Motorcycles are fun, but they can also be dangerous if you’re not prepared to ride safely. One of the most important parts of motorcycle safety training is strength and conditioning, so it’s important to have a well-rounded fitness program that includes strengthening your core, upper body, lower body, and even your neck and back muscles that you may use when operating the bike. These five tips will help you build your own motorcycle fitness program that will help you ride safer and feel more comfortable on your bike during long road trips or weekend rides in the country.
During an hour-long training session, your muscles contract approximately 60 to 150 times per minute—and you may push them even harder while riding a motorbike.
To ensure that your body is fit enough to handle these constant contractions, implementing strength and conditioning exercises into your fitness routine is paramount. Strength and conditioning exercises can help improve your balance, endurance, flexibility, strength and overall health. This blog will cover some tips on how to incorporate strength and conditioning into your exercise regimen.
If you want to increase your strength without getting bulky, strength training is a great option. Resistance training—as in lifting weights or using exercise bands—is one of three ways to gain strength. The other two are lifting heavy things (like a tractor tire) or pushing against an immovable object (like a wall). All methods can be useful if you’re preparing for adventure motorcycle riding trips. In fact, research shows that strength training can improve balance and coordination as well as bone density. Plus, stronger muscles will burn more calories even when at rest. There’s no doubt about it: Strength training helps build muscle mass while keeping you leaner than weightlifting alone would. However, resistance exercises alone won’t get you fit enough for adventure motorcycling right away;
Adventure Riding Cardiovascular Fitness
Endurance training helps boost your cardiovascular fitness, which is vital to helping you power through arduous rides on an adventure motorcycle. After just a few weeks of endurance training, you can expect to see increases in:
- Endurance
- Aerobic capacity
- Maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max)
- Anaerobic threshold
The end result is that you’ll be able to ride longer, more comfortably. And as a bonus, you’ll build muscle tone and lean out.
Not only does upper-body strength allow you to lift your Motorcycle in tricky terrain, but it can also help keep you alive. Keeping yourself safe on an adventure motorcycle ride requires constant focus, so using strong muscles throughout your body—like your arms—to handle extra tasks will improve your awareness on a bumpy, arduous trail. Being alert when traveling on tough terrain prevents accidents from happening in a split second.
As on a bicycle, lower-body strength is essential to a safe and effective off-road motorcycle ride. Riders often pick up new habits in order to compensate for weaknesses or shortcomings—this can lead to serious injury. When you’re well-rounded in terms of strength, your body will naturally adapt (and thus be more comfortable) when riding off-road conditions. While all body parts are important, focus your training efforts on building a strong lower body first.
For motorcycle riders, strength training can be matter of life or death. According to some studies, as many as 75 percent of all motorcycle accidents involve a fall from a bike. The key to avoiding injury or worse in these situations is to be able to absorb impact without breaking your body in half.
If you’re headed out on an adventure motorcycle ride, there are certain physical attributes that will help you stay safe.
A strong core is important for supporting your body in all its movements, as well as for absorbing impacts when you inevitably fall off your bike. A strong upper and lower body can also make a big difference in how well you handle a heavy bike if it starts to slide or skid out from under you. Strength and conditioning exercises like planks and push-ups can be great tools to build up these muscles—plus they don’t require any special equipment or space.
ADVriderFIT allows you to dramatically improve your strength and conditioning by strengthening different muscle groups. As a result, your overall riding ability improves while also making it easier to tackle tough terrain or long-distance rides. With everything else motorcyclists have to worry about, staying in top shape can be difficult. Fortunately, you don’t need a fully stocked gym to build up these muscles. The next time you’re ready to head out on your bike, consider adding ADVriderFIT workouts into your routine!
