There’s a pretty common assumption that racing drivers and motorcycle riders aren’t actually athletes in the sense that a machine does most of the work for them. Bunk. As a counterargument, I present to you: Alex Marquez’s frankly ridiculous upper body strength as he saves his bike from imminent disaster at the Moto2 Japanese Grand Prix.
Just stop whatever you’re doing and allow your mind to be blown as all your meager fitness goals crumble before the sight of a true strength god.
Alex Marquez — younger brother of the ridiculously talented Marc Marquez — is currently dominating the Moto2 standings. But during the third free practice session of the Japanese GP weekend, the younger Marquez had a little slip.
As in, he was launched out of his seat entirely after the rear end of his bike slipped out on the wet track surface.
But that didn’t faze Marquez in the slightest. In fact, he kept his grip on the handlebars and managed to bring his body back down next to the bike and balancing there in order to avoid a crash. And as if that wasn’t absurd enough, he maintained that balance all the way to back to the pit wall, where he was able to remount and get back out there for the rest of the session.
I have spent quite literally every single year since my sophomore year of high school trying to build the upper body #gains to do more than a single pull-up at a time. I have not been successful. And then here’s one of the Marquez brothers, putting me to shame and proving once again that they are actually the most capable family of motorcyclists in the entire freakin’ world.