 Coach: Joel Younkins Photo: Zachary C. Bako Joel YounkinsHigh Performance Coach It’s funny—some of the biggest breakthroughs in my coaching career haven’t come from motocross at all. More often than not, they come from outside industries. Something I learn in one space ends up creating clarity or momentum in another. This was especially true with powerlifting.
When I was playing football, I always loved the training side of it—through junior high, high school, and college. But I never imagined I’d actually compete in the sport of powerlifting. And even when I first got into coaching, I never expected to run a competitive powerlifting team of my own. But I did. And what I found was that the lessons I learned—both from competing and coaching lifters—gave me tools that directly carried over to coaching motocross and off-road racers. Here's how. Lesson 1: The Power of Structure Powerlifting is built around structure—programming, progression, execution. Everything is calculated. The volume changes. The intensity shifts. The plan evolves as you get closer to meet day. Sound familiar? It should. Motocross is no different, yet most racers run the same “program” year-round. Ride, train, ride, repeat. While repetition builds skill, blind repetition can burn you out or stall your progress. Just like a powerlifter doesn’t max out every session, racers can’t just “send it” all year long and expect peak performance. Without structure, there’s no ability to build toward something. There’s no way to peak for big races or a championship run. If your plan never changes, your results won’t either. Lesson 2: The Beast Needs to Eat This isn’t about “beast mode” or some cliché quote. I believe we all have a beast inside of us. Society just teaches us to cage it. In powerlifting, if you can’t tap into that primal intensity, you’ll never hit your true potential. That’s not flow state. That’s not mindset. That’s something deeper—a place where you feel invincible, where nothing else matters except the weight in front of you. Motocross has the same demand. Want to ruin your competitors’ day? Want to be that scary version of yourself who’s untouchable when it matters? You need to figure out what feeds your beast. Because when you feed it properly, that’s when it shows up on race day. You see this when retired racers try to make a comeback. They’re not slower because they forgot how to ride. It’s because they stopped feeding the beast. They no longer have something to prove, and that fire—their edge—is gone. Find what fuels you. Then feed it. Lesson 3: Respect the Basics In powerlifting, technique is king. The heavier the weight, the more technical you must be. Same goes for motocross—the faster you go, the more important your fundamentals become. Powerlifting also teaches you that recovery matters more as you get stronger. So does consistency. There’s no shortcut around that. You can’t skip the basics and expect elite performance. If you want to win, you don’t rise to the occasion—you fall to the level of your habits. And those habits are built on the basics. Lesson 4: Long Term Development You can’t rush strength. If you deadlift 300 lbs and want to pull 500, you don’t get there overnight. You go from 300 to 315 to 330—and on and on. You don’t skip steps. Same thing in motocross. You don’t skip from amateur to pro overnight. You don’t go from mid-pack to championship contender by luck. And if you try to force the jump before you’re ready, the sport will expose you. Respect where you’re at. Master that level. Then move up. Want big goals? Great. But if you can’t see the steps between here and there, all you’re doing is guessing—and that’s a recipe for burnout and frustration. Lessons are Everywhere I didn’t get into powerlifting looking for motocross coaching lessons. I got into it because I loved it. I loved the process, the discipline, and the opportunity to help others push their limits—just like I do with racers. At first glance, powerlifting and motocross couldn’t seem more different. But when you zoom out, it’s all the same: athletes preparing to give their best effort, under pressure, in an unforgiving environment. The tools are the same: Plan. Prepare. Perform. No matter the sport.
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