Fitness
Why motocross is the ultimate fitness tool
Increasingly used as a training tool by other athletes, we look at why motocross is so effective at training the whole body.
As a dirt bike racer myself, I have personally been through the struggles of trying to convince my schoolyard buddies that, yes, motocross is in fact a very physically demanding sport.
‘But it’s got an engine?’, ‘All you do is twist the throttle!’, ‘It’s not even a real sport.’ These are just some of the phrases that the uneducated throw in the direction of the local dirt bike kid.
All it takes, however, is a quick Google search to realise that moto is very much in the conversation when it comes to the toughest sports on the planet. Multiple studies have been made throughout the years that put the likes of boxing, gymnastics and water polo at the top of their lists. And while the niche nature of motocross has often meant that it's been excluded from such studies, if you take a look at a top-class MX racer in his prime, you’ll struggle to find a finer athlete in better physical shape.
The extremities that the body faces during a 35-minute motocross race mean that pro racers must be in tip-top physical condition. Heart rates are pushed to the max, every muscle group is needed and used to the extreme, flexibility is essential, core strength is a must and upper body and leg strength are called upon just to hold onto the machine.
You need to be able to endure to survive motocross
© KTM Images / Red Bull Content Pool
It’s safe to say that motocross is one hell of a workout. But to put some science behind it, we’ve hooked up with Alan Milway – fitness coach to the stars of motocross and mountain biking – to provide us with his expert opinion on the matter.
I measured Adam Sterry at between 185 and 190 beats per minute for the entire Hawkstone International race
“I have measured heart rates a lot,” Alan tells us. “I measured Adam Sterry [former British MX2 champion] at between 185 and 190 beats per minute for the entire Hawkstone International race. It’s important to say that it reaches those levels because it is a race – you won’t see those numbers in practice and you shouldn’t try to train at those levels.”
Alan’s medical instruments also reveal that the entire body gets a beating in a motocross race. “Absolutely every muscle is used, from your fingers to your toes,” he says. “Quite literally everything. A lot of trunk strength is needed to keep you stable on the bike. You’re trying to keep your heels off the pegs, so you’re working the calf muscles. All the leg muscles are used and all the arm muscles, the shoulders, and the back… nothing gets a rest.”
The whole body gets worked out in MX
© Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool
Alan likes to take an analytical approach to his work. “The way I look at it is with numbers. You can analyse a performance and the demands of a performance. We do this by looking at heart rates or blood lactate levels. My results from the Hawkstone International were very interesting to look at. These guys are working really hard for a good 30 minutes plus. What they are doing is trying to work the body as hard as possible without going over that cliff edge. When you see some riders start incredibly well but then begin to fade through the race, that’s because they’ve gone past the point of no return. This really highlights the need for fitness; if it wasn’t physically demanding, it would simply be the most skilful guy doing the winning.”
Alan equates the effort motocross riders need to exert as the same as doing a flat-out 10k run. But unlike joggers in a park, riders have another factor they need to deal with – the mass of 100+kg of motocross bike.
“If you are racing a 450cc motocross bike, there’s a massive inertia, a huge weight that just wants to keep going forward,” says Alan. “When you’ve got a motocross bike going in the right direction and your technique is on point, you’re okay. But once you have to change direction quickly or jump on the brakes suddenly, the bike will want to keep moving straight on, and that’s where the strength component comes into it.
“It’s not just strength though; I also say you need strength endurance. It’s not just a maximum effort or a maximum lift – it's repetition. I think Graeme Irwin [2017 MX1 British champion] is a great example of this. Graeme isn’t massively strong, but he’s able to repeat and repeat and repeat.”
British rider Graeme Irwin has got repeatabilty nailed
© Getty Images/Nur Photo
So we’ve established that motocross racers must be incredibly fit in order to succeed. But can you empirically rank them compared to other athletes? The answer to that is… sort of.
“Some of the best motocross athletes that I work with have aerobic capabilities similar to the mountain bikers that I work with,” says Alan, “and that’s a very big compliment. From that standpoint, I do view the pro motocross racers as being very fit.
Motocross riders are as fit as any sportsperson would need to be
“But it’s hard to compare to other sports. Some people try to compare the racers to runners or footballers, but it’s just so different. It’s hard to get a direct comparison because all the tests and numbers are different. It’s safe to say that motocross athletes are up there. In terms of physicality they are not lacking whatsoever – they are as fit as any sportsperson would need to be. I don’t get a motocross racer in my gym with other athletes and think that they're weak in comparison.”
We are seeing more and more athletes from varying disciplines, MTB in particular, using motocross as a training and fitness device. “I know many guys that do it,” says Alan. “I’d say the main guy worth mentioning is Brendan Fairclough. Brendan is a World Cup mountain bike racer at the highest level, and he’s represented Team GB multiple times. He has a Honda 450 motocross bike and I know he rides a lot and he’s actually very good. Mark Beaumont also rides a lot, Gee Atherton as well, Danny Hart is another great example. Some of the MTB guys ride but don’t want to race motocross, simply because of the dangers involved in actually racing with 39 other people.”
There’s a massive skill transfer between motocross and downhill mountain biking
So what is the reasoning behind these world class MTB riders spinning laps on the moto track? “We deem it cross training. It’s not something they necessarily consider ‘training’ so to speak; it’s not a structured, rigid session, but they are doing it for the fitness aspect. They do it for the skill training and practice also. There’s a massive skill transfer between the two sports.”
Downhill rider Gee Atherton cross trains on a motocross bike
© Bartek Wolinski/Red Bull Content Pool
So that’s Alan’s view. But what about the view of a racer who’s competed at the very top of the sport. We caught up with former AMA Supercross rider Ryan Dungey to get his thoughts on motocross fitness.
“It’s very tough,” says Ryan, who retired from racing in 2017. “Every sport is unique and I’m sure other athletes can relate, but if I had been 15 years old and started riding a dirt bike, the chances of me becoming a professional rider would have been very slim.
Ryan Dungey: "I started building towards racing when I was five years old"
© Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool
“Racing was something I started building towards when I was five years old. The physical performance, the cardio, the strength, the muscular endurance – all of these things play a big role on the bike. It’s kind of like they say in cycling: you have to build a base. All those years as a kid you’re building this base and each year you’re getting a little better.
If I wasn’t riding or training, I was thinking about it
“It’s a 24-hour process. If you’re not riding… you’ve got a lot of training to do, road biking, cycling, running, a lot of gym work and weights also. It was constant; it consumed all my days and all my time. If I wasn’t doing it, I was thinking about it.”
Throughout his career, Ryan Dungey was amongst the most determined and committed to his training programme, to an extent that the sport has rarely seen. That drive saw him take four 450 Supercross titles and three outdoor national titles. If you take a look at the images from Dungey’s feature in the 2016 ESPN body issue, you’ll see that he is most definitely in fine physical form… and it’s all thanks to motocross.
So the next time someone tells you that motocross riders don’t need to be fit, feel free to tell them where to go…