Chris Bach takes his training seriously and has been working with Troy since late 2008. Photo: Shan Moore

Welcome to Virtual Trainer off-road. The purpose of this feature will be to give you, the off-road racer/rider an in depth look at several key elements that will help improve your off-road riding/racing program.

The focus of future articles will be to assist in providing the necessary tools to make you a better rider/racer. Throughout the past 3 years in working with GNCC National #5 XC1 racer, Chris Bach we have structured a solid program that has brought Chris up through the ranks in a short period of time from a basic unknown privateer off-road racer in Open A in 2009 to a podium contender and National #5 XC1 factory sponsored racer for 2011.

We’ve established a core group of the essentials necessary to develop a solid off-road racing program. These essentials are what we will focus our efforts on to better aid in your racing/riding endeavor.

Some of the key areas we will focus are:

1. How to develop a proper training program to get better aligned with your fitness and racing goals.
2. Proper pre-race nutrition tips to keep performing to your max potential on race day.
3. Proper recovery tips to allow your body the best chance to repair the damage that has occurred during training and racing.
4. How to properly approach and adjust your program during  the inevitable ups and downs of racing and training.
5. Training techniques to increase your muscular endurance and cardio to better prepare for a 2+ hour off-road endurance race.
6. Training techniques to improve performance during the first 5-10 minutes of a race.
7. Pre-race track walk tips on what to focus on during track walks.
8. Riding tips and drills to improve riding technique for all the off-road obstacles encountered  during a ride or race, such as: roots, rocks, creek beds, rutted corners and mud pits.

These are just a few of the items we will share to better aid in your success. Many more will follow as we progress.

In order to help you better understand and learn, we plan to share an in-depth, behind the scenes approach through the eyes of off-road racers  such as; Chris Bach (GNCC Pro) and Chris Johnson (WORCS Pro). We will include occasional videos that will better explain and visually aid in learning the various tips and techniques. We also plan to keep it entertaining at times with funny behind the scenes moments that should entertain and create a few laughs

Whether you are a serious racer or weekend warrior this site and all the tips we will be sharing will be targeted for you. Up to this point, many sites have tips for motocross training, but these tips are strictly focused and developed to cover the off-road riding  world.

That's it for now, until next time, good luck with your training and remember, if you have a question, log on to the Virtual Trainer Expert Forum and have your question answered by a panel of experts. In addition, be sure and check out the Racer X Virtual Trainer archive section. Your complete one-stop information zone for motocross fitness.

1. 
   GlennJ April 28, 2011 at 1:22 pm

   Looking forward to this series!
2. 
   MikeD April 28, 2011 at 3:34 pm

   Yes! Very much looking forward to this to help me out!
3. 
   Joe April 28, 2011 at 3:48 pm

   I met Chris briefly at an indoor practice track last year. Seems like a great guy and the perfect candidate for this type of article. Good luck to him and Chris. Look forward to seeing the articles for us 'off roaders.'
4. 
   ssav310 April 28, 2011 at 4:35 pm

   yes! racing WORCS this year and have been waiting for articles like these!
5. 
   revenuerazor April 29, 2011 at 1:24 am

   Nice work Troy, bring it on.
6. 
   Crapper April 29, 2011 at 3:33 am

   Way past due! Thanks RacerXVT. Looking forward to this section: "Training techniques to improve performance during the first 5-10 minutes of a race"
7. 
   MGN April 29, 2011 at 7:38 am

   AWESOME! Really looking forward to this!
8. 
   Tim Crytser April 30, 2011 at 9:11 am

   Cool, glad you guys are excited about this feature. Look for the first article early next week!
9. 
   kyle smith May 03, 2011 at 6:33 pm

   This is awesome. I have been following the 19 week program for Moto and seeing rsults even though I primarily race hare scrambles. This is great news.
10. 
    M.Stark May 10, 2011 at 3:33 am

    Looks good, when does it start?
    
11. 
    Tim Crytser May 10, 2011 at 3:46 pm

    M.Stark - New article on its way this week.
12. 
    Kai June 23, 2011 at 1:26 pm

    which week exactly was that???
13. 
    Tim Crytser June 23, 2011 at 2:53 pm

    There is another one on its way....soon!