A few weeks ago I received an email from one of the Moto X Fitness faithful that has reinforced my belief even more as to the importance of maintaining a strong and fit body. The email below came to me from Wayne Rozenberg, a customer and follower of Moto X Fitness. I had corresponded with Wayne previously through email, and he was using many of the exercises described in Motocross Fitness as part of his training program. Judging from his story, his devotion to strength training possibly saved his life. Here’s his story:

“Wrote you a couple of months ago telling you how I had switched from body building routines to those more in line with the book. Some of the exercises I paid most attention to were those that would help prevent injuries, particularly the neck. Three weeks ago I was involved in a crash that sent me over the bars and landing directly on my head like a lawn dart. Couldn’t feel my body for about thirty seconds, and eventually was able to shake it off and went home.

Four days later when the neck pain hadn’t gone away, I decided I should go to a doctor. To my surprise and their amazement, I had been walking around for four days with a broken neck with a fracture at C5 compressing on the spinal cord. Had surgery and am now back on the mend, hopefully being able to ride again in about three months.

According to the doctors, had I not been wearing my Leatt neck brace and been in the shape I was in, particularly, my neck, I would have been paralyzed or dead.

So once again, just wanted to extend my gratitude to you and thank you for the exercises in the book.
I’ll let you know how it goes when I’m ready to get back to the tracks.”

Wayne M. Rozenberg

Needless to say, I was touched by Wayne’s story. I appreciate his gratitude, but all I did was offer exercise and workout suggestions to him using Motocross Fitness; he did all of the work with a consistent and effective training program. And I am thankful he did because his superior strength and conditioning saved him from possible paralysis or even death. This is the most important benefit of following a solid training program. Yes, improving your fitness to be able to ride longer and faster is important, but the safety benefits of increased muscle mass, strength, flexibility, and endurance are the most important results of your training.

When you are putting together your MX training program you have many things to consider – strength, endurance, flexibility, balance, speed, reflexes, mental preparation, etc. In essence your goal should be to create a total athlete or the “total package” in order to maximize your racing potential. If you overlook one of these factors then you could be exposing a weakness. And, that’s why assessing your weaknesses is so important. And, one of the biggest weaknesses in many athletes and fitness enthusiasts is neck, lower back, and core strength. That is why ALL ATHLETES should integrate special strength building exercises for these areas into their programs.

When it comes to strength training, I would venture to say that the neck and lower back are the least trained. In most training programs, regardless of the sport, these are probably the two most overlooked and under trained areas. But, it is extremely important that all athletes address these areas in their training program. It is just as, if not more, important than the bench press or arm curls which develop the “beach muscles”. Motocross athletes need to include specific neck and back exercises to their training programs to increase strength and flexibility in these areas.

Having a stronger neck will not totally prevent these devastating injuries from happening, but a stronger neck can possibly reduce the severity of these injuries. I feel that it is important that motocross athletes and their trainers include some strength and flexibility exercises to address the neck muscles as well as the upper and lower back muscles that surround the spinal column.

It should be obvious why a motocross racer should develop their neck muscles. To me, this is important for safety reasons as well as to help you improve your overall strength and fitness. Neck and spinal injuries are the greatest fear for any racer, and the thought of spending your life in a wheelchair is not pleasant.

Therefore, I would strongly encourage ALL ATHLETES to spend time strengthening their neck and spinal column muscles. If you can prevent or lessen the severity of these types of injuries through strength training, then it is well worth the time that you put into it.

Of course, there are no guarantees that it will prevent any injury because of the violence that is present in many crashes. But, much like your protective gear, it may improve your chances of walking away.

With these thoughts in mind I will be addressing some specific ways in which you can strengthen the neck and back in part 2 of this article. So if you are interested in learning how to strengthen these areas, check back in a couple of days for part 2 of MX Safety.

In the meantime, you can check out our new MX Safety page where you can order neck braces, knee braces, and other necessary safety equipment. And, if you want to get started right now with your own training program, you can order your own copy of Motocross Fitness at the MXF Store.

Thanks for reading and and check back for part 2 of this article.