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Bobby Myers gets this fascinating first hand account of the famous 1980 fitness test in an interview with Brad Lackey.
Racer X: Okay, Brad, let’s hear it from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. From the top, what went down that day when all you guys went to the NSHI [National Sport Health Institute] and participated in this fitness test?
Brad: Cycle Magazine sponsored it, I believe, and they wanted to determine if motocross was really the second most demanding sport in the world behind soccer. So they picked seven or eight of the top riders and sent them to Southern California in Englewood in 1980. Their [Cycle‘s] original plan was to determine if a privateer didn’t win races due to the equipment, or was it a lack of conditioning on the privateers’ part. So they selected about seven top racers and one privateer, who I believe was the top privateer, but I can’t recall the guy’s name. Chris somebody. I have the original article back home somewhere, and I’ll send you a copy if you’d like, Bobby.
Okay, Brad, sure.
Anyway, it was Mike Bell, Danny Laporte, Jeff Ward, myself, Kent Howerton, and a couple other guys. I can’t remember who it was, but anyway, the deal was, we went down there and we were going to show them what motocross racers were all about. This is the place where they test the top athletes from almost every sport.
What sports?
Well, pretty much everything there is … every sport known: soccer, football, baseball, basketball, wrestling, ice skating, gymnastics, track and field, marathon runners … you name it, they tested them. And they tested the top guys in their field. They gathered all this data and information on these guys, and then they could compare who had the strongest muscles and best endurance and that kind of stuff.
What time of year was this? Because I always heard you were fat and out of racing-shape when this went down.
I think it was in November, and it was the off-season for me, since I was finished with the GPs in August and I had been lying around since then, getting fat and stuff, so I wasn’t really in the best shape. The other guys were still in riding shape, due to the winter series and stuff like that. One thing I remember is that they didn’t tell us what we were going to do, what kind of tests we were going to take, so nobody could get a leg up on any of the tests. It really wasn’t a competition between us racers, but more of a gauge of where the top racers were in relation to the top privateer guy. So there wasn’t any practicing for anything or any certain type of test. They had about 15 different things they tested us on. They weighed us in water to test for body fat, and I think Howerton had seven percent or less in body fat and I had around 22 percent since I’d been enjoying my off-season. Stuff like that. I was the oldest guy and the fattest guy, for sure. They did that, and they did a leg-press deal to see who had the strongest legs and just more stuff like that
When they started testing you guys on this stuff and were checking you out, what was going through their minds, these experts on fitness?
Well, they’re looking at us, and none of us are real big and we’re not football players or cut like basketball players or gymnasts, and they’re thinking that this was a joke of some sort. Motocross guys aren’t really defined and ripped and stuff like that. Back then the muscles were endurance muscles, and they’re really strong, but you can’t really see that. When you’re doing 45-minute motos, you’re not big and bulky … the body just doesn’t show how good physically you are. Those “experts” kind of shined us on and really blew us off, pretty much. So they’re going through all these tests with Wardy and Laporte and stuff, and with each test, they are starting to take notice, because we’re all putting in some good numbers, even the privateer guy. They did stuff like that, and then for the final test to measure endurance, they put us on the treadmill. This is funny, because with me, they told me to give them the high sign when I was ready to collapse. When I wanted to give up, I should raise my hand and signal. They needed about 30 seconds to “run down” the test and to gather the last bit of data and stuff. So at the 25-minute mark I’m getting my second wind and the treadmill is at its steepest and hardest setting, and all of a sudden I see these guys looking and pointing at stuff, and the main guy reaches over and basically turns off the treadmill! I say, “What the hell are you doing, man? I’m just getting my second wind here, damn it!” And the guys say, “Your heart rate’s 210! You’re gonna die, man! You’re gonna die!” [laughs].
For people like me that don’t know what that means … what does that mean?
Well, for my age, it was … a little too high. Howerton was probably in the 190s or so. I mean, I was 26, and these guys don’t know what motocross racers’ heart rates are in general, you know? They just think we’re a bunch a yahoos at this point, and when they stopped me, they pretty much had me gauged at or near the top for all the athletes that had come through there before us. I definitely beat all the other motocrossers, and by the time we were all done, I think won the bench-press, too. I benched 305 lbs. and I only weighed 160 lbs. I think Wardy had the best leg-press numbers, but we all did pretty well. When we all were leaving, they were all shaking our hands and I asked a few of the men in white coats where we stood among the other athletes. And they said, “Well, we didn’t really know how good the motocross guys were, and we didn’t give it much thought before today, but you guys are in great shape.” So I asked them how we compared to the other athletes. Well, one guy says, “You know, the strongest guys that we have ever tested are the gymnasts, and you guys appear to be just as strong as them. And the most physically conditioned guys are the marathon runners, and you guys appear to be as fit as them for cardiovascular fitness”. One guys said, “Man, let’s face it: you’re the baddest guys around.” So overall, they ranked all of us at or near the top of any sports athlete in the world. We had the endurance of a marathon runner and the strength of a gymnast! Soccer players are still at the top, but we were right there.
Cool story, Brad. I always wanted to ask you this, because it always comes up, and it seems it’s always a point of contention every so often on the motocross boards. Who was the best guy and stuff … was Wardy in the best shape and were you really fat and other things like that, just motocross fitness in general. Anyway, thanks again, Brad, and when Racer X wants “The Brad Lackey Story,” I’m going to ask DC to send me up to your place and we’ll capture the true Bad Brad story!
[Laughs] No problem, Bobby. Let me know and I’ll get my old mechanic and my wife and we’ll sit down and get it recorded. I can’t remember half the stuff, so we need those other people there, too [laughs]! Thanks, Bobby.
Note: RacerX
The Shop
Thanks!
Lengthy but great article.
Bobbym that is a sick interview with Brad. He's the man, not surprising the white suits overlooked the MX'rs.
Top UFC and MMA fighters conditioning would be fine in a moto at Southwich ( especially if he knew how to ride and were not fighting the bike) . And likely even better for moto two, as they train and condition for recovery,
Top moto riders and top MMA athletes have very similar training regimens. A top moto riders conditioning and strength training would allow them to be fine in a cage(with the right skill set- if they know how to fight). Both focus on core strength, functional muscle conditioning and development of stabilizer muscles (what allowed bad brad and all of the studs back in the day to be regular looking guys but so strong) and of course cardiovascular strength (conditioning).
Moto conditioning is a slight favorite in the slow twitch training sense. Moto's are 30 minutes plus two laps, these athletes are training for approximately 35 minutes of exertion. MMA fighters train for 15 minutes, or 25 depending on a title fight. Fighters train their conditioning for short 30-40 second bursts of energy (flurries, take downs, exchanges in the pocket). Then recover, and another burst. Moto athletes train for longer periods of exertion at an intense but consistent pace, with moderate recovery periods but fewer less explosive bursts.
Both athletes are intense machines with two differences; fighters focus slightly more on strength and explosion, and motocrossers more on cardio output. While training a fighter I reduce reps slightly and increase his core training weight, an Mx'r higher reps at a lighter core weight.
Jeff Marsh
Psycho-emotional stress is greater for persons who are not physically fit. Endurance
training reduces psycho-emotional stress and increases psychological capacity and
stress tolerance. (Schwaberger 1987.) Also psychological factors are important, when
endurance performance and the will to survive are in question. Psycho-emotional stress
increases if an athlete does not have faith in her or his own physical performance.
10
Furthermore, this increases heart rate and oxygen consumption, and as a result there will
be no success.
Pit Row
psycho-emotional stress.
anyone remember that MotoGP documentary "Faster"? The well-known MotoGP trackside doc measured heart rates of some of the top riders and described Biaggi's like that of a typical athlete, while he described Rossi's as a "child at play".
I am thinking a lower level of psycho-emotional stress contributes to a lower heart rate, which onctributes to increased stamina.
simply put, two riders in identical physical condition... the one who is NOT scared shitless the entire lap will be fresher throughout the race as opposed to the rider who is scared out of his mind.
This makes me think of a guy like McGrath, who didn't exactly train his ass off, but didnt have a hard time with a 20 lap main, probably due in large part to it coming so easy to him because he is such a good all-aaround motorcycle rider. whoops and triples weren't shit to him and didnt elevate his heart rate.
Girls dont get legs and capped delts like you see natty.
^^ THIS IS EXACTLY MY TAKE ON IT ^^
Post a reply to: Interesting article on physical demands of motocross