THE MOTOCROSS STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING GUIDE
Fast track your way to racing success with these principles
Every rider knows the feeling they get from being on a dirt bike. The freedom and adrenaline rush from riding and racing is like nothing they’ve experienced elsewhere. While it’s easy to get caught up in the joy you get from racing, it is important to remember that motocross is one of the most physically demanding sports on the planet. Not only that, but it is also one of the most high risk. With so much at stake, it is crucial that riders do everything they can to prepare for race day, and commit to taking care of their bodies and minds.
By incorporating strength and conditioning into your motocross training, you give yourself the opportunity to outpace your competition and extend your racing career. Keep in mind, there are a ton of riders getting practice in at the track, and that’s easier to commit to because it’s what you love to do. What really separates a good rider from a great rider is the effort they put into the things off the track that are going to make them great.
In the next few paragraphs we will give you all the tools you need to take yourself from gassing out after a few laps, to keeping up with the front of the pack. No matter what level of riding and fitness you are currently at, this guide will give you all the information you need to achieve an elite level of fitness like the best riders in the world.
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Key Performance Indicators
There are many preconceived notions about what is important for motocross strength and conditioning, but the 6 main indicators of physical preparedness we use for motocross are VO2 Max, anaerobic threshold, general strength and muscle size, strength endurance, mobility, and cognitive ability. Improve these 6 things and you will be worlds ahead of your competition.
VO2 Max
The VO2 Max test is THE test when it comes to measuring your overall aerobic fitness. Simply put, it measures the amount of oxygen your body is able to utilize per minute. The higher your VO2 Max score, the greater your ability to supply oxygen to your working muscles, for those muscles to absorb and use. Athletes with high VO2 Max Scores are able to train longer and sustain lower heart rates during high intensity exercise (racing).
Anaerobic Threshold
The anaerobic threshold is the point at which the body switches its primary means of energy production from aerobic to anaerobic metabolism. Why is this important? Your aerobic system does an awesome job at supplying you with energy during low to moderate intensity continuous exercise, however, when intensity and duration increase dramatically, the aerobic system can’t keep up. At a certain point (the anaerobic threshold) the anaerobic system kicks in to help, but unfortunately, it can only provide energy for a short period of time before it starts to fatigue. This is why delaying the anaerobic threshold is so important. Athletes with high anaerobic thresholds are able to sustain faster paces for longer periods of time.
General Strength and Muscle Size
I grouped muscle size and strength together because they go hand in hand, and in our case, are very subjective measurements. In my opinion, there is no specific level of strength or size that is going to make or break your performance on a dirt bike. You don’t need to squat 2x your bodyweight or be insanely jacked to be fast at the track. In fact, being too strong or too muscular may actually hurt your racing performance. That being said, you need enough strength and size to not only handle the bike, but also to take a hit if you end up crashing. I like to think of resistance training for motocross as building up some body armor in case of emergency. Having a bit of strength to help you throw the bike around never hurts either.
Strength Endurance
Once we’ve developed a base of strength, we’re going to need to maintain that strength for the entirety of a race. While I am talking about strength to manipulate the bike and body position, I am also talking about postural strength. If your postural muscles get fatigued to the point where they can no longer do their job, you will develop some bad habits that can affect your conditioning, risk of injury, and recovery between heats. The athletes with the best strength endurance are going to be the ones who make their ground in the last laps of a race when everyone else is fading.
Mobility
We all know that having good mobility is important for overall health and longevity in any sport. If you lack good mobility and movement quality you’re going to be stiff and rigid on the bike. If you’re too mobile you might end up dealing with things like low back, shoulder, and elbow pain that could have been avoided. It’s all about finding a happy medium between both ends of the spectrum so that a rider can feel and move great on and off the bike.
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Cognitive ability
At a basic level, cognition refers to the process of identifying, understanding, and perceiving what is going on around you. In motocross, a rider is tasked with recognizing and responding to a variety of different things at one time. What section of the track is coming up? Who is behind me? What is my team telling me? How is the condition of the track in this area? Dealing with all of these things requires a high level of cognitive function. Riders with strong cognitive abilities will be able to deal with them more easily, almost like second nature. Although this may seem like something beyond the normal scope of a strength and conditioning coach, there are ways to train cognition and critical thinking that you can incorporate into your daily training to improve your race day performance.
Heart Rate Monitors
The single most important training device that you can have as a rider is a good heart rate monitor. Heart rate monitors take all of the guesswork out of your training program by allowing you to moderate your effort and see exactly which energy system you are targeting for that workout. At a relatively inexpensive price they are the best bang for your buck item that you can invest in for your training.
We’ve compiled a list of what we believe are some of the best heart rate monitors on the market currently to make it easy for you to decide which one is the best choice for you. You’ll notice that we did not include any wrist strap monitors. This is because it is well documented that chest strap monitors are far more accurate. If you currently have a wrist strap monitor like FitBit, Apple Watch, Whoop, etc., it can still be used and is definitely a better option than going off of estimated effort. If there is a model that you are considering that you don’t see listed, shoot us an email and we will check it out for you.
Also, be aware that chest strap monitors will display data to your phone or another wearable device like a watch. Each company makes accessory devices that display your heart rate in real time while you’re training. Certain gyms also have the ability to project data from certain heart rate monitors to a large screen in the gym, but this is of course a luxury that many of us do not have. Personally, I mount my phone where I can see it with the app up, and have at it. Here is a chart of the chest strap monitors that we feel are worth considering for your training:
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If we were to recommend a low price range monitor based on the data we’ve compiled, we would recommend the Polar H9 because of it’s design and connectivity options. If we were to recommend a high price range monitor, we would recommend the Polar H10. This monitor is going to be among the most accurate and its connection options allow it to sync up with most gym equipment. If you’re more interested in assessing your running, you may consider the Garmin HRM Run. Just know that you are forfeiting the connectivity technology of the H10. Keep in mind these recommendations are based on how they perform ON PAPER. We have yet to test each monitor in person. At some point in the future we will do a full in person review of each monitor on our YouTube channel to get a better feel for exactly what each brand and model has to offer.
Conditioning
Fewer things are more important in motocross than your conditioning. It affects your technique, your decision making, and even your confidence on the track. If your endurance is top notch you’ll have a better chance of staying at the front of the pack, but if it’s poor, you’ll be struggling to make it through the last chance qualifier. You may even put yourself at an increased risk of injury. For the sake of this guide, we will focus on a few concepts for developing your two energy systems, the aerobic and anaerobic systems.
At a basic level, the aerobic system is your long duration, low intensity energy system. This means that training sessions built around improving the aerobic system can be longer in duration because they are typically not as strenuous (this is not always the case). I often like to think of this system as your conditioning base because if it is poorly developed, you will have a very hard time improving other aspects of your training. Riders with highly efficient aerobic systems will have:
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Lower resting heart rate
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Lower heart rate during racing and other strenuous exercise
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Fast recovery between heats
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Ability to handle more training volume, both in the gym and on the track
There are many ways to train the aerobic system, but most commonly we see high level racers using the cardiac output method in the form of cycling, running, rowing, or swimming. To use this method, you will need to perform any one of the mentioned exercises at a relatively consistent pace for 30-90 minutes. During this period you will maintain a heart rate between 130-150 beats per minute (roughly 60-80% of your max heart rate (220 - age)) so investing in a decent heart rate monitor is definitely a good idea. If you don’t have a monitor available then you can try to maintain a pace that you would consider a 5-7 out of 10 effort. In other words, a pace at which you would still be able to have a full conversation if need be. This method can be performed 2-3 times a week, as it is not extremely taxing and can help to promote recovery. The goal should be to increase the duration of exercise week to week.
Cardiac Output Method Recap:
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Cycling, Swimming, Running, Rowing, etc.
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30-90 minutes long
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130 to 150 beats per minute (5-7 out of 10 effort without heart rate monitor)
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Perform 2-3 sessions per week
Cardiac Output Sample Program (Will vary based on skill and training experience):
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Week 1: 30 minutes cycling, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
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Week 2: 40 minutes cycling, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
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Week 3: 50 minutes cycling, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
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Week 4: 60 minutes cycling Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
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Week 5: (Recovery Week): 30-40 minutes cycling Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
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On the other hand, the anaerobic system is responsible for our higher intensity, shorter duration bouts of exercise. It is comprised of two subdivisons, the alactic and lactic systems. The anaerobic system has the ability to produce insanely powerful bursts of energy, however this comes with a cost. The cost of being a predominantly anaerobic athlete is that you can only produce energy at this rate for so long. The more you rely on this system the faster you will fatigue. That being said, the anaerobic system is an extremely important component for motocross conditioning. If we can just prolong the point at which it kicks in to help our aerobic system, then you can outlast the other riders and continue to perform at a high level late in a race.
Like the aerobic system there are a variety of ways to train the anaerobic system and each of its subdivisions. One of the most common methods is circuit training. Circuit training with the appropriate exercises and durations can improve the rate at which you produce energy. These circuits can be put together a million different ways and should vary based on the rider and the time of year, but one possible layout can include 3-4 exercises, 20-30 seconds each, for 2-3 rounds. Your total duration per circuit would be 60-90 seconds. After one round of a circuit, you can perform active recovery work for 1-3 minutes. After you complete 2-3 rounds of a circuit you would actively rest about 6 minutes (this is a good time to perform some corrective exercises or core work) until moving on to circuit 2. You can include 2-3 different circuits. This type of training can be done 2-3 times per week. The goal should be to increase duration of the exercises and decrease rest time week to week.
Circuit Training Recap:
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3-4 exercises
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Exercise duration – 20-60 seconds
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Circuit duration – 60-90 seconds for power; 1-2 minutes for capacity
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Perform 2-3 sessions per week
Circuit Training Sample Program (Will vary based on skill and training experience):
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Week 1: 3 exercises, 3 rounds, Exercise duration – 20 seconds each, rest between rounds - 2 minutes, Rest between circuits – 8 minutes
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Week 2: 3 exercises, 3 rounds, Exercise duration – 25 seconds each, rest between rounds - 90 seconds, Rest between circuits – 7 minutes
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Week 3: 3 exercises, 3 rounds, Exercise duration – 30 seconds each, rest between rounds – 75 seconds, Rest between circuits – 6 minutes
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Week 4: 3 exercises, 3 rounds, Exercise duration – 30 seconds each, rest between rounds – 1 minute, Rest between circuits – 6 minutes
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Week 5: (Recovery Week): 3 exercises, 2 rounds, Exercise duration – 20 seconds each, rest between rounds – 1 minute, Rest between circuits – 6 minutes
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It is extremely important to have some balance between both the aerobic and anaerobic systems to see elite conditioning for motocross. More importantly, you need to understand how much of your training should target each system based on the duration and demands of the organization and level you race at. Relying too heavily on one or the other can be the separating factor between you and the other racers on the track. As a general rule of thumb, the longer the race, the more dominant your aerobic system will be. The shorter the race, the more anaerobic work you may be able to fit into your training routine. Even the layout of the track and the terrain can affect which energy system is being used and when.
Arm Pump
One of the most frequently asked questions I get is how can I avoid arm pump. Arm pump is one of those things that has plagued racers for many years, yet few people understand why it happens and what to do about it. Many riders have even gone as far as getting surgery to help alleviate the issue. At the surface level, arm pump is when your forearms become rock hard during an intense day of riding, due to gripping the bars, bracing for impact, and modulating the throttle, clutch, and brakes. As the demand on the musculature of the forearms increases during a race, blood travels to them. The blood pools in the forearms and creates pressure that can affect the way you are able to ride. This causes extreme pain and discomfort and can even cause you to ride off the track and get injured.
There are a few ways the you can go about eliminating arm pump. First and foremost, better technique on the bike is always going to be key. Better throttle control, body position, and weight distribution can all be ways of significantly reducing arm pump. From a strength and conditioning perspective you need to condition your forearms for longer periods of exertion and also improve your core and lower body strength to reduce tension in the upper body while racing.
Improving grip strength and fatigue tolerance is no easy task. Exercises like farmers carries, deadlifts, rows, pullups, etc. all have a strong grip component and can be useful for improving grip strength and endurance. It’s important to note that the time of the year will have a major impact on how much grip work you should be doing. When you are riding the most, you will need to significantly reduce your grip work in the gym. If you don’t you may cause arm pump and early forearm fatigue during a race. On the other hand, early in the off season when riding is significantly reduced, or nonexistent, is when you can incorporate the most grip work. When performing any of the exercises mentioned, make sure to use a weight that allows you to maintain good posture. If technique starts to breakdown, you should stop immediately, reset, and go again. Using weights that are too heavy may promote bad posture, neck pain, or shoulder pain, the opposite of what you want while riding a dirt bike.
Two ways that we like to progress grip work are by increasing weight or increasing duration or repetitions of the exercise. Very early on in the offseason, it’s likely that we will focus on strength, therefore our strategy for improvement would be increasing weight each week. As an example, for trap bar deadlifts and farmer's carries our plan may look like this:
Early Offseason Sample Trap Bar Deadlift Program (Will vary based on skill and training experience):
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Week 1: 3 sets x 5 repetitions x 75% estimated 1 rep max
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Week 2: 3 sets x 4 repetitions x 77.5% estimated 1 rep max
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Week 3: 3 sets x 3 repetitions x 80% estimated 1 rep max
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Week 4: (Recovery Week): 2 sets x 3 repetitions x 75% estimated 1 rep max
Early Offseason Sample Farmer’s Carry Program (Will vary based on skill and training experience):
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Week 1: 3 sets x 50 yards x 100 lbs (one 50 lb dumbbell in each hand)
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Week 2: 3 sets x 50 yards x 110 lbs (one 55 lb dumbbell in each hand)
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Week 3: 3 sets x 50 yards x 120 lbs (one 60 lb dumbbell in each hand)
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Week 4: (Recovery Week): 2 sets x 50 yards x 110 lbs (one 55 lb dumbbell in each hand)
As we get closer to the competitive season, our focus would be strength/muscular endurance. In this phase your goal would be to increase duration of the of exercise in an attempt to more closely emulate what a rider feels during a race. This can be done by increasing time, distance, or repetitions. Continuing with trap bar deadlifts and farmer's carries, our plan may look like this:
Late Offseason Sample Trap Bar Deadlift Program (Will vary based on skill and training experience):
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Week 1: 3 sets x 10 x 65% estimated 1 rep max
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Week 2: 3 sets x 12 x 65% estimated 1 rep max
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Week 3: 3 sets x 15 x 65% estimated 1 rep max
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Week 4: (Recovery Week): 2 sets x 10 x 65% estimated 1 rep max
Late Offseason Sample Farmer’s Carry Program (Will vary based on skill and training experience):
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Week 1: 3 sets x 60 yards x 120 lbs (one 60 lb dumbbell in each hand)
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Week 2: 3 sets x 70 yards x 120 lbs (one 60 lb dumbbell in each hand)
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Week 3: 3 sets x 80 yards x 120 lbs (one 60 lb dumbbell in each hand)
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Week 4: (Recovery Week): 2 sets x 60 yards x 120 lbs (one 60 lb dumbbell in each hand)
Alleviating arm pump is a must for any rider with a competitive racing schedule and aspirations to progress to the next stage of their career. Once it’s gone, you have one less thing taking your attention away from what is going on around you during a race. Using the exercises we’ve provided along with a variety of other techniques, you can take the proper steps towards becoming a better, safer rider.