AUTUMN. At the end of the season, your nervous system will be well coordinated by the combination of balance and multi-directional power work you’ve done in the last two seasons. Use that coordination to do 3 sets of 4 reps in the gym, developing strength via improved signalling to the muscles rather than gain of muscle mass. With less time on the track, you can choose a wider selection of exercises, building strength in large muscle groups with simple squats; lunges; pull-ups and shoulder presses; presses and rows. Watch for exact execution of the technique, as this is the season where you lay down the patterns of muscle recruitment that you’ll use through the season.
WINTER. Now keep the perfect form you worked on in the autumn and learn how to maintain it under conditions of fatigue. Lighten the loads and perform a wide selection of exercises with little rest, aiming to keep perfect form through high numbers of reps. Make sure you are doing plenty of multi-directional exercises so that you condition the body in all directions. Your sporting posture is very fixed and the movement is linear so to prevent overload of the muscles in one direction you need to develop strength outside that limited range of movement. If you develop a regular yoga practice through the winter you will keep your core strength, stabilise the other joints and keep flexible and agile in all planes of movement.
SPRING. As qualifying and racing take more time out of your training schedule, you have to prioritise exercises in the gym to meet your core needs. Neck and shoulder strength are primary considerations, so shrugs, rows and presses, and cable exercises with a head harness will always feature in your program. Cable rowing exercises on unstable equipment like a gym ball will correlate to motorcycle demands. Loads should be fairly high so that you can only perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps, resting 60 seconds between sets to get a strength and muscle mass response. Always perform exercises with your tongue resting at the roof of the mouth, so that the deep muscles of the front of the neck are engaged at all times.
SUMMER. Using the same key exercises for the shoulders and neck, and keeping the tongue engaged the roof of the mouth for all exercises, lighten the loads but perform them with power to replicate racing loads. These power reps need a longer recovery period between sets so that the nervous system can recover as well as the energy systems and the muscles’ structural components. Other multi-directional movements with medicine balls and plyometric jumps, performed weekly, will keep the trunk and lower body injury resistant too. If you’re a biker, kettlebell and particularly tornado ball exercises are a fantastic way to teach your body to keep your balance while dealing with a heavy, moving object.
LATE SUMMER. As training and racing load accumulates in the body, reduce the gym training to vital injury prevention work. 3 sets of 6-8 reps with 60+ second rests will develop a combination of muscular and neural strength, so you resist damage when exposed to repetitive lower loads. The core stabiliser muscles of the pelvis, spine and neck need work now as they are the highly-reactive, small supporting muscles that take the strain at high speed. Challenge them by using unbalanced loads, or by performing exercises while kneeling on a gym ball. Yoga’s precise movements integrate the joint stabilisers throughout the body and will restore some movement after a long season of a linear sport.