2011 Year in Review: Observations and Sticky Points
Now that 2011 is officially coming to a close, I can’t help but sit and recall certain training related key observations/repeated questions/”sticky” points that either repeated themselves or left a real impression on me in 2011. Here are the top ten, in no particular order:
1) Motocross is a skill sport. This means that skill development will usually produce a better outcome than putting the same efforts elsewhere. It seems that the more “advanced” a rider becomes as an amateur, the less proportion of effort they put towards skill development. Rider technique instruction, drills, actually focusing on technique during practice, etc. will usually produce more improvement than say, adding another weight lifting day during the week.
2) Improved skill makes the most of your current fitness. Improving your technique on the bike will result in faster lap times/improved fatigue resistance for the same level of fitness. I am not at all saying ignore fitness, I am reinforcing #1 above. You will ride faster with less fatigue, less drain on your energy reserves and more comfortably with improved technique. Now, add some increased fitness and you can really make the most if your improved skills.
3) Motocross is NOT a pure endurance sport. Motocross DOES have a cardiovascular endurance component (cardiovascular fitness also improves overall health and wellness) but it also has, I would say, equal parts skill, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, mental aspects, etc. You get it. Although cardiovascular training definitely has its place, I find that often riders with a lot of motivation can put too much emphasis on this endurance related component. I routinely hear of riders going on 4+ hour road cycling rides at aerobic only heart rate zones. Although this may be great if you are indeed a road racing cyclist but for even pro length outdoor motos, this is overkill. You are taking energy away from things that are at least equally important, one of them being recovery.
4) For the elite rider, riding should be your biggest energy drain. For those of you lucky enough to have a life that revolves around motocross, the actual moto riding should be your biggest energy drain/recovery cost and all other activities should be planned around that (except maybe for the pure off season period). I hear with surprising regularity that a weight lifting or cycling session drew the most energy out of a rider’s training week. This, to me, defies logic. You are a motocross rider. Specifically training on the bike should be the energy priority and everything else is a distant second. Sacrificing a mediocre day at the track in exchange for a new squat personal record is just wrong, in my opinion. For the other regular people, yes, because of logistics, time constraints, etc. sometimes other weekday, non-moto training activities will be your largest energy drain for the week. Hey, you do what you can with what you have.
5) Spend training energy on your LIMITER! Work on your weakness until it is a strength, then work on what has now become your new weakness. I am surprised that even at top levels some will just reinforce what is already a strength so their overall motocross ability remains the same. You are only as good as your weakest link. The saying is “train your weaknesses, race your strengths.” It may be an ego buster at practice, it may be uncomfortable, but nothing matters more than race day. Keep your goals in mind and ask yourself what will really get you to those goals and you should find that working on your limiters is the key.
6) It is rare that absolute strength is a limiter. It does happen, but in most cases the strength related limiter is muscular endurance. This is the ability to repeat a non-maximal contraction repeatedly over a long period of time. Developing absolute strength does improve muscular endurance but actually working on muscular endurance vs. strength development usually will produce the biggest gains. (Working on muscular endurance after a phase of strength development is ideal.) Muscular endurance work can be done in the gym, especially power endurance (quick, explosive movements) but muscular endurance work can also be done outdoors (cycling, swimming, running, etc.) by doing higher force intervals. Specific muscular endurance is of course being trained while riding moto. Beware as too much muscular endurance work is a large contributor to overtraining.
7) Since motocross riding is a skill oriented sport, you need to practice at speed. Simply put, if you try to moderate your motocross riding by riding slower than your best, well you are getting better at riding slower than your best. I don’t at all believe in moderating moto riding intensity as you might do on a bicycle via heart rate. Cycling isn’t as much as skill sport and the outcome is predominantly based on aerobic fitness so moderating this intensity is part of the training but it’s not the same in moto. You should be practicing as close to race pace as possible as this will sharpen your timing, coordination, mental acuity, and all the other neuromuscular components at the speed required to improve. Again, it’s a skill sport! Practice riding slow, you just get better at riding slow. This, to me, is akin to practicing free throws to almost make it in or practicing chip shots to just miss the green.
8) Lifestyle is supremely important to performance and the higher up you go in the ranks, the more important it becomes. Diet, sleep habits, etc. may get trumped by pure talent in the younger classes but the pure talent advantage shrinks as you advance. Think about it. As you go from C to B, then to A, every change of class causes the field to get whittled down. Only the best of each class advances. This is true in all athletics and this is the real world. Maybe when you were in the 3rd grade at the YMCA everyone got a medal but it’s not so later on. Only the best advance, then only the best advance again. Pretty soon everyone has awesome pure talent and then other things become the separator. Why not stack the deck in your favor and take the things that are totally in your control (lifestyle) and sharpen them as much as you can?
9) It’s hard to go fast if it’s not fun or you’re not happy. Think about why your ride and/or race. It should be for you first and everyone else second. It should be what you want to do. If you are doing it for someone else, for another reason (money?), your long term prognosis is dim. Putting all that effort, taking the risks, all that time for something that you don’t truly want to do will only produce short term happiness and results and it certainly won’t be fun forever. And man, it’s hard to go fast and take the necessary risks if it’s not fun. One way to think about it is this: if every job on the planet paid the same, would you still want to be a pro motocross rider? Or, a bit morbid but just as effective: picture yourself lying peacefully on your death bed, surrounded by all your loved ones. Will you wish you had done something else with your life? Maybe this is a bit deep but I make a lot of calls, usually to parents, that maybe the reason for lackluster results is that their young rider doesn’t REALLY want to be racing.
10) Finally, become a student of the sport. Avoid blindly riding, training, anything. There is so much easily available (FREE!) information on riding, training, health, wellness, you name it that it’s a shame not to study and to learn all in an effort to improve your results. The effort level of doing this research is low compared to the effort level of actually riding and training and can help immensely. It can be motivating, especially in the long term, to actually know why you are doing things. It can make training activities more interesting. Knowing what’s going in your body and why you are doing things in terms of your riding and racing can add another dimension that can keep you mentally engaged. I have found across all sports that I have been involved in both as a competitor and trainer that athletes that have long, successful careers are all students of their respective sports.
Seiji Ishii is the head coach of www.coachseiji.com. Coachseiji.com provides online coaching and personal training services to motorsports athletes. Coach Seiji has worked with both pros and elite amateurs including: Andrew Short, Heath Voss, Ryan Clark, Matt Lemoine, Hunter Hewitt, Austin Stroupe, PJ Larsen, Drew Yenerich, Rusty Potter and Jason Anderson. Learn more at www.coachseiji.com or contact Coach Seiji directly at seiji@coachseiji.com
Originally published on Vurbmoto.com