Tag: training

Training vs. BMX

I’ve grown to love training over the years and recently was sharing why I love it so much beyond just the health benefits.

Training vs. bmx when your mind isn’t right is safer to me. Training has less risk than bmx. Both of them push me mentally and physically but if I’m not 100% feeling like riding, or am in a bad mode for whatever reason, I’d rather train.

I enjoy the aspect of pushing myself mentally and physically with both bmx and training. It’s just different with bmx if you’re not all in it because you can get fucked up.

I’m not competitively power lifting so the risk factor for my training is nothing compared to my level of risk riding as a professional bmx athlete, but I can still push my body and mind. 💚✌️

Why do you train?

-Josh P.

No Pain, No Gain?

Pushing your body and mind is very important to building resilience and strength. That said, too often as a society do we push our bodies and mind too high, too frequently, and unnecessarily.

Stress is a very important human biological response important for survival and strength. But, in personal and business life, we have introduced too many false stressors in our days like “I have to get this done”, “what will they think of me”, “I don’t want to fail”, “I’m going to be late”, etc. which is a made up stress yet still has the detrimental affects of stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol).

As athletes, we are told to train harder, train through the pain, no pain no gain, etc. I ignorantly fell into this category for many years. Because of an immense passion to educate myself with an open mind, I’ve come to realize there are so many things we can do with our diet, fitness, mindset, and lifestyle choices to reduces the activity in the parts of the brain that trigger stress hormones.

Over the last few years, I have built and continue to work on building up an aerobic heart rate base for optimized oxygen intake and fat oxidation, which reduces excess free-radical damage, inflammation, and oxidative stress. I’ve worked hard to build up, and continue to build, strength, mobility, technique, explosiveness, and recovery while focusing 💯 on my nutrition and mindset to eliminate excess stress to my brain and body. Finally, I allow myself to rest when my body tells me it needs it. I’d rather have fewer days at 💯 than more days less than my full potential.

Rather than not training, like the old me, or training too frequently when not feeling 💯, I train hard 3 days a week, go all out 1 day a week, have 2 active recovery/aerobic and gymnastic ring days, and take a full day off when need be, while riding 4-5 days a week.

The benefits and improvements I’ve seen with my energy, body composition, strength on and off my bike, mindset, recovery, digestion, and mental focus were in fathomable at the beginning but now I’m a believer. 💚✌️

-Josh P.

Athletic Lab

Working with @coachmatthunter at @athleticlab has been game changing (13 months). Matt is not your ordinary coach, he was super interested in my sport as well as knew that a strength and conditioning program for any other sport wouldn’t fit my needs. He started with a traditional evaluation of my goals, history, sport, injury past, etc., then came to the park to watch and record all aspects of my riding to really analyze what he needed to know in order to write my specific programming.

Matt trains and competes in his sport while coaching other athletes full-time. As a fellow elite athlete, he understands the demands of sport and how specific each sport is in regards to an individualized approach.

This understanding and analytical athletic mindset has manifested in great results from the programming and testing we’ve done together. We both are into data and seeing what’s working and what’s not. We use @trainwithpush bands and @polarglobal heart monitors to track our progress and monitor our goals and progression.

As a professional athlete going on 12 years, you’d think this would all be common practice for me. Contrary to that belief, BMX is just now breaking through the shell of conditioning to think of itself as not a sport. It was very common to be mocked, judged, and/or made fun of for training and eating well within the bmx community. Now as our sport as been accepted into the @olympics and the @usacycling has a BMX team, this old mindset is shifting.

I’m excited to see what changes come from within the sport of BMX as the years go on but I do know I’m stoked to have found this new passion for fitness over the last few years and will continue to learn, work, and share it with others. 💪🏽💚✌️

-Josh P.

Outwork the Negativity 

Doubt and fear, among many other negative beliefs, are just that. Beliefs. Not facts. We choose what to believe. Sadly, many are born into “traditional” beliefs and/or believe in what society suggests to be what they should believe. I sure did. Then through a few life or death situations, an exploration to figure out who I was and what I wanted out of life, and pursuing what I love, I created my own beliefs from the data I’ve collected over my short 29 years on this planet as who they call “Josh Perry”. I encourage you all to do what you love and push through the fear and doubt that arises, no matter what it’s origin is. It’s up to you in which you believe. Fear, or love. Choose love. It’s much more enjoyable. 💚✌️
-Josh P.

Training Is Just For Money? 

Training isn’t about “money”, “winning”, or any other nonsense people want to say it is. At least for me and what I represent. 
Training is about taking care of my health and my performance with the thing I love most in life, and creating longevity for all the above. Yeah, training will improve your riding. But that doesn’t mean it’s focused on money or winning. 
Take me for example, I decided to not compete this year nor take a paycheck from anything bmx related. I still rode at a level to compete and also trained in the gym. That was my personal decision to do so for my health and performance on my bike. It’s made tricks easier, recovering more efficient, sessions stretch longer without fatigue, and increased the ability to take the physical stress from landing or falling on a trick. What’s also an equal part of this equation is nutrition and mindset. 
That being said, all this shit about “bmx is just about fun” and blah blah blah is just that, shit. Ones ignorance and insecurity at its finest along with inability to embrace others to do something similar yet take a different approach. Nothing about my riding or career says anything but fun and love for it. If I was focused on money, I would have kept the job I had in high school making twice what I’ve ever made from bmx, which would have been way more by now as well. I don’t do anything for money, I donit for the love! 
Bmx has led me to where I am today, shown me paths to passions I’ve developed along the way, shown me the world, saved my life, and gave me a outlet to share my story and passions. Some, like myself, find training fun as well as the benefits that transfer over to the bike to be fun. 
It’s funny how many riders enjoy training just from the health perspective and enjoyment, let alone the riding benefits, and the disciplines of riding that people least expect one rider in such a discipline or stay of riding to train. 
At the end of the day, if you love something, do what you love! Don’t be afraid others doing it differently or taking a different approach will change whatever it is for you. Bmx is a lifestyle and anyone who wants to use the term “freestyle” to say it has to be one way and can’t involved progressive new ideas is missing the whole point of “freestyle”. 
What’s wrong with someone loving the sport of BMX so much that they decide to make a career out of it? What’s wrong with someone putting their heart, blood, sweat, and tears into something for so long they want to make a career out it that and share it with others? What’s wrong with making money in any form that’s positive? There isn’t anything wrong with it other than the judgmental people’s views that have a negative relationship and story with money. 
I’ve said this before, money is a tool. It’s not good nor evil. It what you make it. There isn’t anything wrong with someone making money at what they live rather than what society has been washed into thinking the way they just make money- unfulfilled, stressed, no enjoyment, 9-5, hourly pay, etc. 
BMX is something special to me a lot of other riders. The amount of sacrifice, dedication, and pain that has gone into should be enough to not need an explanation for training or even making money from the time and skill that goes into it. 
I encourage you all to take a risk on what you love, ignore the haters, and believe in the life you want. Why live to do something you don’t enjoy just to make money when you could do what you love to make money and enjoy the fuck out of your life? 
I train so my brain, body, and riding all benefit. Not for money. For me! For what I am and what I want to show up as in life. I don’t care what others think because I know my truth and I’m being 100% authentic in life. 
Until next time….💚✌️
-Josh P. 

Train With Push

Having a clear goal/vision is one of the most important things to me.

Data follows closely behind. @trainwithpush put together an article detailing how @coachmatthunter and I track progression at @athleticlab and how @jciake and I worked together to get me back riding within 4 months after ACL reconstructive surgery, along with a host of other issues with my knee from my stubborn ass pushing surgery off for 2 years.

I believe that you have to have a clear goal, know where you’re starting from, and know if you’re progressing forward or not. @trainwithpush makes that easy for us and other athletes from pro to the weekend warrior.

Tracking data helps anyone accomplish their goals that much easier and more effective. 💪🏽💚✌️

Read the feature PUSH interviewed Jackie, Matt, and I for. 

https://www.trainwithpush.com/blog/josh-perry-bmx-qa

-Josh P.

How to ACL Strength & BMX | JP Weeklies 017

Having gone through ACL reconstructive surgery and returning to BMX riding better than I imaged, I get asked what I did a lot. My new video walks you through some knee/ ACL exercises you can do.

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Subscribe to my channel here: https://www.youtube.com/JoshPerryBMX

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Steps for ACL Prevention and Rehab:

1. Stability (single leg squats, single lead deadlifts, split stance squats, walking lunges

2. Landing mechanics (stable box jumps with no knees inward on landing, straight hurdle hope, sideways hurdle hops, anti-rotational split stance press holds with a band.

3. Bilateral strength ( back squat, revenge lunge from back squat stance, deadlift.

4. Mobility, stretching, foam rolling, and remember to lift/exercise safely. Don’t push too hard. Start light and work your way up. Especially after recovering from an injury.

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-Josh P.