
Endurance training improves your ability to keep up a certain pace or workload without overtaxing the body. For example, when building endurance, a rider might increase the number of reps performed or reduce the rest time between sets.
Nutrition is also essential for endurance training. Drinking low-sugar electrolyte sports drinks pre-, during, and post-exercise can help you perform longer.
Strength
Motocross is a very demanding sport requiring every body muscle to work at top speed for long periods. It also involves endurance to repeat these intense efforts repeatedly. To reach these performance levels, taking your strength training seriously is essential.
This can be done on days you do not ride or in conjunction with riding. For those riders without access to a gym, body weight exercises will be ideal, especially those which target the core and arms. Training these areas to be solid and stable in the most demanding situations, such as when your legs are exhausted and keeping your balance, is the most challenging.
When using free weights, avoid the “bulking” exercises and focus on high-repetition workouts; these will increase strength more than mass. Remember that a muscular build will reduce your performance, as larger muscles require more fuel and tire much faster.
Cardiovascular
Getting in the best possible cardiovascular shape is vital to any rider, but even more so for motocross racers. The sport demands every muscle in the body and will have your heart pounding lap after lap. You also need to be able to handle the massive momentum of a two-hundred-plus-pound bike.
It is essential to focus on exercises that are high in intensity and short in duration, like in Train to Ride. Some riders use HIIT workouts to help keep their heart rate up. Balance is another crucial area of training; you must be able to hold your balance even when your arms are pumping from the force of the bike.
Proper nutrition will also play a significant role in motocross, as you need to have enough fuel to maintain your energy levels through a race or training session. Avoid excess fat and sugar from fast food and sodas, and instead focus on nutrient-dense foods like whole grains, fruit, vegetables, lean meat and fish, and plant-based protein sources.
Endurance
Developing endurance is a big part of becoming a better motocross rider. Going lap after lap without giving into fatigue and getting injured will take both cardiovascular and muscular endurance, so a motocross workout plan is essential.
Cardiovascular endurance focuses on the ability of your heart and lungs to pump oxygen-rich blood throughout your body. Muscular endurance focuses on your muscles’ ability to contract for extended periods.
Both endurance and stamina can be improved with prolonged low-intensity exercises such as running, swimming, cycling, and jogging. Pieces of training are typically done in specific heart rate zones. They will help you to increase the number of mitochondria in your muscles, improve your capacity to use fat as fuel and develop more capillaries for nutrient delivery.
Allen also recommends incorporating the ‘kitchen sink workout,’ a four- to five-hour ride with a series of intervals to prepare you for the challenges of your target event distance. However, he cautions that over-training can negatively impact cardiovascular and muscular endurance.
Flexibility
Motocross is a highly dynamic action sport that requires a high level of physical exertion. As a result, riders need to be in top physical shape and perform cardiovascular exercises that will increase their endurance.
One effective cardio training method is interval training, which involves alternating periods of high-intensity exercises with low-intensity exercises. This type of training helps to improve endurance by mimicking the intensity of a motocross race, which varies throughout the course.
The agility required for motocross is also essential to help you maintain your speed through the turns. Most motocross courses will feature several different turns, including sharper ones that require more precise handling to keep your bike from skidding.
Additionally, you may encounter sweeping or slow tight turns that will challenge your ability to control the bike. Practice these maneuvers to prepare for the different kinds of turns you’ll encounter during a race.