Need a Zero to Hero workout

Have you checked into crossfit type workouts?

You need high cardio intensive works out with some weight training to improve muscles but mostly the strength and conditioning that Crossfit provides is a great stating point for moto.

Dcope17 wrote:

So, I'am 41 and getting back into some riding. A little out in the desert during the winter also been to a few tracks over the last 2 months. My problem is I can't even do one hard lap!
I do mountain bike about 4 hours a week and while riding, my breathing and heart rate are not too accelerated so its all my strength that is my limiting factor. After hitting the track 4 times so far, I have noticed a significant improvement but I'm still WAYYYYY off my desired pace .
I ride a CRF450 and I can't recall really ever hitting WOT simply because I can't hang on. ( I mean I can but only if I want to pull off the track half a lap later )
Can probably hit the gym 2-3 times a week to get up to where I want to be. I weigh just under 220lbs so I plan on dropping below 200 just to help out as well.
Any workouts that you have tried that has worked well for you? I've done some research but its all different and everyone says their method is the best. So, just looking for some actual people with successful results to chime in with a link or something. ( workout can be weights and cardio, doesn't need to be strength only )
Thanks everyone.
Dan

Hey there Dan,

I am in a similar place as well, only 34 . We weigh about the same as well. I have a few friends that into fitness and do the competition thing. I never wanted to be like that, but what I used them for was for dieting and workout routines. I have been on a low to no fat diet and I make my carbs match my protein. this is a proven method as I have lost of 30 pounds and it has stayed off. I used to hit the gym 5 days a week, but now its about 3 days (4 if I am lucky).

At the gym, I focus the beginning of my workout with cardio. (30 min of walking and max incline) and then 20 min of biking. From there I will move to my core and then pick out at muscle group. then repeat.

I have my career and have been working hard to be fit and healthy for the family and myself (and to hang out on the track)

Hope this sparks some ideas and motivation for you.

KR

Not being able to hang on is because youre not leaning forward into the acceleration. Also front squats in proper form(not the one where your hands are crossed) will help keep you planted on the bike under acceleration. Sounds like you have a disconnect between your legs and upper body. The front squats will help this tremendously.

Put a stop watch on your bars, the next 3 times you go ride a track do 3, 20 minute moto's with at least 30 minutes rest in between, don't putt around but don't try to race.

You can work out all you want and it will never help like riding moto's, once you get into riding shape you can focus more on the gym.

above all else, relax and freaking enjoy it, the only one you have to impress is yourself.

Sounds to me like you need to concentrate on breathing properly and riding loose on the bike.

greg direnzo PhD has an app that simplifies training. he writes all the workouts for me and my students. He also currently works with jimmy albertson, chase marquier, and aj catanzaro. He tailors your workouts to your goals but more importantly the time you can dedicate to working out and the equipment you have access to. For 200 PER month you can have your own professional trainer tailored to mx.

Concept 2 rowing machine. Everybody has their own opinions but IMO, if you have limited time to work out, you'll get as good of an overall workout from rowing as anything else you can do. As previously stated though, nothing beats seat time on the bike.

Join a gym with a concept 2 rower.

Using proper form start at 3 minutes of rowing and every other day add 30 seconds.

When you can row for 25 minutes you'll be a beast.

mxwrench66 wrote:

greg direnzo PhD has an app that simplifies training. he writes all the workouts for me and my students. He also currently works with jimmy albertson, chase marquier, and aj catanzaro. He tailors your workouts to your goals but more importantly the time you can dedicate to working out and the equipment you have access to. For 200 PER month you can have your own professional trainer tailored to mx.

Lol there's so much free knowledge out there. If money is coming outta your ears maybe 200/month is OK.

Nothing will get you in moto shape like racing- practicing, lifting, biking, rowing, etc..will only get you so far. Race a couple classes and run as hard as you can within reason and you will start to get over that hump...

I lift and bike fairly consistently year round, but until I actually race a handful of motos I suck wind..

Bro, being that it's Monday. You will start the week off with Chest! International Chest Day is always on Monday.

I recommend a kick boxing gym if you have one local. 45 minutes of straight cardio mixed with punching, kicking the bag along with push-ups, ab workouts, and plenty of time on your feet. Guaranteed sweat after!

Been on the program over 3 weeks now and can say I noticed a huge fitness gain in my race yesterday, as our club does two +18 minute motos

You are all awesome, thanks for the advise.

I figured riding was the best thing to get me into shape. when I raced back in my 20's, I never went to the gym or trained specifically, I just rode all the time. ( I was younger also )
I'm thinking I'll start hitting the track every weekend. ( no time during the week to get to the track ) I like the 3 - 20 min motos with a break between. Sounds better than just riding at a slow pace for a longer time. More like interval training.

It pretty much is my back that I feel the most sore then next day. so some gym time during the week. maybe even the crossfit training as there is one close to me. just depends on the $$ for that.

Will check into greg direnzo PhD as well. At $200 / mo, that cuts into my riding budget quite a bit though.

Last, as I watched Budds Creek over the weekend, I notice they do sit a bit more than I do. I guess being older, I don't want all that jarring going up through my back, so I stand more often. I'm sure a little weight loss will help with that and maybe being more selective on where I sit or stand and try to maximize my seat time for less energy to hang on.

Again, thanks for the tips.

Addition. Concept 2 rower... check

olds cool wrote:

Concept 2 rowing machine. Everybody has their own opinions but IMO, if you have limited time to work out, you'll get as good of an overall workout from rowing as anything else you can do. As previously stated though, nothing beats seat time on the bike.

Great machine. Even 2000m/day helps to start. I have had one sitting in my living room for years and have recently started doing 2k a day using various intensity. My average time for 2k is around 10:30 and fastest is 9:30 but the humbling part is watching people on youtube do it in sub 6 min. - have to remember you are competing against yourself.

olds cool wrote:

Concept 2 rowing machine. Everybody has their own opinions but IMO, if you have limited time to work out, you'll get as good of an overall workout from rowing as anything else you can do. As previously stated though, nothing beats seat time on the bike.

brewrabb wrote:

Great machine. Even 2000m/day helps to start. I have had one sitting in my living room for years and have recently started doing 2k a day using various intensity. My average time for 2k is around 10:30 and fastest is 9:30 but the humbling part is watching people on youtube do it in sub 6 min. - have to remember you are competing against yourself.

8 rounds of 500 meter rows with 1 minute rest in between
4 rounds of 1200 meter rows with 4 minutes rest in between
3 rounds of 2000 meter rows with 3 minutes rest in between

I do one of those 3 days a week, and that has helped me out a lot. The 500 meter rows are all out and I try to keep a high intensity with the 1200 & 2000 meter rows.

Simulates sprint laps which is good with the 500 meter rows.

Trueisms:

- You cannot out-exercise a poor diet. What goes in your mouth has as much affect as anything else. Especially from age 40 on.

- You cannot animalize the exercise without recovery built in. Especially from age 40 on. Rowing, Bicycling and Swimming still build cardio, endurance and strength, but with shorter recovery periods.

- Just like you don't climb the entire staircase in one step.....you should approach conditioning with lots of consistent small steps.

- All the work is for naught if you don't have some fun at the same time. Have fun.

This is my two bits. Take it for what it is worth. And Good luck/have fun.

Ride, Row Machine, run or MTB

Rowing machine works wonders. But it SUCKS. Most boring exercise on earth. I just find it flat out no fun. And you wont do it if it's no fun. I personally like jump rope. Not sure why.

I ride single speed bike, jump rope, stationary bike, etc.

I can provide a hero to zero plan.

jrrundle wrote:

I can provide a hero to zero plan.

LOL, Do I want to hear this?

p90x

Seat time

This was posted up a little while ago, seemed a lot of people liked it. http://m.vitalmx.com/forums/Moto-Related,20/Moto-Centric-20-30-Minute-Work-Out-armpumpkiller,1324045

I take it that you're a beginner. My question for you is do you think maybe you're trying a little too hard on the 450? I know that I feel like I'm going so slow on a 450 but that is just kind of how you have to ride them or else they ride you into the ground. I can go scorch a lap on a 450 and feel like I'm Tomac chasing the pack but my arms and heart will be toast for the next 10 minutes.

As mentioned there is no substitute for seat time. You say you get tired after one lap, well just keep going for 2 or 3 after you hit that wall. Don't do anything stupid, you can still just roll jumps but try to keep going and maintain good form, standing up when you're supposed to, and keeping your head up.

For normal weekend warrior guys any type of high intensity circuit training works wonders for your strength/conditioning. My recommendation is to download an interval timer and build some workouts. One of my favs is 30 seconds on/30 seconds off for 10 minutes. For the work periods alternate Squats, Mountain climbers, Pushups, High Knees, and Burpees. Commit and go all out. That's how we ride, we commit and go all out and its difficult to replicate. Balance this high intensity training with easy training (think your mountain bike sessions). To start off with I wouldn't do this workout more than once per week.

As you get more acclimated you can manipulate the frequency (more times per week or multiple times per day), You can increase intensity (make the intervals longer or make the rest shorter), You can also increase the duration (increase from 10 minutes to 15 minutes). All of these factors play into your workout and manipulate them accordingly a there is some give and take when it comes to this stuff. If you increase duration you may lower the intensity or vice versa. I find that 10 - 12 minutes is good for race pacing @ the local level.

My best advice is to take baby steps. Its definitely a process and if you go too hard too soon you can injure yourself or burn yourself out. I wouldn't worry about absolute strength at this point because I can squat, deadlift, and bench more than probably any professional level motocross racer but they'll take my lunch money from me on the track. Just my .02. Good Luck!

GTL, bro

mxwrench66 wrote:

greg direnzo PhD has an app that simplifies training. he writes all the workouts for me and my students. He also currently works with jimmy albertson, chase marquier, and aj catanzaro. He tailors your workouts to your goals but more importantly the time you can dedicate to working out and the equipment you have access to. For 200 PER month you can have your own professional trainer tailored to mx.

yz133rider wrote:

Lol there's so much free knowledge out there. If money is coming outta your ears maybe 200/month is OK.

it's about training with a plan, not having to question if what your doing is right, and investing in yourself. You hold yourself more accountable when you have a set schedule and money invested. not everything you read on the internet is correct believe it or not. Well worth the investment. some people spend 50 bucks a week at Starbucks.

Brad460 wrote:

Nothing will get you in moto shape like racing- practicing, lifting, biking, rowing, etc..will only get you so far. Race a couple classes and run as hard as you can within reason and you will start to get over that hump...

I lift and bike fairly consistently year round, but until I actually race a handful of motos I suck wind..

Hi, i am not sure i totally agree, for the sub average rider i believe we would benifit from more time exercising during the week than hanging on for grim death for a moto on the weekend, sure racing youre way into fittness sounds romantic but i think weekly workouts may be of more benefit.

Brad460 wrote:

Nothing will get you in moto shape like racing- practicing, lifting, biking, rowing, etc..will only get you so far. Race a couple classes and run as hard as you can within reason and you will start to get over that hump...

I lift and bike fairly consistently year round, but until I actually race a handful of motos I suck wind..

inthebadboycorner wrote:

Hi, i am not sure i totally agree, for the sub average rider i believe we would benifit from more time exercising during the week than hanging on for grim death for a moto on the weekend, sure racing youre way into fittness sounds romantic but i think weekly workouts may be of more benefit.

Ok ..then don't ride..dry hump a rowing machine all week like suggested above

Diet for weight loss (read:fat loss). I lost over 30 lbs on a high fat/low carb diet. That was 3 years ago. Lots of info on this online.

Exercise for physical conditioning. Lots of options. I run and do body weight exercises. Probably better options but it's easy and doesn't require stupid gyms and equipment.

Lots of good suggestions for workouts in this thread. I would add/recommend "doing the Murph" once a week in addition to some of the above workout routines. The Murph (if you don't know) is:

1) Run 1 mile (warm up - jog it and try to complete it at around 8 minutes
2) Do the following in any order:
- 100 pull ups
- 200 push ups
- 300 squats(unweighted)
Run 1 mile (run it as fast as you can)

Complete the above in less than an hour. Complete it in under 40 minutes and you are a badass.