Vet training, riding and Fitness. what to do :(

[mihylo33]

I got back into riding and racing MX back in 08 after about 23yrs of talking about it. I'm having a hell of a good time and since coming back my riding has become worse. In 08 I did really well, ended up 5th in my district and only did 1/2 the races. Last 2 years have been horrible and the only thing that has changed is that I quit smoking and gained a few pounds.....15 or so.

My starts are great and if the races were only a 1/4 lap I would be top 3 everytime. Its after that 1/4 lap where I just keep fading rapidly and can't hold on anymore. If I go to a practice track or we do pit bike racing I can ride 6-7hrs straight.

I don't have an actual training regiment or diet, so I am wondering what some of you older guys do to get the job done? I try and ride twice a week and last year I was riding 3-4 times a week....

For now I will try and run atleast a mile a couple of times a week.

My goal was to be an A-rider by age 40... right now I'm still running VetC

[Jbeaz]

I wish I had the answer, I started riding about 3 years ago and racing this year. For 3 laps I am staying within the top 10, after that I am praying that I can stay on my bike. I think it has a lot to do with my breathing and lack of cardio. After this weekends crappy finish 10/12 for 10th overall, I am going to by a new bicycle and start riding it daily to see if it can improve. Now I just wish some of the riders would move up to the class they should be in so I can at least compete with true c riders instead of sand baggers.

[mihylo33]

I wish I had the answer, I started riding about 3 years ago and racing this year. For 3 laps I am staying within the top 10, after that I am praying that I can stay on my bike. I think it has a lot to do with my breathing and lack of cardio. After this weekends crappy finish 10/12 for 10th overall, I am going to by a new bicycle and start riding it daily to see if it can improve. Now I just wish some of the riders would move up to the class they should be in so I can at least compete with true c riders instead of sand baggers.

Theres quite a few guys in our Vetc class now and alot I used to beat regularly or be able to hang with. Now they are whipping the crap out of me. We also have a couple of Sandbaggers but the district has been good about getting them escorted out of the race when busted or disqualifying them.

[Padgett]

Many of the young guns would have a hard time keeping up with some of our vet riders. Many of them are old Pro or Expert dash for cash riders and a plastic trophy means nothing to them. Its the win that drives them. Plus they are like us, we learned the old school motocross when 1/2 the fun was banging bars with someone in every corner. Many of the new riders want to fight when they get back to the pits if you get within 2 feet of them on the track. Anyway, conditioning, endurance and cardio is what you need to train for. Lets face it, are hart and body is not made of steel anymore and our minds don't re-act as fast as when we were full of p*ss and vinegar in our youth so we have to work harder. You gave up cigs and don't pick another one up, I respect you for that. Now get up and commit to work out and pumping laps in. You need weight training (not for bulk, but for endurance), good diet (carbs when needed for energy, not energy drinks they wont turn back the clock and make you younger), good cardio exercise, even if its the old jane fonda work out (I would look into the P90X before jane fonda), bike riding is an excellent work out for endurance, cardio and trimming the body fat down. I find running very boreing and my busted up knees just cant take the pounding (and I have always hated running). Just use your imagination, any healh diet or exercise will help in some way or another. You just got to get up and do it. You of all riders know that there is no substitute for just getting on the bike and riding with a training purpose each time you can get on the track. Corners one day, jumps the next.

[mihylo33]

I ran my mile or so with my son. It was a work out for both of us actually. I just picked up a mtn bike (walmart, $100! and its a Mongoose!) about 20 mins ago so I'll be hitting that tonight.

[DMauro]

i teach nutrition, im a certified nutritional counselor and personal trainer, if interested pm me,we could do phone counseling or i can meet you at etown, i will be there wensday.

[myoung]

Just a thought, but maybe something has changed in your mental game? Has anything else changed since '08 in the way you handle various obstacles on the track, corners, whoops, jumps? Are you getting aches in places you didn't before like arm pump or anything? Anything happen to you or others you race with that is making you over think anything while in the heat of battle?

You'd think cutting out the cigs and dropping a few lbs. would make you feel better, but maybe your body is in a state of shock or withdrawl. Possibly your whole system is off enough to mess with your balance, timing and for lack of a better word, bravery. I'm not saying to go back to smoking, just maybe your body misses it and it's messing with your mind.

The fact you can go play ride for hours on end, but hit the wall rapidly in a race seems like more to me than fitness. A huge part of racing is mental. ?

[DMauro]

you bring up a good point about getting tierd quicker while racing. it because you are starting from a cold state and then going all out its tough for everyone. you can practice like that. do a hole shot and sprint for as long as you can,also do it with a friend to help push. also the intensity of racing makes you tighter than practice and hold on tighter so arm pump becomes a factor.

[mihylo33]

i teach nutrition, im a certified nutritional counselor and personal trainer, if interested pm me,we could do phone counseling or i can meet you at etown, i will be there wensday.

I might do E-town Wed as well. I'll let you know if I'm going. Thanks.

Just a thought, but maybe something has changed in your mental game? Has anything else changed since '08 in the way you handle various obstacles on the track, corners, whoops, jumps? Are you getting aches in places you didn't before like arm pump or anything? Anything happen to you or others you race with that is making you over think anything while in the heat of battle?

You'd think cutting out the cigs and dropping a few lbs. would make you feel better, but maybe your body is in a state of shock or withdrawl. Possibly your whole system is off enough to mess with your balance, timing and for lack of a better word, bravery. I'm not saying to go back to smoking, just maybe your body misses it and it's messing with your mind.

The fact you can go play ride for hours on end, but hit the wall rapidly in a race seems like more to me than fitness. A huge part of racing is mental. ?

Ya know you might be on to something there.

I watched my buddy crash several times and they all ended up in hospital trips. We started riding together last year as well! I have also developed this fear of heights lately... ladders and scaffolding bother me and I'm in the construction business.

[myoung]

I might do E-town Wed as well. I'll let you know if I'm going. Thanks.

Ya know you might be on to something there.

I watched my buddy crash several times and they all ended up in hospital trips. We started riding together last year as well! I have also developed this fear of heights lately... ladders and scaffolding bother me and I'm in the construction business.

Speaking from experience, I broke my left arm in January falling over in a turn, then in April I got taken out in a turn and tore my left ACL, MCL and meniscus. After four weeks I returned from the arm injury and it was six weeks after the knee. I've gone back to racing and doing OK, but my mental game is now shot to hell. My fears of left turns or the pain in my knee on the jumps wear me down and after only a few laps, I'm done! I'm also catching myself focusing too much on what's in front of me instead of what's ahead of me, that alone can kill your lap times.

When I'm racing, I have a total different mind set than when I practice ride. The injuries are in the back ground messing with that mind set. In a race, you're there for a purpose and the competition dictates the pace and the the way you attack everything from start to finish. When I'm trying to maintain that pace while hitting the brakes to roll the jumps and worrying about my lines in the left turns, it kills me both mentally and phisically. I used to flow nice and smooth around the track using as little energy as possible, now with all this crap in my head I ride way too erratically using way more energy.

When I go out practice riding, I'm not thinking about things as much and can also, like you, ride for hours. When you play ride, the only one pushing you is yourself and the only time constraint is when you've had enough. There's no start and finish or people you have to beat and the energy you use is focused on just riding whatever pace is comfortable at the time.

For you, it's not due to injuries to yourself, but you might be dealing with things in the back of your mind while you're racing that you don't give a second thought to when you're just practicing. If there's something going on in your head while you're racing that's changed your riding style to a point where you use more energy than you used to, then it could be your problem. The best answer I can think of is seat time, but you've been doing that and you feel you're getting slower. So, the only other thing I can think of is try to figure out what's messing with your mind and find a way to block it out.

[john484]

maybe you have Epstein-Barr virus like chad reed? ha

[Tomok]

Check out RacerX Virtual Trainer. I've learned a lot and gained some fitness from the info and workouts provided by this site. Interval training seems to work well for moto. Get a heart rate monitor to keep your work outs in range, this helps with maintaining motivation. Good luck.

[revitup]

Hey, I have the answer, get a 4-Stroke ?

Going to Pagoda this weekend for the Saturday practice, should be interesting but looking forward to it. Haven't ridden for over 2 1/2 months, ouch!

[mihylo33]

Hey, I have the answer, get a 4-Stroke ?

Going to Pagoda this weekend for the Saturday practice, should be interesting but looking forward to it. Haven't ridden for over 2 1/2 months, ouch!

I haven't talked to you since the season opener! Every time I get on my bike I feel like I haven't ridden in 2.5 months!

I would like to go try that new track out in Hamlin, Pa.

Thanks to all youy other guys for your input. I ran another mile this morning and will probably do 5 or 6 miles on the bike again tonight.

[Gary Semics]

I got back into riding and racing MX back in 08 after about 23yrs of talking about it. I'm having a hell of a good time and since coming back my riding has become worse. In 08 I did really well, ended up 5th in my district and only did 1/2 the races. Last 2 years have been horrible and the only thing that has changed is that I quit smoking and gained a few pounds.....15 or so.

My starts are great and if the races were only a 1/4 lap I would be top 3 everytime. Its after that 1/4 lap where I just keep fading rapidly and can't hold on anymore. If I go to a practice track or we do pit bike racing I can ride 6-7hrs straight.

I don't have an actual training regiment or diet, so I am wondering what some of you older guys do to get the job done? I try and ride twice a week and last year I was riding 3-4 times a week....

For now I will try and run atleast a mile a couple of times a week.

My goal was to be an A-rider by age 40... right now I'm still running VetC

I just turned 55 last May. I’ve done a whole lot of riding and racing since I was 10. I really, really tried to hold off the aging thing and did just about everything possible to stay as fit and as fast as possible. I also had the advantage of riding just about as much as I wanted to since my job is teaching MX Schools and coaching pro riders. I’ve recently come to the conclusion that it all keeps getting more and more difficult every year pass what I believe is the prime year, 23. By the time one hits 30 there is defiantly a disadvantage compared to the early and mid 20s. Then every 5 or 6 years it drops noticeably again. The body’s resiliency just goes down. Our muscles, ligaments and tendons just don’t move and snap back as fast and easily as before. A good example of this is the need for reading glasses around the age of 42, for most people. This is because at younger ages the eyes were able to adjust and correct this by focusing. In order to focus the eyes had to change shape. As we age this elasticity ability becomes more difficult which doesn’t allow for that much change in the shaping of the eyes. The same type of thing happens to all the tissues in the body. Our joints are not as smooth and strong and therefore can not take all the abuse. Recovery times become much longer also. For example a rider in his early 20s can ride hard 4 days a week and also fit in 2 days of hard supplement (fitness) training and then still be stronger and fresh for raceday. If a guy in his 40s did all that in one week he would be over trained and wore out for the race. Therefore the practice and training volume for an older rider is much less.

There is also the natural instinct of self preservation that becomes much stronger as one ages. A young racer will take more risks and hold the throttle on in dangerous situations where an older rider will not take those risks. An older rider is more prone to injury in a crash and takes longer to heal from injuries. The list goes on and on.

One can try to fool one’s self for a long time but sooner or later mother nature wins; the facts are the facts and like I said earlier it all keeps getting more and more difficult the older we get. Again, I think the prime age is 23; after that it slowly starts going downhill. The positive fact is that after 23 a racer becomes more mature and can prepare better. Many times this can carry him until about 30 but after that he is defiantly giving up some potential.

So my point is to all you young riders, enjoy it while you can and give it your all, not only on race day but in your preparation. Sorry to burst you older guy’s bubble but you all know that anyway. It takes someone as stubborn as I was to try something as impossible as that. But hey look at it this way. Us older guys have more wisdom and can have fun in other ways that younger people can’t.

Learn from my experience. That’s what I do now, teach motocross skills, preparation and mind set.

Testimonies: http://www.gsmxs.com/testimonials.htm

[mihylo33]

Hey Gary,

Thanks for posting. Where I live and my district (6) we have a really large Vet class. I regularly see a full gate in VetC as well as the A and the B vet classes. How about a vet training and practice routine video so guys like myself can train and move forward enough to line up with Carsten and Frenchie.....

Unless of course you think that the same diet and training/practice routine is the same for vets as it is the under 30 crowd.

[revitup]

I haven't talked to you since the season opener! Every time I get on my bike I feel like I haven't ridden in 2.5 months!

I would like to go try that new track out in Hamlin, Pa.

That long, whew. Me too on Hamlin but it's about 3 hours, ugh!

A young racer will take more risks and hold the throttle on in dangerous situations where an older rider will not take those risks. An older rider is more prone to injury in a crash and takes longer to heal from injuries. The list goes on and on.

That's me even though the younger races are in their 30s since I ride the Vet class also. Some of those 30-35 year olds are fast though. For example, if I'm one of the 6 riders going into the corner on the start, I'll be the first to back down so I make it through clean rather than risking a pileup.

You know you're getting old when you wake up and something hurts for no apparent reason ?

Good luck with your training.

[cd01]

awesome guys keep the posts coming this is so relevent to me LOL

I rode as a kid then stopped, Im 37 now and 3 years ago got into mx through a mate, then hooked up with a riding crew 10 years younger than me.

My first bike with zero experiance 07 CRF 450r i was 125 kg (275pound) and I was so unfit. They bike scared the living crap out of me and my weight and fitness meant I couldnt hold on even trail riding. But something in me just wanted to keep going even after a stupid crash that resulted in a broken foot, I had a good look at my gut in the mirror one day and said thats it.

I went on a diet (optifast) and stopped drinking soft drink, and lightly exercised and Im now 95 kg (209 pounds) my plan is to get to 85 kg but ive sort of hit a platau. My riding has gone from couldnt turn a corner LOL to riding all the MX tracks locally on practice days and keeping up. I was ready to upgrade my bike this year and bought the kato 350 which will hopefully give me the improvement I need to line up in vets next year.

So what Im getting at is that although you may get disheartened by the fact that you are not as fast as you once were, the total benefit for riding is well worth it as we age as it keeps you fit. I know that if it was not for my love of mx I would have been even more obese than I once was.

[Gary Semics]

Hey Gary,

Thanks for posting. Where I live and my district (6) we have a really large Vet class. I regularly see a full gate in VetC as well as the A and the B vet classes. How about a vet training and practice routine video so guys like myself can train and move forward enough to line up with Carsten and Frenchie.....

Unless of course you think that the same diet and training/practice routine is the same for vets as it is the under 30 crowd.

The diet and exercise programs in my MX Conditioning DVD would also work for the older riders. They would just cut back accordingly on the frequency, duration and intensity.

http://www.gsmxs.com/catalog/catalog_detail.asp?CID=176&CI=2915&PI=25683

[mihylo33]

Fantastic Gary!

Thank you.