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Body Position on Track: How Close to the Tank? Different Approaches & Their Benefits - YouTube
Channel: Life at Lean
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seating position can be a nuanced affair
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for each and every rider with big
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differences being observable even from
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the best riders in the world in this
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video I want to touch on one particular
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facet of seating position and how that
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can help or hinder your ability to do
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your job on the bike how close should we
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sit to the tank so we're going to look
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at how close or far away from the tank
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we should be sitting specifically should
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we sit as close as we possibly can or
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sit a little weight off it let's jump
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straight in and look at the pros and
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cons of each first we'll look at sitting
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as close as possible by that I mean
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sitting as far forward in the seat as
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you can without any space between your
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man or woman parts sitting forward like
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this offers two main benefits one fairly
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big and one not so big the biggest
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benefit it offers is the greater support
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for the lower body under braking having
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slid as far forward as you can when the
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time comes that you need to brake very
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hard for the next corner you shouldn't
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have any trouble stopping yourself
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sliding forward in the seat because
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there's nowhere else to go
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this can save a little energy compared
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to a rider that sits further back and
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has to brace themselves to maintain
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their original seating position the
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other not so big benefit comes on the
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power when exiting a corner on modern
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powerful machines it doesn't take too
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much to have the front wheel pouring the
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air and even on bikes with wheelie
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control if you can stop that electronic
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aid kicking in to keep the bike driving
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forward then that's simply going to save
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you time by sitting farther forward more
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of your weight is over the front end
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meaning you can accelerate harder before
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the front wheel begins to lift however
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we're only talking about a few inches
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difference here so really that in itself
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won't have a big difference for most
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track riders the biggest downside to
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this seating position is how it affects
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your ability to hang off the bike
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sitting close to the tank means you'll
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have a tendency to rotate around it when
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you try to slide off sideways which will
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most likely leave you in a crossed up
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position on the bike your inside knee
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will also move more forward of the bike
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rather than moving out away from it as
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it should if you try to slide off too
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much from this
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you can also lose too much contact with
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the outside leg which will compromise
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your lower body stability and mean
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you'll struggle to maintain a more
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modern style of hanging off this is
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because when trying to slide off the
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seat when sitting close to the tank
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it tends to lever the outside leg off it
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another downside is just the opposite of
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the advantage we just talked about
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sitting farther forward will mean the
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rear wheel will lift easier under
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braking because your weight is further
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forward but again this will only be a
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small difference now let's look at
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sitting a little way off the tank by
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this I mean sitting about 3-4 inches
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away from the tank which is about 8 to
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10 centimeters we don't want to sit too
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far back because that can also
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compromise lower body stability like we
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talked about in my video on fatiguing
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legs and achy knees we're sitting too
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far back puts a lot of strain on the
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legs during your hang off because once
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again you don't have quality connection
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with that outside leg as you would
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expect the advantages are the opposite
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of the disadvantages in the previous
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case if we sit a little way further back
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we can more easily slide sideways off
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the seats while retaining a good solid
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contact with the outside leg which is a
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vital part of your lower body stability
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especially for the average rider where
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leg strength and stamina is at a premium
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also with your hips less twisted and
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more square with the bike it's easier to
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find and maintain a nice neutral upper
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body position with your spine either
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running parallel with the bike or
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pointing a little way to the inside of
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it this is a more ideal position by
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modern standards and again by sitting
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farther back you'll gain a slight
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advantage in terms of outright braking
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potential with more of your weight over
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the rear wheel as for the downsides the
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biggest comes from the extra lower body
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support needed under braking to stop
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yourself sliding forward this can come
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from your feet on the pegs and your
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knees up against the tank which
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depending on your bike setup can require
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a fair amount of effort to achieve in
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the biggest braking zones so which
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should you use anyone that's been
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following me for a while would likely
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know that I advocate sitting a little
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way back from the tank for all the body
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position benefits it brings I think this
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approach Falls more in line with what we
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see today in
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performance writing and it's what I
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recommend writers aim to achieve because
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in my opinion the positives outweigh the
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negatives however I don't tend to be
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someone that vehement Lee sits behind
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every tiny detail of body positions
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saying that it must be done a certain
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way especially when riders up to a very
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high level can be observed taking
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different approaches for that reason I'd
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always suggest working to achieve the
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modern standard of riding but if you
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genuinely feel it's more comfortable to
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use the former approach and it allows
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you to ride to a higher standard I'm not
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going to tell you you're wrong as long
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as you're adhering to the fundamentals
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of a good body position that approach is
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OK in my book how far away do you sit
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from the tank and have you made any
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tweaks in the past to improve your
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overall support and comfort tell us
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about it in the comments down below and
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as always if you liked the video then
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please hit the button and subscribe to
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the channel for more performance riding
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advice and guys moving forward I'll see
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you in the next one
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