It's time I got down to business and made a start on something that is about half the reason this site is here, information on training techniques and how to get the most out of what you do. Knowing where to start isn't easy, there is so much I could cover. Given that, I am going to begin with something that can be very complex if explored deeply, but which is fundamental to understanding why you might train a certain way at any particular time during our season.
This topic is called energy systems, or more technically...Bioenergetics, the way living things use and harness chemical energy. I promise to try and keep it as simple as possible from now on and apologise if it's a little heavy, not all articles will be. Let the lesson begin...
The first thing to understand is that we get energy for movement in three different ways, each has its advantages and disadvantages.
ATP/PC (Phospho-Creatine):
This is our first energy system and really important in BMX, particularly for that race to the first corner. You may hear slightly different names for it including Creatine Phosphate, ATP/CP or simply Creatine, but they all mean the same thing. The energy we get from it is explosive, but short lasting. Without specific training, it might last about 6-8 seconds from when you start. This can be extended, but still to a limited degree.
Anaerobic Glycolysis:
This one in simple terms means using glucose or glycogen (forms of sugar) to release energy in the absence of oxygen. The energy we get from this set of reactions peaks somewhere between 30 and 45 seconds, dropping off significantly by 2 minutes. So as you can see, it keeps us going for the majority of a race and is again very important in BMX.
Aerobic Glycolysis:
This is similar to the previous one, but requires the presence of oxygen. No doubt you have heard of the aerobic system...this is it. Most people think this is pretty un-important in BMX, including experienced coaches. I would like to let you know how wrong they are. Under most circumstances, it's not as important as the anaerobic systems (ATP/PC is also anaerobic, without oxygen), but it should not be neglected.
The reasons are twofold:
- Recovery relies on oxygen, so having your body trained to deliver oxygen efficiently will help greatly in the subsequent races.
- All 3 energy systems supply energy simultaneously, they are not mutually exclusive. So by the later stages of a race, you might be relying on the aerobic system more than you think.
To demonstrate this point, it's time for a diagram. I have updated (16 Dec 2007) the diagram with one that suits BMX better. As you can see, the aerobic system makes quite a contribution, especially for younger riders who take more time to finish a race.
With that, I think it's time to end the lesson for now. Next time, I will try to give you some more practical information based on the above theory. I will attempt to answer questions like "How do I stop myself running out of steam on the last straight?", or "I'm overpowered out of the 1st corner, what can I do?".
In the meantime, feel free to email me any questions you might have, or suggestions for articles. This information is for sharing, but please give credit to where you found it. Good web browsers allow you to click the pdf button at the top of the page to create a pdf of this article, or click print for a printable view...Enjoy.
Emailed questions will go into a Q&A article with your permission.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
