Study reveals: Off-Road motorcycling is great for your waistline
It’s time to cancel your gym membership and take up off-road motorcycling to battle the bulge. Research from a Canadian University study has just confirmed that off-road motorcycling is comparable to running or calisthenics for fitness.
“It’s hard for non-riders to believe that off-road motorcycling is good for your health,” explained Simon Pavey, chief instructor at the BMW Off-Road Skills School based in south Wales. “Non-riders may think that it’s just a form of thrill-seeking, but the physical aspect of off-road riding includes co-ordination and balance skills, as well as stamina and good fitness.
“Professional off-road riders are at the ultimate level of peak fitness. When I train to compete in upcoming motorcycle rallies, I increase the time I spend riding off-road and only takes a week for my body to become noticeably leaner and strong” said the five-times Dakar Rally finisher. “Off-road riding quickly gets your heart rate going and that’s when you will get the direct benefit of reducing your waistline.”
The York University study included 60 riders who were divided into two groups – half on motorcycles and the other half on ATVs. Most were university students, but they ranged in age from 18 to 64 and included a Pilates instructor, an unemployed maintenance worker and a retired systems analyst. To qualify, they had to be new to riding and not exceptionally athletic.
All of the participants recorded what they ate and their other daily activities. They also underwent a series of standard physical fitness and health tests at the beginning of the study, which will also be repeated at the end. The riders were also periodically fitted with heart-rate monitors, oxygen consumption sensors and GPS receivers to log the speed and distance they travelled during their sessions.
The research is the first comprehensive fitness test of recreational off-roaders. The final phase of the three-year, three-part study is still under way, but many participants reported results that matched preliminary findings from an earlier phase, suggesting that trail riding requires physical exertion levels on par with running or calisthenics.
“Balancing on an off-road vehicle is like sitting on a stability ball,” said Jamie Burr, a kinesiologist and exercise physiologist at York who is conducting the research as part of his PhD. “Controlling the handlebars is like doing a bench press and seated rows or upright rows. Standing up and down on the bike would be like squats or deep knee bends and standing on the pegs is like doing toe raises.”
Previous research completed in the 1980s by the National Athletic Institute in California tested several professional off-road motocross racers as part of a comparative study of the cardio-vascular, muscle endurance and flexibility fitness of athletes from various disciplines. Athletes from track, American football, pro basketball and soccer were tested. The results showed that as a group, motocross riders tested to a higher overall fitness level than any group tested. The sport sees racers heart rate increase to 180-190 beats per minute and held for approximately 35 minutes, twice on a race day.
Further research completed by the American UPMC Sports Performance Complex in 2002 reconfirmed the results with current racers, adding that the physical demands of motocross required the racer to keep complete control of a 200 lb (91 kg) or heavier bike, while maintaining their top speed throughout a race.
Off-road racer Simon Pavey taught Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman to ride off-road before they travelled around the world on their Long Way Round adventure. Pavey’s off-road school teaches thousands of people to ride off-road for the first time every year at an exclusive 6,000-acre playground in south Wales. The course includes two days of training as well as motorcycle hire. To find out more about learning to ride off-road, visit www.worldofbmw.com or call 08000 131 282.