tough fibrous tissue called a meniscus, which can be lateral and medial to the ball of the femur (thigh bone).  Injuries to the knee can be graded as mild, moderate or severe depending on tears, partial tears, and the range of motion.

For mild injuries, a few days to a couple of weeks should be a good amount of time for recovery. Moderate ones take a few weeks to a few months and severe injuries take months or even year(s) to fully heal. When you injure your knee, you are tearing a ligament, breaking one of the bones or damaging a meniscus.

Take for instance, a force directed to the outside of the knee. The force is applied to the lateral ligaments, which are compressed. However, your medial ligaments are pulled away from the insertion points. This can result in sprains (mild), tears (moderate) or even ruptured (severe) ligaments. Your meniscuses are crushed and/or ripped apart. Another common motocross injuries results from hyperextension. This is where your knee is bent the wrong way, but far enough to injure the lateral and medial ligaments.

Now, I know this sounds pretty bad, but your knees are pretty resilient to most forces. Wearing knees braces helps tremendously with the prevention of almost every type of knee injury out there. With these types of injuries, they take a long time to heal; and once they do heal, odds are they probably won’t be the same again. Protection is crucial in avoiding the pains of tearing something and paying the bills. Tomorrow I will dive into the ankle and common injuries for that. I will also get you some info on healing these types of injuries. Stay tuned!