The Riding For A Lifetime Podcast

MTB Specific Exercises You Might Not Be Using…But Should

The term “MTB Specific Training” gets thrown around a lot but what does it really mean?

At its core, it means using a training program that helps you ride faster, longer and with more skill. While the most “MTB specific” thing you can do is to actually ride your bike, there are certainly things you can do off of the bike that can help.

In the gym this takes the form of strength training that improves your strength and movement quality in ways that help your riding. Strength is one of the more general physical attributes, meaning that what works for an athlete in one sport will generally work for another.

About 80-90% of what you do with an athlete will be the same from sport to sport but there are some MTB specific things you can do to enhance your results. And no, this doesn’t mean using light loads and high reps because you need to build more endurance.

In general, getting stronger in the 2-4 sets X 5-10 reps range will get you what you need. You can benefit from time spent outside of this range but this should make up the bulk of your strength training. You should also focus on the basic movement patterns of Push, Pull, Squat and Hinge.

But once you have the basics covered there are some exercises that will help your MTB specific results.

You can stream this episode or download the MP3 file by clicking the link below. You‌ ‌can‌ also find the podcast ‌on‌ ‌‌Itunes‌,‌‌ ‌Podbean‌,‌‌ ‌‌Spotify‌‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌all‌ ‌other‌ ‌major‌ ‌podcasting‌ ‌platforms.‌ ‌

Show Notes:

1. Windmill

• If there was one exercise that I wish every mountain biker would add to their program it is this one.
• This movement is the core movement pattern behind cornering on your bike and the #1 reason that most riders struggle with this skill is because they lack it.
• It is also an essential skill for riding switchbacks and, coupled with track stands, would make it much easier for riders to execute this skill as well.
• You can do it with no weight using a stick on your back.
• You can also weight it by holding a weight over your head or by using a Steel Mace on your back.
• I recommend checking out the videos I have posted at https://www.bikejames.com/strength/carving-faster-corners-with-the-stick-and-kb-windmill/ to learn more about how to execute this movement in the most MTB specific way possible because there is a lot of bad instruction around this movement.
• In general, you are getting into a pedal stance position with your feet and shifting your weight to the back leg while rotating your shoulders as you hinge back.
• If you do this movement and struggle to keep your weight on the back leg then you are “tipping” over instead of “corkscrewing” your way down, which is how you end up leaning too far inside of a corner and crashing.
• BTW, the lack of this movement pattern is what has led to the “lean your bike and not your body” advice, which is wrong. You have to lean your body but you have to do it in a balanced way.
• This is also a great way to work out the differences between right and left cornering that most riders have.
• I recommend doing 2 sets of 5 reps for this exercise although you can also do the Stick Windmill on a daily basis as part of your mobility plan.

2. Elevated Lunge

• This is something I started using a few months ago and I really like it for improving a rider's Standing Pedaling ability.
• It has you using a box that is 6-12 inches high and stepping back into a lunge.
• It is a cross between a step up and a lunge and it really works on the range of motion in the hip flexors.
• Lunging is the movement pattern behind Standing Pedaling and elevating your front leg helps build the movement skill of being able to stand up and pedal without rounding the low back to make up for a lack of ROM in the hip flexors.
• Plus, it targets the glutes a bit more since you are getting more of a stretch at the bottom, which helps with pedaling power and looking good from behind.
• I recommend doing 2-4 sets of 5-10 reps with this exercise, starting with a 6 inch box and working up to a 12+ inch box as another way to progress the movement.

3. Bent Press

• This is a forgotten exercise from the history of strength training.
• It used to be a contested lift in strongman competitions in the late 1800’s/ early 1900’s but fell out of favor with the popularity of bodybuilding.
• It is a hybrid exercise that combines the Windmill Movement with a Shoulder Press.
• You basically have a weight in one arm at the bottom of the Shoulder Press position and then perform a Windmill as you straighten your arm before returning to the upright position with the arm still locked out overhead.
• Again, check out the video demo I have at https://www.bikejames.com/strength/the-bent-press-for-mtb-how-this-forgotten-exercise-can-improve-your-riding/ 
• This exercise is great for improving your cornering and your shoulder stability.
• I recommend doing 2-4 sets of 3-5 reps with this exercise.

4. DB Cheat Curl

• This is the best exercise you can do to improve your MTB specific explosive hip hinge, which is important for manualing, bunny hopping and jumping.
• You set up with a dumbbell in each hand and your feet shoulder width apart before driving the hips back and exploding back into the starting position, using the momentum to swing - or “cheat curl” - the weights up to shoulder level.
• You can also do this movement kneeling, half kneeling or standing in a pedal stance.
• The position of your legs makes this much more MTB specific than the vaunted KB Swing.
• Check out the video demo I posted at https://www.bikejames.com/strength/db-cheat-curls-for-better-mountain-bike-hip-power/ to see how to do this exercise.
• I recommend doing 2-4 sets of 3-5 reps to work on explosive power/ Higher reps and sets work on conditioning which has a place but most riders simply need to get more explosive.

By adding these exercises into your routine you can make sure that you are getting the most out of your gym time. If you need a program that incorporates these things be sure to check out the Ultimate MTB Workout Program and the 40+ MTB Rider Workout Program.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

Meditation For Mountain Biking

In this podcast I wanted to share my experience with meditation for mountain biking. I’ve been meditating in some way since I was first introduced to it through a Tai Chi class I took in college and I’ve found it to be a powerful tool in helping me perform better.

You can also read a summary article from the notes for the podcast below…

• Meditation is one of those words that elicits a pretty mixed reaction from people when you bring it up.
• Some people are totally into it, some people think it is a bunch of nonsense and some people think it might have some benefits but don’t know what to do or where to start.
• For those of us who grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, it has undergone a bit of a cultural shift over the years.
• Seen for a long time as one of those things that hippies did that had no real world value, it has been studied and found to have a lot of benefits for health, mindset and performance.
• Meditation is something that I have been using in various ways since I was 19.
• I got introduced to it through a random Tai Chi class that I took during my first year of college along with some of the philosophy behind it.
• As I became a strength coach and started to study more about how the human body works and how to improve its performance I came across a lot of ways to train and harness the power of the mind.
• While sports psychology and meditation aren’t the exact same thing, there are a lot of similarities and both have been used over time to train people to perform in high stress situations.
• Meditation has also been shown to help lower blood pressure, improve mood and lower stress.
• And while breathwork and meditation aren’t the same thing, there are also a lot of crossover practices and, at its core, meditation is about using your breathing to help control the mind.
• For the 40+ year old mountain biker I think that having a meditation practice is as important as strength, cardio and skills training, meaning that if you need to cut back on something else to find time for it then it is worth it.
• As little as 12 minutes a day has been clinically shown to make a difference.
• My goal in this podcast is to give you a broad overview of meditation practices and some practical tips on how you can start using it as part of your training program.
• I use meditation in 2 ways - to train my attention and to visualize high stress situations I want to perform well in.
• The first thing I recommend you start with is using mediation to train your attention.
• With this method you want to find something to focus your attention on like your breathing, an object or a sound.
• I recommend using your breathing since it is also a great way to train your breathing and work in some breathwork.
• To do this you would get set up in a comfortable position - you can be sitting or lying down, just make sure that you are in a position you won’t need to move to stay comfortable in.
• You don’t have to but I recommend also closing your eyes to help you focus on your breathing.
• Set a tempo where your exhale is even with or slightly longer than your inhale. 
• I find that 4-6 and 5-5 breathing work well.
• Simply follow your breathing and count off the tempo in your head or using a timer.
• Feel your breath going into the belly and filling the lungs from the bottom to the top and then feel the breath reversing and being pushed out.
• If your mind wanders then just bring it back - this will happen and is part of the process.
• You could also focus on an object like a flame or you can focus on a sound/ mantra like “om”.
• What you will find is that it is tough at first to sit there and not have your mind wandering around and you will constantly be having to bring it back to your breathing (or other focal point).
• With practice this will happen less and your ability to recognize it and bring your attention back will be more automatic.
• You can create even more of a breathwork challenge by adding in pauses to the top and bottom of the breath, creating Triangle and Box Breathing patterns.
• This will also help to improve overbreathing and CO2 tolerance by purposefully breathing less than normal, which also creates a slight rise in CO2.
• On the trail this will help you to focus your mind when it matters the most and give you a way to use your breathing to help control anxiety in the moment.
• This can also help you with entering and staying in the flow state since outside thoughts and distractions are a hindrance to it.
• Another way to use meditation is to combine it with visualization.
• To do this you would want to start out with 5-10 minutes of regular meditation/ breathwork to help you enter into a calm and relaxed state of mind.
• Once you have done this you can start to visualize anxiety producing situations while focusing on staying calm and using your breathing to help you.
• If you start to lose control and feel yourself getting tense and anxious then stop the visualization and go back to focusing on your breathing and relaxing.
• For example, if you are nervous about competition you can visualize yourself getting ready for and going through the steps leading up to the start of the race (most athletes report the lead up to competition is actually more stressful that competing so I find that this is what you want to focus on).
• Another example would be if you have a trail or section of trail that is extremely challenging or if you have a new feature/ obstacle that you want to do.
• You can also extend this practice to things off of the bike like public speaking or having a difficult talk with your boss or wife/ husband.
• As you can see, meditation is an extremely valuable tool for us both on and off the bike.
• It isn’t complicated and it doesn’t have to take a lot of time for you to see results.
• Some good books to check out on this subject are Peak Mind by Amishi P. Jha and Psyche by Jud Biasiotti. 
• Another great book on the training mindset is The Book of Five Rings by Myamoto Musashi.
• In it he talks a lot about the need to combine meditation with physical training in order to reach your goals.

Meditation is something that people have been using for thousands of years and with modern science we have some answers as to how it works. But it is still something that you have to make time for and do.

I promise you, though, that the effort is well worth it.

If you are interested in learning more about how to use breathwork and how to get the most out of your meditation practice then check out my Guide To Better Breathing for MTB.

In it you’ll learn how to assess your breathing and ways you can improve it, along with practical tips on how to use better breathing on the trail to improve your cardio along with how to use it to help you prepare for competition.

I hope this podcast has inspired you to start your own breathing/ meditation practice, let me know if you have any questions I can help with.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

My Biggest Training Mistakes & Lessons Learned

Something that I try to impress on my kids is the importance of being able to admit when you are wrong and make a change. Too often we spend our time trying to justify why we do what we do rather than trying to challenge it and see if it holds up.

But that isn’t how we grow. There is a saying about how there is a difference between 10 years of experience and the same year of experience repeated 10 times. For too many people they end up repeating the same things over and over and never really grow or gain experience.

One of the areas in my life where this is most apparent is training. I’ve been working out for over 35 years, I’ve been a professional trainer for over 20 years and I’ve been working with mountain bikers since 2005. And in that time you better believe that I’ve made some mistakes and learned some valuable lessons.

In this podcast I wanted to share some of those lessons with you. Hopefully you can learn from some of these mistakes and avoid the same problems I ran into. 

You can stream this episode or download the MP3 file by clicking the link below. You‌ ‌can‌ also find the podcast ‌on‌ ‌‌Itunes‌,‌‌ ‌Podbean‌,‌‌ ‌‌Spotify‌‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌all‌ ‌other‌ ‌major‌ ‌podcasting‌ ‌platforms.‌ ‌

You can also read a summary article from the notes for the podcast below…

Not doing any “isolation” or “bodybuilding”/ Focusing too much on “functional training”

I’ve talked about this a lot lately but something I’ve been doing more of in the last few years is more isolation and bodybuilding type training.  

I came up at an interesting time in the strength and conditioning field where we were making the switch from bodybuilding to Functional Training. The problem is that you need “isolation” exercises - which build isometric strength and joint strength - and you need bodybuilding type training to build and hold onto muscle mass.

You can train like a bodybuilder and still be functional if you are doing other stuff outside of the gym. Plus, as you get older muscle mass becomes a valuable commodity and needs to be trained for.

Using too much unstable surface training

This is one I haven’t been using for a while but back in the day I was really into unstable surface training.

I was around when the Swiss Balls first got introduced to the fitness field through a guy named Paul Chek. The rationale behind UST seemed good and I ended up with every size Swiss Ball you could get and used them for just about everything.

The problem was that I couldn’t get strong or add size, I just got better at balancing on things while lifting weights. Several studies have shown that UST lowers motor unit recruitment, results in lower strength and muscle gains and have very limited carryover to other activities.

In other words, it may look cool on Instagram but the results are lacking.

Giving too much weight to strength training

This is a common mistake with new strength coaches.

I had seen how getting stronger had helped me and so it made sense that getting stronger would make you a better athlete. I had literally tried to talk some of my athletes into skipping sport training so they wouldn’t miss strength training.

The problem is that strength training is only the most important thing you can do if you are really weak, and even then your sport training should still take precedence. The only thing that will make you a better mountain biker is time on the bike and strength training is supposed to support that, not take away from it.

Thinking that Long Slow Distance training was a waste of time

This is a bit of a tricky one because context matters a lot here.

One of the first things I got known for in the MTB world was advocating for the use of High Intensity Intervals instead of Aerobic Base Training for MTB. Back in 2005 this was unheard of since roadie training programs dominated the scene. 

A lot of riders who followed these programs felt that they weren’t actually in shape for training riding when the season started and they had to ride themselves into specific MTB shape for a few weeks. Something else that we observed was that riders from areas where they could ride trails year round (SoCal and Australia for example) were some of the best in the world. 

Riding counts as cardio training and doing so much distance riding on a road bike that you don’t get time on your mountain bike isn’t the best idea. But if you aren’t trail riding much then you do need to have some distance training in your program.

Long Slow Distance training is also good for recovery and your basic metabolic health. 

So if you are getting several hours of riding in each week then you can use LSD for recovery and if you aren’t then you need to have it as part of your overall cardio training program.

Changing exercises too often

Something that carried over from Bodybuilding to Functional Training was the idea of “muscle confusion” or the need to change your exercises on a frequent basis so the body couldn’t fully adapt to what you were doing, which was supposed to keep you from hitting a plateau and seeing constant improvements from your training.

In fact, one style of training emerged that became very popular - Crossfit - which was based on this idea to the extreme and you never repeated the same workout twice in a row. Even for those of us who subscribed to the idea that you needed more consistency than changing things every day I still would change exercises every 4 weeks.

While the theory behind it seemed solid, science and real world evidence suggest that there is a middle ground that is much longer than most of us realize. 

One thing that changed my thoughts on this was when I did Jim Wendler’s 5-3-1 Program and saw that NOT changing exercises very often had benefits as well. The 5-3-1 Program is a powerlifting program that has you doing the same basic exercises for months at a time.

Change comes from how you cycle the weights and reps in a very specific way in order to increase your strength in the lifts.  The fact that you don’t change exercises means that you get a lot of practice with the lifts, which also helps with building strength.

Eventually you run into a wall with your progressions and have to switch things up but that takes months, during which you are doing the same basic exercises but still seeing results, which shouldn’t happen if you needed to change exercises to keep progress coming.

It turns out that you should run on at least a 6-8 week cycle to get the most out of an exercise. 

Now I’ll pick a core exercise for each of the 4 basic movement patterns (push, pull, hinge and squat) and do an 8 week cycle with them.  I’ll have other exercises that I do that I will change up after 4 weeks if I’m maxing out on them or if I just want to do something new.

I’ll start out well under my max effort and build momentum into those max efforts in the final weeks of the cycle. I’ll end with a deloading week where I cut back on the sets and reps but try to get at least 90% of my max lift for the movement in week 8.

Changing exercises is entertaining and it makes you feel sore but it doesn’t allow time for you to really get the most out of the exercises. IMO, it’s also safer and easier on the joints since your body gets a chance to get used to the exercises and find a groove for them, which feels safer and easier than grinding through new lifts all the time.

Discounting the value of stretching

Stretching became a bit of a dirty word in the Functional Training world due to some studies that showed a decrease in strength and power immediately following static stretching. The cool thing to do was “mobility training”, which tended to focus on movements through a joint's range of motion.

While helpful, I’ve found that mobility training can’t fully replace static stretching. 

Stretching isn’t about trying to lengthen muscles or loosen joints, it is about being able to relax into positions and working on getting deeper into your range of motion until you are in the range you need for function and safety. For me it is also a form of breathwork since you use my breathing to help me relax and get deeper into my range of motion.

Mobility training helps with being able to move through and control your range of motion and stretching seems to help you improve and maintain it better.I recommend picking a basic stretch for the major muscle groups and hold them for either 15-20 seconds or for 5 breaths.

Focus on using your breathing to help you relax - if you don’t get any deeper but your breathing is more relaxed then you have accomplished something important.

Overhyping kettlebells

This is going to sound sacrilegious so let me explain what I mean by this.

Kettlebells are a great training tool and I still use them a lot in my training. I just went so far down the kettlebell rabbit hole that I started to discount the value of other training tools, especially the dumbbell.

The truth is that you can do everything you can do with a kettlebell using a dumbbell, plus you can do some things you can’t do as easily like Cheat Curls. Some exercises like the Single Arm DB Snatch are also easier to do than the KB version of the exercise.

I also find that pressing exercises with the KB hurt my elbows - I know, it doesn’t make sense until you’ve abused your elbows like I have - and so using DBs makes it possible to lift more weight and do it more comfortably for my joints.

Finally, you can get a good pair of adjustable dumbbells for a few hundred dollars - I recommend and use the PowerBlock style - while getting pairs of KBs costs more and takes up more space, making DBs a great option for smaller spaces.

I still use KBs for swings, lower body lifts and rowing exercises as I find them to be great tools for these purposes. I just find that some people think that using dumbbells is somehow inferior to kettlebells and that is simply not the case.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

p.s. BTW, I have a DB program that uses the best MTB specific dumbbell exercises and combines it with the concepts I talked about in the 5-3-1 program. You stick with the same exercises but cycle the weights over the 12 weeks to build strength and efficiency in the movements that really help on the bike.

This is one of my best programs for riders who are new to strength training or just want a super simple, highly effective workout program using a pair of dumbbells. And as a bonus, if you purchase the MTB DB Conditioning Program this week I’ll send you a free copy of my Guide To Better Breathing For MTB. Just send me an email with your receipt and I’ll get it to you.

Click on the link below to learn more and get your copy of the DB Conditioning Program today. This was the first program I sent to Aaron Gwin when we started working together and if it can help him ride faster then I’m sure it can help you too!

MTB DB Conditioning 12 Week Program

 

HRT for MTB

Something that I think is hard to have a conversation about Riding For A Lifetime without touching on is the subject of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). HRT has gotten a lot more popular over the last few years and is something that I think the 40+ year old rider should consider.

To be honest, HRT is something I resisted for a long time. I felt like it was cheating and if I couldn’t do it “naturally” then I didn’t deserve it.

However, as I’ve gotten older I’ve had a few things change my mind. I’ve now been on HRT for a little over a year now and in this podcast I wanted to share my experience with it and some things you should know before looking into it.

You can stream this episode or download the MP3 file by clicking the link below. You‌ ‌can‌ also find the podcast ‌on‌ ‌‌Itunes‌,‌‌ ‌Podbean‌,‌‌ ‌‌Spotify‌‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌all‌ ‌other‌ ‌major‌ ‌podcasting‌ ‌platforms.‌ ‌

You can also read a summary article from the notes for the podcast below…

The first thing that got me to rethink HRT was having several friends of mine go on it and seeing their results. Their feedback was that they were recovering faster, getting less sore from training, had more energy and they were sleeping better. Of course, they were also seeing some benefits from the aesthetics side as well.

I have certainly seen myself losing ground in all of those areas despite my best efforts.

I also realized that I was using modern medicine to steal extra years of life - I have had antibiotics save my life at least twice. I figured that if I was going to use modern medicine to extend my life then why not use it to maximize those stolen years?

So I swallowed my pride and contacted a Hormone Replacement Therapy doctor and started to process.

The first thing I learned was that I was going to have to pay for it out of my own pocket. Insurance doesn’t cover comprehensive blood work that includes hormone levels and it also doesn’t cover HRT.

The medical establishment isn’t here to optimize your health, instead it makes money off of you being sick. Despite the fact that HRT has been shown to have a positive impact on mood, energy levels, lean body mass, production of red blood cells, bone mineral density, cognition and some cardiovascular risk factors, because it is a preventative measure instead of an intervention it isn’t seen as important.

So the first thing you need to know is that your regular doctor may not be on board with the idea simply because they don’t have much experience with it based on their lack of exposure to it through the medical insurance industry. This means that you will most likely need to find a HRT doctor and just explain to your regular doctor that you are going to keep them informed about what is going on but that you are going to use someone else for HRT.

After getting my first blood work done I found out that I was in the healthy range for everything but that some things like my A1C and triglycerides were creeping up. My dad was a Type 1 diabetic and my mom has a history of high cholesterol and so that made sense from a genetic history perspective.

Based on my results, my HRT doctor prescribed a regime that addressed what I was low in. This led to the second thing I learned, which is that HRT is about more than just testosterone. 

Something else that is often out of whack is thyroid levels, which are important for energy levels through carb and fat metabolism. Beyond that I also had B12, DHEA and Vitamin D levels that were below optimal levels.

This means that it is important that you find a doctor that addresses all of your hormones and not just testosterone. I started a HRT regime that included testosterone, thyroid, Vitamin B12, DHEA and Vitamin D.

It took a couple of weeks but I started to feel the difference in my energy levels and how sore I was getting from training. Through the process I was also getting regular blood work done through my HRT doctor to make sure that everything was moving in the right direction.

After being on it for a year I saw my hormone levels optimized and my triglycerides cut in half. Sleep, energy and soreness levels from training are all improved. I’ve also added about 8 pounds of muscle and seen my bodyfat levels drop (I’ve never been fat but I was certainly getting soft and having a hard time staying as lean as I used to).

Something that I changed was switching from the testosterone cream to shots. This was just a personal preference because I liked just having to do a shot twice a week as opposed to rubbing the cream on my groin every day.

BTW, HRT isn’t just for men - my wife started it as well and has seen benefits from it as well.  Yes, she’s on a low dose of testosterone but it certainly hasn’t made her “manly”.

I’d also like to point out that there are some risks with HRT and that not everyone will benefit from it the same way. However, the risks are pretty small compared to the potential benefits IMO but that is something you will have to decide for yourself.

I hope this podcast has given you something to think about in regards to HRT and if it would be right for you. If you want to optimize your healthspan and be able to ride for a lifetime then it might be an important part of your long term strategy.

Yes, it will cost you more than not doing it but you are most likely heading off other problems that can cost you more down the road. So do some research on the benefits and risks and then, if you think it is right for you, find a HRT doctor that you can talk with.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

MTB Strength Training Systems

Core Training For The 40+ Year Old MTB Rider

Core Strength and Core Training are two buzzwords that dominate discussions around improving your MTB specific fitness in the gym. It is pretty widely recognized that having a strong core can help improve your performance and prevent injuries but what is Core Strength and what is the best Core Training?

In this episode of the Riding For A Lifetime Podcast I cover core training for  the 40+ year old rider. While a lot of the things I discuss are just good core training strategies, I look at them through the lens of the older rider and what we need to consider that the younger rider may not.

BTW, in the podcast I talk a lot about the importance of the Windmill exercise for core training. If you haven’t seen it before you can find a video demo of how I recommend you perform this exercise by clicking here.

You can stream this episode or download the MP3 file by clicking the link below. You‌ ‌can‌ also find the podcast ‌on‌ ‌‌Itunes‌,‌‌ ‌Podbean‌,‌‌ ‌‌Spotify‌‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌all‌ ‌other‌ ‌major‌ ‌podcasting‌ ‌platforms.‌ ‌

You can also read a summary article from the notes for the podcast below…

First, what are the “core muscles”?

While a lot of people think of the abs and low back, the core actually involves everything in the torso - if you chopped off your arms, legs and head you’d be left with “the core”. This includes everything from the hips and the shoulder girdle.

Second, what is the function of the core muscles?

While you do need to be able to move through the core muscles, the main function for us is providing stability to protect the spine and to provide a platform to move from.

This is a good time to point out that “stiffness” is not the same as “stability”. Stiffness is something that you can’t turn on and off - it is always there - and stability is something you can turn on and off.

This is why it is important to maintain or even improve your mobility in the core while you are building better core strength and stability. Something like the Sun Salutation from yoga goes a long way towards helping with this.

Last, does mountain biking build adequate core strength and do we even need to worry about training our core muscles off the bike?

I believe that the reason mountain biking has gotten a bad rap for not developing good core strength and needing a lot of supplemental core training is that most riders rely too much on seated pedaling. When you are seated your core is in a rounded position and isn't engaging the same way as when you are standing up. This develops core strength in a bad position and you don't get the same level of core strength due to the lack of engagement.

This means you need to do core training in the gym to make up for this. But if you stand up more, especially during hard efforts, you build core strength in a more functional way that doesn't require as much work to correct.

Even then you still can benefit from some core training like the ab wheel, leg raises and windmills as a way to build a strength reserve - one of the goals of strength training is to help you gain more strength than what you get from the sport alone so you have the reserve needed to handle unexpectedly high loads. But if more riders stood more to pedal then I don't think you'd need to worry as much about it and you wouldn't see as much low back pain, which usually gets blamed on poor core strength as well.

So, in summary, the core is the platform that provides stability when we move and while you can get better core engagement from standing up more on the bike, it does help to train your core muscles off of the bike to build the strength reserve needed to increase performance and help prevent injuries.

Remember too that if you are doing freeweight exercises then your core muscles get engaged from simply lifting weights - squats, deadlifts and even things like standing bicep curls and lateral raises all build core strength so you don’t need to go crazy with core specific training in the gym.

With that said, there are two skills that often get overlooked when talking about core training that are vital to your performance and injury prevention.

The first is the ability to “twist” through the core in a safe way.

You want to be able to move from the hips and t-spine (upper back) and not from your lumbar/ lower back area. This is the movement skill behind cornering and something that will make a huge impact on your riding.

The best way I’ve found to train this skill is through Windmill exercises - Stick, Kettlebell and Steel Mace.

The second is how breathing impacts your core strength and ability to use it on the bike.

Your body will prioritize breathing over bracing, which means that if you aren’t breathing with the right muscles then your body has to use core muscles that should be used to brace instead.

You can have adequate core strength but still struggle to use it on the trail and/ or avoid low back pain because of bad breathing habits. You can avoid this through breathwork training and through focusing on proper breathing during strength and cardio training.

Proper core function and adequate core strength are necessary for performance on the bike and for helping to prevent overuse injuries, especially in the low back.

There are 4 things you can do to accomplish this…

1. Stand up more on the bike.
2. Focus on freeweight exercises in the gym.
3. Use exercises like the Ab Wheel, Leg Raises and Windmills to focus on core strength.
4. Improve your breathing habits so you can use that core strength on the trail.

Core training is important but it doesn’t need to be complicated. Use these training tips to help you improve your core strength and core function so you can have more pain free fun on the bike as you get older.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

p.s. In this podcast I talk about the impact breathing has on core strength and function. If you want to improve your breathing then you need a program that addresses this important factor in fitness and longevity.

The Guide To Better Breathing for MTB is the only breathing program for mountain bikers on the market. In it you will find ways to assess and improve your breathing, workouts to help you improve your cardio fitness and ways to use your breathing to improve your mindset around competition. You can find out more about this unique program by clicking here.

The 40+ MTB Rider Training Program also has a breathing section along with strength and mobility training specifically designed for the 40+ year old rider. It is a comprehensive program that can be done at home with little or even no equipment. You can find out more about it and get your copy by clicking here.

Getting older doesn't have to mean slowing down, it simply means that you have to train smarter. I hope that these tips and programs can help you do just that.

Riding For A Lifetime Podcast - 3 Things the 40+ MTB Rider Must Start Training

Since turning 40 over 7 years ago I’ve realized that my training priorities have to change. I’ve been talking more about the concept of Riding For A Lifetime to help give those new priorities a name.

I’ve decided to change the focus of my podcast to focus on these new priorities and have renamed it  the Riding For A Lifetime Podcast. With it I’ll be sharing training advice and interviewing experts in the field of improving performance while also improving your “healthspan”.

I got this idea from reading Peter Atia, who is a longevity doctor that recently came out with a book called Outlive that looks at the concept of both “lifespan” and “healthspan”. Lifespan is how long you live, healthspan is how well you are able to keep doing the things you enjoy as you age. 

Having to quit doing what you love at some point because of age and/ or injuries is a terrible way to spend your later years. In the book he talked about training today for what you will need as you get older.

It was an interesting thought experiment that got me thinking about some of the things I’ve changed and how they apply to this concept. Here are 3 things that the 40+ rider needs to have in their training program that may not directly relate to improving your MTB performance but will help you age in a way that will support your performance as you get older.

- Hypertrophy/ Bodybuilding Training. A frustrating fact of life is that eventually you hit a point where your body starts to decline. No matter what you do you can’t avoid it completely so you need to do something to slow the process.

One of the worst things to happen is called sarcopenia, which is a fancy term for muscle loss. At a certain point, maintaining your muscle mass becomes extremely important in helping you maintain optimal function. This is why building muscle as a reserve against this future loss and working to maintain it as long as possible is vital.

For a sport where athletes are usually trying to minimize muscle gain it sounds counterintuitive to tell a mountain biker that they need to add muscle and train like a bodybuilder, but this is exactly what I advise the 40+ year old rider does. This is one of the biggest contrasts in how a young pro would want to train and how an older hobbyist wants to train and why you may be missing out if you don’t take this into account.

I have a post about Why Mountain Bikers Should (Sometimes) Train Like Bodybuilders where I tell you how to incorporate hypertrophy training into your routine. And no, adding some muscle won’t kill your performance. In fact, for a lot of riders it will actually help them increase their strength and add some “armor” for when they crash.

- Running & Jumping/ Power Training. As I’ve aged I’ve realized how important it is to maintain your ability to run and jump. Power is another thing that goes with age and, just like muscle mass, you want to build a reserve against future loss and fight to maintain what you have. Running and jumping are also the most basic power exercises you can do and help to maintain a sense of athleticism that is important as you age.

Something as simple as doing 3-5 sets of 3-5 short sprints (10 yards), broad jumps or vertical jumps as part of your workout can help a lot with maintaining power and athleticism. 

- Breathing. In the book Outlive Peter refers to how important breathing is to moving properly while maintaining stability. Stability is another thing that we lose as we age and having proper core function is the key to avoiding it. And breathing properly is the key to proper core function.

At its most basic level, proper breathing simply means to use your diaphragm to drive your breathing. If you don’t do this then you are using other muscles that are supposed to be used for bracing and moving. This dysfunction is something that you can usually get away with when you’re younger but really starts to become a problem as you age.

Overuse injuries from years of bad movement start to crop up, with low back pain being one of the most common. Making sure you are breathing optimally and applying that breathing to your workouts and riding is a key component of being able to ride for a lifetime.

While we like to say that age is just a number, the truth is that it is more than that. Your body does start to decline as you get older and it isn’t just in your head. Understanding what these changes are and how you can best minimize their effects is an important part of being able to live longer and enjoy life as you do.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

MTB Strength Training Systems

p.s. As you can see, there are some differences between how a 40+ year old rider should train and what you see being shared on social media by pro riders in their 20’s. Sure, it isn’t as fun and sexy as jumping up onto a giant pile of boxes or doing some crazy stuff that looks like your training for the circus but if you want to see results as an older rider you can’t follow those fitness trends.

What you need is a program like my 40+ MTB Rider Training Program. In it you’ll find exactly what you need to improve your strength, cardio and mobility in a safe, sustainable way. It incorporates the best training methods I have come across for the 40+ year old rider into a program that you won’t find anywhere else.

You can click here to learn more and get your copy today. It is guaranteed to help you or I’ll refund your money. So don’t wait, click the link above and get started on your journey to enjoying riding even more.

The Best Way To Improve Your MTB Specific Grip Strength

While pretty much anyone who has ridden a mountain bike realizes that grip strength is extremely important, it is a widely misunderstood subject when it comes to how to best improve it for the demands of trail riding. 

This has led to an epidemic of riders who lack the functional grip strength needed to most effectively - and safely - interact with their bike through their hands. This shows up as wrist pain, hand numbness, elbow issues and reliance on “winged grips” to secure the hands on the handlebars.

The problem is that there is a very important aspect of grip training that most riders simply don’t know about, much less how to train for it. This aspect of grip strength in something that you don’t see talked about much in the fitness world in general, which means that if you haven’t heard about it then it isn’t your fault.

In today’s podcast I take a deep dive into the type of grip strength we need on the trail, why the conventional methods of grip training aren’t enough and what you can do to fill in this performance and health gap.

Show Notes:

Grip strength is an important factor in your life and riding. Off of the trail, grip strength is an indicator of functional core strength and longevity.

On the trail, grip strength is one of the few things that science has shown to have a direct impact on your riding performance. (The Science of Going Downhill Faster)

On a practical level, grip strength is a key factor in how you are able to translate your strength and power into the real world. Grip strength will also play a role in how well you are able to translate your technical skills to the bike.

As you can see, grip strength is extremely important and shouldn’t be something that you build by accident - you have to create the type and level of grip strength you want on purpose.

So what is “grip strength” and how do we improve it for the purpose of riding faster?

For most people the definition of grip strength revolves around the ability of the fingers to flex/ close either against resistance or to resist movement. (captains of crush type trainers or farmers walks)

Some people will include wrist movements like forearm curls or the stick and rope.

This is a good start but only part of the equation, and in some cases not even the most important.

This definition of grip strength leaves out one of the most important aspects of MTB specific grip strength -  3 dimensional wrist stability.

First, I think that there are a lot of great methods for building the pinching/ holding grip strength most people are familiar with. Exercises like Farmers Walks, Hangs from a Pull Up Bar and Plate Pinches are all excellent ways to build this type of grip strength.

Where I would say that most riders are lacking is in their ability to stabilize the wrists. The ability for the wrist to resist movement is a key factor in your ability to use your other grip types of grip strength.

On the bike it is often the limiting factor in the grip strength equation and the reason that so many riders suffer from wrist problems and pain on the bike.

Those winged grips are basically the industry's answer to this problem, which is to find a way to mechanically stabilize the wrist instead of advising riders to fix the actual problem.

To build this type of grip strength you need to incorporate leverage based training tools. These are training tools that have the weight at one end of the training tool and a handle at the other.

The Steel Mace and Heavy Indian Clubs (10+ pounds) are the two best tools available.

You can also use a misloaded adjustable dumbbell, heavy hammer or sledgehammer for a similar training effect.

You can use them either to train wrist stability directly or incorporate it into other exercises. Presses, Rows and Farmers Walks all take on an entirely new feel and challenge.

You can also use them to train Grip Strength Endurance, which is what you are really after as a rider. Indian Club Swings and Mace 360’s/ 10-2’s are amazing exercises for building the specific type of grip strength endurance you need on the bike.

On a side note, kettlebells are not a superior training tool for building this type of grip strength endurance. They only challenge your wrist stability in one plane while these tools challenge it in 3 dimensions - you have to keep your wrist from rotating or moving side-to-side or up-and-down.

I made the mistake for a long time of assuming that my kettlebell work was enough but it wasn’t - the 3 dimensional wrist strength you need on the trail is simply not trained as effectively with it.

So if you are not doing any grip training then you need to start - there is no way you can maximize your performance and fun with a weak grip. And if you are already doing something then make sure that you are training all of the important aspects of grip strength, especially the 3D wrist stability.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

Training For A Lifetime - Steve Maxwell Interview

I have a special guest for today’s podcast. Steve Maxwell is one of the most influential people in my strength coaching philosophy and has been responsible for a lot of “aha” moments for me that have helped improve my training programs.

I’ve been following Steve for well over a decade, first as a leader in the kettlebell community and later as an expert on training for a lifetime. He has been a part of the physical culture of this country for 50+ years and knows a thing or two about how to keep fit as you get older.

I was lucky enough to get Steve on the podcast for an interview and had a great conversation with him. We covered his origin story (or why you should listen to him) as well as his insights into Isometrics, Mobility and Breathwork.

If you want to learn more about Steve or checkout his programs you can find him at http://www.maxwellsc.com. He also has a lot of great free articles and videos you can find there as well.

I hope you enjoy this podcast interview and get something from it that can help you ride for a lifetime. Getting older doesn’t have to totally suck and with the right approach you can stay fit and healthy for life and the trail. 

Until next time...

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

Is Overbreathing Impacting Your Health & Performance?

While we all breathe, few of us are conscious of it and the impact that it has on our performance and health. This is unfortunate because how you breathe is an important factor and most of you reading this have one or more breathing dysfunctions.

One of the most common is Overbreathing. This is where you breathe more than is necessary to meet your metabolic needs, breathing in more Oxygen (O2) and breathing out more Carbon Dioxide (CO2) than is necessary. While this may not seem like a big deal, chronic Overbreathing can cause some health and performance problems.

So how do you know if you suffer from Overbreathing? Well, the easiest way to tell is to check to see how many breaths you take in a minute. Anything over 10 breaths per minute is Overbreathing, with 6-8 breaths per minute being optimal.

If you Overbreathe at rest then odds are really high that you do it while working hard as well. And this means that you chronically Overbreathe, which impacts a few things.

First, it is metabolically inefficient. Each breath you take requires energy and so the fewer breaths you take to meet your body’s need for oxygen the less overall energy that you will use. This is helpful from both a health and a performance standpoint.

Second, Overbreathing disrupts the natural levels of the gasses in your blood. This creates a new internal environment for your body to react and adapt to.

While taking in more O2 might seem like the right idea, especially during periods of high effort, the flip side is that you are also blowing off more CO2. Again, this may seem like a good idea on the surface but doing so causes some different problems.

In the short term, your body needs CO2 to offload oxygen from red blood cells. Called The Bohr Effect, this means that you need CO2 present in the blood to get oxygen to working muscles. Blowing off more than is needed means that you have less CO2 to unlock oxygen, which means that it takes longer to get it where it is needed.

In the long run, chronic Overbreathing and blowing off too much CO2 also causes your body to adapt in some less-than-optimal ways.

One way that it adapts is by lowering the set point for when you trigger the “I can’t catch my breath” feeling that we all dread so much. This is caused by rising levels of CO2 and your body’s tolerance to it - the more it can tolerate the harder you can work before triggering that feeling.

When you chronically breathe out too much CO2, especially at rest or during your daily activities, then you create a new, lower set point for your body to trigger that feeling. Your body adapts to the lower levels of CO2 by becoming less tolerant and more sensitive to it, which is the opposite of what we want on the trail.

The other way that your body adapts to chronically lowered levels of CO2 is to break down bicarbonate to maintain blood pH balance. Your body requires a strict Acid/ Base balance in the blood and Overbreathing creates a shift in that balance that your body has to react to.

By breaking down the bicarbonate that is in the blood your body keeps the pH level balanced, however this comes at a price. You now have less bicarbonate available to buffer lactic acid and the acidic environment created by hard efforts. This means you are less able to deal with this environment and your ability to push hard is diminished. 

So while it may not seem like a big deal, Overbreathing creates both short- and long-term problems that affect your health and performance. The good news is that it isn’t hard to fix and just requires some time and attention.

The main thing you can do is to shift to nose breathing and become more conscious of your breathing. Check in on your breathing throughout the day and make sure you aren’t mouth breathing or Overbreathing. By simply doing these two things you will make a big impact.

You can also spend some time each day doing Breathwork, which is just a way to help you slow down your breathing while creating a higher CO2 environment for your body to adapt to. Something as simple as breathing in to a 4 count and out to a 6 count for 5 minutes can start you in the right direction.

As a side note, Breathwork is basically a form of meditation, which has been shown to have its own benefits for focus, stress levels and health. There is also a lot of science behind these practices now, making them more mainstream and less fringe than in the past.

If you care about your health and fitness then you have to include breathing as part of your overall focus. Ignoring it while spending time and energy on things like cardio and strength training is not only holding you back but potentially having a negative impact on your health. Everything you do starts with your breathing and so spending some time and energy on optimizing it only makes sense.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

MTB Strength Training Systems

p.s. I know how important breathing is to your health and performance, which is why I created the Guide To Better Breathing For MTB. In this 40 page manual you’ll learn everything you need to know to understand what makes up optimal breathing and how you can apply it to your daily life, your workouts and your rides.

It’s the only breathing guide made by a rider for fellow riders and is guaranteed to help improve your health, performance and mindset. Sure, there’s a lot of great free info out there about breathing but if you want to cut out the guesswork around what to do and how to get started, plus having it explained in a MTB specific context, then click the link below to get your copy of the Guide To Better Breathing For MTB. 

Click Here To Get You Copy Of The Guide To Better Breathing For MTB

 

Medical Preparedness For The Trail & Life: Brian McLaughlin Intervie

Over the last few years I’ve had my eyes opened to the importance of medical training in case of an emergency. Most of us are never exposed to the realities of incurring a serious injury on the trail and few are really prepared to do anything if something happens.

It doesn’t take much for a ride to go from fun and casual to a potential life and death situation. And even if it isn’t a life and death situation right away, a few bad breaks and things can go from bad to worse pretty quickly as well.

The reason I bring this topic up isn’t to scare riders away from riding but to empower them to be the hero if they are called on. Nothing sucks worse than standing there while someone needs help and you don’t know what to do.

The funny thing is, though, that it doesn’t take much for you to better prepare yourself. We’re not trying to become EMT’s or emergency room doctors, we’re just trying to stabilize the situation long enough for the real help to get there.

One of the best resources I’ve found to help me become better prepared for a medical emergency is the company Mountain Man Medical. They have a great free online course that they offer and they have the best prices on quality medical gear.

Brian McLaughlin is the Director of Medical Training at Mountain Man Medical and a former Corpsman (medic for the Marines) who brings a lot of experience and insights into this area for us. I’ve had Brian on the podcast before and I wanted to bring him back to talk about the Sweetwater Trauma Kit that they sell on www.mountainmanmedical.com, which is what he recommends starting with if you don’t have a trauma kit yet.

We talk about each of the items in the kit and why they are important, review the MARCH checklist that you want to use if you encounter a medical emergency and we even cover what to do with a snakebite.

BTW, if you are going to invest in some medical equipment then be sure to use the coupon code BIKEJAMES at checkout to save 10%. 

Don’t leave your safety in the hands of someone else - you are your own best First Responder if something goes wrong. If every rider who reads this will invest just a little time and money in being better prepared then we’d all be better off.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

MTB Strength Training Systems