I agree completely. Enduro riding will also help to dramatically improve your road/gravel/easy trails riding technique. Better riding skills means you'll have to pick the bike up less too.

There's nothing like time in (on?) the saddle to get your biking strength up.

Clearly having less surplus mass (aka fat/spare tyre/ belly etc) also helps. Maybe I need to take this advice too?

Also when you're riding, choose the best line and read the road ahead, and you'll need to work less hard/fight the bike less.

cheers
Chris

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Anyone knows a generic gym workout routine for motorcycle riders? I´m planing to do a relatively long route (about 12k kms / 7.5k miles) in December on a small 125cc bike and because of this I want to start to train next month. I was talking to a personal trainer friend of mine and he suggested me to focus on legs, back and weight lifting workouts.

If your not used to training I would get a GOOD trainer to design a Bodyweight program that you can continue on the road. Forget weights and machines as you are unlikely to have them along the way and seriously are you going to go looking for a gym to workout in a few times per week? Not going to happen.

You can increase muscular size, strength and endurance and cardiovascular endurance using bodyweight exercises only, no machines required apart from a hotel door or park with playground equipment for pullup variations.

I am in the best shape of my life and I no longer lift weights per se (i do use kettlebells but sport style not hard style)

If you want inspiration get the book Convict Conditioning. it identifies 6 major multi-joint exercises with 10 progressions for each exercise from easy to Freaking hard. Its all you need. Most trainers are useless unless they have a squat rack and machines in front of them. YMMV

Bottom line get a program you can continue on the road.

Good Luck!

@chris - I would LOVE to get out on the bike and ride off-road every day - but reality hits me every morning at 6:30am and dictates I get out of bed and earn money to pay for the money pit that is my motorbike ;-) So the gym has to be the option for the week.

@bkm_br - I know nothing about this stuff - which is why I started the thread - but my trainer has gone away and done a load of research on muscle groups, cardio requirements and that kind of jazz. She has me doing alternate days strength and endurance.

The strength part targets the muscle groups most used - the lower back (supermans) and twists with weight (you can use 2 litre bottles of water for this), then wrists with weights (again you can use water bottles), all parts of the arms, chest and upper back. The important part is to make sure that the exercise you're doing is in proportion so you don't end up (as I've done in the past) over-exercising one muscle to the detriment of another - resulting in pain and discomfort. For the lower body it's a combination of flexibility (around the world lunges) and strength - again using water bottles for added weight.

For endurance we're essentially doing circuit training. 9 sets of 1 min each designed to keep the heart rate up but consistent over the 9 min period. We do 4 sets of these followed by abs. The circuits contain core (crunches - and variations thereof) straight cardo (think running and lifting your knees to your chest, or jumps left to right or back and forth), with modified press-ups (I'm not strong enough to do a full min of full press-ups yet) and so on.... the idea is there's a real mix of exercises in there that are designed for me to be able to do them - but find it hard - but not so hard I can't keep them up for 1 min each.

All of this is combined with running - interval training - 1 min flat out run, 1 min jog - and so on for at least 30 mins but I should be aiming for 1 hour. All of this is done 5 days per week.

I hope all of that helps. Although I do all of this training in the gym (it's easiest for me as it's right next to work) there's no reason any of this can't be done at home.

Incidentally, I'm considering putting together a video on this work-out... would anyone be interested in that? Basically the concept is for me to do the exercises and for my trainer to explain them all - point out what I'm doing wrong etc.....

GSARiderOne - sounds sensible - I must admit I'm not worried about 'dead lifts' with my little Yamaha!

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It stands to reason, that riding your bike will develope the muscles that you need for riding your bike.

I don't have a gym membership as I have found them to be just a tax on my lazyness.

I would like to start mountain biking again as I'm pretty certain that transferable skills are develped here, also on the outskrits of bristol they have just built some new trails, which look fun.

Any body got any tips on stuff to do at home for biking??

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Everything I've posted above can be done at home using water bottles - I use no special equipment at the gym beyond the weights. In fact over Christmas when I couldn't go to the gym (well I didn't fancy the run into London just to go) I did the entire thing at home for 2 weeks.

All of the exercises are really straight forward - watch some of the videos.

m

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realmc26 and mattcbf600
Thanks for the tips. Right now I have about 10 months to start my trip so I want to be more prepared to ride long hours in December.
I´m planing to join a gym soon so I will be ready in December, but I don´t know any good trainer in my city, most of the guys I know are what we call here "gym rats" and they don´t really know what would be the ideal kind of exercises for motorcyclists.
Do you guys know any tips to me to be able to talk to them and make them understand what I´m looking for and then, after some time training, ask for a program I can continue to do on the road?
I´m planing to travel to Ushuaia in December so I need to be ready to face the notorious strong patagonian winds.

After three months of training it's time to provide you with an update. From January I've been training hard... in the last month we've really stepped it up and now do 5 days a week. In that time I've lost over 2 stone and my fitness has really gone up.

3 days - Enduro - kettle bells, jumps, crunches etc
1 day - Balance and Flexibility
1 day - Strength

Today we introduced TRX training (see photos below) which is fantastically hard!

The outcome is the off road day I did in Kent a couple of weeks ago was a breeze - I can't recommend enough how big a difference being properly fit makes to your riding - I'm totally converted.

Would there be any hunger for some fitness videos specifically targeted at adventure riders? Not necessarily Enduro riding training....





You do this 20 times, as part of a circuit of 4 other lifts and pulls (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattcas...in/photostream), and then repeat 4 times.

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I am loving how much research my PT instructor is putting into training me for the motorbike... this weeks discovery are these

Weight Lifting|Strength Training|Powerlifting -Get Big with Fat Gripz!

Actually, you know what, that's the scariest website I've ever seen, although the lady who pops up to tell me all about Fat Gripz is quite helpful... anyway... that's a distraction..... the point is these things are supposed to help for motorbike training because they build your grip strength, forearm muscles, and all the natty bits in-between.

Thought I'd share....

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Hi Folks,
First of all, I find that the longer I spend riding the bike, the less time I have to engage in unhealthy persuits such as drinking and smoking. Therefore; ride as much as possible.

Secondly, as you well know, water boils at a much lower temperature than oil. Particularly at altitude. So, to ensure your food is properly cooked, only ever eat food that's been deep fried in oil, or even better, lard.

Finally, waterborne diseases are prevelant in many parts of the world. To avoid waterborne diseases only drink water that has been filtered and boiled. Such as . Beer manufacturers take great pains to ensure that their products have only ever been infected by yeast.

So there's my tips for healthy living.

HTH.
Dunc.

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That's the kind of 'training' I like - I shall suggest it to the trainer this afternoon when I see her for my lunch time session. I shall report back.

If you don't hear from me in 24 hours please come and rescue me.

m

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Matt, I'm very impressed by your weight loss and dedication.
Last year, I started green laning for the first time in 30 yrs of biking. I began cycling to build up strength in my legs and lost 1 stone as a result. Sadly, I then tore a foot ligament whilst walking(!) and due to a mis-diagnosis, gave up biking / cycling / walking for months, lost all motivation and put all the weight (and more) back on. I started the diet again this week.
Keep up the good work!

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So now that you're a finely honed athlete will we be seeing you plodding up and down the Phoenix Trail with the rest of us then Matt?
Eight weeks till the local 10k - get your entry in early though as it's usually oversubscribed!


Actually, dangerous stuff this getting fit. The only time I've been injury free in the last four years is the two months since February. It's only a matter of time though before something else breaks.

@pheonix - good luck with the diet dude... it's such hard work - I lost 30kg, then put 15kg back on without even trying!

@backofbeyond - I spend enough time on the bloody trail with the dog! Not doing a 10k for fun... I must admit to quite enjoying the run up Chinnor Hill from Crowell but that's only 2 miles - despite being up a massive hill! I'll leave you to do the 10k 'fun' run... I'll be on the bike!

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same to Elaine, Matt, Phoenix is a dudette!

the good thing about training with water bottles Matt is that you can keep the training up whilst on the road.

I've been terrible, still exercising, but binging on all the things I cannot eat on the road. Cheddar Cheese on toast, British greasy MSG filled chinese takeaways, roast dinners. ummmmm.

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