Physical Conditioning, Specific To Riding

[F4imane]

Thats cool you still ride hard fossil! I respect that!

[fossilfuel]

Thats cool you still ride hard fossil! I respect that!

 

Thanks Man...I have a new goal for '09, go faster.

[fossilfuel]

I am 53 and find that if I am going to ride with you young guys, I have to work out 4 to 5 times a week. For me the most important thing is to work the lower body and abs. One hour of spin class burns more calories than any other exercise in a sports gym plus it increases leg strength. I do spin class twice a week. Then I do abductors, squats, and calve raises. I work my upper body with pulleys because you have to use more core muscles to stabilize your position. My wanting to ride to the best of my ability fuels my need for exercise and keeps me feeling young.

 

Fossil is a pretty decent rider too, have seen him ride.

 

53, you are kid! Ask an 80 year old

 

Cobie,

I appreciate the comment. My buddies at the track are always asking me to go get coffee at Mcdonalds because I get a senoir citizen discount? Last year at Jennings I went to get a drink out of the cooler and they had put "Ensure" on top. No respect for the old man.....I will be seeing you at Leguna Seca in April.....any senior citizen discount?

[spthomas]

I am 53 and find that if I am going to ride with you young guys, I have to work out 4 to 5 times a week.

They say 50 is the new 30...

[Cobie Fair]

Cobie,

I appreciate the comment. My buddies at the track are always asking me to go get coffee at Mcdonalds because I get a senoir citizen discount? Last year at Jennings I went to get a drink out of the cooler and they had put "Ensure" on top. No respect for the old man.....I will be seeing you at Leguna Seca in April.....any senior citizen discount?

 

No, but we won't charge you the senior premium either

 

I gave up on the whole "too old" thing when 2 things happened: 1. Down in Oz for one of the schools a few years back and this white haired old dude was flat smoking on this GSX-R at Eastern Creek. About the same time we had a guy that came to the school that had flat tracked --IN THE 40'S!!! He was 74 and was on a school bike and going pretty darn well. I heard he went racing after that too, and so did his wife--she was in her 60's.

 

Keith comes out and rides now and again and he has great corner entry speed. I just watch and go, "Ah, that's pretty good" (I'm not going in that fast).

[sleepr]

Thought I'd bring this to the top and thank the people on the forum who mentioned the ABS diet. I got the book about 6 weeks ago and started eating better. Started 2 weeks later with the workouts and cardio. Dropped 17 lbs in 4 weeks and felt a lot better on the bike at the 2 day in Vegas last weekend. That's a gain of almost 2.5 hp for the upcoming race season, and it didn't cost me a dime! Looking forward to losing about 36 more over the next 8-10 weeks, best thing is I'm not hungry and I haven't had (nor do I crave) the 5 chocolate bars a week I used to eat. Thanks again.

[Kevin Kane]

and I haven't had (nor do I crave) the 5 chocolate bars a week I used to eat.

Hey Sleep;

If you don't want them, can you send them to me?

 

Kevin

[sleepr]

[spthomas]

Thought I'd bring this to the top and thank the people on the forum who mentioned the ABS diet. I got the book about 6 weeks ago and started eating better. Started 2 weeks later with the workouts and cardio. Dropped 17 lbs in 4 weeks and felt a lot better on the bike at the 2 day in Vegas last weekend. That's a gain of almost 2.5 hp for the upcoming race season, and it didn't cost me a dime! Looking forward to losing about 36 more over the next 8-10 weeks, best thing is I'm not hungry and I haven't had (nor do I crave) the 5 chocolate bars a week I used to eat. Thanks again.

That's impressive; I'm proud of you, glad for you.

 

I think it brings a decrease of stress and increased mental acuity too- do find that to be true?

[sleepr]

Most definitely that is one of the other side benefits, not to mention my increased life expectancy!

[sakhmetii]

OK, we talked about this a little before, but it got a little off the subject, so lets take another look at this. What conditioning, training, exercises, and even diet have you found has worked well for agressive riding?

 

It would also be good if any of the girls would post what has helped them.

 

CF

 

Sorry, Cobie. Missed this earlier as I'm sure all the girls did. Maybe Hotfoot will come over and show you some love now that she's revealed her true identity, or, at least gender. (We really don't want to have to go looking for our keys!) Don't have time for a full response now as I feel I may need to include the before and after details. But, before I'm interrupted by this pesky day job, I'd like to test a theory. (This is for all of you.)

 

Sit cross-legged on the floor and tell me which knee is higher. (Yeah. Go ahead and try it with the other leg in front, too.)

Thanks!!!

[Hotfoot]

OK, we talked about this a little before, but it got a little off the subject, so lets take another look at this. What conditioning, training, exercises, and even diet have you found has worked well for agressive riding?

 

It would also be good if any of the girls would post what has helped them.

 

CF

 

Sorry, Cobie. Missed this earlier as I'm sure all the girls did. Maybe Hotfoot will come over and show you some love now that she's revealed her true identity, or, at least gender. (We really don't want to have to go looking for our keys!) Don't have time for a full response now as I feel I may need to include the before and after details. But, before I'm interrupted by this pesky day job, I'd like to test a theory. (This is for all of you.)

 

Sit cross-legged on the floor and tell me which knee is higher. (Yeah. Go ahead and try it with the other leg in front, too.)

Thanks!!!

 

I haven't spoken up much on this thread because I don't have much helpful advice on conditioning. Cobie already gives me cr*p about what I eat - he seems to think that Mc Donald's cheeseburgers and Cokes are not a good diet, so I figured I just wasn't the right person to answer his request for fitness ideas.

 

For me, being relaxed on the bike and being hydrated and eating adequately on the day of the event seem to be more important than fitness level or strength. Certainly even the most fit people can exhaust themselves with tension in just one or two sessions, and dehydration will ruin anybody's ability to concentrate.

 

That being said, I do think leg strength, especially quads, is helpful for hanging off and hip flick. I ride horses and an exercise bike, both of those are great for that.

 

Incidentally, I haven't exactly been hiding the fact that I'm female, it just doesn't always come up. There are some other threads where we've had some discussion about women and riding or racing, I'm always happy to share my opinion.

 

OK, I tried your experiment - when I sit cross legged my left knee seems a little higher, but not by much.

[Cobie Fair]

For the record, I don't give Hotfoot that much about her diet (like maybe said something once in passing) but I have been told that a can of Coke has 19 spoons of sugar--can anyone confirm this? And I'm not saying she lives on the things either. Now, I have a personal weakness for....I think I'll leave that one out and just plead the 5th on this one.

 

I tried the experiment, and it was whichever leg was behind the other in the crossed leg position, and only just barely higher.

 

C

[sakhmetii]

For the record, I don't give Hotfoot that much ###### about her diet (like maybe said something once in passing) but I have been told that a can of Coke has 19 spoons of sugar--can anyone confirm this? And I'm not saying she lives on the things either. Now, I have a personal weakness for....I think I'll leave that one out and just plead the 5th on this one.

 

I tried the experiment, and it was whichever leg was behind the other in the crossed leg position, and only just barely higher.

 

C

 

I am really the last person who should be responding to this but, as I seem to be the only other girl here...lucky you.

Let's see if I can remember back to when I was healthy. (I was once, believe it or not!)

I've never been a big fan of the gym. When I did use them, I would generally do floor exercises or take some type of interesting looking cardio class. These things tend to incorporate stretching, strengthening, and a lot of coordination building movement. Fav's were cardio kickboxing (added plus if you get into a good class you get to hit and kick a full size bag-FUN and, they teach you neat things like how to fall properly though probably harder to pull off at speed.), dance aerobics, and dance stretch (Say what you may, dancers are hella buff; try full-pointe for a couple of minutes). Mostly used free weights as these also lend to coordination and balance. Pretty much avoided machines as they seem to work only a specific muscle or muscle set and put a lot of undue stress on joints-generally find that using your own body weight or maybe adding just a little gives a better overall workout, especially for the core muscles. Exception would be circuit training which incorporated some machines. Don't care for the brain death of an indoor cycle (nor the often awkward pedal rotation) or treadmill. Did a lot of mountain biking, loved some good Sierra single-track, developes a sharp awareness of the environment, the ability to react to it, coordination, and balance (especially when on the edge of a long drop into a gorge!). Pretty much used the bicycle for any mundane trip 10 miles or under throughout the day as well. Even did a shortened century once-so glad to find out it was 61.4 miles instead of 64.1! 4-5 miles or under was a nice walk. Not into running-more stress than necessary on the skeletal system and can get the same work out in ways I personally found more to my taste. Scuba, hiking, camping, etc.-the outdoor activities also climatize you and you're not as affected by weather.

 

Then that all came to an abrupt end. For a very long time. Now, I'm pretty much zero to low impact girl. From scuba to aquatic therapy with those sweet folks three times my age-I advise some type of aquatic work/swimming for core strengthening and a good resistance work-out minus the annoyance of gravity. Yoga (Yes, yoga. It's just every stretch you've ever done under a different name-and then some-called a "pose" and something like "Warrior One". Just remember, "Let the breath be the most noticable part of the pose" means "Don't forget to breath.") incorporates stretching, strengthening and balance and there are millions of specific or modified routines available for those who may have individual concerns or issues. (You should pay attention to this paragraph, Hubbard.) I tried to up the ante and add some new stuff but that seems to have ended rather poorly for the time being. I'll let you know if I come up with anything else.

 

I don't diet. If I tell myself I can't eat something, I will develop cravings for it. Used to be able to eat anything but have to be more careful now. Learned to love the salads but get bored of them quickly. Can't give up pizza.

 

As for Cobie's Coke question:

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/scripts/popreslt.pl

 

For the original stretch question, some general ideas:

http://www.howtostretch.com/

 

For the healthy:

http://www.crossfit.com/

(Very popular with wrestlers, MMAs, and those firemen from around the corner)

[sakhmetii]

For the record, I don't give Hotfoot that much ###### about her diet (like maybe said something once in passing) but I have been told that a can of Coke has 19 spoons of sugar--can anyone confirm this? And I'm not saying she lives on the things either. Now, I have a personal weakness for....I think I'll leave that one out and just plead the 5th on this one.

 

I tried the experiment, and it was whichever leg was behind the other in the crossed leg position, and only just barely higher.

 

C

 

I am really the last person who should be responding to this but, as I seem to be the only other girl here...lucky you.

Let's see if I can remember back to when I was healthy. (I was once, believe it or not!)

I've never been a big fan of the gym. When I did use them, I would generally do floor exercises or take some type of interesting looking cardio class. These things tend to incorporate stretching, strengthening, and a lot of coordination building movement. Fav's were cardio kickboxing (added plus if you get into a good class you get to hit and kick a full size bag-FUN and, they teach you neat things like how to fall properly though probably harder to pull off at speed.), dance aerobics, and dance stretch (Say what you may, dancers are hella buff; try full-pointe for a couple of minutes). Mostly used free weights as these also lend to coordination and balance. Pretty much avoided machines as they seem to work only a specific muscle or muscle set and put a lot of undue stress on joints-generally find that using your own body weight or maybe adding just a little gives a better overall workout, especially for the core muscles. Exception would be circuit training which incorporated some machines. Don't care for the brain death of an indoor cycle (nor the often awkward pedal rotation) or treadmill. Did a lot of mountain biking, loved some good Sierra single-track, developes a sharp awareness of the environment, the ability to react to it, coordination, and balance (especially when on the edge of a long drop into a gorge!). Pretty much used the bicycle for any mundane trip 10 miles or under throughout the day as well. Even did a shortened century once-so glad to find out it was 61.4 miles instead of 64.1! 4-5 miles or under was a nice walk. Not into running-more stress than necessary on the skeletal system and can get the same work out in ways I personally found more to my taste. Scuba, hiking, camping, etc.-the outdoor activities also climatize you and you're not as affected by weather.

 

Then that all came to an abrupt end. For a very long time. Now, I'm pretty much zero to low impact girl. From scuba to aquatic therapy with those sweet folks three times my age-I advise some type of aquatic work/swimming for core strengthening and a good resistance work-out minus the annoyance of gravity. Yoga (Yes, yoga. It's just every stretch you've ever done under a different name-and then some-called a "pose" and something like "Warrior One". Just remember, "Let the breath be the most noticable part of the pose" means "Don't forget to breath.") incorporates stretching, strengthening and balance and there are millions of specific or modified routines available for those who may have individual concerns or issues. (You should pay attention to this paragraph, Hubbard.) I tried to up the ante and add some new stuff but that seems to have ended rather poorly for the time being. I'll let you know if I come up with anything else.

 

I don't diet. If I tell myself I can't eat something, I will develop cravings for it. Used to be able to eat anything but have to be more careful now. Learned to love the salads but get bored of them quickly. Can't give up pizza.

 

As for Cobie's Coke question:

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/scripts/popreslt.pl

 

For the original stretch question, some general ideas:

http://www.howtostretch.com/

 

For the healthy:

http://www.crossfit.com/

(Very popular with wrestlers, MMAs, and those firemen from around the corner)

 

And, BTW, if you haven't been paying attention to Hubbard, you really want strengthen and stretch your back. It doesn't matter how strong your arms or legs are or how big your pectoral muscles happen to be-if you damage your spine, you're screwed.

[Jaybird180]

I am really the last person who should be responding to this but, ...

 

As for Cobie's Coke question:

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/scripts/popreslt.pl

 

Hmmmm.....I notice Red Bull isn't on the list. That means I can have it, right?

[Cobie Fair]

I am really the last person who should be responding to this but, ...

 

As for Cobie's Coke question:

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/scripts/popreslt.pl

 

Hmmmm.....I notice Red Bull isn't on the list. That means I can have it, right?

 

I can't even get Red Bull past my nose, smells like cough syrup!

 

CF