Mondays are usually a day of active recovery.  There is no weight training on this day because your body is still recovering from the conditions of the race.  You may not feel sore, but hitting the weight room or busting out hardcore cardio this soon may put you behind for the rest of the week.  So take it easy and just do a light jog or any kind of cardio.  Keep it under an hour.

Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the heavy days.  Get your motos in for these days to work on some things you struggled with from the weekend.  Maybe you didn’t do too well with starts or corners.  This is the time to go over any mistakes made over the weekend.  If you can’t ride during the week, hit the treadmill, row machine or stationary (road) bike.  Unlike Mondays, cardio needs to be a higher intensity (around 80% of your max HR) for over an hour.  Then you can take a breather for a while and later hit up some strength training.  Here’s a sample workout I did a while ago that’s perfect for in season training.  Don’t do this exact workout two days in a row.  You can do this on Tuesday and then for Wednesday, you can substitute different exercises.

Thursday and Friday are like Monday.  However, Thursday’s cardio requires a higher heart rate (around 80% of your max HR) and you can keep it about an hour.  And Friday is short and very light cardio.

For the weekend, just travel and keep hydrated!  This system keeps the bulk of the training in the beginning of the week so you can still rest and feel ready come race time.  The active recovery on Monday and Friday keep the heart up and the blood flowing.  Good luck!

Below is a video of an epic battle between Chad Reed and Kevin Windham.  You can use it as a visual aid and it is a great race to watch as well.  A great example of a block pass is at 6:55.

Before you even get to the corner, you want to set up in the section prior to it.  You want to set it up so you can be on the inside of the other rider.  You can see Chad Reed is right behind and on the inside of Windham.  If you notice, Reed sets up for the corner the same time as Kevin which ensures that he can cut inside while Windham goes wide.

When the two are in the corner, they are even and Reed has complete control of where Windham goes.  One thing Reed could have done is drift out wide, but he kept to the inside which allowed Kevin to keep that 450’s momentum up.  That allowed Windham to make a pretty easy pass on the next straight.

As I said earlier, this requires a lot of control over the bike.  In the section before the corner, you want to make sure that you are squeezing the bike with your lower body and your elbows are up.  When your elbows are up in the corner, there is less of a chance of your handle bars coming together.  This is somewhat of a tricky technique, so take it slow and when you feel comfortable with it, try in a race situation.

Like I said, at the amateur level, racing is a little frantic.  If you are behind someone, you can rev the hell out of your engine, scream in corners or anything that breaks their concentration.  When they aren’t concentrating on the track ahead of them, they are going to make mistakes.  Now, this really isn’t something you want to do every race, just as a last resort.  Sometimes, just pressuring the rider in front of you will force a mistake on their part.  Again, this is more for the amateur level because professionals are just that, pros.  They are used to the mind games.

As far as line selection, you never want to follow the person in front of you.  How do you expect to get around someone if you are doing the exact same thing they are?  If they go wide, try to slip in on the inside and vise versa.  On race day, the main line around the track may not be the best place to make passes because it gets beat up.  Searching for smoother lines at the end of the day will also help you conserve energy and also keep your speed up to make a pass.

Being that the amateur races are generally shorter in duration, it is better to make passes at the beginning of the race when everyone is still close to each other.  If you are going to make a pass, you need to commit to it.  The longer you stay behind someone and eating dirt, the less time you have to move up in position.  So if you are going try to get around someone, do it quick and do it cleanly.  There’s no sense in taking out the both of you.

Tomorrow, I will go through block passing, so stay tuned!

Because you don’t have anything to help you lean, your approach needs to be a little different.  A good idea is to take a wider approach than you normally would.  If you have ever watched road racing, their lines through corners are usually wide arcs.  When you are still upright before the turn, this is the point where your braking should be done; your weight is vertical and your tires have the most available traction.  You want to stand through the braking bumps so you ensure that your entrance into the corner is nice and smooth.

So, when you get your braking done and sit down, you want to sit right up on the gas cap.  That way, you put as much weight on the front wheel as possible for optimal traction. The way in which you lean the bike over is crucial here, as well.  The best way is to sit on the outside edge of the seat.  This keeps your weight centered and straight down, rather than out and away.

Like always, keep weight on the outside foot peg and the outside elbow up put additional weight on the front wheel.  As I mentioned earlier, a steady throttle hand is the biggest part.  Slipping the clutch and getting the rear wheel rotating too quickly will just spin you out.  So, you want a steady roll on of the throttle to make sure the rear has plenty of traction

Drifting out too wide can leave the door open for a pass.  Keeping your elbow up and weight on the outside peg gives you the traction to power through the turn and avoid drifting out.  Unlike riding through a wide arc, squaring up flat turns robs momentum and drive.  It is time consuming and a waste of energy.  Once you find that balance between leaning and twisting the throttle, these corners become excellent passing opportunities.

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.

Periodization

This means cycling your training.  Do not do the same thing over and over again.  If you have a period where you cannot ride the bike, work on your strength and do longer, easier cardio sessions.  However, if you are in season and the races are coming up soon, interval training is the better choice.  This cyclical training method helps keep your body from getting burnt out, you won’t get bored with your training and you specifically train for the conditions at hand.

Compound Movements

If you are moving up classes this year or you are just trying to get stronger for moto, your typical “juice-head” routine is not going to work for you.  A racer and gym rat are opposite sides of the spectrum.  For moto, we need functional and multi joint movements.  For example, some really solid exercises would be dead lifts, bench press, pull ups, front squats and some abdominal exercises with medicine balls.  Your legs, core and back play a huge role in endurance and form on the bike.

Stretch

One of the most overlooked aspects of a training regiment is incorporating some sort stretching.  Stretching before and after any kind of physical activity helps warm up the muscle and gets the joints ready for movement.  Obviously, your flexibility is improved, but it also helps prevent injuries in crashes and can even help improve strength.

Easy Cardio

Don’t be afraid to do some longer, easier cardio when you aren’t racing much.  This lays down a solid foundation for your aerobic capacity and you can build up from there.  Keeping your heart rate around 70%-80% of you maximum heart rate for about 30 minutes will be a good way to keep you in shape, but not over do it.  Don’t limit yourself to just running; jump ropes, stationary bikes and swimming are excellent alternatives to running on a treadmill.

Have Confidence

If you have been putting in the hard work during the week, you should roll up the gate knowing you can run with anybody lined up.  Training hard makes the race the easiest part of your week.  You prepare your body, so why not prepare yourself mentally?  Confidence in this sport will take you a long way, so keep a positive mindset and everything will fall into place.

One quote, that is truly an oxymoron, can be applied to these circumstances says to go slow to go fast.  That couldn’t be any truer.  Bombing into corners and sliding in does not work.  If you do that in every corner, you need to look through this site on cornering techniques immediately.  When lines get beat down and harden up, traction is scarce.  Therefore, controlled braking between both the front and rear brakes is essential to ensure a smooth entrance to any corner.  Chattering your rear brake helps conserve your forward drive and doesn’t lock it up.  In both slick and muddy conditions, you want your corners to smooth arcs with steady throttle application.  And if you are still having trouble, you can drag your rear brake when exiting corners.  This will help weigh down the rear and force the wheel into the ground.

Getting on the gas is just as important as the braking.  Avoid stabbing the clutch when you are leaned over or anything like that.  The excessive wheel spin will spin you out and potentially send you to the dirt.  So, a steady right hand in any situation will keep you upright.  Another aspect that plays a role in smooth drive is your gearing.  Not so much sprocket rations but the gear you are actually in makes a difference in traction.  If you are too high a gear, the rear does not hook up as well.  So, making sure you in a higher gear will help you get a solid, chug out of your bike will help avoid any wheel spin issues.

One important thing is stay loose.  Riding tight only leads to arm pump and mistakes.  When you are loosened up, you will be able to react and flow through everything rather than fight the track.  Working against the course in the conditions like High Point will not work.  And most important, keep it fun!

If you are in race ready condition, getting accustomed to the heat will be easier.  Even if you are used to running on a treadmill inside for an hour, you are going to get acclimated much faster than a couch potato.  When you begin to train in the heat, you will notice that you will sweat more (common sense) and more electrolytes are lost in sweat.  However, as time goes on, you will eventually sweat earlier and lose fewer electrolytes.  I am not a huge fan of sports drinks, but this is an exception.  Going half water and half Gatorade is a pretty good mixture.  Replacing the lost fluids/electrolytes are numero uno!

The best (and safest) way to get used to the heat is to do some light aerobic training.  If you are just acclimated, you may want to start out at 15 minutes of activity.  This could be as long as 3 or 4 days.  On average, total acclimation takes about 2 weeks.  For example, if you can normally run 60 minutes, by the end of the first week, you should be able to run close to 30 minutes in the heat.

I know it sucks to train when it’s hot, but consistency pays off.  If you train for 60 minutes in the heat, but miss another 60 minute session, doing 120 minutes the next day is not going to be as effective.  Plus it maybe potentially dangerous.  If you really can’t take the heat, train in the early morning or late afternoon.  Then you can work your way into the hotter temperatures.

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!

One of the most common reasons for head shake is fatigue.  When you are fatigued, your form goes out the window and it gets worse as the moto progresses.  Your elbows drop and you cannot get enough leverage to keep the bars straight.  As you get more and more head shake, you begin to grip harder with your hands and the forearms pump up to bricks.  Sound about right?  When your upper body feels like rubber, the need to grip with your legs becomes even greater.  Again, the quadriceps and hamstrings are a much larger muscle group that can support greater loads of stress for longer periods of times.  Start the moto out with a conscience effort of using your legs more than your arms and you will be better off.

Another problem is RPM range.  The relationship between the motor and suspension is pretty crazy when you really think about it.  When you hear pros run through whoops and moguls, they are running a higher gear.  The RPMs are lower and take some of the load off of the forks and shock.  They travel smoother and won’t bind, which gives you that bouncing effect through the rough stuff.  If you shift down AFTER the braking bumps, you allow your suspension to ride with you, instead of against you.  The forks will travel through the entire stroke and do their job; soak up the terrain.  When you ride in too low of a gear, the fork don’t travel all the way through the stroke and rebound too fast.

Weight distribution is also important.  Maintaining your attack position through the rough chop will help keep your elbows up and in good form.  This attack position will place your weight evenly over the bike, allowing you to make changes if need be.  As I have said before, riding on the balls of your feet will give you some extra “suspension” and forces you to grip the bike with your legs.

By throwing good form and the right gear together, head shake will be a thing of the past.  Of course, making sure your sag is set on the shock and your clickers are dialed is important, but the rider can make a big difference.  As always, remember the basics and keep it fun.