Welcome to the coaching page. We hope to publish useful tips, tricks and links here that will help you become a better BMX Racer.       

Off-season training

BMX in Canada typically runs from late spring to early fall (unless your lucky enough to have an indoor winter track you can ride). If you're serious about BMX racing and want to win more races then you need to keep training in the off-season. There are many ways to keep fit during the winter months, some better than others, and some depend on age. We'll start with some things that riders of all ages can do:

1. Pick a winter sport. Don't spend your winter eating potato chips and playing video games. Playing another sport (or cross-training) will keep you fit. The best sports are ones that will test a combination of strength, stamina and balance. Some good examples:

   1. Downhill or cross-country skiing

   2. Hockey

   3. Indoor Soccer

   4. Indoor Swimming

   5. Judo, Karate, other Martial Arts

    

2. We live in Southern Alberta, and that means Chinooks, and that means melting snow, which means there are many days during the winter you can ride your bike outside. Perhaps the dirt trails and coulees have too much snow but there are many paved paths and trails that you can ride on. This is a great time to practice manuals, bunny-hops and sprints. The more time you can spend on a BMX bike the better you will be, but spend that time being productive and actually practicing something you need to improve on for racing.

3. I mentioned doing "sprints" in the previous paragraph. I can't stress enough the importance of doing sprints for BMX racing. The 3 key things you need to do to be a successful racer are: (1) Get good gates, (2) be able to jump/manual the obstacles properly and (3) SPRINT! When you get to the higher levels of BMX racing, most everyone can jump and manual the obstacles properly. Getting out of the gate quick is important, but a good sprinter can overcome a bad gate. How do you become a good sprinter? Well, it is the easiest thing to do on a bike but the hardest to practice. Let me explain: A sprint is simply pedaling as fast as you can in a straight line for a short time (usually around 30 seconds). All you need is a clear path (safety first, don't practice sprints around traffic, find a quiet alley or path, and be courteous to other cyclists or joggers). What makes it so hard is that it's very, very tiring and kind of boring. The good news is that you don't need to do allot to make a difference. Start by doing four 30 second, as fast as you can go, sprints at least 3 times a week. When that gets easier, go to six sprints. Concentrate on getting you spin going sooner and smoother. Spin your cranks rather than push them. If six 30 second, all out sprints 3 times a week is getting too easy, try it on a slight uphill path. Always rest at least 1 minute between sprints and always take one day off between sessions. I dare anyone to follow this formula for a season and say it didn't greatly improve their racing. Sprints can be done outdoors or indoors if you have a stationary bike or a set of rollers.

4. If you are 14 years or older you should be old enough to start using strength training (ask your parents first!) Strength training usually means hitting the weights, but there are strength training exercises you can do without weights or a gym. The basic idea with strength training in relation to cycling is this:

   1. Cycling creates strong legs, but doesn't do much for the upper body.

   2. The upper body is an important part of the pedal stroke

   3. Muscle strength helps reduce injury in falls

   4. Muscle strength and endurance helps fight the fatigue you feel at the end of the race

   During the winter you should concentrate on building strength (low reps, heavier weight - example 8 to10 reps at 80% max weight you can lift once) and in the spring and throughout the BMX season you should concentrate on building endurance (more reps, lighter weight - example 10 to15 reps at 60% max weight you can lift once).

   Example exercise without weights:

   • Push-ups

   • Abdominal Crunches

   • Dips using 2 chairs

   • Squats and lunges using bleach bottles full of water or sand

   Example exercises with weights:

   • Squats

   • Upright Rows

   • Bench Press

   • Back Extensions

   • Abdominal Crunches

   • Leg Curls

   • Calf Raises

   • Bicep Curls

   • Wrist Curls

   • Tricep Pushdowns or extensions

   • There are many, many more but aim for a balance. Try to get a full body workout.

   Learn proper technique before beginning any weight training program.

    

---

 

Bike Sizing

Not all riders are created equal. While BMX racing rules say you must ride a bike with 20" wheels (or 24" for the Cruiser class), that doesn't mean a 4 year-old would ride the same bike as a 19 year-old pro. To compensate for this, bikes (and their components) are built differently for different size riders.

We'll concentrate on 20" bikes for the purpose of this article. The biggest differences are in the size of the frame, handlebars and the width of the wheels. There are actually 4 different common wheel widths that can all be classified as 20" wheels (the 20" refers to the height of the wheel). A mini BMX bike has wheels with a width of 1 1/8". A junior bike will have 1 3/8" width wheels. An Expert bike will have either 1 1/2" or 1 3/4" wheels. A pro size bike has 1 3/4" wheels.

As you might have guessed, there are 4 different sizes or levels of BMX frames: Mini, Junior, Expert, and Pro. As a rider grows in size so will the frame size. The idea in sizing is to have a bike that the rider can handle easily and that is as light as the riders weight and skill will allow (thus the smaller and lighter wheels on the smaller bikes). A beginner or novice rider won't notice the differences as much and may be better off learning on a heavier, sturdier bike, but as their skill and experience grow a properly sized bike will make a huge difference.

There are some general guidelines to follow when sizing a bike and it's components (remember these are only general guidelines), and the charts can be viewed below:

Click here for sizing chart

---

 

GEARING

Gearing your bike can be an important component in bike setup. A shorter track (such as an indoor) may be better raced with a slightly lower gear (easier to pedal). When you want to get to that all important first corner with the lead proper gearing can help! A longer or faster track may require a taller gear. For every gear ratio (front gear to rear gear) there is a calculation that tells us how far we'll travel for each complete crank revolution. The formula changes with different wheel sizes, so a certain gear ratio (for example 44:16) will have a different result on a 20" wheeled bike than it will on a 24" wheeled bike. On your standard 20" BMX bike the standard gearing is a 44 tooth front gear and a 16 tooth rear gear. This gives us a gear ratio of 53.625. This ratio actually means that on a 20" bike with 44:16 gearing you will travel 53.625" for every complete revolution of your crank. To get the same ratio with a 24" BMX Cruiser you would need the following gear ratio: 41:18. This gives us 54.67" of travel (the closest you can get to the 53.625" of a 20" wheel).

So what does all this math mumbo jumbo really mean? You might think, "If I can move farther using a taller gear, why shouldn't I just use like a 75:16 ratio and then I could move 93.75" for every crank and get to the first corner twice as fast?" The reason is this: As you increase your gear size the power required to turn the crank also increases. A rider can turn a single revolution of a crankset running 44:16 much easier and therefore much faster than even a 46:16 ratio, let alone a 75:16 ratio. You know what else? Crank length also plays a factor. The longer a crank is the easier it is to push a gear (get it started) but then you can't spin the cranks as fast as a shorter length. What about the rider themselves? A taller rider (with longer legs) can handle a longer crank. A stronger rider can push a taller gear easier. As you can see, it is a very complex issue!

What it really comes down to is this: Most 20" BMX bikes come standard with 44:16 gearing. Many top riders use 44:16 gearing. Experiment! Not all tracks are designed the same so should you always use the same gearing on every track you race? It's up to you. If you're looking to gain an advantage over the next guy (or gal) you might want to think about gearing instead of that new set of $400 sealed bearing hubs.

Click here for a printable gearing chart