MX Winter Training: 3 tips to promote the recovery process
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.
The recovery process
After a heavy training session, an athlete has only one goal: to recover as quickly as possible and then start his/her next training sessions as fit as possible. How can we now speed up this recovery process?
- Recovery training
Numerous research has already shown that recovery training has an effect on the muscles and the breakdown of lactic acid in those muscles. This provides numerous benefits for the athlete, both physically and mentally. This will make him/her feel fresher and the muscles will be ready to perform again more quickly.
What does such a recovery training look like:
30' - 90' cycling at very low resistance and at a low heart rate with a high cadence (+85 RPM)
- Foam rolling & stretching
There are proponents and opponents of the foam roller, numerous scientific sources have appeared on this subject in recent years, but they often contradict each other. What I can conclude from all these studies is that the use of the foam roller does not have a performance-enhancing effect, but it does provide general relaxation for the athlete. The foam roller also has a positive influence on injury prevention. Due to the combination of the latter factors, I think it is a good way to promote the recovery process, it can even replace a massage.
What does a foam roll and stretch session look like:
Roll back and forth over each muscle group 3-4 times, holding if necessary at a painful point in the muscle. (If this is unbearable, you can make small movements with the foam roller around the painful point.) Pay close attention to your breathing and immediately stretch the muscle group for at least 15" after rolling with a light to moderate stretch. Perform this twice per muscle group. The more foam rolling and stretching sessions you have completed, the more pleasant it becomes to do this. After a few sessions you will probably notice that your ROM (Range Of Motion), the mobility of the joints, increases. This is certainly positive when we look at injury prevention.
- Rest
Resting is of course always an option, we do not use any special technique, it is very cheap and very relaxing. Know that there are many techniques that may or may not have an influence on the recovery process, but these are usually not so obvious to perform after every training. Cold-heat technique, ice bath, all types of massage techniques and so on are good variations to get variety in the daily grind of the recovery process.
Photos: Red Bull
Text: YD
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