Wil Hahn (pictured above), a professional motocross racer, broke his hand in practice at the last round of the Supercross series, raced the main event with a broken hand, got 3rd place, then went on to won the overall title by a couple points.
Motocross is an extreme sport…
…outdoor motocross races occur in the heat of the day at for 30 minutes plus 2 laps, riding in full gear at lactate threshold for the entire time…
…”armpump” can be a serious, painful problem when racing…
…dangerous levels of dehydration are extremely common…
…and in this BenGreenfieldFitness phone app insider interview with Wil, you'll find out what kind of fitness and nutrition plan is necessary to succeed in one of the toughest sports on the face of the planet. Wil and I compare Ironman triathlon to motocross, talk about Wil's motocross fitness routine, what Wil eats and drinks for motocross, tracking heart rates, racing with an injury, and more!
Don't believe that motocross is an extreme sport that just might beat up your body more than any other sport? Then watch this crazy crash sequence video with Wil Hahn, and then keep reading for a motocross fitness routine…
An Extreme Fitness Routine
Motocross requires a combination of coordination, strength, power and extreme lactic acid buffering capabilities. To build this kind of extreme fitness, try the following full body exercise routine, performed three times per week.
-5-10 minute dynamic warm-up (Don’t know what a dynamic warm-up is? Read this mobility article.)
-3-4 sets of 6-10 reps of each of the following, performed as either a circuit for an extreme twist, or with 60 seconds to 2 minutes recovery after each exercise for a more traditional approach (get exercise videos at YouTube.com/BenGreenfieldFitness)
- Vertical Pulling (i.e. pull-up)
- Vertical Pushing (i.e. overhead press)
- Horizontal Pulling (i.e. seated row)
- Horizontal Pushing (i.e. incline bench press)
- Double or Single Leg Strength (i.e. squat)
- Lift (i.e. deadlift)
3-4 sets of 6-10 reps of any or all of the following, performed as either a circuit, or with 60 seconds to 2 minutes recovery after each exercise:
- Slams (i.e. medicine ball slams)
- Throws (i.e. medicine ball throws)
- Tosses (i.e. medicine ball underhand throws)
- Jumps (i.e. double leg box jumps)
Finish with 3 sets of 12-15 reps, back-to-back, of each of the following:
- Twists (i.e. cable torso twists)
- Core flexion (i.e. hanging leg raises)
Then, at a separate time of day, or on your “non-lifting” day, do 20-30 minutes of high intensity interval training, which would include treadmill or cycling intervals, rowing, swimming, sprint repeats etc., preferably with time lengths of 20-60 seconds and rest intervals of 10-30 seconds.
Assuming you're also practicing or playing a sport, this routine is more than enough to get you fit fast.
If you're not practicing or playing a sport, you may want to add in a 2-4 extra 30-60 minute “tempo” or aerobic workouts.
After you take a listen to the interview (using the free BenGreenfieldFitness phone app), or after you try the motocross fitness routine, leave your questions, comments and feedback below.
2 Responses
I push a 650 thumper hard and fast thru the bush and alot of stop trials work like log jumping ect on the fat girl atleast twice a day now for two years and find it the best excersize ever and should have started years ago but im an old fat boy now and am getting bad elbows but still put the sic lads to shame alot.
Thank you for this web page it will help me in the 250A class