This is a spin off from another thread but I wanted to address the fitness aspect of track riding and its importance. Its nothing surprising and I'm sure everyone has felt a little lazy getting off the bike in the afternoon sessions and even more so if you run two days in a row. This can cause obvious problems when your body positions is lacking but your sense of speed remains the same. Think it would be a good idea for people to share what they do to keep in shape and ready to put in those consistent lap times. I would consider myself in better shape then 90% of America but my weak points come in heavy braking zones towards the end of the day (Shoulders). Obviously legs from going back and forth across the bike. Below are the current exercises I do specifically with track riding in mind. I do cardio every time I'm at the gym abs about every other and shoulders once a week giving the muscles time to heal between workouts. -20 minutes of cycling 3-4 times/wk -Cardio -Lateral Raises (Dumbbell) -Shoulders -Front Raises (Dumbbell) -Shoulders -Light Weight Squats (High Rep) -Legs -Hip Abductor - Legs shhhhhhhh lol -Front and Side Planks (Core/Abs/Obliques) -Standing Dumbbell side Crunch (Core/Abs/Obliques) I'm no expert but to me these are the areas I think are abused the most. What do the rest of you think?
Squats, lunges and wall sits. I have found that a hardcore climb on the treadmill - appx. 3MPH walk at MAXIMUM incline for at least 10 minutes - has helped tremendously with the legs. I also try and run about 5 miles per week. It's not a ton but it keeps my doctor commenting on my low pulse. :lmao: My routine is a circuit of various training including the above two to three times a week along with a 1-2 mile run on the off days. Then there's also usually one day a week where we lift weights with upper body, mainly chest, shoulders, back, arms. Planks and running keep the waist to a reasonable ~36 inches (I'm 6'4" tall).
Dave where are you working out? (International for me) I also learned that you work with Michael Dick who was a good friend of mine growing up. -Nathan
Haha, yep, Mike's my boy! I train with Dan Ritchie of Miracles Fitness. Their target client was actually the elderly in the beginning but they have made strong efforts to diversify their client base. Dan and I are close associates so it is more like working out together at this point and less of him training me.
For anyone that may not be able to afford a trainer and just has dumbells and freeweights around then Crossfit may be a good program to look into. I do crossfit workouts about 3 times a week with another day of my own strength building excercises. The workouts that they post online can mostly be done at a gym. Some such as; rope climbs, rowing machines, or swims however cannot be done. A typical Crossfit focused gym membership will run 100 dollars a month but you can download an app, like I do, and save a good bit of money and still get a great work out. Crossfit.com is the website and it's a ton of fun in a relatively short amount of time.
hip adductor, exercises to compliment the abductor exercises. mostly considered a "ladies exercise", works great for all forms of motorcycling. as well as the aformentioned stationary cyling (spinning classes), and running also help with cardio and leg strength/stamina. dont forget the chest, back, shoulders, bi's and tri's, to muscle the bike and your body position around. as far as losing weight.... simple math, calories in.... calories out. Ski
Ride bicycles, I've noticed that when I take my bike around the paddock instead of the pit bike my legs stay fresher for the entire weekend and I'm out of shape, but I started back at the gym an that's gonna change.. Has to
I started going to the gym - next week makes a year for me. Up until last week, I was going 4-5 days a week (though for the first 3 months I started it was 6 days) and while I don't keep up with all the exercise names specifically or know what each muscle group is called, I noticed upper leg strength/quad muscles helped me the most on the bike. I also noticed it has allowed me to run/jog better and longer. I do 30 mins of cardio every visit, or a bit less if I pick the treadmill and run 2 miles. I'm also big on my core muscles, including the 6 pack that is impossible to achieve haha, my obliques and lower back muscles. Trying to "wrap it up"! I've lost 20 pounds in the year! Now and through the holiday season, I picked up a seasonal position at Amazon as a 2nd job and this requires me on my feet 5 hours a night/4 days a week, so the unfortunate part is I lose my strength training to the extent I'd like to do it, but I get plenty of walking in! I shoot for 2 days a week now in the gym where I work out hard.
IMHO if you want to keep it simple, bicycling is hands down the best training for riding motorcycles. It works the right muscle groups, low impact, and is great cardio. Learning proper pedal stroke and how to use more of your legs and core while pedaling instead of just mashing on the pedals helps too. JT - riding a pedal bike around the paddock between sessions probably does help muscle recovery a bit.
I will copy and paste my comments on this topic from the other thread (because im lazy )... I can contribute my riding improvement over the past 18 months to 2 things: 1. Getting quality instruction (JD Speed Academy) 2. Realizing that track riding/racing is an actual sport...and you need to train for it as such. Along with getting some good instruction and learning what i was doing wrong (and why i was crashing and how to prevent it), I lost 35lbs and trained for riding just like i did for other sports. Lots of cardio, leg and core workouts, etc. It made a huge difference in how i feel at the end of sessions/races. A couple of years ago, i was more into lifting weights/bodybuilding. I could bench press the motorcycle, but i couldn't ride it hard for more than 6-8 laps. I would struggle to ride hard/fast even at the end of Sprint races...a Solo 20 race was out of the question. Now my pace stays consistent throughout the Sprints and I have turned my fastest laps at the end of the second Solo race in a day (with only a 30min gap between Solo races). I never really saw riding as an athletic sport. When i did, and started actually training for it, it made a huge difference. As far as what i do... I actually do anywhere from 2-4 different "workouts" each day. I will get up first thing in the morning and walk on the treadmill, usually 4% incline at 3.6-3.7mph, for 30min. Then after lunch I go to the gym for a couple of hours and play basketball for 30min, then do some weights (low weight, high reps, focusing on muscles we use while riding), then 25-30min on the stationary bike, then abs/core, then 30 more min of basketball. Then in the evenings, after supper, i will get on the treadmill and walk again like i did in the morning, and/or i will take Caesar for a long walk. If the weather is good, mid-morning or mid-afternoon I will ride the bicycle (on the road).
We did an exercise in basketball that is very good for bike riding. I dont know the formal name of it, but we called them "slides". Basically you squat down till your thighs are parallel with the floor and keep your eyes/head up. Then while staying in the squat position and while keeping your legs shoulder width apart (dont let them come together under you), you move laterally for 3 "slides", then reach your outside hand down and touch the floor (court). Then you move 3 slides in the opposite direction and touch the floor with that outside hand. You just slide back and forth while staying in a squat position with your eyes/head up and while keeping your legs apart. The muscles targeted in that exercise are the ones we use when riding a bike. Definitely spend the majority of your time working on your thighs and core muscles. When i started training seriously for riding/racing, a good friend told me "it boils down to whether or not you can support your own body weight for 30-40 minutes".
Those slides sound rough, though I'm sure they're effective! I ran two miles and lifted weights (upper body) this morning. My favorite combo.
You really can't beat running. There are lots of exercises that will target specific muscles we use when riding (like the slides, squats, etc). But you just can't beat some good running and/or bicycle training.
Considering P90X to drop a few pounds. Have some friends that are in much better shape than when they started it. Any of the STT family have any experience with P90X?
Yup. Have a couple friends who had results similar to what I achieved with my trainer - you just have to do it. That's the hard part. The results from having your ass handed to you daily are guaranteed.
Yep, i know a few people who have had success with p90x. But like he said, you just have to DO it. Really, the same can be said (and the same results can be had) from just about ANY workout program. You just have to put in the time and effort. I actually bought the p90x program, like 2 years ago. It is still in the box. I dont like being told what to do. I want to do the workout that I want to do, not what somebody else tells me to do.
P90x works pretty well, I can't do a lot of the workouts because of when I broke my leg, but I know a lot of ppl have great results with it.
Stairs. I forgot to mention stairs, and it is one of my favorite things. I enjoy jogging up and down stairs. A stairmaster machine is ok, but i prefer actual stairs...like at a football stadium.