How to Organize your Training for Motocross

There are multiple variables to consider when it comes to organizing a week of training for a motocross athlete. How you organize your training is extremely important because the right schedule will help you make the most out of each session and peak properly for race day. It can be the difference between dragging during practice and putting down record lap times. In this article we will discuss how you can organize your training to optimize your fitness and readiness for the track.

The number one factor when it comes to planning out your training week is stress. Everything that you do causes some level of stress on your body. Riding, resistance training, conditioning, and core training all stress the body in in different ways. Some of these activities might not cause much stress at all, while others are so stressful that they take days to recover from. The way that you organize these activities can have a major impact on how you feel and perform.

The most effective way to group these high and low stress activities is built around a concept called the consolidation of stressors. What this means is that we group our high stress activities together and our low stress activities together to allow for optimal recovery throughout the training week. This means that the days you ride hard, you need to train hard at the gym. On the other hand, the days you don’t ride, or your riding sessions are not as intense, your training sessions at the gym should be low intensity or even focused on promoting recovery. This leaves time for recovery between extremely stressful training days so that you don’t get injured or overtrain. If you were to mix high and low stress activities together every day, you would never be fully recovered and ready to perform during your track sessions that matter most. A training week that takes into account the consolidation of stressors may look something like this:

Monday – Low Stress

Tuesday – High Stress

Wednesday – Low Stress

Thursday – High Stress

Friday – Low Stress

Saturday – Race Day (High Stress)

Sunday – Off

This is all great, but what types of training and exercise are considered high and low stress? All of the training that you do, whether it be at the gym or on the track, has a place on the stress spectrum. Activities like racing, track training at race pace, intense conditioning, and resistance training are going to be on the high stress end of the spectrum, while light conditioning, core training, corrective exercises, and light track practice are going to be on the low stress end of the spectrum. Here is how you might plan these activities for a 5 day training schedule:

Monday

- Light conditioning (See our article on the Cardiac Output Method)

- Core Exercises

- Correctice Exercises

- Low intensity track practice – Example: practicing starts

Tuesday

- Track Practice at or near Race Pace

- Resistance Training

- High Stress Conditioning (Interval Training)

Wednesday

- Light conditioning (See our article on the Cardiac Output Method)

- Core Exercises

- Corrective Exercises

Thursday

- Track Practice at or near Race Pace

- Resistance Training

- High Stress Conditioning (Interval Training)

Friday

- Light conditioning (See our article on the Cardiac Output Method)

- Corrective Exercises

- Meditation or Visualization

Saturday

- Race Day – High Stress

Sunday

- Off – No gym or track training

There are a million ways that you can structure your training for motocross. The amount of days you train each week, the amount of riding you’re doing, and the training methods you use will change throughout the year to accommodate your racing schedule. Although these things are constantly changing, one thing is consistent, you must consider the consolidation of stressors all year long in your training. Separating high stress and low stress days will not only keep you injury free, but it will also improve your performance at the track.

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