Deposits and Withdrawals in the Bank of Motivation – Keeping the Stoke Alive

By Seiji Ishii

 It’s February, and it’s common for recreational athletes to come out of the gate hot, bent, and determined to charge into training for the year. But the stoke can often diminish, reduced to smoldering embers after pushing through work and family commitments, the heat of summer, and countless hours of bike maintenance. So how do you avoid being a “shooting star” in January, only to disappear into the horizon later in the year?

 The Bank of Motivation

You can view your current level of motivation as a bank balance. Some things withdrawal motivation, while other things can add to the balance. This balance may fall at times, maybe even get overdrawn, but the trick to long-term motivational sustainability is to run a positive balance consistently.

Withdrawals are the things that sap your energy and drive. Training in severe conditions is certainly one, like cycling in the rain or riding when it’s 100 degrees. But so are lifestyle-oriented things, like a stressful day at work, arguing with a family member or spouse, or financial concerns. How much of a withdrawal each of these is personal. Some may not be as affected by weather, while it can mentally crush others. Some can solider on with minimal impact from a family issue, which can obliterate many. And often, athletes will “nickel and dime” themselves into insolvency. Unchecked, little habitual, and motivational drains can be more damaging than large hits. 

 Deposits are the opposite; they add energy and vigor. Massages are typical, as is a date night with your romantic interest or a great day out with your kids. Anything that brings joy, relaxation, and happiness can count as a deposit in the Bank of Motivation. And just like a real bank, consistent deposits, even if small, accumulate wealth. 

Keep a Ledger, But it’s All Personal

When I was racing road bicycles, I was fortunate to have the guidance of successful coaches. One of these coaches suggested I keep an actual handwritten checkbook to track these deposits and withdrawals. I initially thought it was nonsense, but over the long haul, it did help. 

 I would assign my dollar value to every “transaction.” Massages were huge for me, so they would get a +$15 valuation. A date with a funny (and let’s be honest, attractive) person would also get $10. (Yes, a massage was worth more at the time.) But a movie would only be $3 because staying still and paying attention for that long was frustrating, so it wasn’t as valuable to me as a recovery activity. 

The same logic applied to withdrawals; things that negatively affected me significantly were assigned the larger negative values. Emotional setbacks were the largest for me then, so an argument with my girlfriend might even get a -$20 entry (I know better now, lol).

 Over time, I ferreted out lifestyle decisions and actions that consistently degraded my running balance and motivation and took active steps to solve those problems. One time it meant breaking up with a girl, and another time it meant getting another dog, lol. I had data that supported what I felt and the actions required to maintain a better tally.

I also understood lifestyle and recovery efforts that consistently kept my balance positive by a more considerable margin. I knew then, and still know today, that massages are incredibly therapeutic for me, both physically and mentally. In contrast, some things that others thought were huge weren’t for me. Many of the cyclists I trained with would give a “cheat meal” huge weight, while I found them only worthy of a $5 deposit.

Deliberate Deposits

It may seem “out there” to place so much value on these “deposits” or “withdrawals,” and maybe to some, it’s too “soft.” But for the athletes I’ve trained alongside and train or coach today, these things have a significant impact over a training year and throughout careers. 

 Elite athletes with long careers, and lifelong recreational athletes, understand that all of this matters. Successful, seasoned athletes placed more emphasis on these deposits and being aware of the balance kept them performing at the highest levels for longer. Maybe we aren’t at that level, and our income isn’t dependent on riding performance. But it’s equally essential to maintain motivation, for no other reason than to keep moto fun over the long haul.

And isn’t that the reason we all threw a leg over a bike? Long live the fun.  

Execution At Loretta's

Execution at Loretta’s. Don’t F It Up!

By: Seiji Ishii

I have been to Loretta’s a lot. I have witnessed greatness, but I’ve also seen some things that, as a trainer, made me shake my head in disgust. The LL Championship is indeed about making memories with your friends, family, and team, and for some, it may be the highlight of their amateur career or a stepping stone to the professional ranks. To most, it’s a crucial week, with so much work, time, and expense behind the effort. So it’s hugely important to execute the week as well as you can to create the best memories and results.

This article lists things I recall as a trainer while working at the Ranch. I was there to aid in execution, not further any fitness. That lays the groundwork for this list. By the time you get to Loretta’s, preparation and training have ended. Only execution remains. Nothing you do at LL will improve your fitness, but plenty of things can be detrimental to performance. And there are so many process-oriented things you can do to give yourself the best chances of putting in the race of a lifetime. 

Stop Training

While you are training, you are purposefully depleting energy stores and causing tissue micro-damage to stress the body and force adaptation to the output. This process takes time, and time has run out by the time you step foot on the hallowed grounds of Loretta Lynn’s. Your focus should turn to saving energy and avoiding unnecessary tissue damage to get the most out of each moto. There should be zero energy going into “training.” Energy should be directed to the racing and recovering from that racing, nothing else. 

I would see riders getting up super early to cycle or run, then see them on the gate a few scant hours later. There are certain things you can do to “prime” your fuel and nervous systems for battle (during warm-ups), but a two-hour ride in extreme heat and humidity do nothing but to degrade your race performance and recovery between motos and days at the Ranch. Remember, training time is over! It’s all about execution when you receive your race bib.

Heat and Humidity

I heard so many times that riders needed to stay out in the heat and humidity between motos to “acclimatize” to the conditions. Acclimatization, like fitness, takes time, and well, that time has passed. Needlessly frying in the sun decreases your hydration levels and zaps energy, as heat raises the number of calories you burn at rest. And your body is spending energy trying to maintain the correct internal temperature; energy that recovers you from motos. So, avoid unnecessary heat stress. I do realize this is a balance with mental and social needs; you cannot stay cooped up in your RV for an entire week, only to emerge for motos, but be aware of your body’s hydration and energy status.

Please pay attention to insensible water loss; it’s apparent you are losing a lot of fluids when you sweat, and that moisture is visible and felt on your skin. What is not apparent is the water you lose through breathing (especially in an air-conditioned motor home) and while digesting dry foods. Account for the water loss while inside with drier air, sleeping, and other times you may not be profusely sweating. And try to incorporate foods that have a high moisture content.

Risk Management

Kids will be kids. I get that, and part of the great memories stem from hanging out with friends that you may only see at the races. But some of the most tragic things I’ve witnessed at Loretta’s or any other amateur championship were injuries from playing around that removed that rider from competition or affected his or her results. I’ve seen golf cart accidents, injuries from rope swinging into the creek, and other avoidable incidents. And every time, the rider was devastated and felt foolish. Have fun, but be smart. 

The Social Scene

Again, the social aspects of Loretta’s are part of the fun and created some of the most memorable times for me. But, alas, I have seen championships lost and threatened by unnecessary drama causing such distraction that I didn’t recognize the rider on the track. Fights, girlfriend or boyfriend issues, or family and team squabbles upsetting riders so much that it showed in significant ways on the track.

Not all of this is avoidable, but a lot of these circumstances, in my opinion, were self-inflicted. Yes, you are there to have fun, but you are also there to race in the amateur national championships. If results are your priority, act accordingly. And surround yourself with people that understand and can help you stay focused on the critical goals. 

Food

Don’t count on the food vendors to provide your body’s race fuel. I would see expensive race fuel go into modded motors, but then see riders eating the worst foods, and risking their performance. Having a treat here and there is all good, but making that food a mainstay for that week is shortchanging your efforts.

The best possible scenario is you bring all your food with you, and someone you know and trust does all the preparation, or you do it yourself—proper, wholesome food. Although it can be tedious, if you consistently eat the same things during race weeks in the same time windows, if something goes awry, you have already eliminated the food as a potential problem. 

It’s even better if you test these combinations of meals and snacks during training and racing in similar conditions. Some athletes’ tolerance of certain foods changes drastically with heat and nervousness, so this needs attention during the season, before LL.

Team

Be picky and deliberate with your crew; yes, you are stuck with your parents, but parents can use reverse logic here. We are all social animals and feed off each other, especially our close friends and family. If you surround yourself with sullen, cynical, nervous, or low energy people, it can affect your mental and emotional state in the wrong way, and it can take the fun out of what should be an incredible week. 

Upbeat, positive, happy, and grateful crew members are gold, especially when times are tough. So if you are picking a buddy to travel with you and be your right-hand man or woman, be very selective. Not only for performance reasons but also to have fun during the highlight of the season.

Final Thoughts

The Loretta Lynn’s Championship is the celebration for all your hard work. I understand you can be nervous. But it should be a celebration of your efforts, talent, and the work of those in your corner. What happened at the last qualifier doesn’t matter. What happens beyond the week doesn’t matter. Stay. In. The. Moment. Clear the machine. None of these notes on race week execution or the prior months of preparation will matter if your mind isn’t free at the gate. 

Motocross is a game of reactions that don’t have the time for processing. If your mind is full of problems that stem from the past or you are fearful of the future, your conscious mind can intercept usually lighting fast, almost non-volitional signals that move control your physical actions.

It sounds cliché; “the most important muscle is the one between your ears.” But it’s so true. The mind needs a clean slate, an open space free of distractions and concerns, ready to react without friction to inputs from the ground, your bike, and your body. 

Do you have to do to arrive at the gate in this zen-like state. “Flow” is a buzzword in human performance, and it begins with an unburdened mental state. Meditate, lie quietly, listen to music, read a book, whatever it is you have to do to blow the smoke out of your mind before you go to staging. 

I had a wise, old cycling coach. He would see me get nervous in staging, and taught me this go-to routine: I would stand over my bicycle, close my eyes, and inhale deeply while thinking, “that was then.” Then I would exhale and think, “this is now,” open my eyes, then clip-in with my right foot and pump both brakes. And the machine cleared, and my focus drew narrow, ready, and wanting the efforts to start. I did this 100% of the time, and still do it today whenever I embark on a challenge. 

Maybe you can come up with something you do every time. The routine alone can be calming. And free you to leave it all on the track and cross that finish line with no regrets. OK, that’s it from the Coach Seiji memoirs of Loretta’s. I know you will have a great time and forge wonderful memories. Have a safe week, and go get ‘em.

Mobility Training

Seiji makes me stretch all the time and I can tell that I get looser on the bike when I constantly do the flexibility drills he assignes for me. Besides riding, stretching to me is the most important off the bike excersize I can do at my age. -KK

By Seiji Ishii

It’s Free Speed!

The most overlooked aspect of training outside of mental training is mobility work. It may require putting yourself in short term discomfort, but the long term benefits are more efficient movement, injury prevention, and higher ranges of motion. The “training” requires little energy, and so does the application during riding, so it is quite literally “free speed.”

What Is Mobility Training?

Mobility training is just what it sounds like; you are doing things to increase your ability to move, and the quality of that movement. The goals are to move more efficiently, with more range, which can translate to more speed and stamina on the bike, and fewer injuries. And relative to other forms of physical training, the effort level required is super low.

Which begs the question, why do a lot of athletes skip this form of training? It’s because it’s boring, no way around it. But a simple rule is if you are watching TV (and you know you do), you should also be doing some form of mobility training. Boredom solved.

How Is This Free Speed?

Consider any joint in your body; if you move in any direction, the tissues on the opposite side of the muscle creating that motion must lengthen. Flexing the elbow by contracting the biceps means the triceps much relax and elongate. All the other tissues on the triceps side of the arm must also lengthen and glide. 

In the example above, if the triceps or any nearby tissues are short or carry tension, then your biceps must overcome this resistance to start the arm moving, then keep pulling against it to continue the movement.

And if these structures are indeed short, once they hit their end range, the biceps must generate an extreme amount of tension to keep the arm moving past this artificial joint end range. Not only does this situation rob movement, but it can cause nearby structures to compensate, potentially injuring them.

If the tissues are loose and of proper length, the muscles causing the desired motion use far less tension to initiate movement and to carry the desired speed over the planned distance. So, without expending more energy, compliant tissues allow body movements at higher speeds and through more range: free speed.

You can visually see this in riders that are “loose;” they seem to move effortlessly, seemingly expending as little energy as possible. And this isn’t far from the truth.

Injury Prevention

It’s easy to see how increased mobility can save soft tissue injuries as joints reach the end of their functional ranges. 

But what’s not so easy to see are the other detrimental effects of overly tight tissues. If the structures surrounding the joints are short, then the space between the bones moving is lessened. This decreased joint space can eventually lead to articular surface wear; it’s like running without proper slack. Things will wear out quicker.

Increased soft tissue tightness is also detrimental to movements of daily living; all the involved parts are operating at a high level of tension. Over time, things will give way; tendonitis that creeps up without an acute cause is an example. People get tendonitis from using a mouse for crying out loud. It’s like bleeding to death from a thousand paper cuts.

What Can I Do About It?

There are plenty of ways to improve mobility: stretching, yoga, dynamic movement, even strength training with proper form can all invoke enhanced mobility.

But in my experience, the most efficient way to improve mobility is best described by a former team member for the US in canoeing and kayaking, and Doctor of Physical Therapy, Kelly Starrett. 

His oddly titled book, Becoming A Supple Leopard, is a must-read for anyone I train personally. And if you are serious about performance, you should get a copy.

He also has a subscription site, thereadystate.com, for those of you who want an easily digestible and visual platform for significantly improving mobility.

If you aren’t ready to spend money, do a search on Kelly Starrett, and you will find plenty of free resources that will keep you busy for quite a while. 

Dr. Starrett’s program isn’t just stretching; that’s too slow. His methods are more direct, and in my opinion, attack the mobility blocks at their source. Yes, there is stretching, but it’s often done with joint or limb distractions using bands to pull on body structures to improve the dynamics of what is usually a static stretch. 

Starrett also smashes, pushes, and manipulates tissues in various ways to break up adhesions and allow tissue gliding. His methods address all soft tissue structures that contribute to mobility, not just muscles.

I cannot recommend his techniques enough; it has kept me in play, and I have seen it do wonders for others in a relatively short time frame. 

Just do it. I promise improvements. 

Conclusions:

I am the first to admit, flexibility and mobility training isn’t the most exciting form of exercise. But you can do it during usually unproductive times – while watching TV. And if you are going to do it, why not do it in the most time-efficient and effective way possible?

Get Kelly Starrett’s Becoming A Supple Leopard, or get a subscription to his site, The Ready State. I am recommending this based strictly on my opinion. I don’t get any fee or kickback from Dr. Starrett; I just believe in his methods, and I wouldn’t recommend it here otherwise.

At-Home Training Strategies During COVID

Seiji has trained many top professional athletes in the supercross/motocross/off-road world for a while, but more importantly he has been my go to guy for all of my training for the past several years. I am no professional athlete, but I have to stay in shape for as much riding/testing as I do so it’s nice to have all of his knowledge. I know Andrew Short and I have called him our red neck asian trainer for many years, but he is so damn good when it comes to getting the best out of myself. Every week he has my schedule down and that takes a lot of the thinking out of what I have to do day in and day out, in order to stay in shape for moto at my age. I am going to have him write up a few articles for you all right here on keeferinctesting.com while you’re all cooped up during this crazy time. Hopefully some of these articles will help you advance your training while you’re off the bike, so when you’re ready to get back on the bike, you will be ahead of the game. -KK

By: Seiji Ishii

Do real work! 

The current COVID-19 pandemic has certainly curtailed riding and made training challenging to most. Track and gym closures, shelter in place ordinances, and social distancing add difficulty to both training and generating the motivation to do so. 

Like all else surrounding the epidemic, the phrase of the day is “make the most of what you have.” After fielding countless calls and emails reflecting a loss of direction amongst athletes without access to gyms, I decided to pen some guidelines on programming to help others at home, with sometimes zero equipment. 

It’s physics, bro

The first thing to realize is that motocross is a skill sport, with fitness and wellness as supporting columns. So if you can go ride, that takes precedence over anything else. All the fitness in the world doesn’t matter skill is the lacking component. 

The next thing is to define the fitness demands of motocross and other forms of dirt biking. Think physics. Explaining with angles and formulas can get complicated. Without getting too deep into the weeds, we can understand that we exert forces to control both bike and body while riding. Force applied over distance creates work (W): W= F x d, where F is the force in Newtons and d is distance. There is more going on, but this is enough for the rest of this to make sense. 

The force must create movement in the direction of application to produce work. Lifting the back of your bike straight up against gravity is creating work; you are pulling up, and the bike is moving up.

Now think about running. The body moves forward, but much of the force is to counteract gravity, so the motion is upwards. And that distance is small. The rest of the force applied in the forward direction, but it isn’ counteracting anything (other than air resistance).  Unless there is a change in speed, that force is doing little work. The point: running at a constant speed on the flat ground requires little actual work.

So how do you make F x d? An example is squatting; you move your center of mass, against gravity, from a low position to full standing. Both F and d can be substantial. The more weight gets moved against gravity, and the further that vertical displacement is, the more work is done. 

We need to add one more thing -  the time component. Motocross requires quick application of forces at times; this is work done quickly. F x d / time = power. So quickly applying forces needs to be addressed in a complete training program. In the squatting example, it would be how quickly you can generate the force against the ground, which sounds an awful lot like jumping.

These explanations are all oversimplified. The main point is to alter your definition of fitness from heart rate and duration to work and power. For all you geeks out there, we are talking about Joules and watts. 

WTF does this mean?

In the simplest terms, move heavy shit, move it far, and sometimes do it quickly. This strategy plays well with the COVID caused dilemma of closed gyms.

You have your body weight. You can move that standing on your feet against gravity, or you can move it with your arms by pulling on a bar, on rings, hell you can do it pulling on tie-down straps anchored above your head in any manner. 

You can easily add to the mass, which increases the force required to displace it by adding a backpack full of anything—gallon jugs of water, extension cords, dirt in garbage bags, whatever. You can wear it to place the load on your back, you can carry it to put it in front, and you can lift and hold it over your head. Remember, you are after force x distance.

Then, do any of this at speed in a safe manner to avoid injury, and you have the power component in play.

Dammit, I need an example

OK, so you just want to know what to do. Here’s an example of a lot of work done in a relatively short amount of time, with some power added. It also includes the entire body, and there isn’t any gym equipment involved. It also gets you outside, which also has benefits, as long as you can maintain the required social distance. 

What do you need? Hardly anything. Here’s a list that almost any dirt biker should have on hand.

• Two tie-down straps. Anchor to a point overhead so you can lean back and row on them at an angle or lean forward to press on them at an angle. You can get fancy and configure some sort of handle, but I’ve just used the loops just fine.

• A weighted backpack or duffel bag. Or a full fuel jug (please don’t use gas). Almost anything. The harder it is to manage, the better (that’s why sandbags are so popular). 

• A hill is excellent as it adds to the distance of applied force in the correct direction (against gravity). 

Remember that you are trying to apply force over the greatest distance in the correct direction. And usually, the right direction is up against gravity. This caveat means using a steeper the hill will produce more work with each step. With the tie-down straps, the closer your body is to parallel to the floor, the more work gets done per rep.

Something to note: whether you take the steep hill or the not so steep one, as long as your total vertical gain is the same, the work done is the same. Another way to say it: you can do rows on the tie downs with your body nearly parallel to the floor, or you can do twice as many with your body at 45 degrees. Both will generate the same amount of total work.

Additionally, doing some things faster will address the power component.

Got it? I know you just want to know what to do.

Example Workout:

After thorough warm-up to prime fuel systems and ready joints:

10 squats at the bottom of the hill (set backpack load to fail at 10 on the first round)

Ascend hill as quickly as possible with backpack (power doing something less prone to cause injury)

8 ground to overhead at the top of the incline (moving accessory mass the largest distance possible with  body mass movement)

Drop load, and from knee and hip joint angles as close to sitting on the bike, jump as high as you can, as quickly as you can, 10 times (power pulses at joint angles similar to those on the bike)

Walk downhill with backpack held straight overhead (body tension challenge)

Ten rows on tie-downs with body angle set to fail at 10 on the first round (upper body pull work)

Remove pack

10 split jumps (single-leg power)

V sit for 30 seconds with a flat back, squeezing something roughly gas tank width between knees (mimic isometric core contraction needed on the bike) 

Start over from the beginning and repeat another 3-4 times.

This workout is just an example. You can undoubtedly think of more movements that can target personal weaknesses that will be an effective way to do work and make power.

Is this CrossFit?

No. CrossFit programming places a time constraint on potentially complex and heavily loaded movements, like Olympic lifting, creating a high probability for injury, in my opinion, and nothing derails a training program like an injury. I prefer to produce power with less risk, like unloaded jumping or scrambling uphill as fast as possible a load. 

But everyone is different. If your abilities and control are sufficient to do complex loaded movements at speed, by all means, do that. But always stress form over speed. To me, a rep doesn’t count if the form is wrong. And again, a primary goal is to avoid injury. The risk of getting another rep under time isn’t at all worth sitting on the couch for three months.

But what about heart rate?

Ah yes, everyone uses a heart rate monitor. I will delve into that on a future article here on Keefer Inc. Testing.