Slough Hawks BMX Club
L Gunner
29 The Meadow Way
Harrow Weald,
Middlesex,
HA3 7BP
Phone: 0208 4278754
Email Us
Website: http://www.fly.to/hawksbmx
Scott Dick
126 Dorchester Way
Hayes
, Middlesex
, UB4 OHZ
Phone: 0208 561 4864
HOPPY'S HELPLINE Nigel Hopkinson, Hawks In-House BMX coach has sorted out a few hints & tips to keep you ontop of your game!!!
So you've all just finished the first national and if you're anything like me you've spent the last couple of days dreaming of what could have been. Fear not though a few 'hints' before Milton Keynes.
Warm Up Start by cycling round the pits, car park, road any where. What you have to remember is that we go from stand still to flat out to stand still again in a short space of time. The warm up promotes oxygen and blood supplies to the muscles so allowing us to compete at a higher level. Pursuit cyclists warm up to 8 or 9 tenths of their maximum 10-15 mins before a race. This is what we need to do in order to get to the next level. If nothing else a decent warm up can reduce potential muscle injury.
Warm Down Just as important as the Warm Up. Next time you race watch the Pro Class after they finish, particularly Murray, O'Neill and Fieldhouse. They continue to cycle round or back pedal for five minutes or so after. This does two things. Firstly it reduces the heart rate steadily, this is physiologically better for the body as cool down happens more naturally. Secondly it helps to reduce lactate levels in the muscles. Lactate is the waste product from physical exercise and occurs in greater levels when we operate on our anaerobic system. Without going into detail the body uses energy (glucose) and oxygen already stored in the muscle to maintain our power output during a race. Two types of metabolic changes occur to the body but the result is lactate build up and this is what we need to get rid of and then replenish out energy supply. After warm down plenty of water, hydration is very important and also has the benefit of sending you to the toilet which is the best place to get rid of lactate. Also take on sugar if you can, cola, lucozade, jam sandwiches! etc What you need is a source of sugar that can be transposed into the muscles as soon as possible.
Other points After a race discuss with family or mates what you thought, felt at particular stages, errors etc. Eventually you can start to build a profile of good and bad points for you to work on. Make some notes when you get home if you did anything different that worked or failed. Personally i can't gate to save my life and so i spend half the track working my way through the pack. The idea is that the next time you go to the track spend 20-30 mins working on what you can't do. The natural things will always be there but your weaknesses are noticed by everybody and they will use it to their advantage if they have any sense. Don't think the pro's don't do this. Rob Indri, for example, works hard at his bike skills to hang in there. Knowing and admitting to yourself your weaknesses is a strength on its own, silly as it may sound.
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