IM: Seiji, carbs or not carbs?

CS: Of course you need carbs. The dietary choices are going to be what is the source and when do you eat them. Different for everyone but I personally like to eat low carbs when not exercising and high carbs during and around exercise. I eat fairly high fats overall, moderate protein, moderate carbs but again, during and around exercise the carbs go way up. 

IM: What is essential for a rider to eat before/after/during competition?

CS: Like I stated before, each rider needs to do research and experiment with what works best for them. The only general advice I can give is to keep the foods wholesome and the least processed. Some riders do well with proteins, fats, etc. during riding or exercise, some not. I cannot. I almost do pure carbs during exercise, the more intense, the more so but some riders can eat almost "normal" meals and continue to exercise and do well. Just depends on the person.

IM: We all talk about the recovery after intense races, what is the priority, to decrease body heat or to give quickly food/water?

CS: It is it hot, decrease body heat for sure. The sooner you get your body temperature normalized, the quicker your body starts to recover and the sooner you can eat and actually digest your foods, put the nutrients to use, etc. if your body temperature is high, your body almost doesn’t care about anything else, it wants to get that core temperature down as soon as possible to prevent and avoid damage.

IM: What is the difference between aerobic fitness and anaerobic fitness? What are the two targeting?

CS: Aerobic fitness if related to producing energy utilizing the oxygen your body can provide. Anaerobic is when  your body's energy demands exceed its ability to provide energy only using oxygen and it has to start producing energy that doesn't depend on the oxygen your body is processing. In general, lower intensity efforts of longer duration derive energy aerobically while higher intensity efforts start switching to anaerobic sources of energy, on a continuum. It's not just one shift point, it goes from mostly aerobic to mostly anaerobic with the anaerobic component rising as the intensity goes up and the duration goes down. It's not two separate things, it's ends of a spectrum and the well rounded athlete has to be proficient across the spectrum.

IM: How do you help riders to train their mental skills, since it is way more abstract?

CS: My job is to help the athlete determine what is the mental weak links, what are the mental limiters and help them work through those so that they are less of a hindrance or hopefully not a hindrance at all. Once the mental limiter is identified, it's a matter of talking though it and replacing the mental patterns with the correct ones. The more you repeat the correct response with the stress that originally set up a mental block, the new, correct response pattern gets wired in and is accessed in the situation. If you can get to this point, then naturally another mental aspect will become a limiter so you start addressing that one. Some mental limiters will not totally go away, the best you can do is to decrease the negative effect as much as you can and stay on top of it, but every little bit helps...remember, you are looking under every rock.

IM: Coach Seiji, tell me more about your training with Andrew Short#29 during the off season. 

CS: The main goal of the off season for Shorty in my eyes is to fully disconnect from the day to day grind and stresses of the racing season, not the training related stresses, but all the other ones. Shorty is in a different spot than most professional racers as he has a full family, a ranch, other properties and all the related business of running a “full” life. As the season progresses, his well-being is more heavily affected by these types of stresses than the purely physical ones, and I really urge him to take advantage of the relatively short true off season to “clear the mechanisms.”

We were able to get on this right away after the last MX round in Utah. Thanks to the generosity of ENVE Composites owner Brett Satterwhaite, we both got to experience something long overdue: downhill mountain biking. Not only were we put up in some pretty fancy digs, but we were also able to ride top shelf bikes, of course shod with superior ENVE wheels. This discipline of mountain biking wasn’t really accessible to the public in my heyday of mountain bike racing so it was extra special to me to see an entirely new facet of cycling. 
Shorty basically took  one warm up run and then was instantly comfortable bombing down advanced trails…drops, walls, everything no worries. My two wheel skill level isn’t in the same zip code so I was happy to clear some tabletops on less advanced runs but believe me; my grin factor was just as high. It was crazy fun and I can’t wait to do it again and I’m sure Shorty feels the same. I was also way stoked that just 12 hours post season he was truly disconnected for a day.
Shorty actually had to head back to CA the next day to do some suspension testing…so not much down time before heading back to work but it was quality down time and there was more to come. After his testing stint, we were back to home base in TX for a few weeks for some low pressure training…the freshly Bomber built SX track, cycling the rural country roads and some mobility work. Pretty low key and allowing Shorty to have fun on his bicycle, which truly is his favorite off moto activity.. riding solo with his music is the one sure fire way that he can fully detach himself from reality… he truly uses it as his meditative activity. 
2 ½ weeks after our downhill MTB excursion would begin my “double,” the reason for my own personal training for the past 2 months…the KTM Adventure Rally in Taos, NM immediately followed by an attempt to climb both Sharksfin Tower and Forbidden Peak in the North Cascades of Washington. Shorty was a ride leader for the 2014 KTM Adventure Rally and I was fortunate enough to tag along…what a great time! KTM really does a stellar job putting this event together…not only was Shorty leading rides for the attendees, but off roads legends like Lafferty, Bobbit and road racer Fillmore were on hand as well. I was on my KTM Adventure 990, and Shorty was on the new KTM Adventure 1190…these bikes are so fun with such a huge potential for me personally. It’s like combining my mountaineering and backpacking interests and backgrounds with a dirt bike…exploring and being self-sufficient off grid really appeals to me and I have some big objectives in mind. Shorty got the bug too and he just got his own 990 and is straight away getting to modifying it as most of us gear heads do. The Adventure Rally not only had the guided rides into truly beautiful mountain country they also had great food, accommodations, contests, and a country concert to boot! 

The rides ranged from technically easier rides of shorter duration to more difficult terrain and much longer distances. The first day Shorty led a shorter, easier ride that was nonetheless so much fun. We also go to do a second ride to the top of a peak that was the highest place you could ride a bike to in the state, directly across from the highest point in the state. That was truly a treat. The next day Shorty drew the longest, most difficult ride and I was stoked. The group left and I was going to ride towards the back but had a minor mechanical. They took off, assuming I would easily catch them at the gas stop before heading out of Taos. The repair took a while but with GPS in hand and not having to wait for an entire group to fuel up, catch up, etc. we were both fairly certain I would catch them, no problem. Except Shorty got off route and ended up going on the loop in reverse, unknown to me. I kept chasing, going the correct direction….and anyone that knows me understands my ability to stay on any type of course, GPS or not, is on a toddler level. I get lost still in an area that I have lived for 20+ years. Through severe mind binding concentration and much talking to myself, I stayed on course solo, no tools (Shorty had tools, I had first aid), no ability to fix a flat or anything else on my bike, and cautiously rode to save both my body and bike from damage. I ran into Shorty and his group about halfway and we both continued on our courses because we both didn’t want to miss what we didn’t see yet. I ended up doing the 240 miles completely solo and was pumped about not getting lost. I was totally shelled though! If you have the opportunity to go to this annual event, I highly recommend it! The riding was killer and the people were the same…such good times! Shorty repeated “that was so much fun” at least 25 times on the drive back home. Mission accomplished.
I had about 12 hours at home, enough to pack up and say a quick hello and good-bye to my family and I was off for the second half of my double. We were so lucky to have stable and unbelievably good weather in the North Cascades and despite injuring my Achilles tendon on the approach hike the first day, me, long time climbing partner John and all around mountain badass Mark successfully summited Sharksfin Tower and Forbidden peak, car to car in a 4 day span. I was fully wasted…and felt that way for three weeks! Still pumped that my double went so well despite my limited training schedule…as I get older I am realizing that I cannot just wing it and rely on whatever base of fitness I think I have built up over a lifetime…hence my Achilles injury…aging is reality and I need to prepare next time accordingly! Lesson learned and I was very fortunate that the injury didn’t get worse and put me in a potentially dangerous situation. 
Back in TX we put our heads down for a few weeks to prepare for Monster Cup. Training went surprisingly well…Shorty exited the 2014 season in much better overall health than seasons prior so training during this time was pleasantly productive and actual race results don’t do justice to how Andrew was riding at the time. We just couldn’t get going on race day….mediocre qualifying led to bad gate picks for heats led to bad gate picks for mains led to bad starts and you know the rest….still stoked to get out of that one off race healthy with no ground lost in preparing for the 2015 SX season.
We are now entering the first week of November and Shorty is heading to CA for the bulk of his testing on the new 2015 KTM. This riding will constitute the bulk of his training workload for this period of the year. Shorty is a great test rider and I predict he will sort out the bike rather quickly. He returns home to fetch his family for their annual move to CA right before Thanksgiving and this marks the start of the “real” season for all of us…and it’s non-stop until September of next year. 
I am currently on a plane for my last climbing trip before axe really hits the grindstone. I will be heading to CA to join the Shorts at the beginning of December where I also will be completing my Wilderness First Responder certification, something I have been pondering for quite a while. I feel that it’s super important for the things and places I go and also because of the nature of the sport of motocross. I hope to never have to use it but even if I have to use the knowledge only once in my lifetime, it will be worth all my effort.
That’s it for now, thanks for reading about a little slice of our lives and here’s to a great 2015 race season!

IM: To finish, which riders did you work with?

CS: I train Andrew Short full time and I have a handful of amateurs that I train online, including Josh Knight who is currently representing the USA at the ISDE in Argentina. 

(IM: Coach Seiji worked with Jimmy Albertson, Jason Anderson, Ryan Clarck, Austin Stroupe, PJ Larsen, Hunter Hewitt, Drew Yenerch, Rusty Potter...).

Coach Seiji provides online coaching and personal training on www.coachseiji.com

Coaching et training personnel disponibles sur www.coachseiji.com