Cracking the bmx gate start code
I have been training for BMX the couple months.
But not to race.
Who trains for BMX but doesn’t race?!
Well, I guess I do.
I don’t know if you vibe with this but… I love doing gate starts and sprints.
I have loved thinking about BMX gate start technique for a long time.
In high school I used to daydream for far too long about gate starts and how I could improve my technique.
But I really had no clue what I was doing. I didn’t know why one technique was better than another.
It wasn’t until about 7 or 8 years ago that I started to wrap my mind around what was happening to produce a fast start.
I eventually had to get those thoughts out of my mind and put them on paper. So I created an ebook, Gate Starts From The Ground Up. It helped people improve.
But, the more I thought deeply about it the more I realized that there is more to consider with starts.
A lot more.
Ironic that something that takes less than 1 second can inspire so many thoughts. But we all know that a great gate is absolutely critical to success in BMX.
I’ve had a few epiphanies along the way that have shaped how I see starts now. They have led me down some very interesting paths that will help a lot of people make considerable improvements in their start technique once and for all.
A lot more than your typical BMX clinic.
Here’s the secret…
I’ve come to realize just how much things like human gait (not gate), ribcage, and pelvic mechanics play a HUGE role in how you and I are performing a start.
If you look closely you will see that hips, shoulders, and head do the same thing sprinting a bike as they do when sprinting on foot.
When you learn the mechanics that produce powerful human movement you will begin to spot things you may be doing sub-optimally.
Once you realize that one athlete’s pelvis and ribcage don’t function the same as others, you begin to appreciate just why their start technique looks so different.
You also realize that all the coaching cues of…
“throw your hips forward”
“point your toe”
“roll your wrist”
“keep your back flat”
“bend your knee”
“(insert your favorite here)”
just may not work for everyone.
For example:
If you look at 2 riders that are on opposite ends of the spectrum of body type, such as a tall, lanky person and a shorter, stockier person… they won’t produce movement the same way.
Both are humans but most likely they are going to have big differences in the way their pelvis, ribcage, and shoulders move.
One will tend to be able to flex their hips better vertically and the other might be better at pushing them back and forth.
That difference alone can explain why a rider starts and pedals a bike the way they do.
The same coaching advice for these 2 athletes will probably produce 2 different results.
Anyway, I’ve been diving deep into understanding this. Learning how to assess movement and techniques to improve it. I’ve been running a lot of experiments on myself. I’ve been working with others as well and we’re seeing results. That has me really stoked!
Observations with my own training
Breaking old habits can be a really tough process
I can tell you this, if you keep doing what you have been doing, you will keep getting exactly what you already have. I’ve had to really look at every aspect of my technique and consider ways to break my old patterns. This is tough and takes time, but over the course of nearly 2 months, I’m seeing results.
My hips lie
Shakira lied to all of us.
We may think our hips work well. We may think the left works about the same as the right. Well… I can tell you they don’t.
In myself and so many of you all I can see just how differently your left hip works compared to your right. It’s really obvious when you know what to look for and observe starts frame by frame.
For many of us we prefer producing force using our right leg.
Some right foot starters chose that leg because they like to do a big push on the 1st pedal. Some left-foot starters like to get off their left leg and into their more powerful right leg to have a better 2nd pedal.
For some of us, learning to use your hips more efficiently will feel like writing your name with your opposite hand. This takes time but as it improves, so does your pedaling efficiency.
Speed should feel more effortless
I used to think that if I just built bigger, stronger muscles I would get faster. So I did.
Can confirm that did not produce the results I wanted.
I’m a guy that is built a little stocky. I’m good at producing compression, force, tension. So that was my strategy. But, when you watch Joris Daudet (for example), his start looks so much smoother than mine. His body type is also much more lanky and slender than mine. How can a guy that doesn’t look particularly strong be so dang fast?
I think the answer is that if you pay attention to his mechanics of the hips, ribcage you will see that he operates in a super efficient manor.
The more I observed the differences in what was happening from a skeletal perspective of my body vs someone like Joris, the better I was able to pinpoint my weaknesses.
And can tell you… that after improving some of these things, speed feels a lot more effortless.
For most, building muscle WILL NOT be the key to improving your start. Relaxing and getting your body to move more efficiently will be the way to a new level.
Better movement is not developed through effort
One of my “weaknesses” is my ability to flex my hips without compensating by side bending (image below). Many of you are probably the same. We’re missing hip flexion so we substitute by hiking our hip and side bending. We then use our back to push down on the pedal. Then we wonder why sprints and gates make our back tight. We wonder why we don’t have the same power as others.
The common solution is I need to stretch my quads. Maybe work on my glute muscles to improve hip extension. Maybe my hip flexors are tight.
I tried all those things in the past and NONE OF THAT WORKED.
Better movement comes from learning to relax into positions. It comes from using specific techniques to drive some expansion of certain areas to allow the body to move. Tension and effort has probably led you to be tight and immobile to some degree. More tension and effort will not be what improves your movement.
This email is already getting way too long so I’ll stop there and share some of my results in a future email.
If this interests any of you and want some help, I’m interested in taking on a couple of clients to work specifically on starts.
Let’s work together and dive really deep into addressing weaknesses, breaking bad habits, moving better, and making speed more effortless.
Send me an email and let’s chat