Troy Dog
Let’s face it, we all need training advice, except maybe Troy Dog, because that guy has an amazing physique. However, some of us really have some bad habits when it comes to preparing for race day and nutrition.
Enter Evan Nystrom. Coach Evan is the strength coach for riders like Derek Kelley, Bubba Pauli, AJ Catanzaro, and The Moto Academy, which is AJ’s training school. One of the cool things going for Coach Evan is that he actually just relaunched his business and renamed it Outlier Athlete Development. With the success that Evan had last year with Kelley, and the good things I heard about him as a coach, we decided to have a conversation with him and pick his brain on commonly asked questions in the motocross community. Hopefully you’ll find these quick answers helpful, because we’ve heard them at the track for decades.
We’ll have more with Coach Evan very soon, including a deep dive into his background and the hows/whys he decided to utilize his strengths in the niche sport that is motocross. For now, if you’d like to learn more about Outlier you can reach out to Evan on Instagram @outlierathlete.
What’s the best thing to eat the night before a race?
“A very common question, whatever makes you feel best within reason. There isn’t one specific thing. Everyone has rituals and everyone feels better on different foods. So, I’m not going to say one single meal is going to do the trick.”
Can I eat red meat the night before my race?
“If somebody jives well with red meat. I’m a big stickler for meat being well sourced. So, if it’s a really good source, grass fed, steak and someone feels like that gives them the juice for the next day then absolutely. If it’s a salmon then go for it. Even if someone was on the chicken and pasta vibe, then sure. As long as it’s not going to make you feel bad.”
What should I eat on the day of my race?
“It’s very similar in whatever you can tolerate. Everyone has stomach nerves when it comes to race day and some people really can’t eat much. I encourage them to try to get in some proteins and some good carbohydrates for the fuel. Then of course some good hydration and electrolytes. The way they need to do that is specific to them. The last thing that you want to do is give someone something to eat on a raceday and it sits in their stomach like a brick. Then they aren’t feeling well and they have to go do a 30+2 or a 20+1.”
Do you recommend coffee on race day?
“I wouldn’t say I recommend it, but if coffee is a part of someone’s morning and gets them up and going then there is nothing wrong with that. As long as that’s a part of someone’s normal routine. If you don’t drink coffee ever and you drink it randomly on a race day then that’s probably not going to be the best. At the same time coffee from certain places is going to be full of sugars. If it’s a pretty simple and clean coffee, sure. If it’s a mocha chocha whatever, maybe not.”
How much sleep is needed the night before a race?
“Hopefully these athletes are tending to their sleep patterns all the time. That way we’re not ‘sleep banking’, which is trying to build up sleep and make up for sleep in the past. Hopefully they are staying up on their sleep through their weeks of training because that is super important. Sleep for recovery during training is obviously more important than the night before a race. Ideally, everyone is going to be a little different, but hopefully between 7-9 hours and there can be variation from person to person. It does get a bit difficult at times because of time zone changes.”
Consistency is the key when it comes to performance.
“The body really likes consistency, so that goes for training regimen week to week. It likes the consistency so that it can understand what you’re asking it to do. That goes for food as well. The variety of food is still super important, however being consistent enough that you know why eating a certain meal that it’s not going to cause you to have stomach issues. With sleep you want to stay consistent with it because these riders aren’t just working hard on Saturday. They are working even harder during the week so that the results can show on Saturday. “
