getting in shape for racing

[GingerKid]

alright, i went to my first open practice on sept.9th and after words i was extremely beat, everything on my body hurt and during the day i was getting allot of muscle cramps and stuff. after that i joined a gym and go pretty much every other day. so i went to another open practice last sat. and i felt allot better but i am just wondering what kinds of exercises i should do. when i go to the gym i do all the weight lifting machines, 3 sets of 12 for about 45min, and sometimes a half hour of this machine were your legs and arms move at the same time. so if i want to focus on being able to last allot longer with out getting tired on the track what kind of stuff should i do?

thanks allot,

mike

[Tacmed]

Hay Mike i know the feeling of tired it stinks. The one thing you need to do is work on cardio running swimming and so on something to build up your wind. But don't forget the weights like you are doing. Another option is to talk to one of the trainers at the gym you joined they are usually good for a boat load of knowledge. just watch out for the muscle heads that just push weights only.Hope this helps and good luck.

[revodude503]

when you lift weights, do it slow reps as you will build muscle instead of buring it out. I just started lifting really slow and I'm getting great results.

[Indiana]

I second the cardio thing. I believe it's the most important thing you can do. It doesn't matter if it's running, cycling, elyptical trainer but getting this conditioning will help tons. The weights are great and will absolutely help but think of the weight training as supplemental to the cardio. One of my good friends is not real active is the HS scene (ex- motocrosser) but whenever he rides he wins because he has fantastic cardio shape and has no drop off. He almost 50! An added benefit is that the cardio is also going to keep you around for a long time!

[thillsam]

I second the cardio thing. I believe it's the most important thing you can do.

Amen.

Jump Rope. Jump rope slowly, deliberately compressing your legs as far as or slightly farther than they would whne you squatted on the pegs on your bike. Do as many of these as you can at one time - it's no different than riding lots and lots of whoops/jumps/logs etc. Ride your bicycle for more than 30-45 minutes as often as you can. Scramble up your nearest mountain once a week. Anything to get your heart rate up and keep it there, but keep it interesting so you're motivated to do it frequently.

Do exercises that simulate the motions of riding without actually riding. Pushups will let you brake harder into every turn, consecutively.

Pullups and rows let you hang on to the bike harder over long periods of time - like down a straigthaway a tthe end of a race or practice session...

Take a used pair of handlebars, install some used grips and hang them from the rafters on your porch with a tiedown. Do sets of pullups in as many as you can with your hands oriented in the same position you ride in on the bars. Better yet, do this with your brake and clutch fingers on their respective levers if you've got some old perches and levers lying around.

If you have the right place, hook the tiedown to a place on a wall about ~6-8 feet high and hang the bars from it. Lay an old matress or sleeping bag down, and lay on this. Now pull your body weight up with the bars and tiedown, in a rowing motion that simulates riding whoops or pulling hte bike up into a wheelie. To hit those odd muscles, turn the bars about as far as you would when your bike is at full lock with each rep. Alternate sides. Do as many of these as you can in each set.

The whole idea is that when you're having fun riding, most people typically go and go until they can't even hold on anymore - this is when your body is REALLY motivated to adapt to the demands. You want to try your best to simulate this, don't do fixed-number "sets" of any exercise that demands more endurance than strength(like the ones listed above, even pullups!) - do as many as you can each time after or during a little cardio warmup.

Jump rope or run in place in between exhaustive sets - the motocross track never letts you rest if you're really riding hard, why should your training do it?

Keep it fun!

[NoFearOakley48]

ive tried alot and right now i do on the treadmill : on speed 5.0 5 mins of speed walking (REALLY makes ur legs strong) and then 5 mins of jogging and keep switching for 30 mins, then i do pushups, sit ups, crunches, squats and it works great and really makes ur endurnce better

[pp99_99]

All of the above.. but also look at your diet and limit the fatty foods!

[oldnbold]

Gym work: 3 sets of 15 with only 30 secs of rest between sets. Your final set should have reps 12-15 at nearly failure(inability to lift...too tired) then quickly move to next excercise and continue. this keeps your heart rate elevated (cardio)Be warned: there will be a lot of people just sitting on the machines in your way. Makes you want to ask them "&%$#@!, are you posing or what?"

Buy a heart rate monitor and use it. For me, that has been a huge benefit to my cardio regimen. It tells me to speed up or slow down. My running is not that fast, but I can run for an hour nearly non-stop @ 85% max HR and still be able to sprint the final 1/2 mile @ 98%+ heart rate.

Keep interested: the above is hard work and gets kinda boring. I jog on mountain bike trails with pretty good elevation changes. It's never boring. The gym has some great looking ladies so that keeps me from getting too bored.

[Gary Semics]

That's a lot of good advice and I'm sure it would help but to get the most benefit you have to be on a specific type of training especially designed for MX. Through my many years of racing, training and coaching I have put my findings in my MX Conditioning DVD. There is some much info in there that you will get the best results from your hard work. Check it out on the Technique DVD page of my website. THere's just way too much to list here in this thread.

[mikerides33]

Amen.

Jump Rope. Jump rope slowly, deliberately compressing your legs as far as or slightly farther than they would whne you squatted on the pegs on your bike. Do as many of these as you can at one time - it's no different than riding lots and lots of whoops/jumps/logs etc. Ride your bicycle for more than 30-45 minutes as often as you can. Scramble up your nearest mountain once a week. Anything to get your heart rate up and keep it there, but keep it interesting so you're motivated to do it frequently.

Do exercises that simulate the motions of riding without actually riding. Pushups will let you brake harder into every turn, consecutively.

Pullups and rows let you hang on to the bike harder over long periods of time - like down a straigthaway a tthe end of a race or practice session...

Take a used pair of handlebars, install some used grips and hang them from the rafters on your porch with a tiedown. Do sets of pullups in as many as you can with your hands oriented in the same position you ride in on the bars. Better yet, do this with your brake and clutch fingers on their respective levers if you've got some old perches and levers lying around.

If you have the right place, hook the tiedown to a place on a wall about ~6-8 feet high and hang the bars from it. Lay an old matress or sleeping bag down, and lay on this. Now pull your body weight up with the bars and tiedown, in a rowing motion that simulates riding whoops or pulling hte bike up into a wheelie. To hit those odd muscles, turn the bars about as far as you would when your bike is at full lock with each rep. Alternate sides. Do as many of these as you can in each set.

The whole idea is that when you're having fun riding, most people typically go and go until they can't even hold on anymore - this is when your body is REALLY motivated to adapt to the demands. You want to try your best to simulate this, don't do fixed-number "sets" of any exercise that demands more endurance than strength(like the ones listed above, even pullups!) - do as many as you can each time after or during a little cardio warmup.

Jump rope or run in place in between exhaustive sets - the motocross track never letts you rest if you're really riding hard, why should your training do it?

Keep it fun!

Phenominal post. Thank you for these great tips