The Riding For A Lifetime Podcast

Improving Your Health & Performance With Isometrics: Interview with Isophit Inventor Brad Thorpe

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of using Isometric Training to improve your health and fitness. I’ve posted a lot of articles, podcasts and videos going over how mountain bikers can use this powerful training tool in their programs.

But I’m not the only one out there who is obsessed with spreading the word about Isometric Training. There’s a man who has been working tirelessly over the last several years to get isometrics into the training programs of weekend warriors and high level performers all over the world.

Brad Thorpe is considered by many to be the world’s leading expert in isometric strength training. A serial entrepreneur, multi-patented inventor of Isophit, and educator. Brad has over 30 years of experience in the fitness and performance industry. 

Since launching Isophit in 2015, Brad has grown the Isophit family to 350+ members across 31 countries. The more well-known Isophit family members include the US Army, FBI, Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Tigers, UCLA, and more recently the Red Bull Athlete Performance Center.

I had the chance to interview Brad last week so I could learn more about what he is doing and to pick his brain about isometrics and how they can be used to improve your health and performance.  While it’s tough to include detailed show notes for an interview like this, I can tell you that we talked about some interesting results that research has found with isometrics, including how isometric neck strength plays a role in preventing brain injuries.

Getting stronger is important for having more fun on the bike, especially as we get older, and isometrics should play an important part in helping you do that. I hope you enjoy this interview and learn something that you can take away to help you with your training and riding. 

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

MTB Strength Training Systems

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With just two 20 minute workouts a week you can safely and effectively improve your health and fitness using isometrics. Click the link below to learn more and get your copy of the Atomic Strength Isometric Training Program today.

Click Here To Get The Atomic Strength Isometric Training Program

3 Ways To Use Isometrics In Your Training Program

Isometrics are one of the most effective training tools in your toolbox. They are effective, safe and have a lot of research behind them. 

They are also extremely versatile. You can use them in different ways to accomplish different goals, including getting stronger, helping you prepare for a better workout and making your regular exercises harder and more effective. I recorded a video/ podcast sharing 3 ways that you can use isometrics to help you get better results from your training program. 

Show Notes:

By Themselves To Get Stronger

• Isometrics are a great way to get stronger and increase your fitness by themselves.
• They are also super convenient and can easily be done anywhere with very little equipment (or no equipment at all if you only have bodyweight).
• Be sure to use both Overcoming and Yielding Isometrics.
• Overcoming is where you push into something that you can’t move.
• Ramping Isometrics are a great method to use - 30 sec. @ 50% effort/ 20 sec. @ 80% effort/ 10 sec. @ 100% effort
• Yielding is where you hold a position against something trying to push or pull you out of it.
• Hold positions for 30 - 90 seconds or more.
• One exercise per muscle group/ movement pattern and one set to near failure.

As A Warm Up/ Activation Technique

• You can use isometrics as a way to get ready for your workout.
• You can do an isometric hold of the exercise you are going to do.
• You can also do an “isolated isometric” to target an area that you need turned on for one or more exercises.
• For example, if you are going to do Deadlifts you could do an isometric Deadlift or you could do an isometric for a problem area - Doing a hold for the back of your neck will also activate your entire posterior chain and make it easier to use it when lifting.
• If you are using them as a Warm Up/ Activation Technique then don’t go all out, you don’t want to exhaust yourself before you train or you could increase the risk of injury - no more than 80% effort.

Combined With Movement Based Exercises To Increase Intensity

• You can use isometrics to make your “regular” exercises harder and more effective.
• One way is to do a 3-5 second isometric hold at the bottom of every rep.
• This not only increases the time under tension in a weak range of motion but you also get rid of the stretch reflex where your muscles use elastic energy to help lift the weight.
• This type of strength is known as Starting Strength and is important on the bike since you don't have the advantage of loading up a movement like other sports.
• You can also add an isometric hold at the beginning and end of an exercise.
• Do a 10 second hold at the weakest point in the range of motion, do 10 reps and then do another 10+ second hold at the weakest point in the range of motion.
• For a Split Squat this would look like holding for 10 seconds with the knee at a 90 degree angle, doing 10 reps and then holding again for 10 seconds with the knee at a 90 degree angle.
• This increases the time under tension and allows you to access higher levels of tension in a safe way.
• This is a great way to build strength-endurance, which is important on the bike.

As you can see Isometrics have a lot to offer and a lot of ways to work them into your program. I’d recommend adding these training techniques into your program to improve your results and decrease your risk of getting hurt while training or riding.

Until next time…

James Wilson

p.s. The Atomic Strength Training Program is the only MTB specific isometric workout program in the world and what I recommend to any rider who wants to start tapping into the power of isometrics for themselves. It combines Overcoming and Yielding Isometrics into a 15 minute workout that is guaranteed to improve your strength and fitness.

Click here to check it out and get your copy today.

 

What is “off season training” if you can ride year round?

For a lot of riders an off season is forced on them by the local riding conditions. However, this definition of an off season gets really blurry when a rider lives somewhere that they can ride year round or they are able to get out in less-than-ideal weather (fatbikes, inclement weather riding gear).

Because they aren’t forced to stop or cut back on their riding, for these riders the term has to take on a different meaning if they want to get the benefits of an off season (and yes, there are benefits to it).

First, there are benefits to taking an off season. It is a chance to address weaknesses in your general conditioning that can hold back your overall riding performance. 

For example, if you need to add strength or increase your mobility then that can be tough to do if you are riding as much as you can.

It also gives your body a break from the repetitive stress that riding places on it.  It can also provide a mental break and refresh your enthusiasm for riding.

So how do you do this if you don’t have to take a break from riding?

I’d like to say up front that riding your bike is the best way to get better at riding your bike. There is a reason that riders from places that you can ride year round do well (Australians, New Zealanders, SoCal) and why people go there in the off season to train.

For riders like this I recommend that you don’t look at it as an off season as much as a change in your priorities.

During the riding season riding your bike is the priority.  Everything you do is geared around riding as much as you can and feeling as good as you can while doing it.

This means that you don’t want to lift so heavy that it takes away from your ability to recover and ride. You also want to prioritize riding 3+ times a week, which will take away from the time you can spend on strength, conditioning and mobility work.

During the off season time you want to reverse these priorities.

This means that you want to make sure that you get your time in with strength, cardio and mobility work even if this means cutting back on how much you are able to ride. It also means that you will be fine with feeling sore and tired from your training sessions when you are able to ride.

For an example of how these differences might look, during the riding season you may ride 4 days a week and only strength train 1-2 days a week with little to no extra cardio conditioning (riding your bike counts as cardio).

During the off season you may ride 1-2 days a week while lifting 3 times a week and getting in 2 cardio training sessions.

During the riding season you may focus on strength training tactics that don’t leave you sore and tired like isometrics and low volume/ moderate intensity training.

During the off season you may focus more on more aggressive strength training tactics like 5-3-1 to build strength or high volume/ moderate intensity stuff to build some muscle.

During the riding season your cardio training is riding your bike.

During the off season you can focus on targeted conditioning strategies that will help fill in specific gaps or improve your foundation for bigger cardio gains when you ride more.

Mobility and recovery should be something you focus on all year round but you may spend more time on it during the off season to improve areas that you need like the hip hinge or the rotational hinge needed for cornering.

Having an off season is part of the bigger picture that it takes to become a better rider over the long term. While you may find that skipping out on the off season doesn’t seem to matter from one season to the next you will find that over the course of several seasons riders that skip it will not progress as much or as fast as riders who do.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

3 Things To Increase Your Preparedness On The Trail

One of the best things about mountain biking is that it allows you to get away from civilization and out into nature in a way that nothing else can. The ability to cover a lot of ground and do it in a human powered way means that we can get to places and enjoy trails that not everyone can.

And while this is one of the things that draws a lot of us to riding, it also presents a unique danger that not many riders really consider. The truth is that most mountain bikers are woefully unprepared to deal with a medical emergency or a survival situation on the trail.

While most of us carry something to fix a flat or simple mechanical problem on the trail, few of us think about being prepared for something happening to us or someone else we’re with or come across. Sure, a phone to call for help is great but you may not have coverage and it may take some time for help to arrive - in that type of situation you are your own best First Responder.

While there are a lot of things you should consider carrying to help you be better prepared, there are 3 simple and inexpensive things that every rider should have on them. In this video/ podcast I share what those things are and why they are important to have on you when you go for a ride.

You can watch the video replay or listen to the audio replay through the link below. You‌ ‌can‌ also ‌find‌ the podcast ‌on‌ ‌‌Itunes‌,‌‌ ‌Podbean‌,‌‌ ‌‌Spotify‌‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌all‌ ‌other‌ ‌major‌ ‌podcasting‌ ‌platforms.‌ ‌

Show Notes:

The most important medical emergency you want to be able to deal with is major bleeding. Being able to stop the bleed can be the difference between life and death.

This means that the first thing you need to carry is a tourniquet. If you want to keep your loadout simple then the one I recommend is the SWAT-T.

You can find it through the link below and use the Coupon Code BIKEJAMES for 10% off.

https://www.mountainmanmedical.com/product/swat-t-tourniquet/

This style of tourniquet is effective and can serve multiple purposes.

• Tourniquet
• Pressure Bandage
• Splint
• Sling
• Chest Seal

It is also inexpensive and easily folds up to fit in a pocket.

The second is a multi-use rescue whistle.

Being able to signal for help is essential and a whistle is a great way to do that.

It also has a light. Having a light is essential if you get caught out on the trail after dark and have to see well enough to fix your bike or help someone who is hurt.

The third thing is a lighter.

I also put a 1 foot length of duct tape on it and put some strips of road bike inner tube.

The tape can help in a lot of ways - taping down a chest seal or pressure bandage for example. 

The road bike inner tube burns easily and hot and makes starting a fire easy (tinder). A fire can be the difference between life and death if you are caught on the trail after dark in a cold environment and it can also be used to signal for help.

I’ve got a video on the more advanced loadout I take with me on the trail that you should check out for more ideas and tips on how to be better prepared.

What we do is a lot of fun but it is dangerous and we owe it to ourselves and our fellow riders to be able to help out if something goes wrong, turning a potential tragedy into a cool story.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

MTB Strength Training Systems

 

Ryan Leech Interview - Social Media, Changing Priorities As We Age & How To Improve Your Skills

One of my favorite people in the mountain biking world is the legend Ryan Leech. Ryan spent decades changing what we thought was possible on a bike and has shared his passion for riding through in person coaching and his coaching website https://www.rlc-mtb.com.

I’ve had Ryan on several times and he always brings a unique and interesting perspective on our sport and how to improve your skills and mindset. In this podcast we talk about the impact of social media on mountain biking, how priorities change as we get older and what it really takes to improve as a rider over the long run.

Until next time...

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

Study Shows What Type Of Strength Training Works Best For Mountain Biking.

If you haven’t done it already then this is the year that you need to start making strength training a priority for improving your MTB specific fitness. Improving your strength can help your fitness, your skills and your ability to walk away from a wreck.

But not just any type of strength training program will do if you want to see results from your off season training and have them stick around until the end of the riding season. While a lot of riders assume that since we use a lot of cardio and endurance that we need to emphasize high reps and low weight, this approach isn’t what works best. 

Science is starting to reveal what the best approach for mountain bike strength training is and it seems to favor a more aggressive approach in the gym. 

This study that I came across looked at the effects of a traditional strength training approach to cycling - using a more endurance based protocol and stopping strength training during the riding season - with a less traditional approach which used maximal strength training in the off season and continued with it during the riding season.

Show Notes:

• Participants had at least 5 years of consistent cycling experience and not done lower body resistance training for at least 6 months. They were all competitive riders on the regional and national level.
• In the off season both groups followed the same program with two days of strength training.
• The Endurance-Strength (ES) Group did 8 weeks of high rep strength training (3 sets of 20-14 reps with the reps decreasing each week).
• The Maximal Strength (MS) Group started with 3 X 20 and then shifted to 3X8, dropping 1 rep each week to get to 3 X 4.
• During the riding season the ES group stopped strength training and the MS group did one day a week of 2 X 5 at 85% of 1RM and 1 X 6 RM.
• They used a Half-Squat, Leg Curl and Single Leg Leg Press. They also used the Wingate Test (30 seconds all out) as a way to measure power endurance.
• At the end of the study they found that there were no significant differences in endurance measurements between the groups.
• They did find that the MS group increased peak power from pre- to mid-season and they were able to maintain most of it through the season.
• They also showed an increase in the most power they could produce over 5 seconds from pre- to post-season as well as an increase in 1RM strength from pre- to post-season.
• The ES group showed a decrease in their power over the last 5 seconds of the Wingate Test, a decrease in their 1RM strength and an increase in the Fatigue Index from the Wingate Test from pre- to post-season.
• In a nutshell, both approaches helped to improve their endurance while only the Maximal Strength Group improved their anaerobic capacity and maintained it over the whole season.

The conclusion was that adding non-traditional strength training to a XC racers program could help them maintain and even improve their anaerobic fitness and power. Mountain biking requires more anaerobic power and endurance than road cycling, which is why real strength training helps to improve performance. 

So remember that next time someone tells you that strength training doesn’t help you mountain biking performance that context matters - the studies that say that are done on road cyclists and that using maximal strength training delivers better results than endurance based strength training.

Both the science and the real world evidence tells us that if you want to maximize your MTB fitness - and fun - then you have to do strength training as part of your routine.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

MTB Strength Training Systems

p.s. Are you still looking for the right program to get your off season training started? You only have a few more months left so you don’t want to waste any more time.

To help you get going with a plan that will help you feel better on and off the bike I’ve put together a New Year’s Training Bundle with 4 programs covering a different aspect of training.

40+ MTB Rider Training Program - As the only training program made for the 40+ year old mountain biker, this program combines unique elements into a one-of-a-kind strength and cardio workout that will improve your fitness without leaving you feeling sore and tired. It comes with two workout programs - one that uses DBs/ KBs and one that uses only bodyweight - so you can use it no matter what equipment you have access to.

Better Breathing for MTB Program - My newest training program shows you how to assess your breathing and how to use different breathing workouts and strategies to improve your cardio and endurance in a way that intervals and regular cardio training can’t.

15 Minute Trail Rider Tune Ups - This is a collection of twenty weight 15-minute workouts that are great for when you are short on time and/ or energy. They make great travel workouts and are also perfect for in-season training as well.

MTB Mobility Routines - This series of follow-along videos takes you through different mobility routines. You have general routines as well as routines that target specific problem areas like the low back.

Together this is almost $200 in programs but as part of the New Years Training Bundle you can get it for only $29. You’ll have everything you need to start the New Year off with a bundle of some of the best MTB specific training programs you can find.

But this special deal will only last for 1 week and will end on the 10th. Click the link below to get your New Year’s Training Bundle for only $29 before this deal ends.

Click Here To Get The New Year’s Bundle For Only $29

 

3 Things I Learned From Training Aaron Gwin

One of the best experiences of my coaching career was being able to work with Aaron Gwin at the beginning of his riding career.

I had a connection with Rich Houseman, who “discovered” Aaron at a local SoCal DH race. Rich called me and told me that I needed to start helping this kid because he was going to be great.

I had the chance to work with Aaron for about 3.5 years, before he was a sponsored rider and then through his time with Yeti. Aaron was actually the reason that the Yeti team hired me because he was impressed with what I was doing with him and wanted to make sure that I was the strength coach for the team.

Over that time he came and stayed with me to train and I had the chance to see him go from an unknown rider to the best American DH racer in a generation, getting 10th in his first ever WC race, finishing as high as 3rd in a race and placing 5th overall after just a few years of racing.

I learned some valuable things from working with and observing him and here are the top 3 things I took away from our time together.

Don’t make excuses.

• I worked with several “next big things” who never amounted to much of anything.
• One thing that I noticed was that they always made excuses for why they couldn’t do something I asked them to do.
• Aaron never made excuses and just did what I asked him to do.

Keep your emotions in check - never too high or too low.

• Another thing I noticed was that Aaron stayed pretty even keel with his emotions.
• You couldn’t tell from talking to him whether he had a great race or bad race.
• His highs were never too high and his lows never too low.

Staying injury free is more important than maximizing performance with your training program.

• Aaron had a bad shoulder from a previous injury when I started to work with him.
• The focus was on keeping the shoulder injury free during training and doing what we could to make it more solid.
• If you're hurt it doesn’t matter how fit you are and more good riders have been ruined by a bad training program than made great from some super hard, overly ambitious training program.

I hope you got something from these lessons as well. You don't have to be a pro racer to apply these things to your own training and riding.

Until next time...

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

Seated Pedaling Myths: Why Standing Pedaling Is Better For Mountain Biking

One of the things that I’m known for is that I am a big advocate for standing pedaling. In a sport where riders are told to use seated pedaling - particularly high RPM seated pedaling - as much as possible the advice to stand up more really surprises some riders.

My opinion on the subject comes from my background in functional movement and how to best apply it to the bike. It also comes from understanding where the “sit and spin” advice comes from and why it is flawed if you apply some critical thinking to it.

First, I am not saying you should stand up all of the time. I have something I call The 4 Quadrants of Pedaling that outlines how I think riders should use the two different pedaling positions.

In a nutshell, I think that you should use seated pedaling for easy, low tension efforts and you should use standing pedaling for hard, high tension efforts. This is the best way to get the most performance out of your riding while also avoiding a lot of overuse injuries.

Let’s take a look at seated pedaling and why people think it is better and then see if those theories hold up.

First, we’re told that seated, high RPM pedaling is more efficient. However, this is based more on the fact that most riders aren’t strong with standing pedaling and that it feels hard.

There have been studies and anecdotal evidence that shows that standing pedaling and seated pedaling are about the same from a metabolic efficiency standpoint. What’s more, when you stand up you are creating movement more efficiently. 

You get more hip extension, you get your weight over the pedals so gravity can help more and you are able to get your core engaged with a better spine position and full knee extension, which is required to get stable knees at extension. This is a much better position for the body to create movement and power from.

This is one reason I’m not a big fan of bike fits for mountain bikers - once you stand up all those measurements go out the window and if I’m not over-relying on seated pedaling I don’t need it to be “perfect”. 

It is the high tension efforts that create stiffness and overuse injuries and so you want to make sure you lay that high tension on the best movement patterns possible. So standing pedaling is arguably more overall efficient, which is a measure of how much energy you get out of your energy input. 

Seated pedaling has a lower energy input and can be sustained for longer but don’t confuse that with being more efficient as these are two different things.

The next thing we are told is that seated, high RPM spinning is the most metabolically efficient way to pedal. 

This is mainly based on the Carmichael Training System and the programs he came up with for Lance Armstrong. Lance was doing a lot of EPO and could therefore handle a higher aerobic load that you or I can, which calls this theory into question. 

Even at the highest levels of road cycling you will find riders who are successful with a sit and spin style and with a more aggressive use of standing pedaling - there is no one way that works for everyone all of the time.

While you can argue that seated, high RPM pedaling is more efficient, you can’t get away from the fact that trail riding requires you to navigate problems that require the use of your skills, which are always best used from a standing position.

These are also usually the highest risk parts of riding and not being strong with being able to stand up and use more tension at the pedals is potentially dangerous. The culture of spin-and-pray to get through technical rock gardens is a testament to how weak more riders are with standing up and working through those problems from a better position.

Technical climbs, technical trail sections and jumps/ drops are best handled from a standing position with some tension at the pedals and not being strong in that position is holding a lot of riders back.

Lastly, what about the biggest myth about seated pedaling of them all - needing to keep weight on the rear tire to keep traction for climbs.

This is completely false and you need to look no further than a Clydesdale type ride who, if that theory were true, would never break traction because of their superior weight.

We all know that isn’t the case and this brings us to the difference between “weight” and “pressure”. Pressure is weight used actively, which is what we are really after. 

Think about standing on the bathroom scale and pushing your weight into it to make it move past your actual weight.

You can also think about getting a truck that is stuck in the sand out - you can pile people in the back to help but eventually too many people actually creates a problem. The answer is to have the people start to bounce, which creates pressure and increases the traction of the tires.

This is what you want on the bike - pressure being pushed into the back tire as you take a pedal stroke to maximize your traction. It is this “bouncing” that is creating the pressure, which you can do sitting down but you can do much better standing up.

Your butt will be in about the same place in space but you’ll be able to move it and use your weight more effectively if you aren’t sitting down. Plus, creating a wedge with your taint isn’t good for it and the primary reason is that riders need special seats and have problems with that area.

Standing up moves the other end of the wedge to your hands, which is what they are made for. 

So, as you can see, standing up is a better position to create movement and power from, it is a safer position to tackle technical trail problems and you can actually create better climbing traction.

But, like anything else, there is a learning curve that you need to go through. At first it will feel hard and awkward but with practice you can make it a strength instead of a weakness.

Something that can help with this is to make sure you are using flat pedals, preferably the Catalyst Pedal, because they create a more stable platform for your feet when you stand up.

Float and the lack of actual contact space between your foot and the pedal creates a lack of stability that makes standing up feel less stable and more awkward, which is something else that has fed into the prevalence of the sit and spin approach.

To help you train for standing pedaling make sure you do any hard cardio training while standing up and spend time on the trail with your seat down, which will force you to stand up when you should and learn how to best use seated and standing pedaling.

Standing pedaling has a lot to offer us as mountain bikers and is a low hanging fruit that a lot of riders could use to greatly improve their performance and decrease their overuse injuries.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

MTB Strength Training Systems

Does Nose Breathing Restrict Your Performance?

Something that I try hard to get riders to understand is that everything they do starts with their breathing habits. How you breath affects not only your cardio and endurance but also how well you move and can execute your skills on the bike.

If you have bad breathing habits then the easiest thing you can do to improve your performance is to fix those bad habits. You didn’t start out with bad breathing habits and your body wants to breathe in a more efficient and effective way if you give it the chance.

Something that can go a long way towards helping you do this is to use nose breathing as much as you can. Nose breathing is a more efficient way to breathe and can also go a long way towards improving your health as well.

However, one of the knocks on nose breathing is that you can’t use it at moderate or high intensity levels and that trying to do so will actually restrict your performance. This view is based on some studies that showed this to be the case with runners but new evidence suggests that there may be more to the story.

A newer study looked at nose vs. mouth breathing at different intensity levels but this time they used runners who had spent time adapting to it. The previous study had used runners who had not spent any time working on it before being tested and the new study wanted to see if that made a difference.

In today’s newsletter I go into what the study found and how it can be applied to your training for mountain biking. I’ve got the show notes below and a link to the live stream replay and the audio file from it as well. You‌ ‌can‌ also ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌on‌ ‌‌Itunes‌,‌‌ ‌Podbean‌,‌‌ ‌‌Spotify‌‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌all‌ ‌other‌ ‌major‌ ‌podcasting‌ ‌platforms.‌ ‌

Click Here To Watch The Video Or Download The Audio Replay

This study looked at the performance difference with runners who used nasal breathing when they switched to mouth breathing.

http://journals.aiac.org.au/index.php/IJKSS/article/download/4400/3407 

A previous study had found that nasal breathing restricted peak intensity levels and wasn’t able to be sustained at high intensity levels.

That study didn’t use runners who had been training with nose breathing and this study wanted to see if there was a difference in those results after someone had trained and adapted to nose breathing.

They found a group of male and female runners who had been using nasal breathing exclusively during training and racing for at least 6 months.

They tested them on a VO2Max, a graded exercise test and physiological economy with both nasal and mouth breathing.

This had them do a maximal graded exercise test and then a steady state test at 85% of their top intensity during the graded exercise test.

They found that during the graded exercise test there was no difference in performance, VO2Max or peak lactate production. 

However they did show a lower mean ventilatory equivalent for both oxygen and carbon dioxide.

This represents the amount of ventilation required for the consumption of each liter of oxygen and reflects ventilatory efficiency. It is measured as the ratio of the volume of gas expired per minute to the volume of oxygen consumed per minute 

During the steady state trial they showed better physiological economy and a lower mean ventilatory equivalent for both oxygen and carbon dioxide.

The conclusion was that it is possible to use nose breathing at all levels of running intensity without a loss of performance and improved economy of how they are producing that energy after a period of training and adaptation.

They also concluded that nasal breathing is a way to maintain performance while improving your health.

While there are differences between running and mountain biking, I still think that there are some takeaways for us here.

Nasal breathing takes a period of adaptation to benefit from and there is likely to be a dip in performance as you do this.

The off season is a great time to make the switch to using nasal breathing more.

You should use nasal breathing as much as possible during your cardio workouts.

You can use running as a way to introduce it into your routine as well.

Give it a solid 4-6 weeks before making any conclusions about how it is going.

On the trail try to use nose breathing more, especially when you are at an easy effort level or trying to recover from a hard effort. 

As you can see, nose breathing can be used effectively at higher intensity levels while also being more metabolically efficient and healthier for you. Be sure to check out the Better Breathing Program for more info on breathing and how you can improve your performance and health with better breathing strategies. 

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

MTB Strength Training Systems

 

How To Work Around An Injury With Your MTB Training Program.

Mountain biking is a great sport but it also isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s a tough, grinding activity that demands a level of toughness from the people who do it that no other cycling sport does.

A drawback to being tough, though, is not paying enough attention to injuries. Ignoring injuries or using painkillers like Tylenol to mask them isn’t an effective long term strategy. 

You also don’t want to use injuries as an excuse to stop training and do nothing. If you want to ride for a lifetime then you need to know how to effectively work around them when they do pop up.

You can learn more about how to work around an injury in the video I shot last week sharing the strategies I’ve used with countless riders to help them recover faster while minimizing their strength and fitness losses. 

I’ve got the show notes below and a link to the livestream replay and the audio file from it as well. You‌ ‌can‌ also ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌on‌ ‌‌Itunes‌,‌‌ ‌Podbean‌,‌‌ ‌‌Spotify‌‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌all‌ ‌other‌ ‌major‌ ‌podcasting‌ ‌platforms.‌ ‌

There is a lot of value in continuing to train with an injury.

• The injury can heal faster.
• You can minimize the loss of strength in the injured area.

Two types of injuries.

• Acute: something happens that immediately injures something (crashing and busting up a shoulder)
• Overuse: something adds up over time and creates an injury (bad mobility and movement causing some sort of -itus in your shoulder)

We should be able to avoid or minimize overuse injuries with good training habits - if you’re hurt it doesn’t matter how fit you are.

Acute injuries are part of the game and will pop up from time to time.

No matter what type of injury you have, make sure you are following your medical caregivers advice.

In general you want to avoid pain so don’t do anything that causes the injured area to hurt, either in the moment or after the activity.

Painkillers like tylenol and ibuprofen can be used for short periods and should not be a regular part of your strategy.

If you have an overuse injury you need to figure out the problem that is causing it and fix it.

• The problem is usually a non-painful, dysfunctional joint immediately above or below the painful area.
• Remember the old Stable - Mobile joint stacking model (stable joints on top of mobile joints on top of stable joints, etc.)
• You may need to cut back on your weight and volume to affect the type of change needed to improve movement patterns (used early in off season to fix problems and optimize future training)

If you have an acute injury you need to do what you can while working around it.

• The mistake most people make with this is to try and see how much they can do before causing a problem and they often go over the line, setting back the recovery time. 
• The better strategy is to do everything you can to heal as fast as you can so you can get back to normal training ASAP.

No matter what type of injury you have, isometrics should play a big role in your recovery.

• You’ll be able to do isometrics before you can do loaded movements.
• Isometric strength = Stability, which is often lacking when people first come back from an injury.

If you want to minimize your injuries then make sure you have a good strength and mobility program as part of your overall strategy. The Ultimate MTB Workout Program is the best option for the rider that wants it all and the Atomic Strength Program is the best option for the rider who wants a minimalist training program that still delivers results.

Knowing how to work around injuries is just part of the process of riding for a lifetime, especially if you want to keep performing at a decent level. Hopefully this post has given you some tools to help you do that.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

MTB Strength Training Systems