3 Ways to Improve your MTB Skills that Don't Involve the Bike
As I gear up for mountain bike season I’ve been thinking about how to best help my clients get the most out of their time with me. My goals as a coach are clear: To help you build confidence on and off the bike. All my mountain bike lessons start with mindset work before we dive into finding a solid balanced position on the bike.
In order to excel at riding, you need to feel stable and balanced from your feet to your shoulders.
You need to feel stable sitting on the saddle, standing on the pedals, and moving the bike underneath you. Frequently, I encounter riders who are comfortable sitting on their bike, but as soon as I ask them to stand and move the bike side to side, a new new layer of instability is exposed. As you progress, you need to feel stable on varied terrain from steep chunky descents, crazy tight switchbacks, to loose washed out corners. If you don’t feel stable on your own two feet, squatting, lunging, and jumping, it’s difficult to find stability on the bike! You know where you build that stability? Yep, with a consistent strength training routine.
If you take a clinic or private lesson with me, you know you receive a post session email with a written summary of everything we covered. This is because we cover A LOT and the body and mind can only absorb so much information in a 3-6 hr time period. You also receive access to my buildSOLO class before the lesson or clinic. Why do I want all of my mountain bike clients to do my strength program? Because it will improve your ride experience in 3 big ways!
2. Muscle Connection: In order to feel stable on the bike, you need to feel strong on the bike!
A large part of strength training is tuning into the different muscles in your body. This has many buzz terms such as “activation, cuing, or engaging.” All this means is recruiting a specific group of muscles to work for you. Try this exercise: tap your right little finger, now squeeze your left butt cheek (glute), flex your right quad, wiggle your left big toe, engage your obliques on the left side. You probably noticed it was easier to engage some of those muscles than others. That’s because you’re more connected with certain parts of your body than others. It was probably easier to flex your quad than squeeze your glute. Most cyclists are “quad dominant” meaning they rely on their quadriceps to provide power to the pedals much more than their hamstrings or glutes.
Mountain bike learning is kinesthetic learning.
We must make changes in the way our bodies move in order to improve on the bike. Everyone learns differently and some people are able to simply watch how to perform a move and they get it. Others need to listen to an explanation, and see the steps broken down before putting them into practice. There is no better or worse, only different ways to learn. But, I will tell you this: The more connected you are with your body, the easier it is to learn new movements on the bike! Think of the accomplished skier or kayaker who picks up a bike and looks like they’ve been riding since they could walk. Kinesthetic awareness translates from sport to sport. This is where strength training is your secret weapon.
I often have my personal training clients and buildTEAM class perform challenging movements that I dub, “mind-body awareness” work. These are designed to challenge the mind to work in concert with the body and improve your coordination. If you can perform difficult movements at home on solid ground, you will be more prepared to perform difficult movements on the bike with two wheels rolling below you:)
One of the most common forms of feedback I hear from folks soon after they start my buildCLASS is how they feel stronger on the bike after only a few weeks. How is it possible to gain strength after only 2-4 workouts? It’s not that the muscle fibers have actually increased in size, it’s that you’re more connected with your muscles. The folks who tell me about this feeling are better able to engage large muscles like glutes and hamstrings when climbing, obliques when cornering, or lats while descending. This improved mind-muscle connection allows you to more efficiently use your muscles, which makes you stronger!
3. Balance out Imbalances.
Cycling inherently creates imbalances in the body. On the bike we sit a lot, and when we’re standing we have one dominant foot in back which leaves one hip tighter than the other. We’re in a hinged position where we rely on our lats to support our upper body and glutes to stabilize our pelvis. But if those posterior chain muscles (glutes, hamstrings, back) aren’t developed, guess what happens? Pain! Pain in the lower back, pain at the neck, pain in the hip flexors. The more you’re planning to ride, the more important it is to do your strength training homework to keep your body strong, balanced, and supple! If you’re sitting around this February planning to have a big ride season, I can’t stress enough how important it is to do your strength training to keep your body balanced and strong to support your riding.
More and more I use my mountain bike coaching experience to inform my strength training program. I see where my clients struggle on the bike, and look for ways to improve everything from strength, coordination, and balance off the bike. If you’re interested in improving your riding this season, start with incorporating my buildCLASS into your weekly routine! You’ll get more out of a clinic, private lesson, and your rides if you support your body from the feet to your shoulders! This applies to everyone from pros to weekend warriors. Check out my buildCLASS offerings here!