Moto fitness and training.

TransMotoSport wrote:

You need a good aerobic base, so basically you can push training into anaerobic levels and not get sick. So start with some long training periods...

You need a good aerobic base, so basically you can push training into anaerobic levels and not get sick. So start with some long training periods around the 70% H.R. at least 3 times a week for a month. I personally feel it is best to get your base aerobic conditioning with at least 2 sessions a week that works the same joints as riding a motorcycle to condition your joints and muscles, riding your moto could count for one of these sessions.
After you have a base, starting working your anaerobic system. You can use interval training, or 5 min warm up, go 15min at 85% max heart rate, then cool down. I dont like to go over 20 minutes session in anaerobic state because over this recovery takes much much longer, you are basically going into your second wind reserves. IMO if you need longer than 20min sessions have a good rest 30min between sessions
The difficult part of training is not to over train and to try and to build a program with fitness peaks for when you need, then back it down when you do not, by mixing up the amount of aerobic and anaerobic.
A good easy test to keep track of your recovery and if your body is getting run down, is to check your resting H.R. each morning as you awake before getting up. once you have a decent level of aerobic fitness and find your normal resting heart rate. From there if your R.H.R rises 5 bpm above normal, back down training that day, if 10 bpm above have a couple of rest days.
Personally I think weights are very important for mx, but dont work your muscles to they burn to much, as it will increase your lactic acid and cause things like arm pump, do your 8-10 reps in good form, I feel if you need spotting, your pushing to hard and it can be more detrimental with acid build up.
Other thing i find is train every day, as your body eats to what you will need, If you train one day and have a day off its really confuses your body how much fuel you need to take in. Personally i do not believe in rest days unless your are over stressed, back it down a few days before to peak,Still train with easy light mellow sessions.
I am not a professional trainer these are things i have learned over years from personal experience or been taught and tested.
I often read pro trainers articles for MX and I feel its really funny reading the high level trainers opinions that have never ridden MX. Especially the one who have commented and criticised other training techniques for doing to much cross training for MX and not enough bike time, obviously they have never experienced the wear and tear mx riding has on your body. Also the ones who criticised riders saying there hard rate was not peaked on the motorcycle to infact they should be able to ride faster. I think those comments are hilarious for these highly paid pro trainers, who have never experienced MX personally.
All in all make sure you work you correct aerobic system for what heart rate you need, this is the second biggest mistake after over training, And cross training is a much safer easier faster way to elevate your fitness to very high HR.
hope this helps a bit

Jrewing wrote:

No ones mentioned stretching/flexibility. Legs/hips especially.

TransMotoSport wrote:

You need a good aerobic base, so basically you can push training into anaerobic levels and not get sick. So start with some long training periods...

You need a good aerobic base, so basically you can push training into anaerobic levels and not get sick. So start with some long training periods around the 70% H.R. at least 3 times a week for a month. I personally feel it is best to get your base aerobic conditioning with at least 2 sessions a week that works the same joints as riding a motorcycle to condition your joints and muscles, riding your moto could count for one of these sessions.
After you have a base, starting working your anaerobic system. You can use interval training, or 5 min warm up, go 15min at 85% max heart rate, then cool down. I dont like to go over 20 minutes session in anaerobic state because over this recovery takes much much longer, you are basically going into your second wind reserves. IMO if you need longer than 20min sessions have a good rest 30min between sessions
The difficult part of training is not to over train and to try and to build a program with fitness peaks for when you need, then back it down when you do not, by mixing up the amount of aerobic and anaerobic.
A good easy test to keep track of your recovery and if your body is getting run down, is to check your resting H.R. each morning as you awake before getting up. once you have a decent level of aerobic fitness and find your normal resting heart rate. From there if your R.H.R rises 5 bpm above normal, back down training that day, if 10 bpm above have a couple of rest days.
Personally I think weights are very important for mx, but dont work your muscles to they burn to much, as it will increase your lactic acid and cause things like arm pump, do your 8-10 reps in good form, I feel if you need spotting, your pushing to hard and it can be more detrimental with acid build up.
Other thing i find is train every day, as your body eats to what you will need, If you train one day and have a day off its really confuses your body how much fuel you need to take in. Personally i do not believe in rest days unless your are over stressed, back it down a few days before to peak,Still train with easy light mellow sessions.
I am not a professional trainer these are things i have learned over years from personal experience or been taught and tested.
I often read pro trainers articles for MX and I feel its really funny reading the high level trainers opinions that have never ridden MX. Especially the one who have commented and criticised other training techniques for doing to much cross training for MX and not enough bike time, obviously they have never experienced the wear and tear mx riding has on your body. Also the ones who criticised riders saying there hard rate was not peaked on the motorcycle to infact they should be able to ride faster. I think those comments are hilarious for these highly paid pro trainers, who have never experienced MX personally.
All in all make sure you work you correct aerobic system for what heart rate you need, this is the second biggest mistake after over training, And cross training is a much safer easier faster way to elevate your fitness to very high HR.
hope this helps a bit

colonel wrote:

You threw all credibility away when you mentioned "acid build up" and then again with taking a day off confuses the body. Quick question - you...

You threw all credibility away when you mentioned "acid build up" and then again with taking a day off confuses the body.

Quick question - you mentioned "peaks" you are aware that a athlete / body can only really produce 3 peaks in a year correctly.

Jrewing wrote:

No ones mentioned stretching/flexibility. Legs/hips especially.

TransMotoSport wrote:

Could you please explain why you think i threw away all credibility by mentioning lactic acid build up from too vigourous of weight sessions? No I...

Could you please explain why you think i threw away all credibility by mentioning lactic acid build up from too vigourous of weight sessions? No I was not aware you can only produce 3 peaks a year, could you please explain this? Completely open to you knowledge, however so far you have said NOTHING just criticised with zero explanation.

TransMotoSport wrote:

Could you please explain why you think i threw away all credibility by mentioning lactic acid build up from too vigourous of weight sessions? No I...

Could you please explain why you think i threw away all credibility by mentioning lactic acid build up from too vigourous of weight sessions? No I was not aware you can only produce 3 peaks a year, could you please explain this? Completely open to you knowledge, however so far you have said NOTHING just criticised with zero explanation.

brandon151 wrote:

I'll chime in if thats ok. Lactic acid build up on happens during exercise, post exercise your body starts to turn lactic into pyruvate and then...

I'll chime in if thats ok. Lactic acid build up on happens during exercise, post exercise your body starts to turn lactic into pyruvate and then back into glucose through the cori cycle. Lactic acid has nothing to do with soreness days after exercise. The reason why you get sore days after exercise is the micro trauma that exercise does to your muscle fibers. Lactic acid is ONLY responsible for the soreness and tiredness you feel during exercise.

Extreme lactic acid build up can be combatted by exercising frequently, staying more hydrated, dynamic stretching before exercise, controlled breathing, and eating healthier.

Im not entirely sure what you guys are referring to ask "peaks" never heard that term before. I feel like you're talking about training hard for an extended period of time and then having to take time off because you either feel burnt out or you dont want to burn yourself out... just remember every body and person is different, one person may be able to train like a damn animal for 6 months straigh and the next person may have to take a week off here and there because they may feel burnt out. In regards to plateus there is definitely more than one way to get past one, not always do you have to take time off.

Deal Brothers Trailers wrote:

I've been going to an Orange Theory Fitness Gym for about 2 months now. Rowing, Treadmill and floor exercise. They run you through a variation of...

I've been going to an Orange Theory Fitness Gym for about 2 months now.
Rowing, Treadmill and floor exercise.
They run you through a variation of base pace, push pace and all out.
I've really come to look forward to the ass kickings they are going to give me.
Totally random what workout your will do on any given day, its never the same.
It do OTF 2 days a week, elliptical one day and ride on the weekend.

Like someone said...You cant out exercise a bad diet
For me, it seems like its 70% diet and 30% training.
I've dropped right at 30lbs since Christmas

brandon151 wrote:

I'll chime in if thats ok. Lactic acid build up on happens during exercise, post exercise your body starts to turn lactic into pyruvate and then...

I'll chime in if thats ok. Lactic acid build up on happens during exercise, post exercise your body starts to turn lactic into pyruvate and then back into glucose through the cori cycle. Lactic acid has nothing to do with soreness days after exercise. The reason why you get sore days after exercise is the micro trauma that exercise does to your muscle fibers. Lactic acid is ONLY responsible for the soreness and tiredness you feel during exercise.

Extreme lactic acid build up can be combatted by exercising frequently, staying more hydrated, dynamic stretching before exercise, controlled breathing, and eating healthier.

Im not entirely sure what you guys are referring to ask "peaks" never heard that term before. I feel like you're talking about training hard for an extended period of time and then having to take time off because you either feel burnt out or you dont want to burn yourself out... just remember every body and person is different, one person may be able to train like a damn animal for 6 months straigh and the next person may have to take a week off here and there because they may feel burnt out. In regards to plateus there is definitely more than one way to get past one, not always do you have to take time off.

TransMotoSport wrote:

thanks for chiming in. This is my opinion, arm pump, I believe is caused by the overload of the lymphatic system. This can come from bad...

thanks for chiming in. This is my opinion, arm pump, I believe is caused by the overload of the lymphatic system. This can come from bad diet, sickness, allergy, over training, lack of oxygen and lots other causes.. In the past it was believed heavy weights caused arm pump and riders should steer clear. Its my belief lactic overload is the biggest cause of arm pump, and pushing heavy weights to you have a large amount of acid causes lymphatic system overload. Even with a long rest period its difficult to remove the acid from heavy weight burn outs. I dont know why this is, maybe because this exercise keeps producing acid for long periods after the exercise, what is the cause I do not know but its my experience.
Keep in mind though the lymphatic system does need exercising to become more efficient I personally believe though, to be careful not to overload it.

flymoto wrote:

This has confused me. When doing weights, is high reps low weight better or vice versa?

Fearo wrote:

Fitness "peaks" are very real, but not really that relevant in motocross because they focus on one very specific time to achieve your maximal fitness (for...

Fitness "peaks" are very real, but not really that relevant in motocross because they focus on one very specific time to achieve your maximal fitness (for that year), followed by a recovery period with little to no training. Obviously this isn't that useful in motocross where people race for 6-9 months straight, unless you would be training for Loretta's or something. Peaks are more utilized by triathletes, TDF cyclists etc...

And while one person may be able to handle a larger training load than another person that is equally trained, nobody should train like a "damn animal" for 6 months straight. Every serious training program has micro and macro cycles, and will divide the calender year in 3 periods (off/pre/in) with substantially different methods/duration of training.

Markopolo400 wrote:

Crossfit, Bro. Seriously though, I do a lot of Olympic lifting with a couple Crossfit workouts a week. I started last Spring, and by the end...

Crossfit, Bro.

Seriously though, I do a lot of Olympic lifting with a couple Crossfit workouts a week. I started last Spring, and by the end of the summer I just didn't get tired riding. It's weird.

And even though I do some Crossfit, I still like to make fun of Crossfit.

TransMotoSport wrote:

thanks for chiming in. This is my opinion, arm pump, I believe is caused by the overload of the lymphatic system. This can come from bad...

thanks for chiming in. This is my opinion, arm pump, I believe is caused by the overload of the lymphatic system. This can come from bad diet, sickness, allergy, over training, lack of oxygen and lots other causes.. In the past it was believed heavy weights caused arm pump and riders should steer clear. Its my belief lactic overload is the biggest cause of arm pump, and pushing heavy weights to you have a large amount of acid causes lymphatic system overload. Even with a long rest period its difficult to remove the acid from heavy weight burn outs. I dont know why this is, maybe because this exercise keeps producing acid for long periods after the exercise, what is the cause I do not know but its my experience.
Keep in mind though the lymphatic system does need exercising to become more efficient I personally believe though, to be careful not to overload it.

brandon151 wrote:

Arm pump can absolutely be caused by lactic acid, but not from a workout you did earlier in the week. Lactic acid is thought to be...

Arm pump can absolutely be caused by lactic acid, but not from a workout you did earlier in the week. Lactic acid is thought to be converted back into glucose 30-60 minutes after exercise. Arm pump is also caused by your forearms muscles filling up with blood and expanding to where they are stretching the muscle fascia to its breaking point, thats why a lot of pro riders have had surgery to remove the fascia around their forearm muscles. So in theory training your muscles to be efficient and not big would be ideal to help keep the size down in your forearms. The bigger the muscle the more likely it is that it will stretch the fascia to the point where it is painful. I'll say it again, your body DOES NOT accumilate lactic acid or "build it up" from workout to workout. The cori cycle (look it up) transforms lactic acid back into glucose during AND after exercise.

TransMotoSport wrote:

It the chain of process where is the lymphatic system placed? Its the lymphatic system's job to remove the lactic acid and waste, to return it...

It the chain of process where is the lymphatic system placed? Its the lymphatic system's job to remove the lactic acid and waste, to return it to the blood stream so the cori effect can then take place in the liver. What happens if the lymphatic system is overloaded with lactic acid and toxins?
Jeff also brought up a point of cardio after weights stop him getting sore, one of the reasons is the lymphatic system needs motion to work it has no pump, this helps remove toxins.