SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT OF A RACER – PART 1

Bodily growth and repair occur only during rest or sleep, never during training.  Successful development of an athlete is always a delicate balancing act between 3 variables:

1. Progressive overload
2. The correct raw materials (nutrients) to maintain and repair & build new tissue
3. 3. Sufficient rest & sleep to permit the repair and new growth to take place

The main purpose/focus of training is to create a fitter, healthier athlete that consistently adapts to the stress of training workloads.  The combination of food (quantities and quality) along with hours of sleep are instrumental for you to reach your full potential as an athlete.

In fact, a study outlined in Dr. Colgan’s book: Optimum Sports Nutrition, discussed the evidence associated with athletes who don’t get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep, were the first to succumb to symptoms associated with overtraining syndrome.

There is no way you can “push through” fatigue and the associated symptoms.  In fact, most athletes fall into the overtraining syndrome by trying to break a performance plateau and unfortunately set themselves back further from both a performance and overall health perspective.  Keep in mind, you can’t beat overtraining with more work due to the fact that by the time it becomes noticeable, your body is already under excessive levels of stress trying to adapt.

Additionally, studies have shown that the neuroendocrine system becomes exhausted, altering hormone levels so that obtaining optimal performance levels become impossible.  This performance limitation can manifest itself in the form of adrenal gland fatigue, suppressed immunity, tendon and muscle tears.

As you can see by several studies, attempting to ignore your body’s need for quality food and sleep is going to ultimately result in a body that is less than optimal and can even be considered “weak”.  As we have discuss numerous times, you are only as strong as your weakest link, so pay close attention to the details so that you not only feel better, but also perform better.

Next month, we will discuss how to recognize overtraining symptoms.

Motoendurance.net is a premium resource center for motocross, supercross, and GNCC riders of all abilities and ages.  The website outlines the MotoE Performance Training programs available to racers for 2010 -  such as those used with great success by X-Games and 2 time WMA Champion Ashley Fiolek, Mini O’s 2009 Champion Ian Trettel, Loretta Lynn National Champion Adam Cianciarulo and the #1 2009 GNCC/Top Amateur Chris Bach. These are now available to the public on a very limited basis.  Additional resources available include the MotoE Performance Training Facility, eBooks on various human performance elements and online instructional videos. For more information, contact Robb at robb3@earthlink.net or (407) 701-7586.

The Art of Cornering

Cornering is an art form.  To get really good at it you have to have a lot of talent, know all the techniques inside and out and then practice it frequently in many ways over a long period of time.

There’s much more to cornering than just leaning over and going through the turn.  There are things like the angle of the corners, whether they’re banked or off-camber, sharp or sweeping, and the conditions of the track. Then there are the techniques of cornering between the rider and motorcycle. There are even techniques that affect the handling of the motorcycle in the corner. These techniques make the motorcycle either hold the track or brake loose and pivot, slide through the corner.

In order to do a corner fast you need to carry as much speed as possible and as long as possible into the corner, slow yourself down just enough to still have control at the exit dex, (the exit dex is where you go from braking to accelerating) and then get on the gas as soon and as hard as possible. In order to carry a lot of speed into the corners, you need to have a fast and late approach dex (the approach dex is where you go from accelerating to braking).  With this in mind, we can understand that a very important part of cornering is braking. To be good at cornering, you have to be good at braking.

Of course, all through the corner, you have to maintain complete relaxed control. Tightness and mistakes will only make you tired and slow you down, if not make you crash. Remember, you can only try as hard, and go as fast, as you can do the basic techniques correctly and maintain relaxed control. So, if you’re tight or making mistakes, you will benefit by slowing down, which in turn will allow you to learn how to go faster.

In others words, it takes much more finesse than just charging into the turns at full speed and hoping you’ll be able to make it when you get in there. You have to constantly anticipate exactly what is going to happen just before it happens. You have to know the exact line that you want to be on. That line should take you to the best possible traction for the exit dex. You see, it’s very important to know exactly where your front tire is going, so you can find the best traction at the most critical part of the turn. This is where you’re going to be turning the most, at the exit dex. Again, make sure your front tire is going exactly where you want it to go. If you’re doing the techniques correctly, the back tire will also go exactly where you want it to go.  For much more in-depth cornering info check out my DVD #7 (All about Cornering) on sale now.

For free MX Technique DVD previews, MX School Schedules and much more visit www.garysemics.com.