 Rider: Levi Younkins Joel YounkinsHigh Performance Coach Everyone wants to be better next season. The Off Season is where it gets created. A couple blogs ago, we covered how to make the most out of a Post-Season phase of training. We talked about taking real time off, using active recovery, addressing lingering injuries, and slowly easing into structured training again as you transition into the Off-Season.
We also talked about how short these windows actually are. Because of how tight the calendar is, especially if you’re racing SX, MX, and SMX, you may only get October as your Post-Season, November as your Off-Season, and December as your Pre-Season. That’s it. With windows this small, there’s no room to waste time. Each phase must have clear, focused objectives so you’re not doing the wrong things at the wrong time. Build “The Base” People throw around “building a base” constantly in motocross. And honestly, they’re not wrong, but it has a lot more to do than just long slow bicycle rides. Building a base is about developing general physical abilities by emphasizing volume over intensity. It doesn’t mean you never touch higher intensity work, but the overall structure must lean heavily toward building capacity in all foundational fitness qualities. The Off-Season is also the best time to make the biggest improvements in body composition. Some riders need to gain weight. Some need to drop fat. Regardless of the direction, the Off-Season is the easiest time to make those changes. Here’s what Off-Season training should look like:
If your Post-Season was done correctly, your body should be primed and ready to start building real horsepower. Off-Season Seat Time On the bike, you want laps, quality laps. This is the time for capacity motos, track sections, and deep technical work. The goal is to refine technique so well that when intensity increases later, you don’t have to think. It’s already built in. In a perfect world where you get 2–3 full months, you don’t need super high riding frequency. You focus on quality sessions, then give your nervous system space to recover so the skill sticks. Recovery is an underrated part of motor learning and the Off-Season is where it pays off the most. But since most Off-Seasons are rushed, you need to be smart. Strategic scheduling and intentional recovery become essential. Improve Skills This is the phase to sharpen fundamentals and experiment with new ideas. You can break down details like:
And you can explore new skills you struggled with last season or concepts you want to add to your game. What you don’t want is to wait until you’re two weeks out from the new season and suddenly decide to reinvent your riding. At that point, it’s too late. There’s not enough time to take a new skill from “interesting idea” to “race-ready.” The Off-Season is where you create. The Pre-Season is where you sharpen. Final Thoughts The Off-Season isn’t about cranking up intensity or trying to simulate race conditions. That comes later. This is the phase where you build your fitness, your strength, your technical foundation, and your capacity to handle what’s coming. Before Pre-Season ramps up the intensity and specificity, you need to:
Do this right, and your Pre-Season becomes a weapon. Skip it or rush it and you’ll chase weaknesses all year long.
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