Level of training for motocross vs. other sports

[Dell30rb]

Looking for info on how the pro's amount of training and physical activity during motocross racing compares to other sports. Specificaly football.

Info from an official source would help. I have a little wager with some friends...

[Dell30rb]

bump!

[Woody_393]

I have nothing to back it up, but I would say the amount is about the same. The type would be totally different though.
Weights Yes
Cardio yes
Doing Ladders No
Doing all the other stuff you do in Football no
Riding no

Hope that helps. Probably not though.

[DCox]

On a professional level, top riders stress that natural talent is not enough, but must be coupled with alot of hard training, because there is always going to be someone there who is willing to work just a little harder . . . .

Most of the pro interviews I have read or listened to on this issue try to bring out the point that in addition to the standard weights, cardio, and diet routines, MX pros likewise work extremely hard in practicing routines under diverse conditions and time sets (in Barnes & Nobles, there is an MX techniques book, and McGrath discusses this very issue in a segment).

Accordingly, IMO although all professional athletes work very hard, in this bet I would probably put my money on pro MXers.

[Woody_393]

I think DCox is right. The the part about riding is you have sooo many facets of the sport to master. Though natural talent plays a role, and your ability to try new scary things is another. I don't believe football has as much to work on. Though they do train for stuff like blocking etc, I'm not sure it's as difficult to master as riding mx. Maybe it is though or we'd all be pro football players right. But natural tallent in Football seems to be a lot more important (like how fast you can run etc).

[avandesande]

Football? Have you seen any of those fat slobs? I would say something closer to boxing/criterium road bike racing would be an optimal conditioning.

[yz250fridah]

Believe it or not olympic weight lifters are usually in the best shape of any athlete. There was a test done pitting top lifters against top athletes from other olympic sports. The lifters could dash 25 metres quicker than the sprinters, had a higher verticle jump than the high jumpers are were almost as flexible as gymnasts.

[hondageek]

U of Pittsburg did a study with Brandon Jesseman a year or so ago on the same topic. Unfortunately there is no real way to quantify the results and say what sport is truly the toughest. When I try to describe what our sport is like to non-riding people I usually equate it to riding a mechanical bull for a half an hour while surrounded by 39 other people on mech. bulls at the same time. There are other sports that have spurts of intensity equal to mx but none that I can think of that have the same duration without a break every few minutes. I know I can whip the *** of any of my early twenties employees when it comes to physical strenth and endurance, and I'm 35 5'11" 142 lbs.