The key to riding strength...

For anyone's who interested in the muscles that ACTUALLY support you while your riding, you need to check out Paul Chek!! He trains Ryan Hughes for one, the Russian weight lifting team, US Olympic team, etc etc... he knows his stuff!

The key to proper riding is postural strength... check out Ricky, Reedy and Bubba, they all look the same when they ride and that's down to musculature of the spine and abdominal wall. And no, it's not because of the flashy six pack (rectus abdominus) either, it's the entire area - obliques, TVA and illiopsoas muscles!!

The six pack (RA) is designed to stop your torso peeling backwards if you trip over and so contracts when you accelerate. Your torso and head want to go backwards while the bike shoots forward. Hit the throttle and your RA contract to keep the distance between your chin and pelvis constant. All good news...

Come into a corner seated though, lean to the side and correct your balance all the way through, then stand up on exit - this is NOT done by the six pack at all, but is controlled by the obliques. So forget crunches !

Land from a jump, stand up, sit down, ride a series of bumps and it's your TVA, obliques AND RA that work together to maintain a solid torso. But keep in mind that the TVA supports the lower vertabrae of the spine when contracted, and you'll realilse this is the baby you need to strenthen to protect your spine and hold a good posture. If you want a quick demonstration, take a breath into your diaphram (feels like your stomach's breathing), hold it and then pull your belly button in as hard as you can... that is the TVA, and that muscle is the one dirt bikers need to stregthen more than anything!

Turns out, crunches do NOT exercise obliques or the TVA at all, and the six pack is only partially stimulated by them either!!!! It's all to do with range of motion, but that;s a whole nother subject!!

Prove it to yourself!... next time you go riding, squeeze the tank with your legs, pull that belly button in hard and relax your hands on the bars.... suddenly you'll understand why your hands hurt! Because you're hanging on with your hands as your abdominal/postural muscles are too weak to support your torso!!! THIS is the key to bike control for the top guys, some of them just don;t realise they;re doing it as they've been riding longer than we can even imagine!

The point of all this rambling is, there are dirt bike specific exercises you can do, but be very wary of gym machines and instructors who don't understand the forces applied to the body on a dirt bike!

If anyone's keen I can try and describe a few? I usually charge for this, but since I'm a MXer, and you all ride too............ we'll call it even :nod:

Forgot to mention... when you land from a jump or brake hard, your body wants to collapse forward. It';s the abdominal wall that stops that happening, unless your too weak through there, then your arms and hands have to cope with all the stresses!! Felt that before? Check out the fast dudes under brakes... are there arms rigid? or do they still move back and forward . NOW check the position of their backs... do they flop around? I don't think so... It's all down to posture........

Masterphil is right, time on the bike is the best, but not if you're not strong enough to hold yourself with good posture, then you'd just be letting the good muscles get weaker and the wrong ones get weaker!

You'll also compromise the chances of becomg a better rider!

Two of the best exercises mimic bike riding as closely as we can without actually being on the bike...

For the first one you need an unstable platform to stand on (feet about peg width apart) - your local gym should have something like this available. Then grab a small medicine ball and squeeze it between your knees nice and hard while your wobbling around on the unstable platform.

This simulates standing on the pegs squeezing the tank. Some of you may have trouble with that on it's own, but if you can do those two things reasonably well, assume the position (ha ha - please sir may I have another :laugh: _ Animal House!!) in front of a wall mounted two cable system where you can pull a bar at about handlebar height toward you - while you squeeze the ball and keep your balance on the board. All the time you should have your legs bent as though you're standing on the bike.

To make it even more difficult, squat down a bit as though you;re landing from a jump or coming into a corner. Also you can pull the bar close to you or let it go out to arms length and back again. Ideally you should pull the bar toward you and hold it for 10 secs each rep... do 18 reps. Vary the motions as much as you like... just try and hold the positions for 10secs each time.

Try this standing almost straight up, then as low as you can squat while still squeezing the ball!!

THEN grab a cable handle in each hand, and face AWAY from the wall, and do the same movements. But you'll need separate handles for this one. This is a little harder to do as you will be pulled backward but keep your abs tight and legs solid! Push the handles away from you and hold that for 10secs, then halfway back etc etc...

Another option is to kneel on top of a swiss ball (even that can be tough) and simulate cornering with your knees. You can also hold weights against your chest or at arms length to your sides if you;re real good! ;)

Hope that makes sense...give em a try! You'll improve your riding the very next time you go out! Honest :cool:

I mean the wrong muscles will get stronger! sorry people...