This weekend's Malaysian Grand prix is one of the most physical demanding events on the world 💃championship calendar, so how do riders prepare themselves for such challenges - and the racing season as a whole?

Repsol has provided the following information abo🐻ut the training and diet ಞof its grand prix riders, including premier-class stars Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden.

Annual Planning

The physical preparation throughout the year is divided into🔜 four periods.

The pre-season: this starts in Decemꦬber and continues until the beginning of March. During this period work is basically cardio-respiratory, to increase stamina and all-round strength.

The rider works six days a week, with training sessions that last six hours every day with one rest day. These sessions are divided into approximately three hours on a bicycle and in the swimming-pool (two days on a bike alternating with 🐟one in the pool); 'Strength 1' exercises (with the rider's own weight), 'Sℱtrength 2' exercises (with machines), isokinetic work (with elastic straps), plus other tasks to improve balance and stretching exercises.

Period of competition: depending on the proximity of a GP, training during this part of the year is one of two types: if there is a ♎week without a race the physical work is aimed at increasing muscle volume. During a week leading up to a race the volume work is lower and the intensity is raised.

After two or three months the amount of work to increase physical volume is reduced and the intensity is increase๊d. This is accompanied by the introduction of more specific work depending on the needs of the rider himself.

Summer break: a ꩵreinforcement of the pre-season work is carried out, between 10-15 days, similar to the work 🌳in winter. Once again the exercises are conditioned by the demands of the rider; it is they who notice whether they need to work on one aspect or another, whether they need to work on a specific muscle.

End of the season: the body is usually given a month's rest, although not a total rest. Riders takes advan🔯tage of this time to practice other sports ꦆto break the monotony, sports like basketball or badminton; activities that increase the speed of reaction.

Then comes the pre-season again: f🧸rom December to the🎃 start of March.

Type of training

Cardio-respiratory:🍷 to improve stamiꦛna, work is on a road-racing bicycle. Riders like Pedrosa do a lot of kilometres every year, climbing mountains similar to those in the Tour de France. This is combined with some time on a mountain bike, and in winter they also do cross-country skiing.

These exercises alternate and are complemented♎ with a lot of time in tဣhe swimming-pool where they also do aerobic work, this can be reinforced with work for specific muscles with the use of dumb-bells, etc.

Anaerobic: this is training dedicated to increasing strength, basically the upper body: sternocleidomastoid muscle, trapezium, deltopectorals, biceps, triceps, and forearms. The objective is to work the maximum strength but without gaining too muc♋h volume, since the aim is to improve stamina and strength so that the muscles respond rapidly.

The special aspects of riding a top class motorbike means that it is not necessary to have a bulky set of muscles, but to have very powerไful on🎃es, owing to the sudden movements that a bike makes in a race.

It is important to have muscles that respond quickly and with good strength so that the rider is 𓄧physically prepared to control the unforeseen whi♌plash movements made by the bike.

Another set of muscles that are very important are those in the region o🍬f the abdomen. Pedrosa does 1000 sit-ups a day in♌ the pre-season, and 700 during the rest of the season!

Other training: Flexibility is very important for riders as they have to be able to respond with strength with the muscle elongated and powerful. It is also important to strengt🐻hen the balance of the body and to control the cent🃏re of gravity.

Specific work: During the competition period,🌌 depending on where the race is, the physical work can be modified a little so that the rider adapts better to the conditions they will face. This is the case of r🧸aces in Qatar and Malaysia, where the objective is to adapt the rider's biorhythms and stamina to the extreme conditions.

The aim is to give a taste of the 🅺different conditions that may be found, and that is why in spite of the unknowns when tackling a race like the one i♔n Qatar, where the race is at night, the work can be changed or modified a week beforehand to try and adapt the rider's body.

Extreme conditions: Before races like the one in Malaysia work is done with more clothes on, to raise⛦ the temperature or the work is moved to the hottest time of the day.

This is someꦿthing that Emilio Alzamora did when he rode in the world championship and has been used by his 'pupil' Marc M?rquez, who carried out some sessions in the sauna to get used to the humidity and extreme heat found on a bike at the circu꧟it of Sepang.

Food, drink and rest

Importance of a correct diet: riders have a normal diet, although they are su🍎bject to a general control of theඣir food.

It is essential for them to have a good breakfast: large and complete, as they consume a lot of calor🙈ies, especially dur🃏ing the sessions on a bike.

At lunchtime proteins are taken (meat or fish) and aဣt night the aim is to consume carbohydrates. It is important to eat a balanced diet and to maintain a stable weight.

The importance of drinks: in a race a rider can lose ꦛ1.5kg - 2kg of liquid. This is something that is easily recovered, bu🅠t it is obvious that hydration is something fundamental.

This is also an important aspect in training, since cycling consumes a lot of energy. During the sessions on a bike each riderꦚ will carry two bottles of liquid: one with an isotonic mix, and the other with water since dehydration means a loss of electrolytes and mineral salts, this produces a higher 𒅌level of tiredness and cramps. In total a rider usually drinks between 2- 3 litres of liquids daily.

The importance of rest: rest is fundamental, and that is why the ride🍰rs have to sleep for the right amount of time. The minimum is 8 hours, but if it is necessary to have a n♒ap in the afternoon the body makes it clear.

During the long trips to places like Japan, Australia, Malaysia and the USA jet lag is always a real threat and can adversely affect the body's performance. That is why riders often try to get used to the new time zone beforehand so as to🙈 speed up the acclimatisation process.