Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126007
Team Husqvarna's train-ing camp in Sweden developed it for the World Champions of Motocross; now the man in charge tells how you can do it yourself at home. resid ues of lactic acid and other fa tigue su bst an ces have accum ulated in the muscle. Therefore the ai m of th is training is to delay the appearance of these sy mptoms as long as p o ssible , and to h ar d en your muscles and you rsel f. This train in g is the hardest and the cruelest for the rid er , as he must force himself to continue even when he feels an in tense fa tigue and is ready t o give up. Muscle trainin g is also a training of the nerve-muscle functi on (coordination) and therefore depends on th e pattern of m ovements and contractio ns used. If y ou use the wrong exercises, much work wil l give very littl e or no e ff ec t when riding. If yo u do it right, y o u'll get very good co nditioni ng, as your p ulse is near m ax im um th e whole time, provi ded yo u have the rig h t tempo when you w ork, The do-it-yourself method is called "circle tr aining. " Here's ho w to do it: Mark out an indoor or outd o or circle with seven to 10 statio ns. On each station you will do one exercise for a separate m us cle gro up. In this example , I h ave chosen the exercises for you (see acco mpanying ta ble and pictures). Again warm up for at leas t 10 m in utes firs t. Maxim u m endurance test - Before you st ar t the real training, y ou have to d o a maximu m test to find out wh at lo ad to use durin g the fo llowing week 's trai n ing. Start at Station On e . Do as m an y wo r kouts as pos sible d uring exactly 60 seconds. (If you are well -trained, 12 0 to 180 seconds.] Rest fo r 60 (l20) sec onds, while at the same time you wri te d own the number of workouts y ou di d at Station On e, and m ove to Station Two. After exactly 60 (120) seconds rest, you star t on Station Two, doing your m ax im u m of that exercise for exactly 60 (1 20-18 0 ) seconds. Rest as before, writing down the result and m ov e on . . . . When you h ave co mpleted all th e stations y o u have 10 min u tes of rest. Du rin g that time take yo ur n o teboo k and divide the result fro m each stati on by two to get a figure showing y o u r 50 percen t cap aci ty for the work By Roland Arrehn, Racing Director, Team Husqvarna, Sweden Know your body . One migh t say th at like a motorcycle, your body has an engine th a t de mands maintenance, tu n in g, and service. To m ake yo ur training more effective, you must know how your body is functioning and what happens to it during training o r raci n g. The train in g m u st be adjusted to the individual an d not the other way aro und. We are all d ifferent in m an y way s. Each rider must draw up his own train ing p rogram, but it must include the following points : A. Interval training (ph ysical co ndition). B. Muscle endurance training (Circle-training). C. Special training (rid ing). Interval training (physical condition) The purpose of this training is to in crease your m uscle s' endurance and wo rk capacity. This requ ires a lar ge oxygen supply, so the training must be carried o ut in a way that demands gre at lung ven tilation and high heartbeat frequency. This means that m an y m uscle groups are putIn dynamic work (the muscle al ternately growing lo nge r or shorter through m ovemen t ). .. (Ed itor 's note: He didn 't say it, but th is is wh y y ou run. Th e largest m uscle-groups in y our body are th e ones in l egs an d b utt o cks. Th erefore, working th em alternately back and forth by ru nning develops th e maximum demand f or blood flow and oxygenation in th e shortest tim e.) To get imp roved co ndition fr om 'y o ur training. yo u need a co ns tan t increase in in tensity of tr ai ning, as th e body al ways adjusts to the demands put on it . This also im plie s th at y o u must not start training to o intensely , or wi th too he avy a load. In crease y our trainin g slowly and step-by -step. Otherwise parts of you r body will be overstressed . War mup - Before each training sessi on or before the start o f a ra ce , yo u must d o 10 m inutes o f "warming up " exercises : Three m inutes limbering up , three to four minutes gy m nas t ics to lo o sen up further, three to five minutes running o r jumping. What happens as y o u warm up is that y o ur working muscles begi n to produce lactic aci d an d ca rbo n di oxide. The bl ood vessels in yo ur stomach, intestines, kidneys and skin begin closing themselv es , as 70 to 80 pe rce n t of the bl o odflow is diver te d to muscl es sh ort on oxygen . After a co up le minutes , when y o ur body has reached its " wo r ki ng temperature ," and enough oxygen is ge lling to th e working muscle s, th e bl o od vessels in you r skin gradu al ly ope n up an d th e surplus h eat is carr ied o ff by sweating.Rem em ber yo u are not properly war m ed up until yo u are all in swe at . Now w e can ge t into " in terva l training. Short-short intervals - Run 15 sec o nds, rest 15 seco n ds, o ver a period of 2 0 t o 3 0 minutes. If the tempo is not too hi gh and /o r th e rest periods too short , th e muscles have a chance to ge t e no ugh oxy gen an d hold the lact ic aci d level d own. Witho ut a watch and good am bition (or a scrup ulo us coach) , it's d ifficult to carry ou t this ex ercise properly . Short in tervals - Run 60 to 90 se conds , re st 20 to 3 0 secon ds , five to nine repetition s. TIle re st periods m ust be wit hin the p rescribed limits (See Fig. I for wh y) . Lo ng intervals - Run tw o t o 10 m inutes, rest o ne to fo u r minutes, five to nine re p etitions. Fig. 2 sh ows effec ts o f four m inute s runnin g, t wo min utes rest . This meth od (adjus te d to yo ur body cha rac te ristics ) crea tes m aximum deman d for o xygenatio n , but is p ain fu l, as you usuall y choo se to o h igh a speed at fir st . 70 - 20 c r oss-co u n try in t ervals - Mar k o u t a cro ss-co un tr y tr ac k 2 0 0 to 6 0 0 y ar ds lo n g. Run a t h igh sp eed for 70 secon ds . After exactly 70 sec o nds , rest for - exactly 20 seco nds, then go into another 70 secon d sprin t . Do this fo u r to eigh t times. Taken toge ther with the above-described in terval training, this method develops the best condition (measured in oxygen absorption liters/minute) in the shortest time . Two to '10 minu te cr oss-co u ntry in tervals - Lay o ut a cross-country circuit o f 500 to 2000 yards lap le ngth . Start from point "A" (any convenient place) an d ru n at the highest speed you can keep up during the wo rk perio d. Mark whe re you finished, and go back to "A." Take as much ti me walking to the start as th e work perio d. In your next wor k period, you will try to reach the same point on the trac k as before . If you su cceed and go farther, move yo ur mark. If not, try again. Do thisthree to five times. Sprint in g - This develops speed and muscle strength. Run up h ill at m ax im u m speed, 10 to 6 0 seconds. Walk or lim ber up while going back downhill. Do this five to 10 ti mes. Muscle endurance training (circle training) I' m sure yo u 've no ticed afte r a h ar d ride, some m uscles stiffen up and refuse to respond with any p recision. This "partial seizure " is due to insufficient oxygen supply and blood flow at the same time as %OFOXYGEN ABSORPTION LONG INT ERV A LS 80 60 40 20 70 sec. 60 70 60 70 60 70 60 70 20 70 20 70 20 70 20 60 70 20 70 100 80 tt .... 36 60 40 20 SHORT INTERVALS 70