Getting in Shape for a Dual-Sport Motorcycle Adventure in Ecuador

Off-road and dual-sport riding will wear you out. There’s no way around it. A long day on dirt asks a lot more from your body than sitting on a motorcycle and twisting the throttle.

At Ecuador Freedom, our mechanics put plenty of work into getting the motorcycles ready before they leave the shop. Tires, brakes, chains, fluids, suspension — the bike gets prepared for the punishment ahead.

The rider needs some preparation too.

You don’t need to look like a professional athlete. You do need enough strength to deal with a loaded motorcycle, enough endurance to stay sharp after hours in the saddle, and enough fuel in your body to keep your brain working when the road gets rough.

Do a little preparation before the trip and you’ll spend a lot more time enjoying the ride instead of fighting the motorcycle.

A Loaded Motorcycle Is Heavy

You might wonder why you need strength for an off-road motorcycle tour.

Here’s one reason: motorcycles are heavy.

A dual-sport or adventure bike can weigh somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 to 500 pounds before you start adding luggage, tools, water, and everything else you thought you absolutely needed to bring.

Now imagine stopping on the side of a mountain, putting your boot down on loose gravel, and watching the bike slowly tip past the point of no return.

Down she goes.

If you’re on a self-guided motorcycle tour, you may be the person who has to get it upright again.

That takes legs, hips, core strength, and good lifting mechanics. Trying to muscle a heavy motorcycle off the ground with a rounded back is a lousy strategy.

 

 

Learn to Lift Before You Need to Lift

When you’re picking up something heavy, whether it’s a barbell, a box, or your motorcycle lying in the dirt, the basic rules are simple:

• Get your feet underneath you and build a solid base.
• Get close to the weight instead of reaching for it.
• Brace your core.
• Bend your knees and hips instead of folding through your back.
• Keep the load close to your body.
• Push through your legs as you stand.

Practice those movements before the trip. Squats and deadlifts are useful because they train the same basic pattern: brace yourself, produce force through your legs, and move something heavy without folding in half.

Stop Wrestling the Handlebars

Strength isn’t just about picking up the motorcycle.

You also need enough strength through your core, shoulders, upper back, and arms that you don’t spend the entire day hanging onto the bars for dear life.

There’s an old riding lesson that says to hold the handlebars like you’re holding baby birds. That’s a good way to think about it.

You want control without a death grip.

When riders get tired, they tend to tighten up. Their shoulders rise, their arms stiffen, and every rock and rut gets transmitted straight through the handlebars and into their body. That burns energy fast.

A stronger core and upper back make it easier to support your body while keeping your hands relatively relaxed.

That matters even more when you’re standing on the pegs.

Fatigue Makes You Stupid

Endurance is every bit as important as strength.

You may be perfectly capable of controlling a motorcycle at 9:00 in the morning. The question is whether you can still make good decisions after hours of riding dirt roads, crossing rivers, climbing mountain passes, and dealing with whatever Ecuador puts in front of you.

Fatigue slows reaction time and makes simple mistakes more likely.

That matters when a corner suddenly tightens, the road turns to mud, or a llama decides that your side of the road is exactly where it wants to be.

The goal is to arrive at the end of the riding day tired enough to appreciate a cold drink, but still sharp enough to ride the last twenty kilometers properly.

Start Training a Few Weeks Before the Trip

You don’t need an elaborate training program. You need consistency.

Concentrate on movements that make your legs, hips, back, arms, and core stronger.

• Squats: build leg and hip strength.
• Deadlifts: train your posterior chain and help prepare you for moving heavy loads.
• Bent-over rows: strengthen the upper back.
• Lat pulldowns: build back and pulling strength.
• Push-ups: work the chest, shoulders, arms, and core.
• Planks: build the trunk stability that helps you stay balanced on the motorcycle.

Use weights you can control with good form. There’s no prize for wrecking your back in the gym three weeks before your motorcycle vacation.

Build gradually.

For aerobic conditioning, pick something you’ll actually do: cycling, swimming, hiking, running, rowing, or brisk uphill walking.

The important thing is developing enough cardiovascular endurance that several hours of riding doesn’t empty the tank.

That becomes especially useful in Ecuador, where one trip can take you from near sea level to extremely high elevations in the Andes.

Before You Ride: Wake the Body Up

You climbed out of bed, drank some coffee, ate breakfast, and now there’s a motorcycle sitting outside.

Give your body ten minutes before you ask it to spend the next several hours absorbing bumps.

You don’t need an elaborate yoga ceremony in the hotel parking lot. Move enough to get warm and loosen up your hips, legs, back, shoulders, and neck.

Try two or three rounds of:

• 20 jumping jacks
• 10 toe touches
• 10 lunges on each leg
• 10 squats
• 10 arm circles in each direction
• Torso rotations
• Chest and shoulder movements
• Gentle neck rotations
• Gentle neck side bends

The point is simple: get blood moving and find out what feels stiff before you put on twenty pounds of riding gear and disappear into the mountains.

Eat Before You’re Starving. Drink Before You’re Thirsty.

You got yourself ready. We got the motorcycle ready. Now you need enough fuel to keep both your muscles and your brain working.

Remote Ecuador is remote.

There isn’t always a convenience store waiting around the next bend, and sometimes lunch is farther down the road than everybody expected.

Start with a solid breakfast. The hotels we use on our tours serve substantial breakfasts, and this is not the morning to survive on half a cup of coffee and optimism.

Get some protein, carbohydrates, and fat into you before you ride.

Then carry food.

There’s a word for trail food in Kichwa: kukayu. Whatever you call it, having something in your luggage that you can eat quickly is a good idea.

• Nuts
• Fruit
• Energy bars
• Beef jerky
• Peanut butter sandwiches
• Tuna or other easy-to-carry foods
• Plenty of water

Don't Get Behind on Water

Dehydration has a nasty habit of sneaking up on riders.

You’re wearing riding gear, concentrating on the road, climbing in elevation, and maybe sweating more than you realize.

Then suddenly you have a headache, your energy drops, and your concentration starts going downhill.

Carry water and drink it throughout the day instead of waiting until you’re desperate for it.

On particularly hot or demanding riding days, an electrolyte drink can also be useful. Depending on where you are in Ecuador, that might mean an electrolyte mix, tablets, or fresh coconut water straight from the source.

The basic lesson is the same as everything else in this article:

Don't wait until you're already exhausted, starving, dehydrated, or staring at a motorcycle lying on its side to discover that preparation matters.

Get reasonably strong. Build some endurance. Eat properly. Carry water. Warm up before the ride.

Then get on the motorcycle and use all that preparation for what it was intended for — having a better time riding Ecuador.

Adria Biasi is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, Board Certified Orthopedic Specialist, and CrossFit Level 1 Trainer. Besides helping people move and feel better, she is also passionate about writing and content creation. She specializes in helping people in the healthcare, wellness, and fitness industry grow their online presence through her freelance writing skills. By combining her two passions, exercise, and writing, she won’t only help you with your business, she will also help you reach your health and wellness goals.