THE TRUTH ABOUT BMX TRAINING

INTRODUCTION TO “THE TRUTH ABOUT BMX TRAINING”

“How do I ’train’ to improve my BMX racing?” 

This has been a question that has permeated the sport of BMX racing for as long as I can remember.  I started racing in 1980, when I was only 10 years old.  I can still remember my quest for “things” that would make me faster on my bike.  At the time, there wasn’t much in the way of information.  The basic tenet was “ride your bike a lot” and “do sprints.”  Although I did a ton of both of these things and had great skills on my bike, I still found myself trailing those who were “better” than me.  There had to be something else.

As I got older, the advice about how to train for BMX started to change and get a little more “sophisticated.”  Instead of just riding and doing sprints, people started talking about doing long road rides and performing work they saw road cyclists doing.  However, some of the elite riders at the time had begun to tap into something else that was setting them apart from their competition.  It was strength and, in turn, power development. 

When I was 16 years old, I began to understand why I wasn’t able to beat some of the “better” riders I competed against earlier in my career.  At the time, they weren’t necessarily “better” riders than I was…they were simply bigger and stronger than me.  My skills weren’t enough to beat them because these riders had equal skill and more horsepower than I did.  In that realization, I began a journey that has led me on a 23 year quest to learn the intricasies of athletic training.  That journey continues even today…

Over the course of my journey, I have had the great fortune of having some great coaches.  Every sport that I’ve competed in has provided me with a coach that pushed me to get every bit from my athletic potential.  Because of these men, I learned so much about how to accomplish my athletic goals and how to overcome myself in the quest of these goals.  It is also because of them that I took the path of becoming a strength and conditioning coach and a trainer and find myself in a position to share some knowledge that the BMX public is much in need of.

After a 16 year lay-off from BMX, I returned to the sport in 2002.  The demands of the sport had changed, drastically, since I stopped racing in 1986.  I found myself at the exact opposite end of the spectrum from when I left the sport; I had a huge “engine” but lacked the skill set to be one of the best amongst my peers.  The tracks were way more technical and the equipment (clip pedals, in particular) had changed the entire racing game.  I had to start all over, in a sense.

At the time, although I had been a  personal trainer for a few years, I hadn’t yet gotten the confidence to “train myself,” so I decided to do some research on how people were “training” for BMX racing.  What I found was a pretty uniform explanation about the popular belief of “how to” get the job done.  What I also found was that those “in the know” seemed to protect their knowledge like is was a precious, rare jewel. 

Even though the “information” that I found went against everything that I was taught about how to prepare for a speed sport, I followed the rest of the flock and bought into the popular beliefs that were being told/sold about how to “train” for BMX racing.  This blind following continued until my business began to revolve around training athletes and I started to realize how screwed up things were. 

In 2006, I decided to throw “common knowledge” out the window and designed my own training program, concentrating on segmenting my training in blocks instead of the faulty western periodization model and road cycling approach to preparing myself to race.  The result was finishing 2nd in Vet Pro, behind the champion, and riding better than ever had to that point. 

In 2007, I tried to offer my training program to the BMX public through several different internet medias.  My attempt, while not successful, opened my eyes to something else:  The BMX community is generally confused and/or totally mislead about the simplicity of “how to train” properly for their sport.  I also saw how those who wish to profit from this were compounding the issue by further confusing people with “scientific” rhetoric and making it seem that you needed to follow this program and/or use that gadget and you’ll be like “Rider-X.”  When I called ”BS!!!” I saw how firecly they would attack someone who threatened to give the BMX public what they want: THE TRUTH ABOUT BMX TRAINING!

Many [top] American riders have had to depend on the knowledge and guidance of foreign trainers for their BMX training needs.  The reason for this is because of the general lack of real training knowledge in this country.   Most of the training methods used and taught in our country are dummied down versions of what we’ve learned about how the Russian and Eastern European coaches train(ed) their athletes.  If it wasn’t for the defection of some of these elite coaches from their mother countries to the U.S. we would still be inferior in international sports.

BMX has just been accepted into the Olympics and is now being approached as a sport, rather than just a hobby for many riders.  Yet, and still, many American riders are forced to seek abroad for quality help.  Those who can’t afford to do this must rely on the faulty information they have available and go at it alone.

Not anymore….

The purpose of this blog is to enlighten the BMX racing community about the proper way to plan and perform your training as an athlete.  There is no need to purchase cookie cutter programs that are based off “educated guessing” and hope.  I am going to show you how to plan your training to see consistent progress from your training efforts from week to week, race to race, year to year. 

You will never be encouraged to buy any expensive gadgets to measure your progress, or use any complex forumlas to figure out how much work you should be doing.  Everything that you want/need to know about how to train for BMX racing will be covered within my network.

It’s time to change directions…

Coach PC

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, BY THE AUTHOR

WHO IS PAUL CALDWELL, AND WHY SHOULD YOU LISTEN TO HIM ABOUT TRAINING?

Over the past couple of years, I have made a few attempts to help the BMX racing community with their training efforts.  Both times, my efforts were met with a modern day “e-crucifiction” in the forums that I posted in.  What I mean by this is, I was ripped apart by certain people and left for dead.  Rather than continue to allow these cowards to insult me and try to further their gain, both times, I took my ball and left the playing ground.

The main contingent amongst my haters has been that I “haven’t achieved anything in my BMX racing career,” and that I “haven’t trained anyone.”  Both of these statements are offensive to me, because I don’t believe either of them to be true. 

Who is Paul Caldwell?  In short, I’m an athlete who races BMX! 

Since I was 13 years old, I’ve been fascinated with how to improve my performance for the sports I competed in.  My first love was BMX racing as a 10 year old.  When I was 13, racing big guys like Eddie Siegmund, Matt Hadan and Steve Veltman made me realize the importance of strength and I started “lift” to get faster.  I didn’t have any weights, so I just found the heaviest rock I could find and did squats with it, followed immediately by a sprint on my BMX bike.  The “rock” got progressively heavier and I got faster… 

And it began.

From that first training experiment, I’ve gone onto train for high school and college football, track & field, basketball, bodybuilding, powerlifting and back to BMX racing, at a high level.  Over the course of that time, I have been a student of the iron game, in many of its wonderful faces.  I’ve had the priviledge of having some sadistic coaches who pushed me further than I believed a human being could go, and made me love it.  I’ve had access to some of the greatest training resources available in my studies and have been able to develop my own system of training over the course of the past 25 years. 

Who am I?

I don’t pretend to be anything more than I really am…  I am just a guy with a quarter of a century of “under the bar” experience.  I am just a guy who has spent more than half of his life studying, researching and experimenting my findings on myself and all those who were brave enough to train with me for the past 25 years.  I’m just a guy who has had only one true passion that remained, no matter what form of competition I’ve been in and that’s using the iron and the fire found only at the brink of insanity in the gym to forge my body into what I wanted and needed it to be.  And at 39 years old, I can still dominate most of the athletes that I train.

What have I done as a body of work during my racing career?

When I hear the comment that I “haven’t done anything” in my BMX racing career, it makes me realize how little it takes to make some people feel accomplished in their lives.  The poetic thing is; I’ve done exactly what I’ve wanted to do over the course of my racing career.  I’ve been competitive!  When you consider that the majority of my competition in Vet Pro who were once AA have been doing this for most of their lives, I’m very proud of my accomplishments.  While they’ve been working on their skills for 15-20 years, I’ve been able to pick my bike back up after 17 years and make myself a force to be dealt with every time I load up, from day one.

What ”pro” have I trained?

The notion that I “haven’t trained anyone” is the most offensive comment of them all, to me.  Because I’ve never had any delusions or aspirations to be the greatest BMX racer alive when I came back to the sport, the statements about my accomplishments (or lack thereof) don’t really mean anything to me.  However, my training resume and the athletes that I’ve helped along the way I will defend with a vengence.

It is my opinion that trainers who attach themselves to an athletes success are pathetic.  Especially when the talent already exists.  Those who question ”who” I’ve trained love to point to coach G as an example of a “successful coach” because of Mike Day and Jill Kitner’s success.  The humble truth about that is, coach G didn’t make those athletes! 

Mikey Day was already one of the best bike riders in the world.  He never trained before and lacked strength and power.  All he needed to do was get stronger.  Just about any strength program would have worked for Mikey.   Jill Kitner was amongst the best women the U.S. had when it came to SX style tracks.  All she needed to do was rehab from an injury and she was dialed.  Both of these athletes were already perfect for the job.  All Mikey had to do is get stronger and Jill just needed to not get hurt again.  Now, with all due respect, coach G helped them, and was at the right place at the right time.  But their success does not indicate success on his part.  That’s like Lebron James’ personal trainer taking credit for #23’s talent on the basketball court.  

Who have I trained?

Because I haven’t yet gotten my hands on a “successful” BMX athlete, it shouldn’t be assumed that I haven’t trained anyone.  I have spent the past 15 years helping jr. high, high school and collegiate athletes reach their goals.  I’ve helped numerous high school bench-riders become starters and “studs” and go onto play ball in college.  This is my business.  It’s what I do, every day, all day.  And when Stanford plays in their bowl game, I get to watch “who” I train.

Granted, I have never trained a successful BMX athlete… YET!  However, the roster of who I have trained is a list of young men and women who have gone onto earn scholarships worth hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of my tenure as a performance enhancement trainer.  I have helped countless individuals reach and even exceed their athletic and physical goals.  My resume of who I’ve trained is irrelevant.    What matters is the fact that I’ve been able to reproduce incredible results in each and every one of my athletes, time and again, over the course of time. 

Why should you listen to me about training? 

Because “training” is what I know.  It’s what I am…  It’s what I’ve been for the past 25+ years of my life.  It’s been my passion…my solace…my home…my lifestyle…my journey.  My experience “under the bar” as an athlete rivals my competitions experience on the bike.  My experience of in trenches training for sports surpasses that of the “experts,” who over-complicate things to sell their products and services. 

My knowledge and understanding of training and human physiology doesn’t just come from a book study.  I’ve been in the game long enough to know that “science” is just now validating what those of use in the gym have known for years.  What quantifies my knowledge of training athletes is found within the thousands of hours of study, along with the blood, sweat and tears that have been poured out in the pursuit of finding “the best” from both myself as well as the athletes and clients that I’ve trained. 

The BMX athletes who are bold enough to step away from the flock and decide to try my approach to training will quickly learn the difference between working out and training.  This is a guarantee.  So are the inevitable results that come with training like an athlete!

P. Caldwell

40 SECONDS TO GLORY: BMX TRAINING FOR ATHLETES

Just about everyone who races BMX asks the question “What do I need to do in order to improve my results?”  That question usually results in answers that come from outdated belief systems from the 80’s, the passing on information about the latest craze amongst the “top pros,” or an over- analyzed description of the process that is usually designed to confuse the reader into believing that they need to purchase an expensive training program in order to do things “right.”  All of these “answers” leave the inquiring rider either confused and/or broke.

After talking with several people in the trenches of BMX racing, I decided to design a systematic approach to BMX training that can be used by the majority of the racing population.  The most important aspect of this project was that it needed to be easy to understand and apply for everyone who desired to follow the program.

The end result…

 “40 SECONDS TO GLORY: BMX TRAINING FOR ATHLETES”  

This book breaks the sport of BMX racing down into its individual components and teaches the rider how to identify their strengths and weaknesses.  It includes information about how to assess your needs and correct the “holes” that you find in your athleticism, both on and off the bike. 

From the “old-schooler” looking to shed a few pounds while improving their racing performance, to the young pro looking to break their way into the elite ranks, this book has valuable information for every rider.  By teaching you how to assess and plan your own performance and training, you will always be able to design the “perfect training program.”

 

Book will be available 1-1-2010

See store at Lulu.com to purchase e-book

BASIC TRAINING PROGRAM

**This information was stripped from a site that claims to be all about the BMX community.  However, because this information threatened to make the need for their “sponsors” products virtually obsolete, they chose to pull my content and allowed said sponsors to smear my name for my efforts to shed light on the doo doo they sell to the public.**

BASIC TRAINING…

This is a basic training template will provide great results for anyone who uses it, if the simple instructions are followed.  The important to remember is that nothing that I’ve written is set in stone, so you can feel free to use whatever exercises you have access to.  I have also not provided any pre-set parameters on your main exercises, but rather an “intensity zone” that I want you to reach.  If you give it everything you’ve got within the given “zone,” you will have done the correct amount of work.

Before I lay out the template, I want to preface it with a few truths that I’ve learned over my 20+ years of training for sports.

1)      A training program can be the best in the world but will not yield the desired results if you don’t train with consistency.  A consistent effort is better than periods of sporadic, non-directional efforts.  Too many athletes jump from “program” to “program” in hopes of finding a magic bullet.  The only true “magic bullet” is consistent hard work.  Without that, you aren’t going to reach your potential. 

2)      The body (nervous system) doesn’t care what your muscles are being used for.  They don’t ask if you’re lifting weights, walking, or doing sprints on your bike.  The only thing the nervous system needs to know is the magnitude of the “load” (stressor) on the muscles, so it can react with the needed response.   So, it’s not always what you do that’s important.  It’s HOW YOU DO IT that matters.

3)      You have to remember what you’re training for and make THAT the majority of your training focus.  If you’re training to race BMX, spend all the time you can on your bike, at the track.  Practice usually always precedes training for the new rider.   You need to ride as much as you can and get used to doing what you’re going to do in competition.  Don’t sacrifice your track time for “gym” time if you can’t keep your bike straight on the track.  You don’t need to worry about getting faster.  You need to learn how not to kill yourself and everyone else on the track with you, first.  It’s about finding your training balance.

4)      The process of training doesn’t have to be confusing.  The use of complex words and theories to explain things isn’t necessary.  Neither is the over-analysis of minutia with most athletes.  Simply, perform your sport (ride your bike) and improve your athleticism (strength/conditioning) and nature will take it’s course.  The truth of the matter is, most of you are not amongst the “elite athletes” in the sport.  Therefore, it’s not necessary to follow the training protocol of those riders.  The simple basics work with the majority of the population.

THE PROGRAM* This training template is for those who have a basic understanding and experience in the gym.  If you do not know how to properly perform any of these exercises, ask someone who does to show you the proper form.  Do not risk injury.  Always make sure you are physically healthy before you take on any strength and conditioning work.

Alternate between “Session A” and “Session B.”  There should be at least two rest days in between workouts to ensure proper recovery has taken place. 

*All workouts should be preceded by a dynamic warm-up.  Perform the following before moving onto training sessions.

DYNAMIC WARM-UP:

Easy warm up on BMX bike x 5 min or Jump Rope- work up to 2-3 minutes smooth jumping

Jumping Jacks x 20

Lunge w/Twist x 20 yards (twist towards the lead leg)

Inch Worm w/push up x 20 yards**

**(See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0h2J776s2U)

Body Extension x 20 yards  (these are basically burpees, jumping forward instead of upward)

 SESSION A:

ACCELERATION SPRINTS:  Nx10 yards  (add 5 yards each week.) 

N=the number of sprints you are to perform.  This will be determined by your nervous system. When you begin to slow down, cease performing sprints. 

Perform these with your lead foot on the pedal, back foot in front of trail pedal.  Concentrate on your form and try to get your speed up as quickly as you can.

Have someone time your efforts and make sure that you’re getting full recovery between efforts, 2-3 minutes.  When your times start slowing, you’re speed training is over.  If you don’t have a partner to time you, when you feel that you’re slowing down, stop the sprints and move on.

STRENGTH TRAINING: 

Perform in circuit fashion. 

DEPTH DROPS: *Nx5

N=the number of sets performed.  This will be tied to your squats.  Once you’ve reached your “maximum” for the day on your squat exercise, cease performing drops.

Perform these by standing on a box about 6-12” high.  Step off the box and land in a ¼ squat position.  Immediately upon landing, freeze all movement by making your body solid like a gymnast sticking a landing.  Pause for a second, then repeat. 

*Stop doing depth drops when done with squats.

SQUATS: Nx10 rep max

N=the number of sets of squats that you will perform in this session.  This will be determined by your nervous system.  When you are no longer about to perform 10 reps, with good form, cease performing squats.

If using your bodyweight as resistance, perform as many reps as you can in 45 seconds for 3-4 sets. 

If using barbells, work up to a 10 rep maximum.  To do this warm-up to a weight that you know you can perform for 12 reps.  Do 10 reps.  Add weight at your discretion (listen to your body) and perform 10 reps.  Continue until you reach a weight that you can no longer complete 10 reps with, in good form. 

RECLINE PULL UP: 4x to failure

Lay on the floor with a bar set up just beyond your reach and your feet elevated.  Grab the bar and pull yourself up to it.  Simple…

PUSH UPS: 4x to failure

HIP EXTENSIONS: 4x to failure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed-0_mQtLOA

SESSION B:

FLYING 20 SPRINTS NX20 yards (add 5 yards each week)

N=the number of sprints you will be performing.  This will be determined by your nervous system.  When you start slowing down, cease sprinting. 

Perform these by setting up three markers:  One for your start, one at 15 yards and the final one at the 35 yard mark.  This time you’re going to use a rolling start.  As you hit the “start” marker, go as hard as you can until you hit the next marker.  At this point, try to maintain your speed, without straining or “trying” to go faster.  This will work on your maximum speed.  When you start slowing down, stop sprinting.

Perform in circuit fashion:

*Bodyweight trainees will perform LUNGES 3-4 x max reps in 45 sec.

DEADLIFT: Nx5 (as with squats in Session A, work up to 5 rep max)

N=the number of sets you will perform.  This will be determined by your nervous system.  When you are no longer able to perform 5 reps with good form, cease deadlifts.

CHIN UPS: 4x to failure

DIPS: 4x to failure

ABS can be trained every day as long as the emphasis changes.  The following is an example of what I have my athletes do on different days.

FLEXION/EXTENSION: V-Ups/Reverse Crunch/Cobras/V-Sits

ROTATION: Russian twist/Diagonal Wood Chop with med ball/Side “L” Raise/Rotation

STABILITY: Plank holds in all directions

***If any of these terms are foreign to you, look them up on You Tube.  There’s more than likely a video on there.  I will be putting up all pertinent video, soon.***

All you need to do is pick an emphasis and nail it with a couple of quality sets of max effort reps and you’re dialed.

UNDERSTANDING THE TEMPLATE FORMAT:

The main thing that might throw people off is the “Nx5” or “Nx20 yard” set up of the “money” exercises in this template.  The “N” simply stands for the number of sets (strength) or reps (sprints) you are to perform in that session.

The reason that I do this is because it’s stupid for me to tell you to do “5×5 of 85% of your 1 rep max” or “5×30 yard sprints” or any other set number of an exercise because I don’t know how your body’s systems are working that day.  Those numbers would merely be guesses.  How do I know if that’s enough?  Too much?  Not enough?   I wouldn’t!  I’d simply be pulling numbers out of my backside, hoping it was enough.  That’s NOT how you train an athlete!

By allowing your nervous system to tell you when you’re “done” you can ensure that you’ve done the OPTIMAL amount of work for your body’s resources that day.  This ensures that your training results won’t be based on hope and chance, but rather on your own personal physiology and recovery ability. 

The caveat of this “program” that I’ve provided here is you can manipulate it according to your own personal needs.  If you want to do your sprint work separately from your strength work, you can do that.  If you want to substitute a different exercise, you can do that too, as long as you’re not trying to replace squats with leg extensions.  You can even use this template as your main training and the original example I provided as a general physical preparation template to use on your “off” days to build up your work capacity. 

If you incorporate the information I’ve given you and listen to your body, your progress will yield the results you’re looking for.  GUARANTEED!

As for planning your own training, I’m going to give you a simple formula to use.  If you plan your training accordingly, you will be on point.  GO HARD FOR 2-3 WEEKS, THEN BACK OFF FOR 1 WEEK.  Simply put, your body can only handle so much intense near “maximum” training.  Plus, after about 3 weeks, you reach a state of diminishing returns as your nervous system reaches burn out.  However, if you train hard in blocks of 2 or 3 weeks (depending on how your feeling, your race schedule and the myriad of other factors that sap our energy) then back off* for a week (or more if needed) you will come back recovered and stronger.

*Back off weeks entail cutting back training volume, not elimination of training.  It simply means easing up the stress on your body so you can recuperate.  This is a good time to work on your beach muscles.

Again, I want to stress the importance of RIDING YOUR BMX BIKE ON/OFF THE TRACK.  Your bike is your partner in this game and you need to know how he/she works.  You can be in the best ”athlete” on the track and still not race/ride well.  Riding is the reason you’re training, not the other way around.  So always make sure that you get your RIDING work done.  That means, if nothing else, make sure you get your sprint work done, as well as put in your track time.  Those two things will ensure you can ride your bike.  The other training will ensure that you can ride your bike even FASTER.

There you have it….You’ve got everything that you need to get going in the right direction within this post as a new “trainee.”  Now what are you going to do with it?

THE RIDER SCALE

In planning out your training, it’s not only important to know where you want to go (goals,) it’s equally important to know where you’re at.  If you don’t have an honest picture of where you’re starting from, achieving your goals will be next to impossible.  That’s like trying to find your way across country, without knowing where you’re at.  Even the best map won’t work if you don’t know your “starting point.” 

BMX racing requires a variety of different abilities in order to be successful and make continued progress.  Each rider comes with their own unique blend of strengths and weaknesses that must be honed and built, respectively.  The absolute best thing an aspiring BMX racer can do is spend as much time as possible on their bike.  Riding, practicing and racing are the only “sport-specific” things a rider can do to “make themselves a better racer/rider.”  There’s no better teacher than repetition when dealing with high skill sports.  In finding where you fit in on “The Rider Scale,” you must first identify your proficiency in the essential “blocks” necessary to be successful as a BMX racer.

BMX RACING BLOCKS: 

 In training any athlete, I do an assessment of the needs of their sport.  That’s no different concerning BMX racing.  There are three basic components that must be dialed in to be successful as a BMX racer.  Those are: 1) skill 2) endurance 3) speed/speed endurance.  Simply put, you must have adequate skills and the ability to sprint around the track at maximum speed.

1) SKILL TRAINING- Skill training is something that is very difficult to teach.  The best way to acquire skill is to perform your sport.  The more you work on a particular skill, the better you’ll get at it.  Again, a BMX racer should spend as much time as they can on their bike, building up their skill base.  That doesnt’ mean just riding the track.  You can work on your manualling and bunny hops during an easy street ride.  It all counts….

A good way to work on “track speed” is to perform pump laps around the track.  Learn how to generate speed by using the backside of the jumps.  To start using pump laps, get a gate and pedal to the 30 ft. line.  From there, stop pedalling and try to get around the rest of the track without taking anymore pedals.  As you get better at pumping the track, start rolling out of the gate and try to go without pedalling.  This is also great work to increase endurance.

Another good option for riders is to attend a good “BMX Clinic.”  The personal guidance of an accomplished rider is worth the investment, in my opinion.  Riders like John Purse, Greg Hill, and the Super Camp crew do a great job teaching riders of all riders different skills and strategies to increase racing ability.

2) Endurance for BMX racing is very rider specific and depends on a lot of different factors.  Being excessively overweight could be the cause for your lack of endurance, or it could be that you just dont have the “wind” to get around the whole track without being blown out.  Or perhaps you start out really fast, but can’t keep up a high rate of effort for the full 35+- seconds it takes to finish a race.  All of these situations require their own respective training “needs.”  Only you have the information necessary to identify where the “hole(s)” in your endurance might be. 

The key that you must remember when planning your “endurance” work is that BMX racing is a short sprint race.  Performing miles of steady state endurance riding will do nothing to help you go faster on the BMX track.  Because BMX races last around 35-40 seconds, your “endurance” training should be performed with that in mind.  Therefore, this could mean performing short sprints (20-40 yards) with incomplete recovery, or longer sprints (100-300 yards) with longer recovery.  It all depends on what type of “endurance” you need to build. 

3) SPEED.  Speed is the final block of our base.  The reason that I’ve saved speed training for last is because it’s pointless to be able to fly on a bike, but not have the skills to navigate the obstacles.  While I do believe that “speed training” can and should be done concurrently, I also believe it’s the easiest of the three skills to improve with a simple sprinting routine.

THE RIDER SCALE: 

Now that we’ve got a basic outline of what it takes to be a good BMX racer, you should have a pretty good idea where you fall within those 3 requirements.  With these things in place, we can now identify the 3 basic types of athletes that you find in BMX racing.   

1) The “new” rider.  This is the rider who is either new to the sport, has come back from a long retirement from the sport, or is new to training.  This rider needs to follow a training program that builds their skills through a lot of practice and “on-the-bike” time.  They also need to establish a base of strength and work on their conditioning.

2) The rider who has plenty of strength, but no speed.  This is typically the rider who is able to squat a house, but cannot seem to generate enough power to move the bike fast and seems to muscle their way around the track.  These riders need to follow a program that teaches their nervous system how to recruit and use their strength, quickly.  They also need to spend as much time as possible on their bike, sprinting and working on their skills.

3) Our final rider is the highly skilled rider who can ride like nobodys business, yet cannot get themselves off the back-mid-pack.  These are the riders that can flow like the wind, but can’t get a holeshot and control the race.  This athlete merely needs to increase the power of their “engine,” (strength/power training) while keeping their skills sharp and they will become dominant. 

This is our “RIDER SCALE.”  Define where you fall on this scale and be honest with yourself.  Make a list of your current strengths/weaknesses and make note of which of the 3 qualities you need to improve or work on.  Once you’ve identified where you’re starting from, you can now set about getting to where you want to go.

RIDERS READY?

YOU DON’T NEED TO SPEND $$$$ ON AN  ”E-COACH/TRAINER/PROGRAM”

Although many ”BMX Trainers” and “BMX-specific coaches” try to lead you to believe that proper training for BMX racing requires  the use of their “specialized training programs” and gadgets to measure your progress, this is simply not true.  This is simply a sales pitch. 

While it is best for an athlete to follow a sound training protocol, the notion that you need some self-proclaimed “BMX Trainer/Coach” to write a program that is supposedly “personalized and custom tailored to your needs,” or a piece of expensive computer equipment to quantify your training efforts and results is false.  All you need is a basic understanding of where you fall in what I will refer to as “The Rider Scale” and the knowledge of how to fix whatever “holes” you have in your racing/riding game.  As far as equipment, all you need is a friend and a stop watch. 

Training programs that are sold in pre-arranged periodization format (4-week, 12-week,etc.) aren’t worth much more than the paper they are written on, in my opinion.  Trainers and coaches who assign training protocols based off of percentage numbers (ie: 5×5 @ 85% max) or pre-determined repetitions for speed work(ie: sprint 5×30 yards) are operating on outdated periodization models that were faulty to begin with and “educated” guessing. 

Basically, those who sell these training programs want you to believe that they can predict all of the factors that determine your daily physiology (stress, recovery, diet, sickness, etc.) and accurately “plan” your training volume in advance.  Because the text they cite from tells them that “theoritically, you should be able to perform XYZ,” they write it down and hope it achieves the goals you’re looking for.  There is nothing “specialized” about these programs other than they might have your name on top of the page. 

It is my belief that unless a coach/trainer has a “hands on” ability with his/her athlete, they aren’t actually training/coaching anyone.  (They are merely writing what they think on a piece of paper and hoping that it and the athlete work.)   I also don’t feel that people should be charged at a premium to have access to proper training information.  Unless the coach/trainer is actually overseeing the training process, they shouldn’t have a problem sharing their knowledge, without a price tag. 

The athletes that train at my facility don’t have to pay me to write a program for them to follow when they’re away.  I do this for them, because I want them to be able to compete at their highest levels, whether they’re at The Compound, or at school.  It doesn’t take anything for me to write an effective program for them.  Maybe a few minutes.  Plus, I’m not actually “training/coaching” them while they do these workouts…so I don’t feel that I should be charging them for that service. 

This is the same mentality that I have in helping the BMX community.  The fact that I’m willing to share this information with the public for free has been cited by my critics to mean that my approach to training must be “inferior” to the “specialized” BS that can be purchased.  Quite the contrary.  I’m giving this information away to prove that my system of training for BMX works, across the board.   Once this is proven, the next step will be revealed…  It’s you, the BMX athlete that must do the work.

Coach PC

Paul Caldwell