motor racing conditioning

[galya]

My question involves conditioning of a 11-year old boy, who's a motorcycle racer, champion of the Balkans, and so on.
The kid's great but he has not been conditioned specifically for his sport, ever.
His dad makes him run for 30 minutes twice a week, just for endurance and puts him on the elliptical for two bouts of 15 minutes with a heart rate of about 85-90% of his max.
It is a sport that involves isometric action mostly.
The bike's moving and he is static on top of it, his heart pumping like crazy.
Has anyone had experience with conditioning an athlete like that?
10x for any ideas [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Will Haskell]

I've trained many motocross riders thus far in my career. The first issue that needs to be addressed is arm pump. Improving forearm strength can help keep his arms from seizing up on him each time he rides. If you aren't familiar with arm pump--it is when blood rushes into the fascia and causes pressure similar to compartment sydrome. It can be a serious medical condition and any non-surgical steps you can take to avoid this will be beneficial.

Endurance has no place in a training regiment for motocross at all not to mention the kid is only 11 years old. If you want to "condition" him...give him a basketball, football or soccer ball and let him play with his friends.

Performance enhancement has to be developmental with a focus on overall systemic strength. Aerobic conditioning is not going to create a champion racer.

I hope this helps you.

Will Haskell
Athletic Development Specialist

[Bill Hartman]

I would beg to differ in opinion that he's not been conditioned to his sport. If he's a champion racer, then he has certainly been conditioned for his sport.

Excellent points on Will's part. I get a bit tired of the overabundance of endurance training in hopes of improving performance where aerobic endurance is not a factor. For instance, here in the hot bed of the Indy Racing League the supposed local expert trainer of drivers has his clients training as if they're participating in a mini-marathon. Hmmm...for a "sport" in which the drivers sit for 2 hours and must resist extremely high forces associated with turning left at over 200 miles an hour. Doesn't make sense, nor will it improve driving performance.

Just because the heart is beating quickly does not mean there is a need for any significant aerobic conditioning. It's not beating to meet the O2 demands of the muscles.

The Dad in the original question is very misguided. Please follow Will's advice.

Bill

[galya]

Thank you both.
I figured the dad was misguided. He is a former short distance runner and I guess much of his idea of training his boy stems from what has been done to him when he was a young athlete.
I will talk to him. Kind of a difficult issue.
So, riding conditions him enough for his sport, he doesn't need anything extra. I will suggest to him a few forearm exercises, hope he takes it well.
I appreciate the help.

[Bill Hartman]

Originally posted by galya:

So, riding conditions him enough for his sport, he doesn't need anything extra.

We were only referring to the endurance running component you described. He'll still benefit from an age appropriate strength training program and plain old playing outside.

Bill

[galya]

Originally posted by Bill Hartman:

quote:

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Originally posted by galya:

So, riding conditions him enough for his sport, he doesn't need anything extra.

We were only referring to the endurance running component you described. He'll still benefit from an age appropriate strength training program and plain old playing outside.

Bill [/quote]I understand that, makes perfect sense. I appreciate the help.
I will have to try to hard to convince the dad, but I will let him read your replies.
Whenever I see the kid outside he is always on a regular bicycle or motorcycle. He looks very fragile (thin, almost pale)though I am sure he is pretty tough for his age. Since I don't train him, I have no idea what his abilities are, just talked to the dad about it.
Thanks again and I will keep you posted on what happened.