Upgrade to enjoy this feature!
Vital MX fantasy is free to play, but Premium users receive great benefits. Premium benefits include:
- View and download rider stats
- Pick trends
- Create a private league
- And more!
Only $10 for all 2026 SX, MX, and SMX series.
I'm 41, I had a stress test once. They took me to 186bpm for the test. that was my Max.
The thing with these guys is they are so conditioned they can maintain that level for the rest.
I also had another strategy that I always used in preperation of a serious event effort. That was how much misery could I take and then add some more to my workout. My therory was that we all have our limits. To win in the 30 or 40 or ____ Expert/Pro Class (Or any class) one just needed to be able to survive more PAIN than the other guys!!!
Beat Me Hit me - Make me Write Bad Checks - I Just Love it When I win
Onto the treadmill after being scanned and filled with some nuclear sheet. When my HR got to about 172 or so the technician looked over at me and asked "Why are YOU here" I smiled and managed to say " To hear you ask that question
The Shop
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Free shipping: VITALMX
I was in the gym 3 times a week for an hour or so. That was usually at 5 AM and pounded myself on the Mtn Bike twice a week at a track at home in Estacada. I also rode the my DB twice a week if I could conjure up the time.Yes I always took a days break to let the body rest.......
As you age the more work you do the better you finish. Also do not tell you buddy's what you're doing! LOL
Go for it!
I don't have a heart rate monitor yet. This is what I'm doing to prepare.
For cardio I Mountain bike with a lot of hills. I used to run, but found that mountain biking hills is far more intense cardio for me.
I'm using the Strava app for Android (and IPhone) to track my rides. Each week I push to set a faster Average speed over the entire ride and for faster times up each hill. Tracking your progress is very motivating.
I figure that as long as my speed up hills and overall average speed increases, that my cardio and endurance is also increasing. I'm pushing hard.
I'm also lifting weights and doing situps/crunches as often as I can. I'd like to lift for an hour 5 times a week, but I'm really doing much less.
For weights, build up your intensity over time. Work out like a 20 year old, and keep increasing the intensity of your workouts.
After a month of so, you'll feel great, and even if you leave the gym exhausted, you'll be recovered with energy restored in 30 minutes.
For cardio, I have a comfort zone that I won't push past. It's not really comfortable though. It's just the same level I'll push to when running. It's really that point where if you push ANY harder, you won't be able to continue.
Mountain biking hills is great because it gives you some short intervals of intensity where you can raise your heart rate (and will power) for a time. Kind of like doing wind sprints.
Plus coming down the hills is super fun
Does this work?
In 2011 I was doing 50 minute practice sessions on the national track at Pala as hard as I could ride (Unfortunately, I'm not that fast).
I'm not back to that level of conditioning now, but that's where I'm headed.
Don't tell my competitors.
On the flip side you will have Moto athletes that do spend the majority of their training on the dirt bike but fail miserably in managing HR intensity. I have spoken with riders who make it a point to do a 100 laps 3-4 X per week. Others simply go out and mimic race day scenarios with the occasional sprint laps at the end of the day. I have questioned moto athletes who wear HR monitors what they do with the information stored on the watch. Most look at me with a puzzled look and say "I only look at what my HR is after I finish a moto".
The majority of your cardio training should be done on the bike preferably with one or two other racers. Using a term from soccer you should break up your riding into technical and tactical training days. Moto days and technique days.
Moto days should always be done at race pace and preferably racing with two other riders. Buy a HR rate monitor that can record HR during your motos and learn how to use it. Use this data in conjunction with your laps times to help set up your training parameters.
Your training should give you the confidence to go at 90%HR for a full moto but in reality you want to avoid that. At those intensities you leave yourself little margin for error. Ideally you would like your 70% to be everyone else's 90%.
One last and very IMPORTANT training tip that is grossly misunderstood amongst moto "trainers" and poorly applied is STRENGTH training. When you watch some of the "training" videos from posted by these "experts" you'd think you where training for the circus. Sure they will throw words out there like core and stability but do they really know how these work within the parameters of moto? Racing moto is a delicate balance between being one with the bike and fighting for your life as it bitch slaps you. Strength training for moto should be looked at in two ways 1. resistance of the violent forces that can be placed upon your body. ie. swapping, headshake, casing. 2. limiting cardio vascular strain.
The stronger you are the less energy you will have to exert thus giving you HEART a break.
For example if rider A. can squat 225 pounds 10X while rider B can only do it 1X and if FOR EXAMPLE the forces acting on the body on during the race equate to 185 pounds rider A can ride with less effort and for longer than rider B.
To obtain this type of strength one needs to train using "heavy weights" on a FIRM base with proper form so that the CORRECT muscles are working to perform the exercise.
How HEAVY? My belief is that one should be able to bench at least their bodyweight, pull up their bodyweight, 1/2 squat and deadlift 1 1/2 X bodyweight. I don't have the science yet (it's coming) to substantiate my numbers but if you can't handle your own bodyweight how can you expect to handle your bodyweight plus the increase in force put upon it during a moto?
Are their riders that have won by not training this way? Yes
As we further look into the science of moto will this change the way riders train? Absolutely.
If you care to discuss on a more personal basis please email me at info@ichorsportsmedicine.com
And here I thought moto training was all about cross-fit.
At the 20 min mark in a National moto, this feeling hits everyone and it comes down to your abilty to fight through this. Also, i have found limits that i've never known before on that damn bicycle..
Mtn bike training is ideal for outdoor motocross.
Second is an article by Kenny's new trainer Aldon Baker on heart rate training, what it's used for and how it applies to motocross. It's a good article so I encourage you to read it as well. Here is the link.
Lastly, I think most people are confused about heart rate data in general. The first thing to fully understand is that heart rates vary from one activity to the next. Your maximum heart rate will vary from sport to sport because you use different muscle groups in different ways depending on the sport. Running uses different muscles than cycling, rowing, or riding your bike so, your max heart rate will be different for each activity. Another factor involved is how good you are at a sport. If you are just starting out riding a motorcycle but are in pretty good shape, you may not be able to ride the bike hard enough to get your heart rate to it’s peak: same holds true for running, cycling and rowing. If you are not a very good runner, your legs may load-up and fail before your heart rate has a chance to peak.
At a race like Lorettas for example, I typically see my rider's heart rate somewhere between 120 and 140 during the siting lap. Sitting on the line they will maintain a heart rate in the 130s. Once the gate drops, heart rates climb to the low 180s and gradually climb to the 190s as the race wears on. Of course its different for every rider, but of all the data I've looked at, they are surprisingly close.
Is this something that should be trained for next time or is about general fitness and these types of efforts are more about heart?
Serious question
Pit Row
Around May last summer I bought a HRM, mostly out of curiosity, and to help with training etc. I figured that rowing would be more demanding fitness wise. As it happens, I didn't get a chance to wear it in a rowing race, but in all the race simulations we did at training, I was at 185bpm avg, spiking around 195 at the start and finish of the 6 minute pieces.
I wore it riding a few weeks later. The series I was competing in had a 15 minute practice/qualifying session and 3 20 minute +1 races (working out at around 22-23 minutes). In practice, I averaged at 151, and spiked at 182; race 1 - 172 avg., 194 spike; race 2 - 180 avg., 205 spike; race 3 I averaged 197 and spiked at 217bpm. The last race I was battling with someone for the entire race, and made a big push in the last 2 laps (lost out by 0.106 seconds... ). I was blown away by the numbers I was seeing though.
I have two theories on these numbers, both of which are based on exactly 0 years of medical or electronic training. First is that there was some electronic interference between the bike and the HRM, which I'm thinking is unlikely. Second: the stress of racing a motocross bike had a serious impact. Imagine what your heart rate would be after you hit a kicker on the face of a jump wrong, or when someone brake checks you and you just miss hitting them...
Either way, I guess the numbers show that in my case at least, one of the manliest and fitness demanding sports in the world was out-manned by motocross. Take that Sir Matthew Pinsent!
EDIT: I should add that I'm 21 years old (20 at the time of racing), so my theoretical max should be around 200.
I'd like to see the Tidal volumes these guys are breathing in. Average is 700, I'll bet the lungs are quite conditioned and take in larger volumes if the heart rate is pumping that hard.
I'd also like to know what the resting heart rate is. Lance Armstrong had a resting heart rate below 30 when he was training (with or without drugs) for cycling.
I bet moto guys sleep with a heart rate of 40.
...All you do is sit on a bike, and twist the throttle though. The bike does all the work.
I did about forty 20-30 minute motos over a nine week period and kept records for interest. I was amazed at how high my heart rate went. Max was 180. Average max rate was 176.
My average heart rate during a full session (so that's going from a standing start) was 160.
Also the calories used was interesting. The average calories per hour, according to my Polar monitor, was just under 1,000. Now, get on a treadmill at the gym and crank it up so it's reading 1000 calories an hour and then tell the gym guy that that's what motocrossers are burning for 30 minutes. I doubt' he'd believe you.
MX really is gnarly.
Post a reply to: Interesting heart rate stuff from tonight