Winter Training

[awsm4]

Just looking for some new and original ideas for winter training.

Skylar hadn't touched his bike for a month prior to Rock Springs and just seems to lack any motivation to ride the roller or use the gate.

Just wondering what activities others may use - aside from riding - that are actually good cross-training tools.

I know he is suffering from a bit of burn out right now - tired of racing and getting beat by Cody race in and race out and I don't want to see him quit or stop riding entirely but I am at a loss for ideas to get him motivated. Evidentally getting beat just isn't motivation enough any more.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, preferrably things he can do at home, without additional equipment, and not on the bike.

Thanks,

Adam

[greg]

Spencer some how got wind of the speed skating oval being pretty close to us and wants to give it a go during the winter months. It seems to me to be a really good cross training sport for BMX. Of course it is not at home, but depending on where you live it might be close by.

They also have a training program there called TOSH acceleration program. It is run by IHC, but has some pretty impressive physicians and trainers on staff, Eric Heiden and Max Testa are actually at the Murray facility.

taken from the TOSH website:
"Heiden has served as team physician for the NBA's Sacramento Kings and WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs, as well as several national and Olympic speedskating teams, including the U.S. contingent that competed in the recent 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino. At TOSH, he will work closely with the U.S. speedskating, snowboarding, ski, and cycling teams. TOSH is the official sports medicine provider for the U.S. speedskating, ski, and snowboard teams.

Testa has served as team physician for the 7-Eleven, Motorola and Mapei pro-cycling teams. He is a member of the Italian Association of Cycling Physicians and the Sporting Safety and Conditions Commission of the International Cycling Union (UCI)."

The program seems to be very reasonably priced at only $15 a session, and I think they said a full program is about 6 weeks 2-3 times per week.

Anyway, just some thoughts that have been kicked around between me and Spencer lately. I think it would be very interesting to get a few BMX racers involved in the speed skating scene to see how well they stack up. I would bet money that with the explosive power and balance required to be at the top of BMX, they would dominate that sport pretty quickly.

[awsm4]

Funny you should mention that. I recieved several phone calls yesterday after making this post and one of the suggestions from a prominent bmxer in the area was ice skating/speed skating. Not sure he is down for much of that but he did find something last night that might have caught on. He played the game Dance Dance Revolution against his sister for hours. By the time he was done he was shirtless and sweating like a pig but laughing and having a blast at the same time. I sat him down and had the proverbial - takes 6 months of training to see results don't expect to do a little workout this week and expect to be faster by Friday - hopefully it will sink in. It was cool to see him working out and having fun though and when he was done with that I found him downstairs in the basement on the roller - seat raised - headphones in - cranking away for another 1/2 hour. Now the trick is to get those same results 3-4 times a week for 3-4 months and see what happens.

Adam

[wannaBMXer]

Adam,

I have been sending Jordan to Velosity Sports, they specialize in speed and agility training.

If you are interested let me know and I can get you in touch with his trainer.

See ya this weekend,
Brandon

[bnd]

and just seems to lack any motivation to ride the roller or use the gate.

.........&..........

I know he is suffering from a bit of burn out right now

So are you pushing him to race or is he doing so by his own choice?

Seeing kids get burned out is tough on the parents & usually they are very hesitant to let the kid take a break from racing for fear that they may lose a step or never come back to it. Iv'e seen it time & time again. I went through the very same thing with Vincent when he was around 10. I took him to every race & had him practice, practice, practice until one day he told my Mom that he was just sick & tired of racing but didn't want to tell me in person for fear of hurting my feelings.
I promptly checked myself BIGTIME & let him know that he could race on his own terms, whenever he wanted to was fine by me. He took awhile off but then came around when he was 12 & found new motivation. He now splits his time between baseball & football which takes him out of the BMX season from May thru November. He is happy & it's made him a more rounded individual in all aspects of life. Now that football ended last week, now he's looking forward to indoor BMX.

You want another testimony? Just ask Rob & Phoenix how they dealt with it this summer.

The bottom line is if the kid gets burnout & keeps racing, one day they will quit & never come back. Better to take breaks, recharge the batteries & deal with losing a step.

Remember, it's only BMX. It will be there when he's 15, 25, 31 & so on.


b.

[Punk-Biker940]

He played the game Dance Dance Revolution against his sister for hours. By the time he was done he was shirtless and sweating like a pig but laughing and having a blast at the same time

Me and nick do that all the time, and it sounds crazy but it is pretty good training. haha

[awsm4]

Bruce -

I appreciate the input. I think burn out may have been the inappropriate verbage - He loves to race, wants to race constantly, and wants to win however he does not understand the concept of work today tomorrow and the next day for 6 months before you see results. He wants to work today and win on Friday. I have a problem spending all the time and money to race competatively if he is not going to train for competative finishes. I have proposed a cutback in the schedule, so to speak, if certain training goals are not met but lack the heart to take him away from his passion when he doesn't. So my dilema lies in lack of follow through from me and lack of effort from him. Guess its time to man up and draw the line in the sand. I have had some great suggestions from this post and the phone calls that so far seem to be working - we'll see where we are come Reno in January huh?

Adam

[JAlvey]

If any of you like to ride DH mtb/ 4x, there are 10-12 really fun DH/ jump trails above bountiful that we ride all winter long.