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A strong core is everything on a motorcycle.
Absolutely ridiculous. He could look a lot different in 3 months with a different diet and a different weight regimen.
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Do the top trainers apply their "method" to their entire roster in the off season with very little wiggle room? That certainly wouldn't be ideal, right? I have no idea if they do or don't, it's a legit question.
Guys who have a tendency to break bones need to stimulate bone growth, I would think. So maybe bias the exercises to more high impact/weight based training for those particular riders. Whatever maximizes their chances to keep taking gate drops and not lose seat time to progress in skill.
Like suspension setup, there's always going to be trade offs. You can try to tick all the boxes (cardio, strength, endurance, balance, coordination, etc.), but special focus should be on your genetically weak areas.
Background/Bio:
I was a professional athlete on the US Biathlon/All-Army team competing around the world at the Olympic/World Cup/IBU level for a number of years 2010-2014. This sport is nordic/cross country skiing and shooting. Arguably cross country skiing is the hardest cardio sport in the world (the highest VO2 max and average professional recordings among professional athletes show this, including above Tour De France pro cyclists... granted I haven't seen motocross vO2 numbers posted for the industry, I'm sure it is high). Climbing hills and sprinting for 25-50mins, always at elevation.
I just recently this year got into motocross/riding at a late age (33), but noticed in watching many videos and diving head first into riding a lot of the similarities I did in my training that these pro athletes are doing. (Including using that concept 2 skierg machine posted above that was designed for cross country skiing
While Biathlon is no where NEAR the impact sport of Moto/Supercross, having functional strength training is absolutely beneficial and helps prevent injury for any sport. The science is in knowing how much of each ingredient you need to be at the absolute peak.... here for instance is a breakdown of a typical Olympic biathlon athlete
I can confirm, these numbers closely match what I and the rest of the US team were doing during my time in the sport. Typically waking up at 7am, did a 1-1/2-3hr morning session of skiing/training at usually a Level 3 maybe 4 pace, lactate testing done on EVERY lap so our coaches knew exactly where our bodies where at for every training lap we did in conjunction with HR monitors, checking heart rate variability (resting HR) as well as how quickly we could come down from peak HR to resting, etc. There was no "I feel good, my HR is at 145 (my L3 zone)"... if my MMOL (lactate #s) showed otherwise from prior labs then I came down to the level required so I didn't compromise my training session and future training days ahead. Our second afternoon session was a strength program done 2-3 times a week (weights/functional strength/mobility/balance exercises) for 30min-1hr... never more. The biggest misconception I think people have of athletes or training in general is that you must train HARD everyday to improve and be the best... but it couldn't be further from the truth. An Olympic level athlete spends 90% of their time at a pace/training intensity below max threshold and MOSTLY at a fairly normal/easy pace. Weight training is normally a HIGH intensity exercise when lifting weights (for balance or functional strength it can be done at a lower level) but that is why it wasn't incorporated into our program 5-7x a week. It's used to boost the overall fitness of the athlete, increasing that threshold/power output/watts, but you will see negative results doing that daily without proper rest intervals between sessions. I suspect motocross alike, has that balance. You have a limited amount of time with the riders to go ride (build the functional strength/technique), build their base cardio program, then use the weights to improve max output and strength. Most of that training if like ours is done in the offseason as we prep to build up for the race season, usually a 2-3 month window. Once race season hits, and you are traveling (for me it was internationally) the time you have to sit/find a gym, continue proper training sessions is greatly reduced. So what do you prioritize as an athlete? What will give the greatest return? Technique and seat time right... just like for me it was skiing and improving technique to the umpteenth degree of perfection. Lifting weights might give me say a 1% increase in performance/times.... working on skiing and technique 10+%.
Another great point brought up is the genetics. It's absolutely a factor in every athlete. I've played ice hockey, soccer, etc. and noticed I do not have the injury list like some of my teammates do. Some had multiple ACL tears, etc. They were taller, didn't lift/workout/exercise to the same degree, but overall had different genetics and skeletal/muscular makeup. That is why you see pro level athletes of all sports, some are more prone to knee injuries or some seem bullet proof and it's part of their scouting report. It can also be technique related right? A football player who continually blows out his knee or shoulder maybe doing something slightly different in his technique to exacerbate that issue, much like a motocross rider might have worse technique inducing a more susceptible injury pattern. Part of that is prior injuries, their genetic makeup and of course their workout/training routine.
In the end, adding weight training is 100% beneficial to these riders for building bone and muscle density... it will help all else being equal when they hit the ground and giving them functional strength for maneuvering the bike. The biggest issue is giving these athletes time to recover/rest and fitting that training in their already insane schedules. There is a balance required, and cost benefit for every single piece of their training program that is factored into that performance. As such, it's going to be limited by those factors. Lastly, all these injuries and crashes are unique, and as such it's kind of hard to say oh this other rider would of walked away ok or not.... the only way to fairly evaluate that is having the same rider do the EXACT same crash.
Just my .2c
In Summary: Lifting is good!
Do you even lift Bro!?
The supplement argument is probably convoluted by a few factors of what is allowed by WADA, the vitamin/supplement intake that we actually absorb vs the benefits of whole foods where there are parts that you can't supplement for or replicate by supplementing... even protein like Whey Protein vs eating meat with the capillaries and complexities of amino acids, ratios of minerals and other essential nutrients found in natural foods that the body is optimized to breakdown and uptake as a source of fuel. I'm sure they have a pretty balanced and strong diet that optimizes as much as possible with some supplementation, but at some point you got to draw the line. I know I'd hate waking up trying to take 30 pills/supplements on top of eating a healthy diet. Then you have the actual studies of this supplementation vs weight training and again getting that balance across all the other variables that go into this equation.
To answer your question about training methods being applied broadly across a race team. In my experience, when I trained we all had the same training schedule/plan.... however, as the training day went, it was individualized by our results (HR,Lactate, etc.) and changed to support that. We were each unique in what we could tolerate and handle vs the other, I could lift more weights/HIT training efficiently than my teammates... they could ski more laps/longer than I could because they were more efficient, so our training at the end of the week/day ended up being different. But baseline, we had the same plan to start with, then it was tailored to the individual for how our actual performance/metrics showed up in the testing. In addition, we have our days where sometimes the body is broken down more, I might need a day off or light day vs the scheduled plan... and others where I can push longer/harder without going over my threshold numbers. It definitely varied, but a good chunk (80% or more) was the same across the team I would train with. Like you said as well, if I was technically deficient in an area, I would spend additional time on that and maybe put less time in another area where I was excelling if the benefit was greater.
I remember training with one Olympic athlete who was just a genetic freak... and he could train for hours past most of us and had one of the highest VO2 max ever. He didn't even have close to the best technique amongst the team (actually the worst) but was so genetically gifted he could muscle/will his way through the race course just as fast or faster then a technically superior skier who was at an elite elite level fitness. That is just how crazy his genetic ability was. Like Secretariat the thoroughbred horse who had a freak genetic build with a heart estimated at 2.5x the size of the average horse, you just can't train that lol...
Pit Row
As already pointed out, a hypothesis is not a question. It’s an explanation. Your hypothesis was a way to try to answer the title question.
And since you used AC as your ‘limited evidence’, I mentioned Reynard as a counter. Not sure why that triggered you so badly, but apparently it did.
Is that clearer?
If I remember correctly for one of the Olympics we had Koos in men’s XC, and Tom Rothrock in Alpine skiing both from this area competing. It was pretty fun to watch with the local connection!
During the last decade or slightly more we’ve had several of those ‘freak’ athletes from the area. Laura Valaas competed for the Nordic national team, but missed out on the Olympics and then ended up becoming an accomplished cycler. Rothrock went to at least 1 Olympic Games and competed for many years on the World Cup circuit, I just looked and Koos was actually on FOUR Olympic teams, and Tyler Farrar was a pretty good cycling sprinter on several Grand Tour teams, winning a TdF stage on the 4th of July.
Sadly, not one bit of that has led to even an ounce of fitness for me!!!!!
Do the basics——squat, bench, deads, press. Then get your cardio; and lots of it if you are racing MX. It's not complicated. It’s HARD work, but it’s not that complicated. Faaack.
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