How Fit Are Supercross Athletes? (Interviews with the Pros)

aeffertz
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I don't watch every rider's vlog but I clicked this one to burn some time and it was actually pretty interesting! A-Mart put together a really cool video showcasing some actual numbers that these guys do that the average person can relate to. I knew all these racers are very fit but some of the numbers their putting up it crazy! 

 

 

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Benhameen
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4/28/2024 12:46pm

I watched this video the other day and thought it was pretty cool. I point out to my non moto friends all the time how fit these guys have to be to ride like they do. I think the fitness aspect should be promoted more on the tv side. 

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yz133rider
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4/28/2024 1:05pm

Pretty incredible cardio, I expected them to be freaky strong though, so that was also interesting to see.

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4/28/2024 1:08pm

I always knew they were good endurance wise but I thought the could lift heavier.

It‘s interesting to follow some of these guys on strava and see the workouts they‘re doing. 

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The Shop

brimx153
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4/28/2024 1:43pm

I honestly thought they'd  be more impressive.  Although wrecked knee s and injuries prob holds back some  of the times .running etc. I remember pit beirer won a competition of all pro athletes in Germany.  He beat alot of big names of soccer , athletes. Etc.  Bar the sub 16 5 ks , I know lots of amateur athletes could pull them number s. Still believe moto is the hardest sport out there . Shows that bike fitness is still the most Important 

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wwdiii
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4/28/2024 1:50pm

I watched Jett lift his bike off the stand like it was light as a feather.  He picked it up like he was doing a curl.  Grabbed the fender closest to him picked up off the stand and walked forward with it, like it was nothing.  

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TbonesPop
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4/28/2024 2:22pm

I do like to hear what these guys are doing and what their peak levels are.  When I played rugby in college, my fitness level was insane at the time.  We didn't track 5k times or any of the distance training time (we mainly just ran sprints non-stop), but on many of the lifting metrics I would have smoked most of those weight training numbers.  I was 185 lbs (@5'-11"), squatting +450, benching 315, I was doing sets of 10 dips with 100 lb weights, pull ups were +25 per set.  We didn't row or ride bikes and the running was all sprinting intervals to replicate game fitness.  Now days as Stanton said its all about longevity.  Multiple knee surgeries, had one hip replaced, etc.  No more heavy lifting or running.  Push ups, pull ups, body weight squats, rowing, and biking.  Looking back, I regret going as heavy (the wear and tear on the body was brutal) and wish I'd spent more time with higher rep, lighter to medium weight work outs.  We just didn't know as much then and followed a lot of football workouts regimens.

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lumpy790
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4/28/2024 2:43pm

Moto isn’t about physical strength but more about flexibility and long endurance.

Back in my training days on Monday Wednesday and Friday I ran 3 miles through a hilly neighborhood then I did several wind sprints for another 1/2 mile between driveways. Sprint 2 driveways then slow jog for 1 then repeat . On Tuesday and Thursday I ran 7 miles

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tomlopez
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4/28/2024 5:15pm

I thought this was one of the cooler moto videos I've seen recently.

The numbers didn't surprise me. I knew they were all freaks when it came to endurance, and I didn't expect any of them to say they're throwing down 3 sets of 12 bench press with 225 on the bar... that kind of strength doesn't really translate much into winning Supercross and Motocross races.

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4/28/2024 5:22pm
yz133rider wrote:

Pretty incredible cardio, I expected them to be freaky strong though, so that was also interesting to see.

Freaky strong, like able to move some iron in the gym? Why ever would you think that? They're all 140-170lbs

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Boggins
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4/28/2024 5:23pm

I saw this vid on the MXA website, TrollTr is diing a great job! Would like to see more fitness vid’s, see Aldon’s weekly workouts, etc.

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studworx
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4/28/2024 5:25pm Edited Date/Time 4/28/2024 5:26pm

Most of those guys in the video are top 20 on earth on a dirt bike. If you took the top 20 on earth in most other sports our guys wouldn’t hold a candle to them. 
 

I’m slightly surprised, I knew they wouldn’t be overly strong but most high school athletes doing endurance sports out pace our guys too. Their endurance numbers are good but not in terms of top level athletes on earth. 
 

It really highlights how skillful our sport is. 

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Kiernan mx
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4/28/2024 5:57pm

I expected them to be putting in more hours of training. I was shocked really at how little they do. Maximum hours of 24-30 per week including bike time during boot camp. Not to sound like an idiot but the way they go on and on about how hard it is I thought they would be doing 80 hours per week during boot camp and 24-30 during the season. I know a guy who trains 30 hours per week outside of his 45 hour per week job. And he doesn’t get paid for it 🤷‍♂️

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theraptur712
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4/28/2024 7:21pm Edited Date/Time 4/28/2024 7:23pm

Pro marathoners suck at long distance triathlon. Triathletes run 3hr marathons....but they cannot come close to a marathoner in a straight 26.2 but they run a 3hr marathon AFTER they swim 2.4 miles and bike 112 miles. A 2:05 pro marathoner would pass out or die trying to do an Ironman in 9hrs.

 

It takes a different build, genetics. A guy that hits the weights 5x a week and can bench 450 is never going to be the right build for 40 minutes of wide open motocross. A top 5 Tour de France cyclist couldn't do two 45 minute motos an hour apart.

 

Different sports, different skill sets and different body morphological setups.

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theraptur712
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4/28/2024 7:28pm
Kiernan mx wrote:
I expected them to be putting in more hours of training. I was shocked really at how little they do. Maximum hours of 24-30 per week...

I expected them to be putting in more hours of training. I was shocked really at how little they do. Maximum hours of 24-30 per week including bike time during boot camp. Not to sound like an idiot but the way they go on and on about how hard it is I thought they would be doing 80 hours per week during boot camp and 24-30 during the season. I know a guy who trains 30 hours per week outside of his 45 hour per week job. And he doesn’t get paid for it 🤷‍♂️

Have you tried training like what a top level pro motocrosser does? I bet it isn't as easy as you think it seems to be.

Pro motocrossers are a blend of strength to weight ratios, the ability to run anaerobic heart rates for 40 minutes at a time then repeat it an hour later. Flexibility. Reflexes.

I have done Ironman triathlons, full marathons, raced motocross for many years. But I am a 6"3" dude and my body type would never allow me to run a 2:30 marathon, do a 10hr Ironman, or race 40 minutes at Jett Lawrence speed.

 

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aeffertz
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4/28/2024 7:43pm
studworx wrote:
Most of those guys in the video are top 20 on earth on a dirt bike. If you took the top 20 on earth in most...

Most of those guys in the video are top 20 on earth on a dirt bike. If you took the top 20 on earth in most other sports our guys wouldn’t hold a candle to them. 
 

I’m slightly surprised, I knew they wouldn’t be overly strong but most high school athletes doing endurance sports out pace our guys too. Their endurance numbers are good but not in terms of top level athletes on earth. 
 

It really highlights how skillful our sport is. 

High schoolers are in better shape than the top athletes of our sport? 
 

Wtf are you smoking? 

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tomlopez
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4/28/2024 8:18pm
studworx wrote:
Most of those guys in the video are top 20 on earth on a dirt bike. If you took the top 20 on earth in most...

Most of those guys in the video are top 20 on earth on a dirt bike. If you took the top 20 on earth in most other sports our guys wouldn’t hold a candle to them. 
 

I’m slightly surprised, I knew they wouldn’t be overly strong but most high school athletes doing endurance sports out pace our guys too. Their endurance numbers are good but not in terms of top level athletes on earth. 
 

It really highlights how skillful our sport is. 

The top 5% of high school cross country athletes in the country are running the 5K times that some of these moto dudes run, and those kids are mostly 120lb 15 year olds who have absolutely no muscle and would get decimated trying to handle a motocross bike. 

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studworx
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4/28/2024 9:05pm Edited Date/Time 4/28/2024 9:09pm
studworx wrote:
Most of those guys in the video are top 20 on earth on a dirt bike. If you took the top 20 on earth in most...

Most of those guys in the video are top 20 on earth on a dirt bike. If you took the top 20 on earth in most other sports our guys wouldn’t hold a candle to them. 
 

I’m slightly surprised, I knew they wouldn’t be overly strong but most high school athletes doing endurance sports out pace our guys too. Their endurance numbers are good but not in terms of top level athletes on earth. 
 

It really highlights how skillful our sport is. 

tomlopez wrote:
The top 5% of high school cross country athletes in the country are running the 5K times that some of these moto dudes run, and those...

The top 5% of high school cross country athletes in the country are running the 5K times that some of these moto dudes run, and those kids are mostly 120lb 15 year olds who have absolutely no muscle and would get decimated trying to handle a motocross bike. 

So top 5% of 13-17 year old cross country runners, can match what the top 0.001% of adult athletes in our sport can do? (The guys we say are amongst the greatest athletes on earth)

You see why that’s less impressive?

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studworx
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4/28/2024 9:08pm Edited Date/Time 4/28/2024 9:11pm
studworx wrote:
Most of those guys in the video are top 20 on earth on a dirt bike. If you took the top 20 on earth in most...

Most of those guys in the video are top 20 on earth on a dirt bike. If you took the top 20 on earth in most other sports our guys wouldn’t hold a candle to them. 
 

I’m slightly surprised, I knew they wouldn’t be overly strong but most high school athletes doing endurance sports out pace our guys too. Their endurance numbers are good but not in terms of top level athletes on earth. 
 

It really highlights how skillful our sport is. 

aeffertz wrote:

High schoolers are in better shape than the top athletes of our sport? 
 

Wtf are you smoking? 

Nothing. Have you looked at what the kids in high school run in competitions?

What about high school competitive weight lifting numbers?

Please look at the top… 5-10% of those 13-17 year olds and compare it to the top 0.001% of Motocross racers stats displayed in that video. 

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4/28/2024 9:12pm
studworx wrote:
Most of those guys in the video are top 20 on earth on a dirt bike. If you took the top 20 on earth in most...

Most of those guys in the video are top 20 on earth on a dirt bike. If you took the top 20 on earth in most other sports our guys wouldn’t hold a candle to them. 
 

I’m slightly surprised, I knew they wouldn’t be overly strong but most high school athletes doing endurance sports out pace our guys too. Their endurance numbers are good but not in terms of top level athletes on earth. 
 

It really highlights how skillful our sport is. 

tomlopez wrote:
The top 5% of high school cross country athletes in the country are running the 5K times that some of these moto dudes run, and those...

The top 5% of high school cross country athletes in the country are running the 5K times that some of these moto dudes run, and those kids are mostly 120lb 15 year olds who have absolutely no muscle and would get decimated trying to handle a motocross bike. 

studworx wrote:
So top 5% of 13-17 year old cross country runners, can match what the top 0.001% of adult athletes in our sport can do? (The guys...

So top 5% of 13-17 year old cross country runners, can match what the top 0.001% of adult athletes in our sport can do? (The guys we say are amongst the greatest athletes on earth)

You see why that’s less impressive?

This. Motocross riders are certainly not outliers in terms of fitness among professional athletes. Compared to NFL players (skill positions) they’d get decimated. It’s a skill sport, you don’t need to be crazy fit by pro athlete standards to be successful 

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4/28/2024 9:51pm
Kiernan mx wrote:
I expected them to be putting in more hours of training. I was shocked really at how little they do. Maximum hours of 24-30 per week...

I expected them to be putting in more hours of training. I was shocked really at how little they do. Maximum hours of 24-30 per week including bike time during boot camp. Not to sound like an idiot but the way they go on and on about how hard it is I thought they would be doing 80 hours per week during boot camp and 24-30 during the season. I know a guy who trains 30 hours per week outside of his 45 hour per week job. And he doesn’t get paid for it 🤷‍♂️

They get paid to recover.

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Kiernan mx
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4/28/2024 10:07pm
Kiernan mx wrote:
I expected them to be putting in more hours of training. I was shocked really at how little they do. Maximum hours of 24-30 per week...

I expected them to be putting in more hours of training. I was shocked really at how little they do. Maximum hours of 24-30 per week including bike time during boot camp. Not to sound like an idiot but the way they go on and on about how hard it is I thought they would be doing 80 hours per week during boot camp and 24-30 during the season. I know a guy who trains 30 hours per week outside of his 45 hour per week job. And he doesn’t get paid for it 🤷‍♂️

Have you tried training like what a top level pro motocrosser does? I bet it isn't as easy as you think it seems to be. Pro...

Have you tried training like what a top level pro motocrosser does? I bet it isn't as easy as you think it seems to be.

Pro motocrossers are a blend of strength to weight ratios, the ability to run anaerobic heart rates for 40 minutes at a time then repeat it an hour later. Flexibility. Reflexes.

I have done Ironman triathlons, full marathons, raced motocross for many years. But I am a 6"3" dude and my body type would never allow me to run a 2:30 marathon, do a 10hr Ironman, or race 40 minutes at Jett Lawrence speed.

 

Oh yea I’m aware it will be extremely physically difficult. But they really aren’t putting in many hours of that difficult thing. That’s more of what I’m commenting on. They said their absolute max hours they’ve put in for a week during boot camp ( full on way more then normal) is 24-30 hours !!! 
id like to put them on a shovel digging trenches for 12 hours a day 7 days a week for $800 and see how they like it. Or put in some 20-32 hour days. I’ve worked plenty of 20 hour days in a physical job. For 12 months I started work at 7.30 am every Thursday and worked through till 5 pm Friday. Every week. I just thought they put in a heck of a lot more time to their training is all. I kind of seems easy really. Yea hard while you’re doing it but very much a part time gig. No disrespect to the guys it just doesn’t seem as hard as I’ve thought it was for the last 30 odd years. 

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Kiernan mx
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4/28/2024 10:11pm
Kiernan mx wrote:
I expected them to be putting in more hours of training. I was shocked really at how little they do. Maximum hours of 24-30 per week...

I expected them to be putting in more hours of training. I was shocked really at how little they do. Maximum hours of 24-30 per week including bike time during boot camp. Not to sound like an idiot but the way they go on and on about how hard it is I thought they would be doing 80 hours per week during boot camp and 24-30 during the season. I know a guy who trains 30 hours per week outside of his 45 hour per week job. And he doesn’t get paid for it 🤷‍♂️

They get paid to recover.

No doubt. But those max hours were during boot camp when they’re absolutely abusing themselves and recovery isn’t important. I’m not disrespecting what they do it’s just far FAR less then I thought they did from everything I’ve heard these guys talk about for 30 years. 

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zehn
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4/28/2024 10:12pm
Kiernan mx wrote:
Oh yea I’m aware it will be extremely physically difficult. But they really aren’t putting in many hours of that difficult thing. That’s more of what...

Oh yea I’m aware it will be extremely physically difficult. But they really aren’t putting in many hours of that difficult thing. That’s more of what I’m commenting on. They said their absolute max hours they’ve put in for a week during boot camp ( full on way more then normal) is 24-30 hours !!! 
id like to put them on a shovel digging trenches for 12 hours a day 7 days a week for $800 and see how they like it. Or put in some 20-32 hour days. I’ve worked plenty of 20 hour days in a physical job. For 12 months I started work at 7.30 am every Thursday and worked through till 5 pm Friday. Every week. I just thought they put in a heck of a lot more time to their training is all. I kind of seems easy really. Yea hard while you’re doing it but very much a part time gig. No disrespect to the guys it just doesn’t seem as hard as I’ve thought it was for the last 30 odd years. 

Only a matter of time until we got one of the "yeah I'd like to see them do blah blah blah like I did back in the day" clown comments

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Kiernan mx
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4/28/2024 10:42pm
Kiernan mx wrote:
Oh yea I’m aware it will be extremely physically difficult. But they really aren’t putting in many hours of that difficult thing. That’s more of what...

Oh yea I’m aware it will be extremely physically difficult. But they really aren’t putting in many hours of that difficult thing. That’s more of what I’m commenting on. They said their absolute max hours they’ve put in for a week during boot camp ( full on way more then normal) is 24-30 hours !!! 
id like to put them on a shovel digging trenches for 12 hours a day 7 days a week for $800 and see how they like it. Or put in some 20-32 hour days. I’ve worked plenty of 20 hour days in a physical job. For 12 months I started work at 7.30 am every Thursday and worked through till 5 pm Friday. Every week. I just thought they put in a heck of a lot more time to their training is all. I kind of seems easy really. Yea hard while you’re doing it but very much a part time gig. No disrespect to the guys it just doesn’t seem as hard as I’ve thought it was for the last 30 odd years. 

zehn wrote:
Only a matter of time until we got one of the "yeah I'd like to see them do blah blah blah like I did back in...

Only a matter of time until we got one of the "yeah I'd like to see them do blah blah blah like I did back in the day" clown comments

Oh I’ve never put in training close to that. But that’s not what I’m commenting on. 
They’re working a maximum of 3-4 hours a day for 6 weeks per year. And then you would think less hours training during the season as boot camp is said to be quite extreme compared to in season training. 
All I’m saying is it’s not much. 

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TbonesPop
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4/28/2024 10:50pm

Let's all not forget these guys race dirt bikes for a living, which most of us dream about.  They're insanely fortunate.  The biggest takeaway I get from the video and discussion is the skill level of these guys is incredible.  No fear and insane skill.  Yes, they are very fit and work hard, no question.  But lots of people can work hard and be just as fit.  The difference maker is the insane skill and no fear of the obstacles they are trying to navigate.

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loftyair
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4/28/2024 11:00pm

I know Mark Barnett used to go through 5+ gal. of gas a day practicing. Now, that's a shit-ton. The biggest thing here is, the risk and adrenaline factor is through the roof compared to most other things. The concentration becoming the hardest part. A small mental slip at their speeds is high hospital probability. 

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ti473
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4/29/2024 12:55am

I just wish he would have asked them what their FTP was in terms of W/kg. "What's the longest ride you've done?" doesn't really say anything about your fitness.

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Motofinne
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4/29/2024 1:19am Edited Date/Time 4/29/2024 1:25am
ti473 wrote:
I just wish he would have asked them what their FTP was in terms of W/kg. "What's the longest ride you've done?" doesn't really say anything...

I just wish he would have asked them what their FTP was in terms of W/kg. "What's the longest ride you've done?" doesn't really say anything about your fitness.

This. Saying you've done 60-70 mile rides doesn't say anything without also saying the average W/h.

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yz133rider
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4/29/2024 1:43am
ti473 wrote:
I just wish he would have asked them what their FTP was in terms of W/kg. "What's the longest ride you've done?" doesn't really say anything...

I just wish he would have asked them what their FTP was in terms of W/kg. "What's the longest ride you've done?" doesn't really say anything about your fitness.

Motofinne wrote:

This. Saying you've done 60-70 mile rides doesn't say anything without also saying the average W/h.

You think they’re gonna spill everything? I was honestly surprised they even said that much.

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