The landscape of BMX has changed since its inclusion into the Olympics; the ‘O Show’ has brought a greatly increased level of professionalism into the sport and undoubtedly the injection of investment as a consequence, has seen it leapfrog a few paces forward. The investments has seen benefits such as Supercross tracks springing up all over the globe, national teams traveling globally to Supercross events and these teams able to fully fund ‘athletes’ to train full time, and to live, what we’d consider, to be the BMX Dream.
This professionalism in the sport filters down to every class and ability within it though, not just the elite. BMX Dad’s have their 8, 9, 10 year old kids out doing sprints after school and riders in the Vets 40+ class, hitting the gym 3 to 5 times a week. Training is incredibly important, and a key part of training, is the recovery and fuel needed to enable the performance. Giving the body time to recover and ensuring it has the correct levels of protein and nutrients, can make or break that final sprint.
INCREASE YOUR PROTEIN INTAKE
Protein is the building block for muscles, essentially, the more you take in, the faster you’re going to recover. The faster you recover, the more training you can get in. It’s a very balanced cycle, (no pun intended).
The body craves quality nutrients immediately after exercise, this is because it is in an energy deficit, which means you’ve burned out your fuel tank supply, so the body will start to break down its own tissue for energy to rebalance the score, so it’s essential to feed that breakdown fast after the session.
A well balanced diet, which is high in protein rich foods, is an obvious way to get protein into your body, but for that quick hit of everything your body needs to begin its recovery fast, the sure fire win is to use a supplement. Something anyone who takes their training seriously, will tell you.
Vitfit Sport has determined that 20g of protein per serving, within 30 minutes of a training session, is the ideal amount to consume, for the best results.
Each serving of a Vifit Sport product, whether it’s a bar, shake or drink, contains 20g of milk-based protein, as well as vitamin D, potassium and magnesium, all the vital things required. The range includes a whole host of flavours, all naturally sourced and with no artificial colourings or preservatives, perfect for the purist.
Warm Up / Cool Down
Are you going to rock up to Chula Vista and send it down the Supercross hill on your first lap? Of course you’re not.
We would all ease into it by doing a few runs around the track, a play on a 3rd rhythm straight to get the blood flowing and engage the BMX brain.
Training should be no different. With a sensible warm up and cool down period, give your body it’s best chance to perform. After a workout, especially a high-intensity one, your muscles are in a catabolic state (where they start to break down for energy) but they are also flooded with all the waste products of your effort, including lactic acid and carbon dioxide.
In order to help move these waste products along, you need to stimulate blood flow and to do this, a gentle spin with your seatpost extender in, usually does the trick; just please don’t post pictures of it. BMX’s with long seatposts is a particular annoyance of ours; keep this for training purposes only, please.
Stretch
Carrying out a stretching regime will help to maintain your hard-earned flexibility, helping to improve muscle performance on your next ride, race or training session. So don’t make the mistake of waiting until you’re suffering with a backache or sore hamstrings, before starting to stretch.
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Massage
A deep tissue massage will encourage blood to flow to the muscles and boost recovery. Stay Strong’s Molly Dobson will be at all UK Nationals to keep you from feeling tight and release those tired legs before the finals.
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Sleep
A third of our lives are spent in bed, resting. Its clear this plays a vital role in recovery of the body and mind. As Racers, those physical stresses are increased, so our sleep requirements go up also.
So, rest and recovery is just as important as the training itself. To follow Vifit Sport’s ethos, “Ride, Recover, Repeat”.
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