TRAIN HARD, RIDE EASY
Want to ride faster and for longer? Then stop this way and bring a bit of will power and commitment with you.
As much as it pains me to say it, long gone are the days of Bazza & Co. puffing on a Marlboro and washing it down with an ice cold beer after a race – unless of course your name’s Al Fagan. From Marquez to McGuinness (in his own way albeit) racers are about as fit and as calm as they’ve ever been, with around 99% at National level and beyond taking their diet and training regimes as seriously as the Pope takes religion. Yeah, that serious.
This is all because of how close racing is nowadays and you only need to take a look at the MotoGP for an example: back in 1984, the margin from first to fifth in the premier class at Assen was over one minute and 12 seconds, whereas this year it was at just over five seconds… and that’s a pretty big margin for the year. Saying that though, the boys in British Superbike have it even tougher, with the whole field qualifying within 1.9 seconds at Brands Indy.
This means that with control tyres and machinery being so closely matched, riders are looking to find every little advantage – and that usually starts with themselves, to the point where one Scott Redding almost starved himself in his final Moto2 Championship season to try and win.
What’s in it for you?
Interesting stuff, but does this apply to you? I know you’re probably reading this with a cuppa in one hand and a choccy digestive biscuit in the other (just as I have been when I’ve not been writing this), but there is some decent rationale behind being fit, even if you’re never likely to set foot on a racing grid.
You wouldn’t think twice about spending a couple of grand on an exhaust for a few extra horses, but did you know that on a 600cc, 1hp is equal to 2kg of weight? So imagine just what shifting a few Crimbo kilos of unwanted bodyweight could do for you on your next trackday. And it’s not just about riding faster either; I’ve lost count of the amount of crashes and mistakes I’ve seen on the last session at various trackdays and race weekends, as it’s when people are the most fatigued and aren’t concentrating that they tend to lob themselves (and their bikes) down the track. Or, on the flip side, you get the folk who know they’ve reached their physical limits and end up heading for home early halfway into an expensive trackday.
You may as well burn your money at that rate, which is sacrilege in our book. If people are capable of running marathons, doing 24-hour endurance races or digging holes to China (we’re not actually sure if anyone’s ever done that last one), then it’s possible for you to up your game and make the most of your riding endeavours in 2018. To show exactly how, we decided to enlist the help of three willing FB readers (who’d entered and won the places on our Facebook comp), superbike rider James Ellison and pro-trainer Sam Yassin and nutritionist Brad Howell.
And to make sure no one was napping during a day of all-out gruelling exercise, our friends at MSV-Trackdays kindly offered a free slot on one of their 2018 track events for the best performing of our participants.
Bringing a knife to a gunfight
Ever heard that phrase? That’s a pretty apt description as I strolled into the incredibly snazzy state-of-the-art gym complex named Jim Play, holding a box of doughnuts for a bit of a laugh while Superbike rider James Ellison was knocking back a shot of Podium Juice (a potent concoction prepared by Brad, his nutritionist, which primes both the mind and body for action – kinda like legal speed). After a quick coffee it was time to get down to business, and even though James Ellison had a still-broken hand he gave us a straight through demo of our circuit which our trainer Sam, and nutritionist Brad simulated as a usual session for the BSB boys.
During a session, there can be up to three or four Superbike riders training at a time, and lasting about 30 minutes the guys will try and do as many circuits as possible – which means things often get intensely competitive. I got a taste of that reality first hand as Ellison seemed to breeze through his first set with relative ease, depressing us with how effortless he had just made the series of exercises look. Usually the riders will go for the full 30 minute duration, but for us it was a question of who could do the most, and (un)fortunately I had to get involved in this shootout for the sake of the story.
Cue the pain
Setting off at five minute intervals with timers set on each of our phones, Ellison’s easy looking tasks started taking their toll on our lucky contenders instantly – which was a bit worrying considering I was still stood on the sidelines at this point, watching the pain I’d soon be subjected to once I kicked off on the carefully considered exercises featured in our circuit.
Dan, who’s a pretty fit Superstock rider, had already hit a bit of a wall and was being followed around by the sick bucket after just four minutes of the ski machine and the bench press routine. Yes, within five minutes things were already going pear shaped as Ellison, Brad and Sam consoled the (un) lucky lad through his 500m row, which relentlessly followed his first two tasks. By consoling, I naturally mean brutally tormented the poor guy through every single one of those metres, egging him on to reach the finish line. Even though he trains almost every day, it was the sheer brutality of the required effort that tore him down as the exercises attacked each of his different muscle groups. To crack straight from the row, into the get-ups and then the Watt bike was nothing short of crippling, to the extent that his inhaler had to come out to help him carry on. It wasn’t a pretty thing to watch, and worst of all was the fact I had to see club-racer James and then yoga-guru Gareth
go through the same kind of self-harm before I eventually got my routine circuit under way. It was sheer hell, but I wouldn’t allow myself to give in despite my own head questioning my sanity. Being my first time attacking a workout in this particular way I was unsure what to expect, yet straight away the benefits were clear; by using a circuit with competition the perfect storm is created, as you can see exactly where your opponents are while you’re absolutely battering a whole host of different muscle groups and increasing your cardio capacity at the same time. Sam’s technique was a one-stop shop for creating absolute animals! Oh, and weeding out the unfit with ease in the process…
The point is, no one set of exercises will ever be enough – you always have to switch up to keep your body guessing. The result is just pure torture, and I’ve never known 30 minutes to drag by like it did in that session, but with every rep the pain just increased to an excruciating level. Having Sam, Brad and James at different points fuelled us with the motivation needed to keep on going, but with every passing second we were fighting for breath and struggling to continue. Even so, taking very succinct and short breaks was a must, and after what seemed like a lifetime, our shift in hell was complete.
Usually hating the sound of my phone alarm, the ringing was like a positive note from God as we crumbled on to the floor after a mere 30 minutes. At the final whistle James was an absolute animal and completed the most circuits, while Dan came a distant second and Gareth brought it up the rear in third. As for me, well, we’ll just skip that bit, shall we? So what’s the key to all of this? Keep your workout fresh and exciting, while hitting each different muscle group is the key – you have to use everything on a bike after all and you won’t get any rest there!
The end result
So that was that. Our three willing victims and I were about done in by the time the intense training session had come to an end. No, it wasn’t easy, but it was clear to see why so many top level racers were prepared to subject themselves to such tough and challenging routines. If you could survive that kind of assault on a regular basis, there was no way your fitness was going to be hampered when racing.
My advice? Get yourself out there, get a proper PT trainer (cough, Sam) and go balls to the wall – the performance rewards will come thick and fast, as the truth of the matter is there isn’t an easy, quick fix way to become as fit as a Superbike rider; these guys are full-on athletes, training in ways that regular gym goers wouldn’t dare. You need to be pushing yourself above and beyond your limitations almost every day in the gym with a range of workouts which cover your whole body, while keeping to a strict diet.
Madness. I mean, it was only after a relatively peaceful cooldown while digging into some healthy chicken in Nando’s where I could really reflect on what had just happened. Feeling on top of the world yet with a body feeling like it had been through the wars, it’s incredible to train at the same level as these guys do. The fact that they don’t rest and hit it almost every day of the week just illuminates the reason why they are paid to race Superbikes and I’m paid to write. Hats off and credit where credit is due, these boys may not ride easy, but they train bloody hard.