Skills First:

Motocross is a dynamic sport that requires extreme skills. Many conditions on the track present challenges for which riders must practice for hours on the bike. These conditions include coming off the starting gate and stealing a hole-shot to the first turn, which requires partial luck and tremendous skill. Through the first turn choosing the right position, speed and placement within the pack demands further skill because this is the danger zone that often determines whether a rider continues with the race or goes down, often in a heap of other fallen riders and their bikes, losing so much distance that winning is virtually impossible. Throughout the course are numerous other conditions that, without sufficient skill, will slow the rider or will take him or her down completely: Cornering through different and often nasty surfaces, riding through ruts uphill and downhill, negotiating through tight turns, navigating through obstacles, attacking jumps of all kinds, taming uneven whoops, and tackling aggressive drop offs.

And still for each of these course requirements are numerous styles of executions, all of which are specific skills that can only be attained by spending endless hours on the bike.

Freestyle Motocross, which requires amazing and extreme maneuvers while flying through the air on the motorcycle, is a related sport that demands similar yet very aggressive skill sets. Like motocross, the rider of freestyle must put in countless hours on the bike in order to participate in this relatively young and exciting sport.

A Physical Sport

Aside from skills, however, the rider in motocross must possess physical fitness in the form of strength, power, flexibility and endurance. These fitness qualities enable the rider to perform with better ease, greater conservation of energy, and less injury risks. Greater ease during performance allows the rider to concentrate on technical maneuvers, while energy conservation gives the rider the physical and mental advantage at the end of the race or during the last few laps. Lower injury risk not only prolongs the rider’s participation in the sport but also gives the rider better opportunity to improve (when you’re inured, you can’t ride; when you can’t ride, you can’t improve).

As bikes get lighter and faster, skills and physical fitness must be kept up. Spending time on the bike will develop skills, but training off the bike will develop the kind of fitness that will put a more athletic body on the bike. The fitness training program for motocross racers focuses on increasing total-body strength, total-body power, flexibility, and endurance.

Strength:

Strength improves the rider’s capability to handle the bike and allows the rider to easily maneuver his or her own body in relationship to the bike. Structural strength of the body, especially in muscles, bones, joints, and connective tissues, increases protection of the rider during hard landing or crashing.

Power:

Power allows the freestyle rider to manipulate the bike or his body on and around the bike with lightning speed, which means he can complete tricks or maneuvers effectively. For example, a Double Can-Can, where both legs are whipped to one side of the bike in midair and then returned to the foot pegs before landing, requires fast movement of the body. In fact, in the Pendulum, where both legs are whipped not only to one side but to both sides of the bike and then returned to the foot pegs, requires tremendous power and speed. The more explosive the rider can throw his body into position for the pendulum, the father and longer he can extend his body, thus earning higher scores. In almost any midair trick, the quicker the rider can move into position, the more complete and impressive the trick appears -- almost as though the hang time is indefinite!

Power also plays a critical part in motocross and Supercross racing during jumping and landing, especially in those jumps where the rider squats explosively into the bike (on the face of the jump) to compress the suspensions and then using rebounding for extra lifts, while in other jumps where the rider, once in the air, must allow the bike to be “sucked up” into the body to minimize jump height and distance, as to not lose speed. And power is equally important where quick maneuvers must sometimes be made to correct a technical mistake.

Flexibility:

Flexibility gives the rider more freedom of motion, especially while performing tricks in freestyle motocross. With more flexibility, the rider can place his body into extreme positions, always a crowd pleaser and commanding of high scores. This flexibility also serves the motocross racers, too, such as during those times when the racer loses balance on the bike, throwing his body into extreme and odd positions, but somehow still manages to recover and stay on the bike and on course. Research has not shown that flexibility decreases injury risks, but if it helps the rider be more proficient and more agile on the bike, it may indirectly decrease the potential for injury.

Endurance:

The endurance to last gives the rider mental sharpness and physical ability to perform at his or her best through the entire race or to perform runs after runs. Less technical mistakes can occur, optimal body positioning can be assumed, good handling of the bike can be maintained, and safety can be maximized. A properly designed endurance training program using intense circuit-style training is superior to the common, steady-state aerobic exercises such as running or riding a stationary bike.

The Motocross Workout:

Some core exercises include whole-body lifts such as:

Deadlifts for total body strength
Squats for leg and back strength
Power Cleans for explosive legs and trunk
Clean Pulls for explosive legs and upper body
Pushups for upper-body strength
Power Pushups for upper-body power
Pull-ups for upper back, arm and shoulder-girdle strength
Medicine Ball Throws for powerful abs and back
Circuit-style lifts for incredible physical and mental endurance

Through the proper design of exercises, the Motocross Workout program addresses all physical requirements in the most optimal way possible. The target areas for the motocross rider are the legs, back, shoulders and abs. We believe that having a stronger, more athletic body allows the rider to have one less thing to worry about while on the bike, so that focus can be placed fully on winning.