Racing the Track
It has been a while since I have written an article, but between exams and moving out of my apartment, I have been going like crazy. But, I have something to look forward to….nationals. This goes for professional and amateur. By now, most of the Area Qualifiers are finished up and the Regional Qualifiers are shaping up. The Area races are more like your local races with a few new people. But for the most part, you will be racing some familiar faces. However, once you get to the Regional race, there are going to some big names.
No matter what region you are from or what class you race, there is always going to be one person that everyone is worried about. I can remember when I was at an Area Qualifier a few years back and there was one guy I was always worried about. He was consistently up front and I could never catch him. So, the whole time I was on the line, I was thinking about how fast he was. I doubted myself and my abilities before my bike was even started. This negative thinking played a big part and screwed up my race.
One of my biggest problems was that I would always put the “faster” person on a pedestal. I would compare myself to them and always seem to trick myself into thinking they were so much better than me. These kids who you see on videos and in magazines are just like you. They are human and they can be beaten. However, instead of trying to race them, race the track.
That is how every great rider trains and keeps their speed up. When you stop worrying about who is on the gate with you and you ride the track, it is easier for you to get in the “zone” and settle into a fast race pace. You almost need to look at the other riders as moving obstacles. They are just in the way and you just need to get around them. That’s it. Attacking the track will help you keep your lap times down and you will always be charging when others are cruising.
If you qualified for a Regional race, congrats. Just remember that everyone on the gate has two arms and two legs like you do. Race the track and don’t worry about the other riders.
Moment of Silence for Andrew Mcfarlane
Andrew Mcfarlane passed away yesterday due to injuries from a crash during practice. Paramedics spent over an hour trying to revive Andrew.
My thoughts and prayers are with his family.
Sorry Guys
I know it has been a while since I have last posted. I have had exams and I am in the process moving/transferring, so time hasn’t been on my side. I will get an article out this week for sure though. Again, I am sorry for not posting anything. If you have any ideas, questions or comments, feel free to email me.
High Intensity Circuit Training
At this point in the season, finding that right combo of strength training and cardio training can be tricky. Keep in mind that strength training should be taking a back seat and some kind of interval training should be your main source of cardio. However, you can combine both weights and cardio in order to hit both spectrums at once; and still hit them effectively. The best way to achieve this is to do circuit training.
In order to keep your heart rate up and the blood flowing, performing 15 – 20 reps will ensure that you are using the muscle till complete failure. You can do 3 to 5 lifting exercises followed by a brief stint of intervals. For the intervals, it does not have to be more than 5 minutes. You can do 1 minute low intensity and 1 high intensity or 30 seconds low and 30 seconds high.
Here’s a sample workout to try:
Push Ups
Dead Lift
Pull Ups
5 minutes of interval training followed by 90 seconds rest
Clean and Press
Squats
Hanging Leg Raises
5 minutes of interval training followed by 90 seconds rest
Pull Ups
Squats
Russian Twists
5 minutes of interval training followed by 90 seconds rest
Training Issues: Back Pain
Training hard makes you better. Plain and simple. Training smart also works as well. The two go hand and hand to make the saying, “No pain no gain” a little easier to deal with. However, injuries do occur from training and it can be frustrating. This just happened recently to me and my back is making me pay for lifting the wrong way. Although, I should have known better, it is an opportunity for me to look at back injuries. Stephan Roncada and most recently, Davi Millsaps and Josh Hill, have all had back pain to deal with. It can make the easiest tasks a tough challenge.
Most of the time, when you have back pain, it is due to some distortion of the spine. It is divided up into the three sections: cervical, thoracic and lumbar. Cervical vertebra make up your neck, thoracic is your mid back and lumbar is your lower back. The vertebrae are formed so they stack on top of one another and is held together by muscle fibers and ligaments. When either the muscles or ligaments are stretched, torn and ruptured, it produces the distortion of the spine. In addition, when the vertebrae move, this is referred to as a slipped disk. This causes the nerves in the spine to get pinched or aggravated.
When performing strength training exercises like dead lifts, bench press or barbell rows, it is important to keep your back straight. When you arch your back, the spine is compressing itself as it curves. As it curves, the force strains the muscles and pinches the nerves in your back. That’s why they say to lift with your legs, not your back.
The hardest thing for me, or any younger person, is to rest. Any kind of inflammation will subside and give your back a chance to recover. It is like recovering from any kind of hard training; your body needs to repair and rebuild itself. Once most of the pain is gone, you can begin to do some light stretching. The traditional toe touches are great from lower back injuries. The hamstrings can get tight and pull on the lower back muscles, causing a stiff and painful back. Hip twists help tremendously, allowing the spine to slowly warm up and get your back aligned. Remember, give it some time and your body will eventually fix the problem. Do some light stretching and you should be good in a few days.
Rough Jump Faces
For the most part, a rough track doesn’t bother me. In fact, it makes riding better because it challenges you at a higher level. Sure, that sounds pretty corny, but it is true. As you ride more and more on rough tracks, you start to get into a flow that just keeps you going. However, the only downside, for me anyway, is rough jump faces. Give me fast rollers, destroyed turns and braking bumps, but chewed up jumps make my skin crawl. However, just like the rest of the track, if you keep the fundamentals in mind, you should be fine.
First of all, body position is pretty important. Normally, I like to keep a pretty neutral position over the seat. The attack position is a sure way to get over an obstacle cleanly and jump faces are no different. As the track gets rougher and rougher, you need to put more emphasis on squeezing the bike with your legs. You are probably pretty sick of hearing that, but it helps a ton. If you hit something that throws your tire out, you will be in more control of the bike’s rear end.
Another aspect is power. When the track is smooth, you can get away with letting off on the face of a jump. But, when that same face gets chewed up, letting off the gas is bad. When there is no drive from the rear wheel, the bike has a tendency (especially four strokes) to throw all the weight forward. If you hit a kicker or a rock, you could be on the ground before you know what happened. Keeping the bike in the right gear helps tremendously as well. I always like to hit rough faces with a smooth, hearty dose of throttle. Cracking the gas open just spins the rear wheel and chews up the face even more. However, when you put the power to the ground effectively and tract through everything, you prevent the rear wheel from any kind of hopping or something going wrong.
Trusting your ability and remembering the fundamentals are the best ways to get through anything. As with most rough tracks, hitting the sides or any line other than the main helps keep you away from the hole, bumps and kickers. Keeping the power to the ground is important takes a little bit to get used to, especially in wet conditions. But like I said, keep yourself in the attack position and squeezing the bike will keep you on two wheels and ahead of everyone else.
