by M. Doug McGuff, M.D.

When I am called upon to set up a training program for an athlete, I make it a point to point out that what I am actually setting up is a recovery program. As you read this book, you may note that what I recommend may be significantly different than what you may have read elsewhere. Other trainers may recommend a weight program that is more like a powerlifting program with multiple sets and complex variations of workloads over time. I offer what I feel is a simplified and time efficient weight program. If I can get strength increases with less time in the gym, you have more time to spend on the bike. Others may also use plyometrics (jumping exercises). I feel this involves exceedingly high forces that might get you injured, and because of the specificity of skills-it makes you get a lot better at jumping off of boxes but not necessarily better at clearing big doubles. My point however is this: IT ALL WORKS! Our human bodies are adaptive organisms. If a significant physical stressor is applied to the body, the body will respond with a physical improvement, provided that adequate recovery has been allowed. However, if adequate recovery time is not provided...nothing works. In fact, if you do not allow adequate recovery, you will become weaker. This would not be such a problematic issue is it were not for this fact: productive physical training is not the only thing that takes a toll on your ability to recover. Any stressor can take its toll. A long car or plane trip to the race, trying to sleep in a cheep hotel while wild BMX grommets run up and down the hall all night, or worrying whether your factory sponsor is going to go belly-up without warning all take a toll. Regular life stressors also factor into the equation. Job stress, finals at school, marriage, a new baby and other such events will take a hit on recovery. You can see that this can become a complex problem that a canned program may not be able to handle.

Timing is Everything

Once we acknowledge the importance of recovery, we can see that the type of training we choose is not the only important issue. Even more important is the timing of the different training elements relative to the upcoming race. I have read with amusement AA pros describing training programs that involve weight lifting one or two days before a race. We have already established that weight lifting produces inroad (momentary weakening) and that over several days the body will strengthen, but the day or two afterward you are still weaker. Think of training as digging a hole in the ground and recovery as filling that hole back up, plus a little more on top. If you go to compete before you have even filled that hole back up, you are going to do worse, not better. If you set up a proper training and recovery program, your aim should be to show up to any important race fully recovered. With proper planning this is achievable. The key is to pick your most important races in a 3 month period and back-engineer your recovery for these events first. If you really want to emphasize these races, you may have to go to some races a little under-recovered. But if you have a tough schedule, you have to sacrifice some battles to win the war. Sometimes this means racing under-recovered, other times it means not going to a race at all. Wade Boots, and Christophe Leveque have made good use of skipping certain races in order to perform well at other races.

Sometimes The Best Training Program is To Do As Much Nothing As Possible

For Nationally ranked riders and AA pros with very busy schedules it may be impossible to train and race for a significant portion of the year. In the Summer, the schedule is literally so hectic that a racer can literally not unpack his bike carrier between races and still end up under-recovered. During such extremely busy times, trying to squeeze in training will only dig you into a very deep hole. The options during such times are basicly two: if your points margin is good, sacrifice some races and incorporate some easy training...or if you have to keep racing, then follow this rule: don't stand when you can sit, don't sit when you can lay down, and if you can lay down...sleep. For factory AA pros under-recovery becomes a way of life. The Summer brings on a state of severe overtraining. The funny thing about overtraining is that it is hard to recognize, and many times the solution seems to be more effort. As these athletes go down this vortex, performance declines and injuries mount. Winning a title becomes as much a badge of endurance as ability. After two seasons of this, a relatively young rider can be relatively eaten up. Every year a small group of new hotshots explodes on the scene and looks as if they will dominate for some time to come. But within a few years, the young guns accumulate enough fatigue and injuries so that they end up in the middle of the pack with the rest. Make no mistake, BMX is a sport that eats its young. The only way to deal with this reality is to acknowledge that it exists, and develop a long-range plan with an emphasis on recovery.

We will cover specifics in more detail in the Putting it All Together chapter, but here are some general guidelines. If the race you are preparing for is extremely important to you, you should allow 7-10 days of complete recovery before the event...that's right, no training of any kind. For moderately to very important nationals, allow at least 4-5 days of complete recovery. For less important races on the national circuit, you should shut down training the Wednesday prior. If you race strictly on a local basis, you should shut down 48 hours before training. If you race nationally, but participate locally you can shut down 48 hours before a race, or you can incorporate the race itself as part of your training.

Harder components of training should be placed furthest from the race day. Easier components can be placed closer to race day. The following recommendations are based on planning for less important or local races. If planning for a more important race, add the appropriate number of rest days for the type of race. For example: for an extremely important national add 5-8 days (stopping 7-10 days prior rather than 2=5-8 days).

Weight training: allow 6 days recovery before racing (11-14 days for a big national).

Sprint Intervals: allow 4-5 days recovery (9-13 days for a big national).

Skills practice: allow 2 days recover (8-12 for a big national).

By using these guidelines, you can pick your important events, and back-engineer your training schedule with recovery in mind.

A Plea to the Sanctioning Bodies

I know you have heard it from the Pro Class riders and the magazines...but now you can here it from me too. PLEASE DECREASE THE NUMBER OF NATIONALS PER YEAR. The current race schedules are harming the sport. Local programs are being sapped of riders. Moderately talented riders are being pulled to venues where they cannot succeed, and the truly talented riders are getting mentally and physically burned out. The average BMX family gets involved at year zero, is rabidly involved by 12-18 months, and totally flamed-out and gone (or broke) by 24-30 months. The best of the best who can have some hope of making careers of the sport are unable to sustain peak performance for more than about 2 seasons.

This last point is the most important because it explains why BMX has such trouble gaining wide acceptance. For any sport to acquire broad appeal, there must be a dominant athlete within that sport. An athlete must rise to the top and stay there in order to have time to draw attention to the sport. Here are but a few examples: Skateboarding-Tony Hawk, BMX Freestyle-Dave Mirra, Cycling-Lance Armstrong,
Motocross-Jeremy McGrath, Snowboarding-Shaun Palmer, Golf-Tiger Woods, and Tennis-Andre Agassi. When an athlete establishes himself as a dominant player, then the marketers grab hold of his image and the image of the sport goes along for the ride. In the realm of sport, the best can only rise to the top and remain there if the sports organizers do not overbook them with competitive events. If there are too many events, the best will become overtrained and will not be able to express their superiority. When this happens, not only are heroes prevented from emerging, less talented athletes can clog up the field and drag down the level of play altogether. BMX sanctions need to limit AA venues to no more than 8-12 per year. At those events, the riders should be showcased for a couple of hours in the midst of a normal national. This would stimulate a fan base, and allow the fans to see the best at their best. Under these circumstances, dominant riders could emerge and evolve. Every sport has its "cream of the crop", and if organized properly, the cream will rise to the top. Unfortunately, in BMX our cream is whipped cream. Bernie and Bob, PLEASE! This has got to change.

This article is an excerpt from BMX Training: A Scientific Approach. To order a copy, send $30.00 (check or money order) to: Ultimate Exercise: P.O. Box 1882 Seneca, SC 29679.