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Dirt Bikes - Exercises


speedy

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A friend of mine asked this question and I thought to bring it here for obvious reasons. He isn't a big guy, he does calisthetics and cardio. I have given advice from different view points but he still seems unsure so I am taking his question here.

He is a hardcore rider meaning he loves it and rides as much as he can. He does the crazy stuff: steep hills, rocky terrain, mud piles, and so on. Note this is Dirt Bikes in the term of motorcross. He doesn't compete but rides like he is racing for he just loves it.

In the past year he swapped from a Yamaha Dirt Bike to a Kawasaki Dual-Sport where it's a different feel and much heavier. So after taking abuse from riding on such terrains he finds himself in all kinds of situations. Picking up the bike, pulling it out of mud, working it up and down a hill, and so on.

He is asking what exercises he can do to develop his strength and cardio that will have some carry over to such situations. I am thinking anything he can for cardio: treadmill, sprints, burpees and so on. Strength I am leaning towards deadlifts and weighted squats. But not really sure.

Does anyone have any thoughts or experience to working out with the focus of it having some carry over to dirt bike riding and getting out of some of those situations he finds himself in.

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If he were my client, we would go outside and do sets of 10 lowering the bike to its side and picking it back up. I would follow that with some pushes up a hill and back down until his lungs were screaming. When it got too easy I would add a weight vest and work up to a 100 pound vest doing the same exercises. Add some abs and lower back work and call it good.

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There was a time period where I rode and raced what I would call recreationally serious. An overall strength and conditioning program but give special emphasis to the "core" - a word I dislike but its importance for riding is real. Dirt riding shakes your innards so to speak. And kidneys etc take a beating with hard riding. Rick's idea is good but racing hard taxes everything so strengthen everything.

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I would incoporate:

- a squating movement ( front -, back squats )

- a hingeing movement ( deadlifts, swings )

- a pressing movement ( bench - , overhead presses )

- a pulling movement ( rows, chins )

+ Turkish Get Ups

+ walking with weights ( farmers walks, prowler pushes, sled pulls )

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I'm with Rick. The best way to get used to handling the bike is to handle the bike.

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Well, he didnt say his friend wanted to squat 500 or be a bodybuilder, so make his training specific to his needs. My dad is 81. Every year he goes deer hunting. Come about August he makes a point to start walking to the top of the hay field once or twice a day and dragging a 130 pound canvas sandbag on a few of his trips. Why? Cause when he bags a deer he wants to get it to the creek bed before he grabs his 4 wheeler and gets it to the house. Specific to his needs.

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Thanks guys. I really like the idea of using the bike itself as an exercise; that makes a lot of sense.

Yeah he falls into the category of trying to find exercises that will have carry over which I explained some do and some don't depending ones goals. But not sure how much of that was absorbed.

I will take all that was replied and send it via email and leave it up to him on what he does.

Thanks again.

Also, the problem with powerlifting and etc. is it makes you heavier and with riding it's better to be lighter than heavier if that makes any sense: in terms of dirt bike riding.

Edited by Iman74
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To be honest - if he has to "pick his bike up" that often - he really needs to work on his riding skills. You shouldn't really be wrecking often enough that it's a problem. I raced (successfully) for several years and only went down a few times after the beginning learning curve. If you wreck you seldom win - and you will get hurt sooner or later. That's for hare scrambles and motocross - enduros and trials (observed or six day type) can be different and go down more often and still have success but you ARE going to get hurt if you go down at speed very much.

I don't read the magazines any more but there used to be training articles all the time about how to train to ride. I doubt we need to reinvent the wheel here - you should be able to find articles by pro riders for recreational riders.

Edited by climber511
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Chris,

I gather from the first post that he isnt racing. He is out slamming trying the craziest terrain he can and putting it all out there, damn the consequence for the thrill of doing it. If thats the case, he is gonna find himself in some situations like waist deep in a mud hole he thought was just a puddle! He also is gonna wreck from time to time. You cant go big without being willing to snap a femur from time to time.

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Most recent post is accurate and yeah this past season he did a Superman (not on purpose). Ended up cracking 2 ribs and was out for the season. He is crazy like that and at 40 years old I say...more power to him! I did it for one season and said F-this. I went back to street riding only.

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Street riding is fun but we have dodge all those damn cages tryin to take us out at 65 mph!

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