How to best use btgb for endurance (2hrs +)

After a few years of cycling and weightlifting I came back to gymnastics is search of fitness. To be honest my only interest in fitness and therefore gymnastic comes from a need to perform well in two hour off road motorcycle races.

I know to some people it seems strange, but dirt bike racing is very physically demanding. During a typical two hour race my garmin claims (I know they arent close to exact) that I burn about four thousand calories. I typically hold about 170 bpm average and see sprints close to 190.

I have been working on the prerequisites for a few weeks now and have gotten to the point where I want to get a little more detailed.

However, I am not interested in brute force strength, I guess what I need is muscle endurance and the ability to get rid of lactate, is that correct? And how should I adapt the prereqs and WODs so as to get the most out of my body for two hours at a time?

Thanks for any help.

Hi 151. Can you state your age and weight? I'm afraid your post raises lots of questions, which I can only discuss in a piecemeal way.

You heart rate seems high, but at that rate, I can see why your Garmin is showing so many calories. You say you do off road motorcycling, so I think you're lucky to get your heart rate monitor (HRM) to function at all. I have a garmin and a suunto, and neither work anywhere near a running engine. I also get over-high readings if I'm wearing nylon over my HRM.

I'm assuming here that you've actually stopped at some point to measure and verify your heart rate, and that it is shown on your garmin, which in turn suggests that the garmin is calculating calories from your heart rate, rather than from the miles covered, which it defaults to when your hrm is not plugged in (for 60kg about 100 cals per mile running, 50 cals per mile cycling).

So, lets suppose your heart rate is really 170-190. I assume from that you are about 20 years old, as if it was me I begin to drop dead at about 170, but then I'm 48.

Mostly, I'm confused. Burning 4000 calories in a couple of hours seems high, a bit like running 2 marathons back to back, and would need a lot of hydration, maybe 4 litres. If you're covered in protective motorbike gear in the warmth that would mean more sweating and more water/food required.

...but back to the point of endurance, strength and lactate reduction.

Motorcycling wise, the muscles you will be using are in your legs standing on the pins, and shoulders pushing/pulling on the handlebars, presumably in a static way rather than a dynamic way, but dynamically to absorb uneven ground. To build endurance with these motions using bodyweight training would require high reps at low stresses, like push ups, pullups and squats, which I don't think bodyweight training for gymnastics is most focused on, being primarily for short duration, maximal strength and high recruitment.

If you have a problem with lactate after 2 hours of super-high intensity riding with no fluid/food replenishment, I am not surprised in the least, and cannot even understand exactly what it would be like. I find riding my motorbike along a flat road for 2 hours exhausting.

Thanks for the reply NIgel,

I have seen some strange readings from the garmin during races. It is a 705 and other than the occasional oddity I have really liked it.

I've used it so many times now on my road bicycle and on my dirtbike that I am pretty sure most of the readings are accurate.

I am 35 and weigh about 130 when in race shape. I'm at 135lbs right now.

From my experience racing taxes the legs and arms like you said, BUt also the lowerback, glutes, most of all the cardio system.

The reason I think gymnastics will help is because as a kid I did gymnastics for several years and was in really great condition which worked very well with my racing. I have done some semi-serious(12-18 hrs per week) cardio and work out training for a few years now and am no where near where I was as a kid doing gymnastics two and three times each week for a few hours.