Motocross

Motocross is a fast paced sport that requires substantial physical ability quick response time and a little luck

dirtbike health

Like many sports, dirtbiking has many different disciplines. Motocross is a high speed track racing atmosphere that generally takes place over approximately 30 minutes. The terrain is deigned to test the riders capabilities and consists of anything from big jumps to whoops.

Trail riding or endurance riding varies greatly based on the trails. If you are out riding logging roads it won’t be as physically demanding, however if your making your way through rooted technical trails or doing more trials riding you will need a considerably high level of anearobic and aerobic fitness.

On the other end of the spectrum freestyle motocross or freeriding is a type of riding that requires strength, and percision, but does not require a large amount of endurance. You need to be comfortable on your bike and be able to judge speed for high consequence jumps. Beyond that you need to be able to accomplish the trick before landing on the transition.

Common injuries dirtbiking

Dirtbike gear

For those of you in the dirbiking world I’m sure you are no stranger to injury. Unfortunately its hard to determine common injuries and how to avoid them because the majority of injuries come from crashes. The best way to avoid injuries while dirtbiking is to ride within your ability, wear the right protective gear and prepare your body for the riding you are doing.

Gear you shouldn’t leave the house without:

Helmet - our head is too important to take the chance on. A helmet will reduce your chance of concussions or worse.

Boots- Boots will greatly reduce your risk of broken ankles, but will also protect your foot,ankle and lower leg from hitting rocks or branches at high speeds.

gloves - Not only do gloves reduce blisters on your hands but, can reduce road rash.

Gear that we Highly suggest wearing:

Knee pads/braces - personally I ride with a knee brace that double as a knee pads. I feel more comfortable landing from big jumps and avoid any direct trauma to the knee.

chest protector - day to day riding the chest protector will stop the sting of rocks or other hard objects flying off other riders back tires. and every once in awhile you feel it protect your sternum and ribs as you hit your bars on the way over. believe me in these cases you will be thankful you had it.

Body position

As far as non crash related injuries there are a few body position points that can keep you injury free and off the ground.

Elbows up - when your riding you should keep your elbows in a position similar to a push up with your wrist in a straight line from your forearm. This puts your upper body in a position of strength and protects your wrists, so if you are pitched forward because of a bump or hard braking you can hold you body back over top of the bike. If your elbows are down you wont have this strength and you can fall over the bars.

Squeeze the bike with your legs - By squeezing the bike you reduce the load placed on your upper body while you maintain control over the bike.

Neutral spine- Try to keep your back straight while riding and hinge at the hip and bend at the knees. If you do not keep your back in a safe posture the constant vibrations and bumps may cause back injuries.

Stand up - when possible stand up. It is much easier to control the bike when you are standing on the pegs because the bike can bounce underneath you without it affecting your body position, look at professional riders doing the whoops. If you are sitting you will feel every bump your suspension does not fully absorb. This is where endurance comes into play. You must be able to stand up when exiting turns and on bumpy terrain. Remember a large proportion of injuries happen when you’re body is fatigued, so be careful to look for the signs, such as finding yourself sitting more often than usual.

Cornering - As you enter a corner you want to shift forward on the seat weighting the front end making braking with the front more effective and turning easier. You will extend your inside leg forward. This isn’t so much a pivot foot as it is meant to clear room to lean the bike and guide and assist in balance. Your outside foot should be loaded to maintain traction throughout the corner. Over 70% of the breaking will be accomplished with your front break and the back break can act to slide your back wheel into the line you are selecting. Remember to look where you’re going and not where you are and smoothly accelerate out of the corner.

Chiropractic Care

To achieve the body positions above you will need adequate strength. if your body is lacking strength it may develop poor motor patterns. Correct motor patterns and side to side muscle balance are extremely important in dirtbiking to adequately deal with the substantial forces that are placed on the body. If you are experiencing any pain while riding ensure that you are not compensating and placing more force to one aspect of your body. Chiropractic care can ensure your joints and muscles are dispersing the load evenly and reduce your chance of injury. If injury does happen Chiropractic care can help you rehabilitate the injury. This will ensure the injury heals properly and will also reduce the chance of re-injury.

Bike set up

We do not claim to be experts on how to set up a bike and you should contact your local shop if you have any questions. That being said these are some tips I have learned that will help you reduce the strain put on your back and joints throughout your body.

Suspension: In my opinion the most important part of bike set up is to get your suspension set up for you and your riding type. If your riding trails you will want a softer suspension so your not bouncing off every root or rock you hit. If your jumping the bike make sure the suspension is set up stiff enough to take the compression. A good way to tell is look at the oil marks on your suspension after a ride if you are consistently bottoming the suspension out stiffen it up your back and knees will thank you. The problem with stiff suspension is that turning will become more difficult as the front tire can potentially push through berms.

Rebound is a setting that allows you to control how fast the suspension comes back to the starting point. If your riding freestyle you want your suspension to take the compression and rebound slow so it doesn’t kick you over the bars if your a little off on your landing. On the other hand, if your speeding through bumpy terrain you want the bike to reset after the first bump before you hit the following bumps. As you can imagine this is a balance and you need to find what feels right to you. My suggestion is to get your suspension set for your weight and riding ability by your local shop then take a day and play around with the clickers until it feels just right. Don’t forget to set your sag based on your body weight.

Keep in mind that If your suspension is set up too stiff for the terrain you ride you will be placing unnecessary load on your wrists, shoulders, back, hips, knees and even ankles. However, if you set your suspension too soft you may bottom out or reach the end of the suspension with a jarring feeling. This is not good for you because as soon as the suspension bottoms out your body will take the remaining compression.

There are countless other parts and changes you can do to your bike, but the one other customization I find very helpful pertains to posture on the bike. Deciding what bars are best for you can help you maintain good posture on the bike without hunching over. Hunching while riding coupled with the vibration and compression can dramatically increase your chance of experiencing an injury.