Written By: Seiji Ishii
Why “easy motos” when you’re 70% isn’t discipline — it’s delayed progress.
In the past, I attended every round of SX. Between Anaheim 1 and Round 2, it seemed like half of the pit crews and riders were coughing. At home, it’s the same pattern: you catch something, you feel 70%, and you start bargaining. “Just a spin.” “Just some easy motos.” But training stress only helps if you can adapt to it. If you can’t, it’s just extra debt — and it pushes real training further away.
That’s not grit. That’s bad math.
The Problem
When you train while you’re not actually healthy, you create training stress you still have to recover from — on top of the illness your body is already trying to clear. Best case, you get a junk session that doesn’t build anything. Next up: You drag out the whole timeline until you’re back to stacking real work. The worst case is you relapse into illness.
The Rule
Moto people don’t need motivation. We need rules that survive ego. This is how you return to training without wasting a week pretending.
The YES/NO rule (no loopholes). Don’t argue with it. Racers love loopholes.
YES (light training only) if ALL of these are true:
- Symptoms are above the neck only: runny nose, nasal congestion, sneezing
- No fever
- No body aches/chills
- Sleep and appetite are normal (or improving)
- You’ve trended better for 24 hours, not worse
NO (do not train) if ANY of these are true:
- Fever (current or in the last 24 hours)
- Chest symptoms: chest tightness, chest congestion, wheezy cough, shortness of breath beyond “I’m out of shape”
- GI symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
- Whole-body symptoms: chills, body aches, unusual fatigue, “heavy limbs”
- Sore throat that’s more than minor/scratchy
- Swollen neck glands or a bad sore throat
- Resting heart rate is clearly elevated vs your normal baseline, and you feel off
And yes, I’m going to be more conservative with sore throat than the classic “above the neck” rule.
Why sore throat is a special case (and why you should care): Most sore throats are just annoying. But some viruses that hit the throat aren’t “just a head cold.” Enteroviruses (including Coxsackie B viruses) are among the groups that can cause myocarditis—inflammation of the heart muscle. Rare, but real. And myocarditis is not something you “tough out.”
I’m not telling you to panic. I’m telling you to respect the downside. A bad sore throat is not the day to prove you’re Weston Peick tough.
Responsible line: If you have chest pain, fainting, racing/irregular heartbeat, or shortness of breath that’s out of proportion, get checked out. Don’t crowdsource heart symptoms.
The real readiness filter: “Am I actually healthy?” If you like data, use it. If you don’t, you can still do this.
Ask yourself:
- Sleep: Did I sleep normally last night? Do I feel like I actually recovered overnight?
- Appetite: Am I hungry at normal times? (Loss of appetite is a giant red flag for “still sick.”)
- Trend: Am I improving for 24 hours? Or am I just bored?
- Energy: Can I do normal life tasks without feeling crushed?
- Optional metric: Is my resting HR clearly up vs baseline? Has my HRV been tracking downward? (If you track these, it’s useful. If you don’t, don’t invent it.)
If you’re not trending better, you’re not ready for training stress. You’re ready for recovery work.
What to Do Instead of Training (so you don’t feel useless)
Most riders don’t train just for fitness. We train because it provides identity, stress relief, and a sense of control. So when you can’t train, you need a replacement target that still scratches the itch.
Pick one bucket per day:
Bucket A: Keep the machine ready
- Wash the bike, lube the chain, clean/swap air filter, check torque on bolts, tighten spokes
- Gear prep for the next ride: goggles/rolloffs, gloves, wash kit, clean hydration bladder
- Clean and pack your track box/tools/stuff so you can get started for the next session on autopilot
Bucket B: Keep the body ready (low stress, high payoff)
- 20–40 minutes easy walking (if you’re in the YES category)
- 10–15 minutes mobility: hips/ankles/hamstrings/t-spine, gentle only
- Breathing drills/nasal breathing walk (again: easy)
Bucket C: Keep the brain sharp
- Watch 10 minutes of your own footage. Watch yourself using perfect form, don’t fixate on mistakes
- Visualization: two perfect laps, smooth, controlled, not hero mode
- Light technique notes: braking points, line choice, body position cues
That’s not “doing nothing.” That’s keeping momentum without paying recovery tax.
The Return Ladder: Duration First, Intensity Last
Your job is not to “test fitness.” Your job is to restart compounding: stacking recoverable sessions that lead to the next one.
Rule: stop early on purpose for the first 2–3 sessions. You’re proving readiness, not hunting fitness.
Here’s a simple ladder:
Step 1: First session back
- 20–30 minutes easy cardio (Zone 1/2 feel)
- No intervals, no sprints, no hard starts
- Finish thinking, “That was too easy.” Perfect.
Step 2: Second session back (next day or day after)
- 30–45 minutes easy cardio
- Add a few short pickups only if you feel great (not hard efforts; think “wake up the system”)
Step 3: Third session back
- 45–60 minutes easy
- Still no real intensity
- If it’s moto: short, controlled motos with long rest, and you end while you still feel good
Step 4: Reintroduce work (intensity is last)
- Only after 2–3 easy sessions feel normal, and you’re still trending better
- Start with tempo-ish effort, not VO2 max
- Keep total time of any intensity small (example: 2 x 6 minutes at “comfortably hard,” not seeing stars)
The goal is to earn the right to train hard again. You don’t earn it by trying hard; you earn it by recovering and repeating.
Red Flags That Mean Backing Off Again
If any of these show up, you’re not “pushing through,” you’re stepping backward:
- Symptoms return or noticeably worsen within 24 hours after your session
- Sleep gets worse that night
- Appetite drops again
- Resting HR or breathing rate spikes/HRV tanks, and you feel off
- You feel wrecked from an easy session
Again, the most common worst case isn’t a catastrophe. It’s wasting three extra days because you tried to “be tough” on Tuesday.
Quick Injury Tie-In: Same Rule, Different Tissues
Illness is your immune system. Injury is tissue tolerance. But the return logic is the same: consistency beats hero sessions.
If you’re coming back from injury, your tissue doesn’t care what your mind wants. Tendons and joints like steady loading they can adapt to. They hate random spikes.
So the injury version of the ladder is:
- Reduce amplitude (range of motion/impact) first
- Build frequency next (more sessions, still easy)
- Build duration next
- Add intensity last
And you always stop early at first, because you’re trying to prove you can come back tomorrow.
The Real Mistake
Missing a few days isn’t the problem. Everybody gets sick. Everybody gets banged up.
The real mistake is extending the layoff with junk miles: half-sick training that doesn’t build fitness but still costs recovery.
Be the rider who gets back to real, productive training faster — don’t rush, don’t pay twice.
References:
American Heart Association. “Myocarditis.” American Heart Association, Sept. 24, 2024. https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/myocarditis (accessed Jan. 9, 2026).
Berg, Sara. “What doctors wish patients knew about myocarditis.” American Medical Association, June 6, 2025. https://www.ama-assn.org/public-health/chronic-diseases/what-doctors-wish-patients-knew-about-myocarditis (accessed Jan. 9, 2026).
Bouin, Alexis, et al. “Major Persistent 5′ Terminally Deleted Coxsackievirus B3 Populations in Human Endomyocardial Tissues.” Emerging Infectious Diseases, vol. 22, no. 8, Aug. 2016. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/22/8/pdfs/16-0186.pdf (accessed Jan. 9, 2026).
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Enterovirus Surveillance — United States, 1970–2005.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), Recommendations and Reports, date last reviewed Aug. 29, 2006. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5508a1.htm (accessed Jan. 9, 2026).
Mayo Clinic Staff. “Exercise and illness: Work out with a cold?” Mayo Clinic, Nov. 18, 2023. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-answers/exercise/faq-20058494 (accessed Jan. 9, 2026).
Mayo Clinic Staff. “Myocarditis.” Mayo Clinic, June 4, 2024. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/myocarditis/symptoms-causes/syc-20352539 (accessed Jan. 9, 2026).
Ruuskanen, Olli, Raakel Luoto, Maarit Valtonen, Olli J. Heinonen and Matti Waris. “Respiratory Viral Infections in Athletes: Many Unanswered Questions.” Sports Medicine, Mar. 30, 2022. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8965548/ (accessed Jan. 9, 2026).
