Fit to Ride or How to Train to Ride Cycles

The fitter you are, the better you ride
As simple as that

Motorbikes are physical devices. They need strength and endurance in order to be ridden properly, and even though anyone can ride any type of motorcycle in normal circumstances, when the tough get going only the fittest will save a crash.

Being fit is one of the most protective features any bikers can easily achieve. You don’t have to be a professional athlete, just work out sometimes and so be ready for the action

Old Skull Rider

How the Professional Riders do

Back in the day when men were men (or so they say), motorcycle riders were smoking cigarettes before races. Not only because of cigarette companies sponsorship, but because they didn’t train much.

Current world champion and best history rider wannabe Marc Marquez keeps a quite strict training routine. Performing at Moto GP level is tougher than it used to be.

See Valentino Rossi for instance. He is the last of the non physical training riders. However; he had to start training hard in order to keep up with the pace of the younger riders.

5 Benefits of a fit body on a motorcycle

1. Your physical reaction is faster
2. Your mental reaction is faster
3. Your endurance is longer
4. Your under the weather feeling improves
5. Your sensations are better

Don’t you find this enough?

A Honest Training for the Regular Guy

If you’re a regular guy, you’re lucky as I will tell you a routine that will make a difference in your rides. This is not for any competition purposes or to get skinny and you won’t have to give up your maniac beer drinking habit.

Cardio

The way your heart beats and pumps blood to your organs gets affected by the emotions. In order to handle the ride, you should be well prepared for adrenaline. Unless you don’t want to have a heart attack, you should make your heart work before the ride.

Walk, jog, ride a bicycle, swim or do something that keeps your heart revving for a couple of days a week at least. It should be something you enjoy. Walking along the promenade would do.

It will not only help you with your thoughts, but it will also keep you fit enough to endure longer. Your muscles will definitely notice the difference, especially leg and butt muscles.

Strength

You have to be strong in order to be a biker. No matter how you put it, strength is needed, and not only when you drop the bike. As soon as you are not a couch potato it’ll work, but what really helps is that you get stronger than you are now.

Having a goal in mind helps with the training, and it will help you become a better rider. I’ll mention this later on this post.

GRIT

If you don’t know what this word means, check this, and more especially this. Gritting will take you everywhere you want to be. So let’s grit in order to become better riders.

The first thing you have to show yourself is that you can do it on regular basis. It can be harmful at first, but I promise you it’ll pay off and not only that, it will become easy.

I used to be a fucking lazy bastard all day smoking and drinking beer while eating tons of beef and lying on the couch. I started training three times a week, jogging for about 10 km, doing some callisthenics and diving for a few seconds into the cold water of the sea all year round.

I still smoke, and drink, and I surely eat beef… but I am feeling way better than I used to. I’m strong! The first thing I noticed when I got fitter was that I was enjoying better sex. The second, better motorcycle rides. So all of a sudden, I was feeling happier. What else can you ask for?

Model: Minna Tervamaki
Photographer: Lorenna Fort