Racer X Virtual Trainer

Hello,

I know consistency throughout the week is very important to have a succesful training program.

But is it also important to do the same activity on Monday, on Tuesday, on Wednesday? Like going to the gym every monday, active recovery on tuesday, day off on friday, etc.

I am asking this because I can do the same activities every week but not always on the same days as the week before. When the weather is bad I might not be able to ride on the weekends so I can go the gym on monday but if the weather is good I might end up riding twice in the weekends and monday will be a recovery day or a total day off.

I hope my question is clear.

Looking forward to our advice. =)

Thanks!

Ideally, it would be nice to be able to have the exact same schedule every week. But in most cases that is simply not realistic. This is why I always say in the articles on VT that exercise programs are highly individual. Plans change, the weather is variable, races get canceled, and sometimes you get sick. A good training program takes into account all of these variables and developes a program around them. Do you think that the pros with all the traveling they do have set schedules week in and week out? I gaurantee they don't. It sounds to me ike you are doing the right thing by evaluating what you are presented each week and adapting your routine to fit.

I'm not even a big proponent of doing the same activities every week. You body adapts very quickly to exercise so in order to keep growing as an athlete, you have to continually present different stresses (or activities) to the body. I like to promote doing different things all the time. If you look at any of the workouts that are posted on the site, I always give at least two different routines that are alternated each week. That way your body is continually presented with different stresses to overcome. Swim, bike, run, take a group fitness class, mountain bike, spin, row, play basketball, etc. These are all activities that are great for training for motocross and can be substituted in place of each other to achieve the same result.

Thanks for a great question and hope this helps!

_________________
Tim Crytser
Your Virtual Trainer
www.racerxVT.com

In higher end athletics, yes, repeated weekly training patterns for the duration of the training period produce the best results. This is not a reality for non full time atheltes for all the reasons Tim listed above. It is rare that a normal rider with a normal job and family, plus throw in the weather and other things that come up and just getting out and getting a set number of workouts in a week no matter when they happen is the best you can do. In this context, "consistency" is just getting your workouts in week in and week out no matter how they happen. You can improve on this though by figuring out in you week what the "breakthrough" workouts are. These are workouts that work on your specific weaknesses. Some may have the speed but no fitness to speak in general terms and some my have no speed but plenty of fitness. Whatever the general case may be you need to do the breakthrough workouts first in the order of intensity, no matter how they line up in the week.

An example would be a vet class rider who has plenty of general conditioning but has zero corner speed. He also is rehabilitating an injured shoulder. In this case the rider should try to get the track day in first but spend the first part of the track day working on cornering drills (first breakthrough workout) then if he or she has extra time work on riding motos (cornering weakness handled before riding endurance). Then the second workout of the week would be to do the shoulder rehabilitation exercises. If there are more days left over before the end of the training week then continue to go down the list of workouts based on 1) how much it effects your weaknesses (Breakthrough workouts) and 2) relative intensity.

This is simply prioritizing your workouts by 1) functionality and 2) intensity. It is trying to put your valuable training time and energy into the areas where it can do the most good. If you have all the training time in the world like a professional rider it is a bit different but it still follows the intensity scale from the beginning of the week to the end of the week. Those lucky few have the luxury of mixing in relatively lower intensity days/less functionally important days in between their breakthrough workout days as "recovery workouts" and such.

_________________
Coach Seiji
www.coachseiji.com

Thanks for the info virtual trainer, coach seiji.

Great idea to have this message board!