From the moment your tires hit the trail you are at dirt’s mercy. The terrain is imperfect and your bike and body are constantly pitched to and fro while moving at speed. It is from this environment that you must balance, push, pull, and sprint…with efficiency.
Resistance training for mountain bikers is necessary because it can enhance performance, reduce injuries, correct muscle imbalances and increase the overall enjoyment of riding. The suggested exercises were designed by observing riders’ movements and body position on a bike. Specific areas that are subject to pattern overload (repetitive movements/positions) and dysfunction were looked at, and two goals were developed: core and joint stability, and muscle endurance.
Core stability is required for mountain biking because the torso is the hub through which movement is produced and reduced. Weakness in this part of the body leads to faulty movement patterns, wasted energy, muscle imbalances and possible injury. Many of the exercises are multi-joint movements that require you to maintain a stable core while moving the limbs, much in the same way that things happen on a bike. Oh, one more thing, you will not be using machines. This stems from a principle called specificity, which in simple terms means you get what you train for. Most machines provide stability for you, which is not what happens on a bike. When was the last ride you had where you could push and pull with a bench behind your back or a stable seat under your butt? Train for the demands of your sport. Teach your body to use its intrinsic stabilizers in the gym and bring those skills to the trails. Specific core exercises can include iso air chairs, elevated mountain climbers, and elevated dip cycles.
The second focal point for stability involves the joints. Like the core, instability in this area leads to inefficient movement. An example of this is when the knees point inward during pedal strokes. Remember, the knee is meant to bend forward and back, not side to side. This movement dysfunction allows pedaling forces to transfer laterally through the knee, and can result in pain along the inside of the knee. The cause of this can usually be traced to instability in the ankle and hip joints that must be addressed by performing single-leg exercises to engage ankle and hip stabilizers.
Muscular endurance takes precedence over absolute strength because the nature of mountain biking requires muscles to perform tasks repeatedly and efficiently over the course of a ride. For this purpose the exercises should be performed in high volume: 3-4 sets of 15-20 repetitions.
Pumping the terrain for speed, railing berms, sprinting, jumping and climbing are some of the on-bike skills that will benefit from upper-body endurance work. Utilizing an approach that balances pushing and pulling movements eliminates over-emphasis of certain muscles, and promotes efficiency while minimizing injury potential. Exercises like inverted pull-ups, stability ball row progressions, truck driver push-ups, and single-leg chest presses challenge muscles in unstable situations and teach the body to stabilize the torso and joints before creating movement.
When training the lower-body it is important to include bilateral or single-sided exercises. At the base level, this type of training mimics how the legs work while pedaling. One side pushes while the other side pulls. Additionally, it is not uncommon for one side of the body to have movement dysfunction and strength discrepancies that are masked by performing exercises with two legs. Single-sided work allows riders to see and feel any left, right differences and address them. Some exercises to try may include dumbbell front squats, single-leg step ups, straight leg hip extensions, and single-leg Romanian deadlifts.
If you find the movements to be challenging, do what you can and work up to the recommended volume. The most important thing is performing the movements properly. Worry about “going down far enough” and “lifting more weight” later. When you’re done, go ride. You’re built for it.
John Bocobo is a fitness professional and co-founder of Performance 4 Life. He specializes in corrective exercise and can be contacted at http://www.performance4life.com
Tags: core stability, core training, Mountain Bike, performance enhancement, weight training
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