MX Winter Training: 3 tips to optimize your sleep
Winter is coming. The titles have been divided, the battle has been fought to the end. But what do we do with the coming period without competitions?
Now a period of complete rest is approaching for most motocross riders, the winter break. But how do you survive this period? Everyone has heard it said: “You win the championship in the winter” or “I had a good/bad winter”. What do they want to say with that? Is it true that you can win a championship in the winter?
Of course you can't win an outdoor championship in the winter. A motocross race or championship must always be ridden. There are numerous factors that can throw a spanner in the works and cause you to miss out on the opportunity to win a title, such as an injury or engine failure. However, you can easily lose a season in the winter by not preparing yourself properly. In the next series of articles you will learn all kinds of tips from Physical Coach Yente Dourte (Coach at X Performance and Energy Lab) to ensure that your winter preparation runs optimally.
After hydration and nutrition, sleep is the next important block in a training program. During sleep, our body recovers from all the activities we performed the days before. Poor sleep quality is therefore directly related to overtraining. Thorough research also shows that nutrition and hydration influence sleep quality. For example, we can relate a feeling of hunger just before going to sleep with poor sleep quality. That is why it is important to start with steps 1 and 2, which you can find in the previous articles, and only then focus on a quality night's sleep.
What exactly happens in the body when you sleep poorly?
Poor sleep quality is usually accompanied by high cortisol levels in the blood when people want to fall asleep. The high cortisol value is caused by the fight or flight syndrome (fight or flight response) that you get just before a car accident, for example. This flight syndrome is caused by stress, hunger, insomnia and the like. To briefly summarize, this means that if you eat little before going to sleep, have a lot of stress when you lie in bed or do not have a fixed biorhythm, you will burn less fat and sleep worse. Burn less fat, I hear you thinking? Cortisol is a fat magnet that causes us to store extra fat, and the production of the 'human growth hormone' is also disrupted. HGH will ensure that we use fats as an energy source during sleep.
This was a brief explanation of what happens to our body while sleeping, but what should you do now to improve your sleep quality and recovery process?
- Fats and proteins
As mentioned earlier, it is important that you do not go to sleep feeling hungry. Two macronutrients provide a feeling of satiety. Fats and proteins, so it is important that you do not reach for carbohydrates as soon as you get hungry. As described earlier, carbohydrates cause a higher cortisol level, which results in poor sleep.
- Fixed biorhythm
Always try to get into bed around the same time and get up around the same time so that you get your body used to the early/late hours. In total you should sleep about 8 to 9 hours.
- Have fun before going to sleep
It sounds strange, but especially for men, sex is the best nightcap. After sex or self-gratification, a substance is released in men's bodies that will promote sleep. So you know what to do!
Have a good night and know that a good night's sleep equals a good recovery process which will result in optimal performance.
If you have any questions about this article, please contact Yente Dourte: Yente.dourte@motocrossmag.be
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