The physical demands of motocross

[KawieKX125]

I have heard that MX is the second most physically demanding sport in the world behind soccer. Is this true. All my friends in school think that Mx is a wussy sport and all you have to do is twist the throttle and let the bike do the work. I feel that that is the farthest thing possible from the truth. I old them to go ride a 30 minute moto as hard as they can and see how tired they are, but they still say it would be easy. Please confirm this fact.

 

[BrentBlain]

i have heard that too, although i haven't raced yet i'll tell you this. I can ride trails for 4-5 hours strait with little 5 min breaks here and their. I went to the track last week for the first time and it seemed i was pulling off the track every could of laps for hand cramps or just to rest. I never would have thought it was so physically demanding and alot more than the trail. There is no sitting down, cruising or relaxing on the track. Its either go your fastest of get off the track. Its real easy to say something is easy when you have never tried it. Your friends probalby can't even ride a motor cycle let along race around a track for 40 min strait. All i know is that i am starting to train just so i can get more track time in before i have to pull off. Also i have never seen a fat or out of shape pro-motocrosser, and thier is a reason for that.

-Brent



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00 CR250

 

[Lance_sg]

Yeah...MX is rated the second most physcially demanding sports...the first is amercia football...

Tell your friends to try it out b4 making any comments....from what they said...shows that they know nuts about mx...

 

[MX Madman]

Tell these hotshots to try it first.I`ve been riding/racing since I was 10.I`m 33 now.I`ve never been able to stop training without droping oof the pace.These guy`s would fold in 2 laps,if they made that(off the pace ofcourse!!).If they dont believe,get my E-mail from hear and give it to them.I`ll evan loan themm a bike n see if they can hang with an old man :)!!!If not,then I`ll put my son on`em!!
Stick to youre guns,you know youre right!

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KTM250sx(mine)
BSA B50MX 500cc(mine)CR80expert(son) MX Madman

 

[Yzed-250F]

I firmly believe wrestling (college & Olympic)is the more demanding than mx. I didn't start racing till last year. The fact that I did not get tired solely rests on the intense demands it requires. The combination of the strength and endurance required to be successful carried over to mx VERY efficiently! I'm not implying MX is an easy sport. I totally believe we need to be in top shape to be successfull and I have had seen success early by means of strength and endurance training at one time.

[This message has been edited by Yzed-250F (edited 11-15-2000).]

 

[problmpc]

Did you know that it takes about 350-400 skills to drive a car and about 3500-4000 to race motocross . .

Its not as easy as some think ..

 

[avlehtine]

Rating sports like that is not possible. It's bull like all the stories in magazines that say this-and-this(replace with the sport the story is about) is the fastest growing sport in the world.

Motocross is nowhere near as demanding (from a pure strength/fitness point of view) as say the 1500m run (you're out of it after those 5 minutes) or say doing some squats. You are not pushing it all the time when you're riding, the straightaways and such are just rest if you have the technique and endurance.

 

[BrentBlain]

i don't know about you but when i was on the course my goal was not to rest it was to go as fast as i could even on the straits, if you rest on the straits then you will see someone passing you and that's not good. If you are pushing it all the time then you are not going fast enough. I think that a 1500M run and squats are very demanding also but since i have not done either for 40 min strait i cannot say if they are more demanding than motocross. But i would think that thier are scientific tests that could measure how demanding a sports is, they have all those electric gizmo's that attache to every part of the body and i don't see why they can't use it to see how demanding a sport is. I am guessing that is where they get all these stats from.

-Brent



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00 CR250

 

[Mayhem]

Brent, I believe that's how they came up with the stats. They must've used instruments and crap to figure out how much energy you burn up in a moto or something.

 

[Keltracer]

I agree with wrestling being more physically demanding. A 6 min match might not seem like much, but by the end, your dead tired. By the way, there is no way american football could qualify as being one of the more physically demanding sports.

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You get the best thrills on two wheels!

 

[MX Madman]

One of The first rules of going fast is "DONT DOG IT ON EASY PARTS!!"If you do,you`re giving up easy ground.Don`t give the other guys a break,`couse that guy who you let pull up on you in the straight you where "relaxing " on will use his speed to rail the next courner and put you behind him.

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KTM250sx(mine)
BSA B50MX 500cc(mine)CR80expert(son) MX Madman

[This message has been edited by MX Madman (edited 11-16-2000).]

 

[yzguy15]

how in the world can they rate football harder than mx. i know mx is just as or harder than an enduro. i can go both ways for a whole football game but cant finish the short course on an enduro. explain that one. also i know wrestling would be harder cause its really easy to get tired wrestling with friends, and collegiate wrestling is harder and more intense.

 

[BrentBlain]

but would wresting rate in the same sport category as MX and soccer? MX and soccer are both cartiogovascular (sp) sports and wrestling is more like weight lifting. You could try and pick up a 500 pound weight and it would only take you 30 seconds and you would be dead tired. Same with sprinting and running, after a 100M sprint you are tired but does that make it harder than running a marathon? I think they are in different categories. Just a thought, i have no scientific backing on my theroies :)
Maybe someone could post the article on the MX being the second hardest sport and it would have where and how they got the test results?

-Brent



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00 CR250

 

[MX221]

Remember they were talking about top Professional riders, not casual or weekend warriors. They actually did a series of tests at a college using the top pros of each sport. Very scientific.

Shane

 

[viking2]

I belive the most demanding sport is pulling Boing 747:s with your teeth. But that does not matter do it? When I was racing a lot I also got my share of this discussion. The only thing that realy mattered to me was that I was fit enough to race mx. Let the footballplayers mind their own business.
When I was in school there was a lot of sports going on such as triathlon and running. I was the only one riding mx and I was doing great in all of the running and triathlon competitions. The only ones that could compete with me was the experts in those perticular sports. I belive that it's hard to compete with an mx-racer when it comes to alround fittnes.

 

[Doctor-Z]

I can't believe no one mentioned ice hockey as a physically demanding sport. I mean those guys skate up and down the ice fighting each other for the puck. When the whistle blows, they fight each other for who knows what reason.

I don't race, but I could see it as a very demanding sport. Same as hockey, I don't think so.

Denver

 

[MX Madman]

TRY race`n,it`s alot more demanding than you can realize.I not put`n you down at all;you just can`t understand the demand.The fact that your adrenalen is off the charts has got to have alot to do with it!I took 10 years off from racing,(JOB,KIDS,LIFE,you know),but when I came back,the intensity and demand on my body was unreal.Had to start all over.I havn`t tried hockey,(GA`s just to warm for that!),but I can`t believe it`s as hard.

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KTM250sx(mine)
BSA B50MX 500cc(mine)CR80expert(son) MX Madman

 

[Monkey Butt]

Remember when you are racing a two hour harescramble, there is no breaks between quarters or time outs. You are giving it your all the entire time or you shouldn't be out there.

Before my first race (the Moose Run, Morrison, IL, six hour race) I had been running and lifting on a regular basis. At one point in the race, I was on my hands and knees trying to get my legs to uncramp so I could get back on the bike and keep going. I have always been a good athlete and in good physical conditioning. The rigors of racing totally blew my mind.

Remember they aren't just analyzing your shear muscle, how much you can lift, your endurance, lung capacity, cardiovascular system and whatever else you can think of, but they are analyzing the whole package. Sure, the top football players and hockey players are in great shape, but the demands of those sports are a lot different than MX or Offroad racing. They are obviously more muscular and bulky, but does that truly make them in better overall condition. As mentioned earlier, soccer is the number one rated sport for physical conditioning. If you look closely, you'll find they compare more evenly to a top dirt bikers physique.

Like MX221 said, I am sure they are looking at the top athletes in the sports.

Not that I am biased or anything.

Neal

 

[SL99]

When I first started riding motocross, I was a runner and a mountain biker. I would run anywhere from 25-40 miles per week at 70%-90% heart rate or mountainbike an average of 140 miles and 14,000 feet of elevation per week. In fact, I found I could hang with pros but I was just a beginner and had only been training for 3.5 months.
Well, I had a pre-conceived idea that I would take to motocross right away b/c of my fitness level, just like I did with my Ultimate Frisbee team, a combination of soccer and football, which consisted mostly of men.
I was humbled to the extreme after my first few rides! I could'nt hang more than 1.5 laps, let alone the fact that I was scared sh@#less of my bike and its power! Pee wees & fat guys where laping me 2 & 3 times in my one lap! Motocross and supercross have 100% of my respect!
If I quite riding MX for more than a couple of months, its back to ground 0, but if I quite running or mountainbiking, I can still run or climb half the distance at no less than half the pace.
Maybe my gender has something to do with this, but MX is the most enduring, physically demanding & mentally challenging sport I have ever participated in and that is why I have stayed involved with it the longest, despite the expense it creates!

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Sarah L. mx#99
99' YZ125

 

[GRNMCHN]

Go to yahoo and do a search of "physically demanding sports". You'll find that almost anything you can think of will come up as "one of the most physically demanding sports", and when you think about them they are all right, especially at a pro level. I even saw Pro Golf listed. I am pretty physically fit, lift weights, run, ride all that good stuff but it seems every time I've tried a new sport I am sore someplace I am never usually sore. I think you'll find the same to be true with just about anybody especially Pro's that do nothing but train for their specific sport. Take McGrath for example he's been called the fittest MX'r around, stick him with a rowing team or a rock climber for a day, he'll probably do better than the average Joe but I bet he is still sorer than he's ever been after any SX race. All physical sports are demanding. If you want to prove the point put your friends that doubt you on your bike at a track, I'll bet they don't last 10 minutes.