Podcasts about ride strong

Balancing performance with effective weight management is one of cycling's greatest challenges. In this episode, we sit down with sports nutrition expert Alex Larson to uncover the science and strategies that help cyclists get lean, stay lean, and optimize their performance. We explore the key areas cyclists should focus on to shed fat while preserving muscle, from dialing in macronutrient ratios to the importance of nutrient timing around training. Alex shares practical advice on managing caloric deficits safely, maintaining testosterone levels naturally, and navigating fasted versus fed training. Discover the truth about creatine, nine low-glycemic foods to keep your blood sugar stable, and the supplements that may—or may not—enhance fat loss without sacrificing endurance. This is your go-to guide for unlocking your peak cycling physique and staying strong for years to come. WHOOP Your health underpins EVERYTHING you do in life, and WHOOP helps you understand and proactively improve it through 24/7 monitoring.  Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠join.whoop.com/Roadman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to get a free month's WHOOP membership on me! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ROUVY⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ROUVY replicates terrain, gradients, and resistance, giving you the most authentic indoor cycling experience possible. Explore, train, and ride with ROUVY—visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ROUVY.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to start your adventure today! And to get one month FREE use code Roadman1m ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠4iiii Powermeter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The PRECISION 3+ Powermeter from 4iiii is a compact yet powerful unit & is  packed with features that set it apart, including integration with Apple's Find My network PLUS It's got up to 800 hours of battery life.Learn more by visiting⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠4iiii.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HUEL ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ You can order Huel Ready To Drink directly to your home,  go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠huel.com/roadman ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LeCol⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For amazing cycling kit go check out LeCol at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.lecol.cc⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Use code roadman20 to get 20% off your LeCol order The heart beat of our community & best place to reach me is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want to watch full interviews on video? Check out our new Youtube Channel ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/roadmancycling?sub_confirmation=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Perhaps no term gets thrown around more when talking about riding your bike than “body position”. It is recognized as being an essential part of your riding skills and performance, but what does the term really mean? For something so important there is a lot of confusion surrounding it. Do you want to be in a low “attack position” or in more of an upright “throne position”? Do you want your weight on your feet with little to no weight on your hands or do you want to have weight and pressure through your hands? It seems like the answers to these questions depend on who you talk to and what system they preach. There is a whole industry around this question, with qualified skills instructors from various backgrounds each trying to convince you that their version of body position is the best. Well, what if I told you that the whole concept is kind of nonsense. I mean, obviously how you stand and hold yourself on the bike is important but the idea that there is an ideal body position when riding your mountain bike is incomplete at best. The reason that I don't like this term or the discussions around it is because it leads riders to believe that there is an ideal body position that they need to try and get into and maintain while riding. But this idea may work when doing drills in a parking lot, it isn't how riding your bike works in the real world. On the trail you are participating in a dynamic relationship between your body, the bike and the trail and these three things are rarely static. Conditions change all of the time and this means that your ideal body position is constantly shifting as well. In fact, the worst thing you can do for your performance and safety on the trail is try and maintain an “ideal” body position. Instead, you want to change your body position to match the needs of the trail. For example, let's say that you are riding a section of trail that starts with a relatively flat section before feeding you into a technical rock garden that proceeds a short climb. What is the ideal body position for something like this? You guessed it, there isn't one and you have to shift your body position to meet the needs of the moment. When you are on the flat section you can get into a traditional position where you are keeping more weight on your feet than your hands and you are maintaining your position as you pedal. When you get to the rock garden you will need to preemptively shift your weight forward in anticipation of needing to perform a rear weight shift to unweighted or even lift your front wheel to help get over the first trail obstacle. As you proceed through the rock garden you will need to dynamically shift your weight forward and backward to weight and unweight your front end to help you flow through the rocks and trail obstacles. Your body position will be very fluid and dynamic as you use your weight shifts to help navigate your bike through the technical trail section. When you get through it and hit the climb you will want to stand up and shift your weight forward, putting weight on your hands and applying aggressive pressure through the rear wheel as needed for traction. If there are any obstacles on the climb you will also need to shift your weight back to float the front wheel over them before getting back into your aggressive climbing position. So in this scenario you have gone from a “light hands, heavy feet” position to a dynamic position with a lot of front to back weight shifts and finally an aggressive standing position with your weight slightly forward on your hands. So what is the right body position? The right body position changes depending on the demands of the moment. It isn't based on someone's theory of what the optimal position is and is certainly isn't a static thing, However, I see riders all the time who would try to ride through this same scenario trying to use and maintain a single body position (usually seated). This is usually due to someone telling them that it was the optimal position and that they need to stay in it as much as possible. With that said, though, there are a few commonalities to the different good body positions you need to use on the bike. One of them is having a strong spine where you avoid leaning over at the low back and instead rely on your hips for leaning forward and shifting your weight back. The other thing is to have your elbows in a strong position somewhere between being pinned to your ribs and being pushed out into an extreme “scarecrow” position. Like body position, the specific position your elbows should be in will change but being at the extremes is almost never the best place to be no matter what the “elbows out” crowd will lead you to believe. Lastly, your feet should be in a mid-foot position so you are balanced at your feet and aren't fighting the forward lean created by being on the balls of your feet. The mid-foot position allows you to more easily shift your weight forward or backward depending on the needs of the moment without committing your to one or the other like the ball of the foot position does. If you have good spine, elbow and foot position then your body can act in the dynamic and fluid way needed to meet the needs of the moment. Of course, when you look at the average rider who is stiff through the hips and bends too much at the spine, has handlebars that are too wide and force the elbows into an unnaturally wide position and or perched on the balls of their feet you don't see a strong, athletic body. Instead you see a compromised, unbalanced body that struggles to find the flow needed to really enjoy riding. And this leads to people looking for the one body position that will cure their problems, which leads to the situation that most riders find themselves in now. I truly believe that a lot of the demand for skills training is created by riders being placed in compromised, unbalanced positions on the bike through their lack of athleticism and bad advice from the cycling industry when it comes to equipment. If you put your body in a strong, balanced position on the bike it will naturally figure out a lot of things on its own - your body is an amazing learning machine when you give it the right context to learn in. So don't get caught up in trying to find and maintain the right body position because it doesn't exist outside of the context that it is needed on the trail. Work on getting more athletic through a good mobility and strength training program and put yourself in a strong, balanced position on the bike through proper equipment choices and you'll find that your body is able to do what it does best, which is to adapt to and learn from the movement challenges it encounters on the trail. Only then can you really benefit from skills training advice, but even then only if it doesn't violate some basic movement principle along the way. I believe that the best way to approach riding skills is to look at how the human body moves and then to apply that knowledge to the bike. If you are interested in learning more about this theory of mountain bike skills training you can download a free copy of my Underground Skills Training Manual, where I break down the movement patterns behind each of the major skills needed on the bike, how to improve them off of the bike and how to apply them to the bike. If you have any questions about this post let me know, I'm always happy to help. And if you want to get some feedback on your riding and how to improve it through smart application of movement and training principles let me know. I'm taking on a few distance coaching clients this off season and I'd love to see if I can help you train and ride smarter. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

If you have followed my newsletter for any length of time then you know that I am a huge advocate for better breathing habits. Breathing is the one lever that you can pull that will improve just about everything you do on the bike, including cardio, strength and even your skills. As important as it is, though, few riders really focus on it as part of their training program. The good news is that it doesn't take a lot of time and you don't need fancy equipment. In fact, a great way to train your breathing is to use a straw. Yes, the same thing you use to drink your favorite beverage when you're out at a restaurant is also a great training tool for your breathing. Just get a straw, have a seat and start to breathe through it. Just 5 minutes of this a few times a week will make an impact on several aspects of your breathing that will help you on the trail. Breathwork training is an important part of MTB cardio training, especially as we get older. The good news is that it doesn't take a lot of time or equipment - 5 minutes of breathing through a straw a few times a week can be enough to make an impact on it.  And if you want to learn even more about breathwork training for MTB, be sure to check out my Guide To Better Breathing For MTB. In it you'll find how to assess your breathing and several drills and strategies to help you optimize your breathing for better health and performance. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

As you get older dealing with pain becomes more and more of a reality. Old injuries flare up, wear and tear add up and it all leads to more and more pain. Pain leads to time off or even surgeries and surgeries definitely lead to time off. Time off leads to loss of fitness and motivation which can lead to quitting.  So one of the best strategies for riding for a lifetime is to do everything you can to address pain early and to prevent it from getting worse. Prevention is the best plan of all because pain that you never had doesn't need to be addressed at all. In an effort to help more riders achieve the goal of Riding For A Lifetime I wanted to start sharing some tips on addressing pain for some of the most common problem areas faced by riders as we get older. In this post I wanted to start with one that almost every rider faces at some point, which is knee pain. The knees take a beating on the trail. Everything we do on the trail involves the knees, from standing to seated efforts, from uphills to downhills and from techy trails to smooth flow trails, the knees are working hard to help us perform at our best. The knees are an amazing structure that need to be both stable and mobile. Lacking in either of these things can lead to stress being placed on the wrong areas, which lead to pain and loss of performance. On top of that, you need your feet to be supported properly so that your legs can move in the most functional way possible. Poor foot support is a major cause of knee pain both on and off the bike and an area that a lot of riders are confused about. So let's break down what each of these things means for us on the bike and how we can support our goals of having strong, stable knees that can take a pounding and come back for more. Until next time... Ride Strong, James Wilson

While most people come into mountain biking worried about their fitness and cardio, it doesn't take long to realize that your technical skills play a big role in your performance. Better skills mean you can ride faster and waste less energy, as well as helping keep you safe. Over the last several years skills training has become extremely popular, with countless videos showing you how to improve your skills and a lot of skills camps popping up. In fact, if you're reading this then I'd bet money that at some point you have done something to help improve your technical skills. And while videos and camps can help a lot, there is one thing that most riders don't think about that can make or break your ability to actually apply those skills to the trail - your breathing.  Better breathing can impact your performance and health in a lot of ways. While some of them are obvious, once you understand all of the ways how you breath impacts the body you realize that optimizing your breathing isn't optional if you want to get the most out of yourself on the trail. This is especially true if you are in the 40+ crowd. Breathing mechanics and smart use of specific breathing patterns isn't something that declines with age and it allows you to maximize what you still have. While younger riders can use the physical advantages of youth to get away with a lot of bad habits we can't do that and still perform at a high level on the trail. So stop letting your breathing hold back your skills on the trail and start to incorporate these tips into your training and riding. And if you want even more info on optimizing your breathing check out my Guide To Better Breathing For MTB, where I show you how to assess your breathing and share even more ways to optimize your performance and health. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson 

When I started MTB Strength Training Systems in 2005 I did it so I could share how functional strength training could help my fellow riders enjoy riding more. I was 30 at the time and my focus was on helping riders maximize their performance, which led to my involvement with several pro riders and teams. 10 years later I turned 40 and found my priorities changing. Now I was interested in longevity as well as performance and I was finding that my old training methods weren't having the same effect.  Now I'm quickly approaching 50 (holy shit, how did that happen?) and I've found that a lot of riders are also wanting to learn more about Riding For A Lifetime. I've been sharing a lot of my new training methods and programs over the last few years and they are always among my most popular posts. I've shared a lot of great info on this subject over the last several years and I understand that it can be hard to keep track of all of it. So I wanted to put together my Top 5 Tips To Ride For A Lifetime. This is just a quick summary of these concepts so be sure to check out the links at the bottom of this post to find more detailed posts. You can also find a video and audio summary of these concepts below. Strength Training Is Essential As we age, the physical decline of strength, power, and muscle mass becomes inevitable, affecting our overall physical capacity. This decline starts to accelerate after the age of 40, making strength training a non-negotiable part of any fitness regimen. Strength training has been proven to slow or even reverse these declines, enabling you to maintain a high capacity both on and off the bike. To combat this, aim to incorporate strength training 2-4 times a week. This will not only enhance your biking performance but also set a strong foundation for Riding For A Lifetime. Building and Maintaining Muscle Mass One of the significant changes in strength training for the 40+ MTB rider is the increased need for muscle mass maintenance to combat sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass. Muscle mass acts as the engine for both strength and power and is closely linked to overall health and longevity. Including bodybuilding elements in your workout plan—such as 3 sets of 10-15 reps and isolation work for the arms—can help maintain or even increase muscle mass. The more muscle mass you have, the longer it will take to decrease to a level that impacts your physical capabilities. Isometrics for Safe and Effective Strength Building Isometric exercises, which involve creating tension without movement, are excellent for building strength safely, especially for those dealing with past injuries. These exercises are also beneficial for high blood pressure, comparable to the effects of medication in some studies. By incorporating isometric exercises such as Push-Up Holds and Lunge Holds for 30-90 seconds into your strength training program, you can build the stability needed for effective movement while minimizing injury risks. Anti-Glycolytic Training (AGT) for Cardio Traditional interval training is effective but it tends to be most effective for 6-8 weeks, after which it stops delivering the same results. Plus, it can be hard on the body and may negatively impact mitochondrial health, which is crucial for fitness and longevity. Instead, consider Anti-Glycolytic Training (AGT), which involves short bursts of effort followed by near-complete rest. This method supports mitochondrial health and is particularly effective for activities requiring repeated high-intensity efforts like mountain biking. Aim for 5-10 seconds of work followed by 1 minute of rest for 10-30 minutes, using exercises like KB Swings, Jump Squats, or an exercise bike, 2-3 times a week. Daily Mobility Work Aging often leads to stiffness and reduced mobility, increasing injury risk and affecting your ability to display strength and endurance. For mountain bikers, this loss of mobility can also negatively impact technical skills and balance on the bike. This makes mobility training something that you must to in order to minimize your injury risk and help keep you moving well on and off the bike. With mobility training it is better to do a little bit each day than to do a lot 1-2 times a week and nothing on the other days. Consistent daily mobility training, even just 10-15 minutes focusing on stretches for the shoulders and hips, can make a significant difference in maintaining and improving mobility. Conclusion Thank you for taking the time to let me share this information with you. For more in-depth insights, be sure to check out the links provided. Strength Training Basics For The 40+ MTB Rider Bodybuilding Training For Mountain Bikers Isometric Training For MTB Beyond Intervals: Anti-Glycolytic Training Mobility Training For MTB You can visit BikeJames.com for additional training tips and programs specifically designed for mountain biking. The 40+ MTB Rider Training Program was the first of its kind and shows you how to integrate all these elements into an effective 12 week training program. If you have any questions about your own training journey feel free to contact me at james@bikejames.com, I'm always happy to help.  Until next time... Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training Systems

Over the last 5-10 years my cardio training program has changed a lot.  My old plan was to ride 5+ days a week and hit some hard intervals after my workouts. But now I can't ride as much as I used to and my body can't take the wear and tear of hard interval training for very long.  With this new reality I've found myself using different training methods that I did in the past to not only keep me fit for trail riding but also to improve my health and longevity. I've posted some podcasts and blog posts about these different training methods but I've never gone over them all together and explained how I combine them all into a comprehensive program. In this episode of The Riding For A Lifetime Podcast I explain why I use the training methods I do and how you can use them as a part of your training plan. You can find a great breathing resource to help you learn more by clicking here. You can learn more about Anti Glycolytic Training by checking out this post/ podcast. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

When it comes to building MTB specific cardio, the best method is to actually ride your bike - that is the most sport specific training you can do. However, there are times when you can't ride as much as you would like or you want to focus on specific qualities that you need on the trail but don't use enough on the trail to continue to improve. There are also health benefits that you can get from a smart conditioning program that you can't get from riding alone. This means that if you want to maximize your performance and your health then cardio training has to be part of your overall plan. In this episode of the Riding For A Lifetime Podcast I share a new cardio training method that I feel has a lot of potential for the 40+ year old rider. Let me know if you have any questions or need help getting started with this workout. This is just one way to go about it and I'll be sharing more workout ideas with you as I get a chance to test them. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training Systems

Low Back Pain is one of the most common things that riders suffer from both on and off the bike. It can ruin the good time that mountain biking is supposed to provide for us and in extreme cases can even make riders quit riding. Even more frustrating is that there doesn't seem to be a consistent, predictable pattern with low back pain and it is often a mystery as to the specific underlying cause. But if you ignore it then it tends to get worse until you have to deal with it. I have experience with Low Back Pain both as a trainer who has helped riders overcome it but also as someone who has suffered from it. A long time ago I tweaked my back trying to deadlift too much weight and if I don't stay on top of it my back gets stiff and sore, plus I have to be conscious of it while training. This journey to find solutions for myself and the riders I've worked with has led me to discover some things that I feel can help a lot of riders out there. A lot of these things aren't your typical “stretch your hip flexors” advice you usually hear and they fill in some gaps that I think a lot of riders are missing in their attempts to fix their Low Back pain. First, before we get to the specific advice,  make sure that there isn't something medically wrong with your back. Have a doctor check it out and see if there is something specific going on like a pinched nerve or a bulging disc.  But if there isn't something specific wrong with your lower back and it just hurts at any time then there may be a few things you can do to help improve the situation. Here are 8 things that I've found can help improve your Low Back Pain: Be aware of your breathing. Improve your Hip Flexor strength with Isometric Exercises. Improve Hip mobility. Improve Spinal mobility. Have a Warm Up and a Pre-Ride Routine. Stand up for High Tension efforts. Use Flat Pedals. Use a Strength Training Program that creates a well balanced body. Be Aware Of Your Breathing. How you breathe affects a lot of things in your body, including your lower back. Several studies have found a link between bad breathing habits and low back pain, IMO most likely due to the inability of the core to properly stabilize under load (poor core stability has also been linked to low back pain). This means that you could be doing everything else right and still have low back pain. It's a low hanging fruit that can make a big difference so you may as well make it a part of your overall strategy. Good breathing will help to stabilize the midsection and reinforce good posture. You want to be aware of and practice good breathing habits on the bike, in the gym and during your everyday life. You can check out this post to learn more about optimal breathing habits and how to assess and optimize your breathing habits. Strengthen the Hip Flexors with Isometric Exercises.  The recommendation to strengthen the hip flexors might come as a surprise to some riders. We've been told for years that the problem was tight hip flexors and that we should avoid exercising them directly and focusing instead on stretching them. I've found that this doesn't consistently fix the problem and that there isn't a direct correlation to a muscle being “tight” and it also being strong. A weak muscle creates its own set of problems that need to be addressed and in some cases, addressing the strength issue helps with the mobility/ ROM issues. I've also found that using Isometric Exercises to strengthen the Hip Flexors offers a way to safely strengthen them, which can be an issue with movement based exercises. The 4 best Isometric Exercises that I've found for this purpose are the Single Leg Hip Flexor and Glute Bridge, Squat and Lunge. Start with wherever you're at and work up to holding the weakest point of the movement that you can get into with good posture and breathing for 60-90 seconds. Do them 1-3 times a week, focusing on improving your ROM and breathing each week along with the time you are holding for. Improve Hip Mobility.  Yes, you most likely do need to improve your hip mobility, you just need to focus on more than just the front of the leg (Quads and Hip Flexors). Your hips have 4 basic directions of movement and you want to do something to work on all of them. I like to use good old fashioned static stretching positions along with my breathing and a little bit of movement to help me get deeper into the stretch. The 4 stretches I like to do are the Quad/ Hip Flexor Stretch, Hamstring Stretch, Glute Stretch and Butterfly Stretch. You want to hold the stretches for as long as you can - 15 seconds is better than nothing and holding them for 5+ minutes might do you some good. In general, though, I recommend 30 seconds up to 2 minutes, 3-7 days a week.  Improve Spinal Mobility.  Another forgotten part of the low back pain problem is that your spine needs to be able to move freely and sometimes sticking points in that movement create excessive stress on the spine. Having a spine that moves freely that you can protect under load with tension is the ultimate goal and until both are achieved you may still be fighting low back pain. The 3 movements I like for working on my Spinal Mobility are the Sun Salutation, Twisty Slaps and Stick Windmill. Be sure to avoid pain when doing these movements and to use your breathing to help stabilize the spine and improve your ROM. BTW, if you don't feel comfortable with spinal twists then just do the Sun Salutation, you'll get a lot from it. Have a Warm Up Routine and a Pre-Ride Routine. Quality movement is pain free movement so your ultimate goal is to practice quality movement when you train and ride. Having a Warm Up and Pre-Ride Routine that focuses on improving your Hip and Spinal Mobility will help you to bring higher quality movement to your training and riding. Sitting in a car or sitting and spinning your way to the trailhead will most likely create stiffness in those areas, which will decrease your movement quality. Doing a few mobility movements like the Sun Salutation, Twisty Slap, Windmill and Reverse Lunge to High Knee can set you up for better movement potential on the trail which will improve your performance, endurance and decrease the chance of low back pain. Stand Up For High Tension Efforts. The posture you put a lot of tension on matters. Standing Postures are better for High Tension Efforts - better posture, better chest position for breathing, better core engagement, more hip extension, co-contraction at the knee at the bottom of the pedal stroke and less strain on the neck to look up. Seated Pedaling is good for Low Tension/ Recovery Efforts but the position and posture you are in is not good for creating a lot of tension. I know, you were told that Standing Pedaling is “less efficient” and to sit down on climbs to keep weight on the back tire. Seated Pedaling feels easier but easier isn't the same as “more efficient” - efficiency is a measurement of how much work is produced compared to the energy used to create it and in a lot of cases Standing Pedaling is actually “more efficient”. Remember too that Standing Pedaling is a new skill and you aren't very efficient at it, which makes it feel much harder. But once you use it for a while you get more efficient and it doesn't feel as hard. As far as keeping weight on the rear tire, you can keep weight on the back tire without having your butt on the seat. We've all seen examples of people climbing steep stuff while standing up so obviously it can be done and you don't have to keep your butt on the seat when climbing. Plus, you don't want weight on your rear tire, you want well timed pressure. If you needed weight then Clydesdale sized riders would never break traction on climbs but we know that isn't true so obviously there is more to it.  You want to use weight to create pressure, specifically pressure into the rear tire that is timed with your pedal stroke, and that is often done better from the Standing Position, especially on technical climbs. A lot of riding related back pain is from too much reliance on seated pedaling. Break away from it and watch your performance improve and your pain go away. Use Flat Pedals. This isn't which pedal system is the highest performance at the highest levels of competition, it is about which system is healthier for the body. As a 40+ year old rider odds are super high that you don't pay your bills based on your riding performance and longevity is a priority for you. Flat Pedals force you to use a more natural pedal stroke, which places the stress on the hips and not on unnatural pulling with the Hip Flexors and Low Back. They also allow for variability in your foot position and the pedal stroke that you can't get when you are locking into the pedal in the same foot position every time you ride. This variability has been found to correlate to fewer injuries and lower injury potentials and the current theory is that prefect, repeatable movement isn't possible or desired for long term health. Flat Pedals will take stress off of your lower back by allowing for more natural and more variable movement which, when coupled with Standing Pedaling, can make a huge impact on your lower back pain. And with the risk of this sounding like an infomercial, the Catalyst Pedals I designed take this concept to its full conclusion by creating the most natural support possible for your foot, which further decreases pain and power and performance. Use A Strength Training Program That Creates A Well Balanced Body. Odds are pretty high that if you have low back pain then you haven't been consistently following a strength training program that creates a well balanced body, especially if you have been riding a lot. Maybe you haven't been working out at all or maybe you've been doing something that creates more stress on the lower back, like programs that have you doing a lot of circuits to build cardio or “work capacity”, but either way you need to evaluate your overall approach to creating and maintaining a healthy, high performance body. You can check out the podcast I did on Strength Training Basics For The 40+ Year Old Rider to learn more about what to look for in a good strength training program but as you get older this becomes more important. So in conclusion, Low Back Pain is about much more than just stretching your Hip Flexors and by following this advice you can get your Low Back Pain under control and start to move in a better direction with how you move on and off the bike.  Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

As you get older, strength training changes from a “good to do” to a “must do” status. Losing your strength, muscle and power are all realities for the 40+ year old rider and strength training is the best way to slow that process down. This is the #1 tactic for riders who want to do this for a lifetime - get and stay strong and you'll avoid age-related physical decline for as long as possible.   Plus, improving your strength, power and muscle mass can help improve performance and reduce your risk of injury, so it helps now and acts as insurance against future losses. And while a lot of things can help, if you want to maximize your results there are some basic principles that the 40+ year old rider should be observing. First, almost anything can “work” but it eventually stops working and it may not build the strength and fitness you need for riding. The goal is to follow a training program that will help us on the path towards riding for a lifetime: improving our MTB specific fitness and our overall longevity/ health. With that in mind, here are some basic guidelines to help you with designing or choosing a training program. Podcast Notes: 2-4 days a week is plenty and the specific number depends on how much you are riding and your ability to recover. The more you are riding and the more important your performance the fewer days you will lift. The more you are trying to focus on strength training/ building muscle the more often you need to lift. So this breaks down to 2 days a week during the riding season and 3-4 days a week in the off season depending on time available and goals. You want to focus on big, compound movements but doing some isolation exercises won't make you dysfunctional and can be beneficial in some cases. You want to focus on getting stronger or doing more volume with the main movement patterns and the exercises that train them - Squat, Hinge, Push, Pull, Carry and Rotate.I'd also break them up into unilateral and bilateral exercises But doing some isolation exercises like curls and tricep extensions can help with total body isometric strength as well as help with muscle building/ preservation. You want to use a variety of set and rep schemes, with the bulk of them focusing on the 2-4 sets of 3-8 reps.  2-4 sets is enough volume to build strength and power without excessive fatigue. 3-8 reps covers the strength and power end as it gets into the hypertrophy end of things, giving you a variety of training stimuli to pick from. I'd recommend 80% of your training falling in this range and the other 20% falling into the higher rep ranges, going up to 20-30 reps. I don't recommend spending time in the 1-2 rep range as the risk to benefit ratio isn't high enough for me to be comfortable with recommending to most riders. You don't need to train to failure to see results and IMO it should be avoided as a 40+ year old rider. There is a lot of science that tells us that you don't need to train to failure (or beyond) to see results. You can train to near failure and see the same results while also saving your body some wear and tear and also lowering your injury risk. Training to within 1-3 reps of failure is plenty to see results. This usually occurs when you start to slow down the concentric portion of the exercise, so as long as you go until you start to slow down then you are fine. Leaving 3-1 Reps In Reserve (RIR) also helps avoid injury since the closer you get to failure the more likely you are to see a technical breakdown that can lead to an acute or overuse injury. Don't use bodypart training and instead focus on total body or upper body/ lower body splits. Using bodypart training split (where you train the body by body parts like Chest, Back, Legs, Biceps, ect.) is a great way to build muscle but not the best way to build functional strength and power. Like I mentioned before, you want to focus on training movement patterns and so you want to divide your workouts based on those movement patterns. This means you can do a total body training split (where you train the lower and upper body on the same day) or an upper body/ lower body split where you focus on one area of the body each day. Total body training is usually better for minimizing soreness and maximizing recovery while the upper/ lower training split is better for creating more stress in one area, which can deliver better results with proper recovery or can help riders who recover really well and need more volume to stimulate progress. I suggest starting with a total body training split and then trying the upper/ lower training split if you feel you aren't getting fatigued from your workouts. Don't Overdo Circuit Training You don't want to turn everything into Circuit Training, where you do 3-4+ exercises in a row before repeating the Circuit for the specified reps. Circuit Training is great for getting a lot of work done in a short period of time but not great for building strength and power. You also don't need to get that much done each workout - 3-6 exercises is plenty for most people. Better to focus more on less as you get older. Do Straight Sets (where you do one exercise at time) or Supersets (where you do two exercises in a row) for your main lifts and save the Circuit Training for your secondary lifts. Use Isometrics to help round out your strength and safeguard your health. Isometrics are exercises where you create tension but don't create movement. It is the basis for the stabilization strength you need to display strength and power from a strong, stable platform. It is also a great way to practice good breathing habits during high tension efforts, which translates very well to the trail. Isometrics have also been shown to help with high blood pressure and isometric strength has been linked to fewer TBIs and longevity. Use isometrics to train movement patterns that you can't train with weights, either through lack of equipment or previous/ current injuries. If you are healthy then do one day of isomerics each week to round out your strength and longevity program. Build up the intensity of your workouts over several weeks. You don't want to come out and go as hard as you can in Week 1 of a new program. This gives you little room to improve and means that you will be maxing out your recovery abilities too soon. You want to start out easy in Week 1, moderate in Week 2 and then hard in Week 3. A good way to do this is to use the Reps In Reserve idea we talked about earlier. In Week 1 leave 3 RIR, in Week 2 leave 2 RIR and in Week 3 leave 1 RIR or go to failure if you must. Week 4 should be a deloading week so go back to 3 RIR and give your body a chance to recover from the hard week. Change your workout every 4-8 weeks, with longer periods with the same workout being better. I'm convinced that we change workouts far too often and that the 40+ year old rider would do better with changing workout every 6-8 weeks. As long as you are able to progress (i.e. add load and/ reps) then there isn't a huge need to change workouts.  Longer periods of time with a workout means more chances to build on the skill behind the exercises you are doing, which means you build mastery and lower your chance of injury. The more you do a workout the less sore you get from it, leaving you feeling better when you're riding or just during your everyday life. Last Piece Of Advice Is Not To Lift For Social Media Or Look To It For New Ideas Lifting to look cool on SM is a young person's game. You don't need to max out your Deadlift or try to jump up on a bunch of boxes. You also need to remember that a lot of the stuff you see on SM is there to get likes and look cool and probably isn't the most productive use of your time. Stick with the basics and weigh the risk to benefit ratio when trying new things. What does this look like in real life? I'll link to a copy of my current training program here for you to check out. This is also the format I use in my online training program, especially the Ultimate MTB Workout Program. What you'll see is 1 Power Exercise, 2 Main Exercises that use an upper body and a lower body lift around 3 secondary exercises that hit other movements or muscle groups I want to target. You'll also see that I'm using Straight Sets for the first 3 exercises (Power and Main Exercises) and Circuit Training for the last 3 (Secondary Exercises). After 6-8 weeks of this routine I'll switch it up by changing the exercises, sets and reps but sticking with the same basic outline. Switching between Sets and Reps like 3 X 3, 2 X 5 and 4 X 8 is a good way to use the suggested parameters from phase to phase. These are the basic parameters I focus on with my own training and the clients I work with who are in the 40+ crowd.  Focusing on doing fewer things but at a higher level of focus and mastery is one of the themes I like to push with these workouts. You can and should train hard, you just have to be smarter about when and how you push yourself to the limit. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

In this episode of the Riding For A Lifetime Podcast I share with you my morning routine that helps me set my day on a good trajectory.  Maximizing your health and longevity becomes a big priority as you get older. You can get away with abusing your body in your 20's and still being able to get after it but if you want to be able to perform well on a consistent basis into your 40's and beyond you have to start making good daily habits a part of your routine. Over the last several years I've developed a morning routine that I feel has helped me slow down the performance decline and maximize my results from training. Remember that training actually breaks your body down and how well you support the recovery process plays a big role in how hard you can train and what results you see from your training. 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.‌ ‌ Click Here To Stream This Episode or Download The MP3 File The three things that I do every morning are… Hydrate with water and electrolytes, particularly sodium. Breathwork drills like Box Breathing or Super Ventilation + Breath Holds (a.k.a. Wim Hof style breathing). Cold water exposure. First, hydration with sodium. After waking up I drink 16 ounces of water with a supplement called LMNT (I pronounce it Lemon T but it is supposed to be pronounced Element), which contains 1 gram of sodium along with 200 mg of potassium and 60 mg of magnesium.  Yes, I know that the FDA says that we should be limiting sodium intake but there are a lot of holes in their recommendations. Robb Wolf is a founder of LMNT and he has done a lot of great work on illuminating the difference between what we're told by the FDA and what the research on sodium intake actually says. While a fat, pre-diabetic person who doesn't exercise and eats a lot of fast food probably doesn't need extra sodium, if you are reasonably fit, workout on a regular basis and try to eat whole foods then odds are pretty high that you could stand to use more sodium in your diet. Several studies have shown that there is a sweet spot for sodium intake between 4-6 grams a day that result in optimal health outcomes. Restricting sodium intake to less than this has been linked to higher incidents of high blood pressure and cardiovascular death (ironically the things we're told that low sodium diets are supposed to protect us against). By starting your day off with a gram of sodium you are hydrating your body in a healthy way since water without sodium can throw off fluid balance. Sodium helps to regulate fluid outside your cells and potassium helps to regulate fluid inside your cells so your body needs these minerals to maintain optimal fluid balance.  If you don't get enough of these minerals from your diet then your body will leach them from your bones - along with calcium, which can weaken the bones and is something you want to avoid as an older athlete.  I usually take another 1-2 LMNTs throughout the day, especially if I'm doing something that causes me to sweat a lot, like going for a bike ride. If you have low energy, brain fog, muscle cramps or even recurring headaches it may be a result of low sodium intake, in which case increasing your sodium intake can have a massive impact on your health and performance. The second thing I do is spend 10-15 minutes doing some kind of breathwork. I've talked a lot about how better breathing can impact your health, performance and even your mood and so starting the day with some focused breathing drills can make a big difference in how your day unfolds. My two favorite breathing drills are Box Breathing or Wim Hof style breathing.  Box Breathing has you assign a time to the four parts of your breath - the inhale, hold at the top of the inhale, the exhale and the hold at the bottom of the exhale. By manipulating these four things you can create a change in the body's internal chemistry, which will result in changes in the body over time. For Box Breathing you start with 3 seconds for each part of the breath, so a 3 second inhale, a 3 second hold at the top, a 3 second exhale and a 3 second hold at the bottom. As this becomes easy you can add 1 second to each part of the breath cycle but make sure that you keep each part of the cycle the same length, hence the term “Box Breathing”. While your goal is to work up to 5 seconds or longer, you are getting results from whatever length works for you. The Wim Hof style of breathing goes in the opposite direction, having you breathe as deeply and as quickly as possible for 30-40 breaths. On the last breath, do a comfortable exhale and then hold your breath.  When you feel the urge to breathe then take a deep breath in and hold once more, this time for 10-15 seconds. Then you breath out and start the process again, repeating 2-3 more times for a total of 3-4 rounds.  While they are very different and deliver slightly different overall results, both of these methods alter the blood chemistry, which results in adaptations in the body, and they both act as a form of meditation, which has also been shown to have positive health benefits. If I had time I would do both of them every day at different times during the day. As it stands I can commit to doing one of them in the morning and so I like to alternate between the two breathing methods. I will say that the Wim Hof method is more stressful and so you want to make sure that you are in good health and then ease into it. The last thing I do is take a shower and finish with 1.5-3 minutes of a cold water rinse. You can be a gangster and just take a cold shower but I like to shower like normal with hot water and then finish with the cold. Cold exposure like this is part of a traditional way to harden the body and has been shown to have a lot of health benefits. Improved insulin sensitivity, improved mood and improved stress response are all documented benefits of cold water exposure and there are several other anecdotal benefits that people have reported as well. Most of the studies have been done using cold water swimming or plunging but a lot of experts in this area say that you just need to get uncomfortably cold to see benefits. This is why a cold shower can work and is better than nothing. Doing a cold plunge is probably better - inducing a shiver response delivers unique benefits to cold exposure, which is easier with a cold plunge - just exposing yourself to cold water for a few minutes in the morning can have long term health benefits. After that I'm ready to start my day. The biggest time investment is the breathing, drinking the LMNT doesn't take long and I'm taking a shower anyway so I may as well finish with some cold water exposure. All told I'm about 30 minutes into my morning and I've already invested in some pretty good health habits.  Having daily habits like this helps you do something every day towards your goal of riding for a lifetime. You can't workout every day but it is good to do something every day to keep momentum and help you feel like you are moving forward on a regular basis. Plus, it amplifies the results from your other training and riding. Of course, this is just my routine and it won't work for everyone. But even if you can't follow this routine or find it doesn't do anything for you then the takeaway message is to have something that you do everyday that moves you closer to your goals.  And if you have any questions or would like some advice on creating your own routine then let me know, I'm always happy to help.  Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training Systems p.s. Just like you need daily habits to help keep you fit and healthy, you need a strength training routine to offset the effects of aging and give you the strength needed to ride for a lifetime. In the 40+ MTB Rider Training Program I show you how to use the best strength training strategies to help you improve your riding fitness while maximizing your time and avoiding overuse injuries.  I also include a section on Breathwork and show you how to assess your breathing and several different training methods to help you improve your cardio in a unique way. If you need a workout plan that takes into account the realities of being a 40+ year old rider and gives you the tools and workouts to improve your health and fitness then click the link below to learn more and get your copy.   Click Here To Get Your Copy Of The 40+ MTB Rider Training Program  

BYU basketall color analyst Mark Durrant joined the show to discuss BYU's strong start to college basketball season and the upcoming start to Big-12 conference play.

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: 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

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

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  

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 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… Stand up more on the bike. Focus on freeweight exercises in the gym. Use exercises like the Ab Wheel, Leg Raises and Windmills to focus on core strength. 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.

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.

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

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

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  

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

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 ----------------------------------- 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

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

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  

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

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  

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

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

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  

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

I was working out with my daughter this morning and we were talking about how I was her age when I started to get serious about strength training. I told her that while I had “worked out” for a few years before turning 16 and getting my license, it mainly consisted of periodically sneaking into the local rec center with some friends and hitting the weight room 5 times in one day. I didn't have a way to be more consistent but that changed when I got my license. After that I got a membership to a small gym about 10 minutes from my house and started to go almost every day. Like everyone else back in the early 90's I was following a bodybuilding routine, which had me training different body parts on different days and sometimes hitting the gym twice a day. I was reading Flex and Muscle & Fitness and following the advice from their pages and I put on some muscle and saw some changes in my body that made me more confident. For a while if you had asked me why I worked out I would have told you that I was a bodybuilder. I worked out to get bigger and change how I looked. And part of the reason was that I didn't know that there was another choice. But then I started to come across magazines like Muscle Media 2000, which exposed the open secret that all the top bodybuilders were on steroids and that you couldn't train like them unless you were too. I changed my approach to fewer days with more intensity - the ultimate example being the months I spent doing the Mike Mentzer One Set To Failure Program - but I still saw myself as a bodybuilder.  But then I started to see articles about this thing called “functional fitness”. People started to point out that a lot of the puffed up bodybuilders you saw in the pages of magazines weren't very strong or athletic (except for Ronnie Coleman, who was every bit as strong as he looked). The term “looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane” started to get thrown around as a way to describe how a lot of people who followed bodybuilder programs came up short in the performance category. It turned out that training to perform well and training to have big muscles were not the same thing. Athletes trained much differently and those training methods started to become more popular. Bodybuilding started to take on a negative meaning and everyone stopped doing curls and started doing Olympic Lifting. And I jumped into this new fad with both feet. To be honest, I was a little disillusioned with bodybuilding. I'm not a naturally big guy and I realized that I was never going to be a mass monster. So training to improve my performance gave me another reason to hit the gym. This was also around the time that I started mountain biking and seeing how Functional Fitness helped my riding inspired me to start MTB Strength Training Systems. I've been a huge advocate for functional fitness and have seen it help a lot of people…but I'm starting to realize that I may have gone too far. Bodybuilding has a valuable role in your strength training toolbox, especially as you get older. The truth is that losing muscle mass is a big part of age-related declines in performance, which means that the more you have and the harder you work to keep it, the longer it takes for that decline to start and it is more of a gradual decline rather than a sharp drop off. Muscle can also serve as natural “armor” for when you hit the ground and act as the catalyst for more strength gains. Considering everything that adding some muscle can do for us it makes sense to spend some time doing it. And who knows more than anyone on the planet about building muscle? That's right, Bodybuilder. So if you want to build and maintain muscle then they have some things to teach us. If you want to learn more about the lessons we can take from Bodybuilders check out the video I shot last week. 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.‌ ‌ There is a difference between putting on muscle from starting to lift weights and purposefully lifting to gain muscle and there is some value to the latter. You need muscle for natural “armor” and as a way to fight against natural muscle loss. Muscle can also serve as the engine for more strength gains. Nobody knows more about building muscle than bodybuilders. Building muscle tends to focus on lots of volume with moderate to short rest periods. In general, 25+ total reps gets you into the muscle building zone with 30+ reps being optimal. Set X Rep schemes that fall into this muscle building zone - 3 X 10/ 3 X 12-15/ 4 X 8/ 10 X 3/ 5 X 5 You can also use things like drop sets and other methods to create more fatigue through volume. Another thing to use are isolation exercises. Focus on Active Isometric Isolation Exercises where the rest of the body is creating a platform for the single joint to move from. Doing some arm training won't kill your functional gains either. The off season is a great time to spend some time focused on building muscle in the early off season before switching to the strength and power focus we need on the bike. It's probably not the best choice during the heart of the riding season due to the lack of resources for you to build muscle but it's also good to throw in every 2-3 training phases. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater - Functional Training is a great way to train but Bodybuilding still has some things we can gain from as well. Hopefully I've given you a reason to dust off the ol' dumbbell curls and work on adding some muscle this off season. If you need a training program that takes this into account then be sure to check out the Ultimate MTB Workout Program, where the early phases work on fixing your movement while also adding some functional muscle. Let me know if you have any questions about this or anything else related to helping you improve your health and performance.  Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training Systems

One of the hardest parts of learning to ride a mountain bike is how to make good decisions on the trail in the heat of the moment. A lot of wrecks are caused by bad decisions about speed and line choice and bad decisions can also lead to you working harder than needed So how do you acquire the skill of good decision making on the trail? The best place to start is with the decision making process and the best model for this that I have found is the OODA Loop. OODA Loop was developed by Lt. Colonel John Boyd to explain where good ideas came from, particularly in the heat of the moment. It consists of 4 parts, with each part flowing into the next while also informing the previous stages as well.  Observe: You observe what is going on through your own observations and other information coming from outside sources. Example: You see what is coming up on the trail/ You have someone tell you about what is coming up. Orient: You orient yourself to the situation based on the information you have at hand, your past experience and even your genetics. Decide: Based on your Orientation to the situation you make a decision about the best course of action. Act: You take action based on your Decision.  The Orientation process is the generally most important part of The Loop. The more you are able to bring to the Orientation process the better Decisions and Actions you can take. To improve your Orientation process you can gain more experience through more riding, training camps/ clinics, reading books, watching videos and thinking about the problems you are facing. This is one of the reasons that new riders struggle with their Decisions on the trail - they simply don't have the resources for their Orientation process. New riders need to be able to ride, make mistakes and learn from those mistakes.Instead, well meaning riders tend to over-coach and over-recommend technology to make up for what is simply a lack of experience.  Another thing to take from this is that the faster you can go through the Loop the faster you can act. Being able to make decisions faster can make up for a lack of speed and power. Visualization can also help with the Action part of the Loop. Once you have Decided on an action, you can see yourself doing that action successfully.  This will help you be able to Act faster through familiarity of the action through visualization. You also can't get through the OODA Loop if you are stuck in the Fear Loop. You have to deal with your fear and make a decision to act before you can start to move through the OODA Loop. Controlling your breathing is one of the best ways to help you move through the Fear Loop and into the OODA Loop. Knowing where you get stuck can help you identify what you need to work on to improve your decision making on the trail. Fear Loop: Change your relationship with fear to move out of it and into the OODA Loop. Observe: Learn to pay better attention and to use your peripheral vision. Orient: Get the experience you need to improve the information you have to draw on. Decide: Visualization to try out different ideas. Act: Visualization to see yourself performing the idea you decided to act on. Your best asset on the trail is your brain and its ability to run through the OODA Loop faster and more effectively. Hopefully this information can help you ride with more confidence and flow. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training Systems

Everyone wants to improve their cardio and a lot of riders invest time and money following programs to help them do that. While things like intervals and steady state cardio are well known things that can help improve your cardio, there are other things that can help that most riders don't know about. Over the last few years I've been diving into the science behind some other training methods that have been shown to improve your cardio and endurance on the trail. These things don't get the press that other methods do right now but as more evidence to their benefit comes out you can be sure you'll be hearing about them more.  But you don't have to wait, you be ahead of the curve and get an advantage on your riding buddies/ competition that don't use these methods yet. If you want to maximize the results of your cardio training program you should consider including these things as well. I shot a Live Stream going into this subject in depth and this podcast is the audio replay from it. You can find the show notes below: IsometricsGreat way to learn how to apply proper breathing to different levels of tension in important positions. Increases the enzymes responsible for aerobic metabolism. The highest level of High Tension Cardio you can achieve. Breathwork/ Breathing DrillsOne study found that you could double your results from a cardio training program simply by adding in some breathing drills.  Breath Hold CardioDoing breath hold cardio can improve CO2 tolerance, EPO -> Red Blood Cells -> Hematocrit Levels, the strength of the respiratory muscles, and the buffering of lactic acid. Bonus - Strength Training if you aren't doing itWhen done right, strength training should be making you a more efficient mover, which means you will burn less energy for the same amount of effort. If you want an easy way to start applying these things to your training program be sure to check out the Atomic Strength Isometrics Program and the Better Breathing For MTB Program. Both can give you the tools you need to take your cardio and performance to a level you can't get to without them. Let me know if you have any questions or comments about this post and I hope that it gave you some new things to think about as you get ready for the off season. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training Systems

I'm doing something a bit different with this podcast. I've decided to start shooting a YouTube Livestream video 3 days a week to get more information out there faster and this is the replay of the first episode. In this one I answer a rider's question about how to gain more confidence on the trail. I've got the show notes below and you can listen to the podcast with the audio file from it as well.  Right now I plan on doing the livestream on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9:45 a.m. I'll get the schedule more official in the next few weeks but if you can tune in for one I'd love to see you there. Q: How do I gain more confidence on the trail? I'm a newer rider and pretty fit but I struggle to wrap my mind around some of the obstacles I come across on my rides. A: This is a common question for new riders. I have a couple of things I suggest because not all of it is "mental", as in all in your head. Some of it is gaining confidence through success and setting yourself up for that success. First, make sure you are riding flat pedals. I highly recommend the Catalyst Pedals that I invented because it gives you the most stable platform for your feet. But any good flat pedal will be better than clipless pedals. There is a learning curve with flat pedals but once you get past it you'll be much more confident. Second, spend time drilling things like front wheel lifts, rear wheel lifts and trackstands (practice with both left and right foot forward). These are the basic skills that make up most of what you do through technical sections on the trail and if you have dialed in then you will be much more confident using them on the trail. Third, there are a lot of great books on the subject of sports psychology - one of my favorites is Psych by Jud Biasiotto - but in my experience you have to gain confidence through success more than anything else. Hopefully this helps, let me know if you have any other questions. Last, make sure that you are controlling your breathing and know how to use visualization on the trail. Making sure you don't fall into “stress breathing” and seeing yourself ride through something in your head will go a long way towards helping you do it in real life.  You can check out the new Better Breathing Program to help with this if you need help with using your breathing more effectively on the trail. . Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training Systems

10 years ago I decided to become a literal white belt at something new - Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I had been riding bikes for 12 years at that point and had achieved a reasonable level of skill and fitness. But my progress at that point was only in small increments, which is typical when you reach a certain level of proficiency with anything, and I wanted to feel that thrill again that came with being new at something. You know what I mean - that feeling that you're progressing in big jumps and that you're able to do something new on a regular basis. I remembered what that was like when I first started riding and wanted to start Jiu Jitsu as a way to inject it into my life again. So I found a Jiu Jitsu school near me and started on what has turned out to be a profound chapter in my life. Jiu Jitsu has taught me a lot about myself and helped me to be a better person and coach, both of which have helped the mountain biking side of my life. A few weeks ago I was honored to receive my black belt in BJJ, which is something that only happened because of the help of some great people along the way. The journey has had its ups and downs but in the end it's been a journey that has changed me in a lot of ways. When I look back on my journey I see that there are lessons that I took from it that have a lot of carryover for mountain biking as well. Musashi told us that in order to understand your chosen art better you must study other arts since they hold lessons that can help us on our chosen path. For me, BJJ has been a way to deepen my understanding of mountain biking and what it takes to be a “black belt” at it as well. You‌ ‌can‌ ‌stream‌ ‌or‌ ‌download‌ this episode ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌link‌ ‌below‌ ‌or‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌on‌ ‌‌Itunes‌,‌‌ ‌Podbean‌,‌‌ ‌‌Spotify‌‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌all‌ ‌other‌ ‌major‌ ‌podcasting‌ ‌platforms.‌ ‌ USE‌ ‌IN‌ ‌BLOGPOST:‌ ‌ Click‌ ‌Here‌ ‌to‌ ‌Download‌ ‌the‌ ‌MP3‌ ‌File‌ ‌ USE‌ ‌IN‌ ‌NEWSLETTER:‌ ‌ Click‌ ‌Here‌ ‌to‌ ‌Stream‌ ‌or‌ ‌Download‌ ‌This‌ ‌Podcast‌ ‌Episode‌ ‌ You can also check out the notes below in case you don't have time to listen to the podcast. Lessons Learned From Earning My BJJ Blackbelt for MTB Prepare people for the journey and take the pressure off of fast progression for beginners. A black belt is just a white belt who didn't give up. You have to take care of your body if you want to get a black belt - 10 years is a long time getting your ass kicked. Black belts think about less than the beginner, they just know exactly what the most important thing to focus on is. You can't go hard all of the time. Focused drilling is the key to progress BUT don't drill for muscle memory, drill to understand the principles behind the technique. Technique is the window into the principles that make up the sport. Identify a problem -> Research an answer -> Drill the technique -> Apply the technique You learn on easy opponents and pressure test stuff against hard opponents. Nothing can replace time on the mats. How to compete and why it is important. Focus on the journey. You can't get better by yourself. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training Systems

Powered by 8 strong innings from Chris Bassitt that saw him concede 2 runs while Eduardo Escobar more than made up for it with a 5th inning Grand Slam the Mets cruse to a 9-2 victory over the Athletics

I've got a new podcast for you today covering some important topics to help improve your training and riding. In it I'll be sharing my thoughts on dumbbells for MTB specific training, the findings of a study that looked at breathing patterns and functional movement, plus I'll answer a rider's question about how narrow is too narrow when it comes to handlebars. You‌ ‌can‌ ‌stream‌ ‌or‌ ‌download‌ this episode ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌link‌ ‌below‌ ‌or‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌on‌ ‌‌Itunes‌,‌‌ ‌Podbean‌,‌‌ ‌‌Spotify‌‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌all‌ ‌other‌ ‌major‌ ‌podcasting‌ ‌platforms.‌ ‌ You can also check out the notes below in case you don't have time to listen to the podcast. Training - In Defense of Dumbbells I've used both tools extensively over my training career and while kettlebells are a great tool, there are some things that I think the dumbbell does better. Here are 3 things I think dumbbells are still a valuable tool for the mountain biker to use. The DB Cheat Curl is a better power movement than KB Swings By using a narrow stance, the DB Cheat Curl is more specific to the explosive hip hinge we use on the bike. Plus, you can do Stagger Stance and Pedal Stance to make it even more specific, which you can't do with a KB Swing. The 5 pound weight jumps are much more manageable, especially at the lower weights KB's use 4 - 8 kg jumps, which is 8.8 - 17.6 pounds. This is a large jump, especially when you are looking at it from a % of the previous weight. Going from 16 kg (35.2 lbs) to 20 kg (44 lbs) represents a 26% increase in weight, while going from 35 lbs to 40 lbs represents a 14% increase.  DB's don't smash into your wrists and forearms and are more comfortable to train with I know this is a personal preference but after taking some time off from heavy KB lifting and trying to get back into it I realized WTF am I doing? I can get the same results with DB's without the forearm grinding nonsense.  I know that some people will say “What about the offset weight of the kettlebell? Doesn't that make it more functional?” To which I say, it isn't offset that much and so no. If you really want to work with an offset load then get a Steel Mace or Heavy Indian Club. These are tools created to train that specific strength quality, which I think is very important. However, the KB isn't really offset that much, especially when compared to these other tools. If you want to train that quality, use a purpose built tool that does it much better. I'm not saying to go smelt your KB's, I'm just trying to defend the DB as a needed training tool. You're not at a disadvantage because you only have DB's and the DB Cheat Curl may be worth making sure that they are a part of your training program. Bro Science - Breathing Pattern Disorders And Functional Movement https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3924606/ Study looked to find a relationship between Breathing Pattern Disorders and Functional Movement. They found a strong correlation between BPDs and low scores and failures on the FMS. Of those that scored 14 or more on the FMS, 66% of them were diaphragmatic breathers. 18 people scored 14 or greater, so that means that all but 6 were diaphragmatic breathers. However, to pass you have to have a score of 14 or more and you can't have any asymmetries. This brought the number of people down from 18 to 8. Out of them, all but 1 were diaphragmatic breathers (87.5%).  Two takeaways here. First, out of all the tests they used, the simple Hi-Low Test worked the best. It had the strongest correlation and so you don't need anything fancy to test your breathing. This is why the Hi-Low Test is part of the breathing assessment in the 40+ MTB Rider Training Program. Second, if you value functional movement and how it can help you on and off the bike then you need to give breathing the attention it deserves. While you can do it - one person did in the study - the odds are greatly stacked against you. Better breathing also leads to improvements in other areas as well, making it a low hanging fruit that's a great investment in your performance.  Rider Q&A - What is “too narrow” for handlebars? Q: I tried the handlebar width exercises. Falling forward is consistently 610mm and similar to push ups when I keep my elbows in. I think a 610mm handlebar width is a bit too narrow! Do you have any thoughts? A: I would guess that 610 cm is a bit too narrow from a steering point standpoint. The narrower your bars the less input you need to get the bike to start leaning over when turning and too narrow can make it "twitchy". My handlebars are about 675 mm wide, which is a bit wider than my push up test but wide enough to keep the steering from feeling twitchy. Of course, the only real way to know is to test it but that requires handlebars you can cut down and be fine with throwing away if they don't work. Maybe your local shop has a used pair you could get for cheap and experiment with. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

While most riders understand the need for better technical skills to ride with more confidence and improve their safety on the trail, few understand the need for basic medical skills to improve these things as well. There are a lot of reasons for this lack of understanding, including lack of coverage in the mountain biking media and misunderstandings about what you need to learn and carry. But the end result is that, as a group, we are woefully unprepared to handle a traumatic injury situation. I know because up until  a year or so ago I was one of those riders. Ignorant about how easy it was to learn what I needed to know and how inexpensive it was to have a few tools to help, I went on countless rides where if something had gone wrong it could have been a disaster. Luckily I came upon some great resources to help me improve my medical preparedness, including the company Mountain Man Medical (https://www.mountainmanmedical.com/). Their mission is to help prepare as many people as possible to be able to provide help in the case of a traumatic injury situation and they proved to be one of the best resources I could find. I reached out to their director Brian McLaughlin to see if he would come on the BikeJames Podcast and he agreed to come on and share some potentially life saving information with my audience. In this podcast he shares… The MARCH algorithm and how it can help you know how to help someone in a traumatic injury situation.  The truth about tourniquets and how long they can be on before someone might lose the limb it is on. The top pieces of gear you should consider carrying on the trail. Brian's secret to be successful in a traumatic injury situation. We also talk about the free video training series they offer on the MARCH algorithm, which I can't recommend strongly enough. Yes, it is completely free with no strings attached and you can find it here -  https://www.mountainmanmedical.com/product/emergency-trauma-response-training-course/ The SWAT-T Tourniquet that Brian recommends you consider carrying on the trail you can find here - https://www.mountainmanmedical.com/product/swat-t-tourniquet/  The Tracker Trauma Kit we talked about can be found here - https://www.mountainmanmedical.com/product/tracker-trauma-kit/  You can also save 15% off your purchase with the coupon code BIKEJAMES, just enter it at checkout to save some money on equipment that could save a life. I hope you get some valuable information from this podcast that you never need but, if you do, can save you or someone else. And please share this podcast with your fellow riders, the more of us that are on the trail prepared to help in a traumatic injury situation the safer we'll all be.  Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training Systems p.s. I shared what I carry on the trail to help in an emergency situation in the Advanced MTB Loadout video. Check it out to get some ideas on what you can carry to be better prepared to help yourself or someone else on the trail. And remember to get your gear at www.mountainmanmedical.com and use the coupon code BIKEJAMES to get 15% off your gear.  

Last week I gave a talk about better breathing at my friend's chiropractic office. He runs a comprehensive wellness center along with his chiropractic practice and had asked me to share some of the things I had been telling him about how breathing can impact your health, performance and mindset.   And while I was excited to do it I was also a bit nervous because it had been a couple of months since I had stood in front of a bunch of people and talked about the impact of better breathing. I knew the material but I had to check my notes bunch and I didn't feel like the material flowed.   So I decided to practice my presentation on FaceBook Live from the MTB Strength Training Systems page. I've always enjoyed the chance to share stuff with people who may tune in live and so it seemed like a good way to practice my presentation while also sharing some great info with my fellow riders.   In this webinar I explained how your breathing can impact you both positively and negatively. I also shared some ways you can assess your own breathing and things you can do on a daily basis to help improve it. At the end of it I wanted people to understand common breathing dysfunctions, why they are bad for you and how you can fix them if you have them.   I know that most of you didn't catch the FaceBook Live event and so I've put the replay a podcast.   I hope you get something from the video or podcast replay that you can use in your own training, riding and life. If you have any questions about something I share let me know, I'm always happy to help.   Until next time…   Ride Strong,   James Wilson   p.s. I strongly believe that your breathing should be the foundation of everything you do to help you improve your riding. Better breathing will help you move better, use less energy and be less prone to triggering the dreaded “I can't catch my breath” feeling.   This is especially true if you are in the 40+ crowd. As we get older the advantages of youth start to wear off and so you have to take advantage of things that will help you sustain your performance. Better breathing is one of this things.   This is why I included a Breathing section in the new 40+ MTB Rider Training Program. It combines several unique training methods along with breathwork into a training program that isn't like anything you'll find anywhere else. If you're looking for something different - something made for 40+ year riders by a 40+ year old rider - then click the link below to learn more and get your copy.   Click Here To Learn More And Get Your Copy Of The 40+ MTB Rider Training Program

In this episode of the BikeJames Podcast I look at how your internal chemistry affects your consciousness and how you can use breathing to affect both. You‌ ‌can‌ ‌stream‌ ‌or‌ ‌download‌ this episode ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌link‌ ‌below‌ ‌or‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌on‌ ‌‌Itunes‌,‌‌ ‌Podbean‌,‌‌ ‌‌Spotify‌‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌all‌ ‌other‌ ‌major‌ ‌podcasting‌ ‌platforms.‌ ‌ As much as we hate to admit it, our internal chemistry will affect your consciousness - which affects your performance on the bike and in life - and without having an understanding of this and a plan for how to control it then you are leaving it to chance. Getting a better understanding of this and the tools to do something had made a big impact on my performance and mindset and while I know that it isn't something that everyone will connect with, I know that some of you need this type of info more than you need another core training exercise or workout routine. I hope this podcast is the spark that you need to start paying more attention to this forgotten aspect of living a healthy and happy life. You can find more info at my website or let me know if you have any questions or comments, I'm always happy to help. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training Systems p.s. I feel that this is such an important part of a holistic approach to your performance that I'm including breathwork in the new 40+ MTB Rider Training Program that I'll be releasing in a few weeks. Breathing is a foundation for your performance and mindset and something the older rider really needs to focus on to get the most out of what they have. I'll also be doing some remote classes and workshops in the coming year to share more about this with my fellow MTB riders. PODCAST NOTES Controlling your consciousness is one of the biggest questions faced by mankind. Your consciousness is how you are experiencing the world and it plays a direct role in your performance and happiness. While most people would recognize how changing your blood chemistry through a strong drug like LSD or mushrooms will affect your consciousness, most people fail to realize how small things on a daily basis do the same thing.   Another example is treatments for depression - the whole point of antidepressants is to change your internal chemistry into one that helps change your consciousness and perception of the world. Looking at natural chemistry, a good example would be a spike of adrenaline from getting startled or scared. Your consciousness and perception of the world changed as a result and no matter how much you didn't want it to happen, it will have an effect. On a performance level, rising levels of CO2 are what trigger that panicky “I Can't breathe” feeling - no matter how fit you are this change in blood chemistry will impact your consciousness and force you to slow down. As much as we hate to admit it, our internal chemistry will affect your consciousness - which affects your performance on the bike and in life - and without having an understanding of this and a plan for how to control it then you are leaving it to chance. So if your internal chemistry is so important then how can we influence it without drugs? The answer is through breathing. How you breath and the rate you breath at will directly influence your chemistry in some pretty profound ways. First, the muscles you use to breath will have an effect. Your body is designed to use the diaphragm to drive your breathing but, since breathing is so important, it will develop dysfunctional breathing patterns if this is not reinforced. The most common and problematic breathing dysfunction is the use of the chest to drive your breathing.  When you do this it is not only less efficient from a performance standpoint but it also creates a stress response in the body.  Since chest breathing is only supposed to be used during periods of high exertion - like running for your life - it signals to your body that you are under stress.  This increases the amount of stress hormones you have in your bloodstream. This less efficient breathing pattern also results in less efficient gas exchange in the lungs, which leads to higher CO2 levels. All of this affects your chemistry, which also affects your consciousness. You'll have a tendency to feel more stressed and have less control of your emotions under these conditions. Second, what hole you use to breathe has an effect. Breathing through the nose makes it easier to engage the diaphragm, which helps with the first problem.  Breathing through your nose also mixes Nitrous Oxide (NO2) into the air. NO2 is a vasodilator which opens up the blood vessels and makes it easier for blood to flow. The improved blood flow makes it easier to get oxygen to working muscles and to take up waste products like CO2.  And since rising levels of CO2 are what trigger the panicky “I can't breathe” feeling it is important to control this for performance and anxiety. Which leads us to the third point, which is how much you breathe has an effect. Most people tend to over breathe, which means they are breathing more than is needed for what they are doing. One of the problems with this is that it leads to chronically lowered levels of CO2 since you are not only taking in more oxygen than you need but you are also breathing out more CO2 as well. Chronically lowered levels of CO2 create a new baseline for the body, which means that it takes less of a rise in CO2 in your blood to trigger the “I can't breathe” feeling we have all experienced at some point. This has a direct effect on your consciousness while performing - if you are riding your bike and every hard effort triggers that feeling then you are not going to have a fun ride and you will not be able to push as hard and ride as fast. This is also a contributing factor to anxiety and panic attacks - since you need CO2 to release oxygen from red blood cells (known as the Bohr Effect) then blowing off too much CO2 will make it harder for your body to actually use the oxygen it has in it. So when something triggers a stress response that includes accelerated breathing with someone who is already over-breathing you can blow off so much CO2 that your brain starts to panic from not getting enough oxygen released into the bloodstream. This is why breathing into a paper bag can help someone who is having a panic attack and feels like they can't breathe - they intake some of the exhaled CO2, which raises the CO2 levels high enough to get the oxygen to release into the bloodstream. If you want to be able to control your consciousness you have to control your breathing. Breathing with the diaphragm, using the nose as much as possible and being aware of over breathing are all ways that you can have a big impact on your chemistry and consciousness.

In this podcast I interview the creator of the Brake Ace system Matt Miller. Matt is the only person I know who literally has a Ph.D. in mountain biking and during his research for his doctorate he gained some really interesting insights into what it takes to be a faster rider. While the main topic we cover is how focusing on your braking efficiency can be the missing link for a lot of riders, we also cover a lot of other topics that can help you improve. You‌ ‌can‌ ‌stream‌ ‌or‌ ‌download‌ this episode ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌link‌ ‌below‌ ‌or‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌on‌ ‌‌Itunes‌,‌‌ ‌Podbean‌,‌‌ ‌‌Spotify‌‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌all‌ ‌other‌ ‌major‌ ‌podcasting‌ ‌platforms.‌ ‌ You can find out more about Matt at www.MTBPhD.com, the Brake Ace system www.BrakeAce.com and check out his podcast at www.PerformanceAdvantagePodcast.com. BTW, there are a couple of spots where I lost my train of thought while I was on a tangent based on some interesting stuff Matt talked about. I was going to edit them out but then I realized that it was all part of the conversation and so I just left them in. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson “Speed does not necessarily mean being faster than the enemy. It means being smarter than the enemy.” Miyamoto Musashi - The Book of Five Rings

In this podcast I review the findings of a 2017 study on mountain biking injuries and give you my recommendations based on them for avoiding the most common injury patterns. You‌ ‌can‌ ‌stream‌ ‌or‌ ‌download‌ this episode ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌link‌ ‌below‌ ‌or‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌on‌ ‌‌Itunes‌,‌‌ ‌Podbean‌,‌‌ ‌‌Spotify‌‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌all‌ ‌other‌ ‌major‌ ‌podcasting‌ ‌platforms.‌ ‌ Some people look at injury studies like this with a fatalistic approach of “that's just how it is and there is nothing we can do to significantly change things”. I look at them and say “if people are getting hurt at a higher than normal rate, is there something we are doing wrong that is leading to it”? Running Shoes is a good example of this - small changes to the status quo vs. a paradigm shift in how we look at running. Is the industry getting it all wrong with the equipment and techniques we promote along with how we promote mountain biking to new riders? Here are my big takeaways from the study linked to below: https://journals.lww.com/acsm-csmr/fulltext/2017/11000/mountain_biking_injuries.10.aspx Big Takeaway #1 - Mountain Biking has a higher than average rate of injuries in general and head/ spine and overuse injuries in particular. With almost a third of injuries occurring during the race, MTB is among the sports leading to high overall injury rates in Olympic sports (20). During the 2012 Summer Olympics, 21% of mountain bikers reported acute or overuse injuries, half of which had led the cyclists to lose at least one training/race day (20). Fifty percent of recreational bikers and 80% of professional mountain bikers have reported at least one major severe injury directly related to the sport (35). Microtraumatization of contact and noncontact areas due to repetitive forces and vibration, in addition to fatigue, renders the rider vulnerable to overuse injuries (13). Such injuries are reported in 45% to 90% of mountain bikers (13). Injury-related cost of care for the cyclists can be a significant financial burden for cyclists and health care in general (46). However, the potential risks of cycling are outweighed by the health-related benefits of riding a bike. The most common mechanism of acute severe injury for competitive mountain bikers has been falling forward (64.9%), and 85.6% of such injuries have occurred while riding DH (14). Falling forward had led to a significantly higher Injury Severity Score (ISS) and emergency department admission rates than falling to the side (14). Head injuries lead to concussions, skull and facial fracture, cerebral contusion, and intracranial hemorrhage. In one study, oromaxillofacial trauma, fractures, soft tissue injuries, and dental trauma accounted for 55%, 23%, and 22% of cases, respectively (24). Dental trauma also has been reported in 25% of the mountain bikers. In 107 cases of acute spine injuries in MTB in a level 1 trauma center, 95% were male (18). Only two were professional cyclists and injured during a race. Mountain biking spinal injuries consisted almost 4% of all spinal injuries (18). Cervical spine injuries were diagnosed in 74% of cases. Eighty-four percent of riders had used helmets and/or body armor. Fifteen percent of patients had documented coexisting brain injury. The ISS did not differ significantly in those with helmet (16.4) versus those without helmet (16.3). Ulnar and median neuropathies are common among cyclists, with ulnar neuropathy (cyclist's palsy) being present in 19% to 35% of the cyclists (4). Prevalence of knee pain is 20% to 27% among mountain bikers (13). With a prevalence of 16% to 43%, neck pain is a common complaint among mountain bikers (13). While the clipless shoes provide the cyclist with mechanical advantage in energy transfer chain during cycling, they potentially expose the cyclist to some injuries including metatarsalgia (62) and Morton's neuroma (34). Low back pain (LBP) is a common complaint among mountain bikers with a prevalence of 24% to 41% (13). Genital area numbness (GAN) and erectile dysfunction (with prevalence of 50% to 91% and 13% to 24%, respectively) are two of the most common chronic injuries of genitourinary system in male cyclists (27). Other complaints include dysuria, scrotal abnormalities, urogenital, and perineal pain. Impingement of the pudendal nerve in Alcock's canal due to stretching, vibration, and ischemia has been proposed as the cause of pudendal neuralgia and paresthesia in cyclists (51). In contrast to road cycling, the more upright riding posture of mountain bikers leads to higher loading of buttocks area (42). Poorly fitted bike, saddle type, increased riding distance, prolonged seated position without standing, and high body weight appear to be contributing factors. Correction of these factors, physical and manual therapy, and minimally invasive interventions to block or ablate the pudendal nerve may be effective treatment methods. Male mountain bikers also have a significantly higher rate of abnormal ultrasonographic findings in scrotums compared with noncyclists and road cyclists, (94%, 16%, 48%, respectively) (46). Big Takeaway #2: Downhill Riding/ Bike Parks are Significantly More Dangerous Than XC Various terrain conditions and participants in the sport have led to a variety of injury patterns among mountain bikers. With only severe injuries included in a study conducted in 1995, injury rate per exposure was similar between DH and XC races (38). However, when comparing the injury rate per 1000 h, the DH cyclists had a significantly higher injury rate in comparison to XC cyclists. The injury rates were 7.5 and 3.1 per 1000 h for female and male XC cyclists, respectively (p = 0.01); while the rates were 46.8 and 42.7 per 1000 h for female and male DH cyclists, respectively (p > 0.05)(38). An emerging trend is the growing number of mountain bikers attracted to mountain bike terrain parks (MBTP), which facilitate the DH rides and provide the cyclists with a variety of technical trail features, leading the riders to spend more time riding DH at high speeds (55). Mountain bike terrain parks have become a common location for MTB injuries where the overall acute injury rate for recreational mountain bikers is reported to be as high as 15 in 1000 exposures with 87% of injured riders being male (1). During the 2009 biking season in a MBTP, 86% of injury visits to a local emergency center were male, and 52% of cases were visited between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. (5). Upper-extremity fractures consisted 74.2% of all fractures, and 11.2% of all patients had traumatic brain injury. Almost 9% of patients required transfer to a higher-level trauma center (5). Predictive factors for increased risk of MTB crashes include prior history of crashing, riding in the dark or in a group (60). Riding errors, trail conditions, obstacles, fatigue, and poor weather also are among the most commonly cited causes of injury (10). Riding DH, at higher speeds and competing in MTB races also are reported as predisposing factors (36,38). For recreational riders in MBTPs, riding unfamiliar bicycles and being faster than usual can be regarded as injury risk factors, while jumping, using safety equipment other than helmets, and using a new bike increase the risk of hospitalization due to trauma (55). IMO these patterns show two things. First, clipless pedals and the “sit and spin” mentality are leading to a much higher rate of injuries than needed. Clipless pedals contribute to the severity of OTB crashes and increase the chances of incurring head and spinal injuries while also contributing to overuse injuries from poor foot support. Sitting down more than necessary - especially during High Tension Efforts - leads to overuse injuries, especially in the groin area. By using flat pedals and standing up more to ride you will help to avoid some of the most common injury patterns seen in mountain bikers. Second, it also speaks to how dangerous it is for the industry to promote our sport - especially the DH/ Bike Park  and even the Enduro scene - to people who aren't ready for it and to not speak about the real dangers of riding and the need to be physically and technically proficient. I know that these lessons probably aren't going to be popular with the mainstream mountain biking world but hopefully they can help you avoid the problems that plague so many riders. Not all injuries are avoidable but by doing what you can to address the most common ones you can stack the odds in your favor. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

In this podcast I interview Kevin Estela, who is the author of 101 Skills You Need to Survive In The Woods and the Director of Training at Fieldcraft Survival. He is also a martial artist and combines lessons from that area with his extensive background in wilderness and survival skills to give a unique perspective on what it really takes to be ready for the unexpected. You‌ ‌can‌ ‌stream‌ ‌or‌ ‌download‌ this episode ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌link‌ ‌below‌ ‌or‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌on‌ ‌‌Itunes‌,‌‌ ‌Podbean‌,‌‌ ‌‌Spotify‌‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌all‌ ‌other‌ ‌major‌ ‌podcasting‌ ‌platforms.‌ ‌ You can find Kevin online at @estelawilded on Instagram or through the www.fieldcraftsurvival.com website. In this interview we go over a lot of things that riders should think about when venturing into the wild. From skills and tools to the mindset you need, you'll come away from this interview with a new perspective on what it really takes to be truly “ready”. Here are some of the questions I asked him... What got you into the whole “preparedness/ survival” thing? Can you explain the “Ready Formula” that you shared in the workshop I did with you? Why should a mountain biker care about wilderness and survival skills? What do you see as some common scenarios someone who is spending time out on trails in the wild could face? What are some tools that people don't think about carrying that could make a big difference if they needed to weather an unexpected situation? What kind of training do you think people should have to help them prepare for the unexpected on the trail? What type of EDC gear should someone think about carrying? Can you explain the “layers” of gear you would want to carry? You've probably heard a lot of tragic stories about situations that turned out far worse than they needed to be. Is there a common theme or skills that you would say is the missing element in the majority of these stories? Expanding your skills into areas other than just riding are important for making sure that you can avoid bad situations and keep them from getting worse when you can't. I hope you'll learn some things from this interview that can help you today and get you interested in more training in some of these areas in the future. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson “To practice your craft as a warrior takes a tremendous amount of devotion and you must understand the need for frustration while you are training. Few can understand this, to their discredit.” Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings

Episode # 140 - Y&T's Aaron Leigh releases solo single "Live For Today" on a Zoom chat!! Aaron talks how he found his love for music, meeting Tesla's Frank Hannon and being in his band, being asked to join Y&T. His solo singles which he complied to an EP, this track "Live For Today." His love for being in the studio as an Engineer, Mixer and Producer, Songwriting, playing in Y&T and Livestream with the Vagabond Brothers in a Birthday Tribute for Prince, which today is his birthday and so much more!!

In this podcast I interview the founder of The School of Crazy Monkey Self Defense, Rodney King. Having both a Doctorate and personal experience on the streets of Johannesburg, South Africa, Coach Rodney understands interpersonal violence from both an academic and personal experience point of view. You‌ ‌can‌ ‌stream‌ ‌or‌ ‌download‌ this episode ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌link‌ ‌below‌ ‌or‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌on‌ ‌‌Itunes‌,‌‌ ‌Podbean‌,‌‌ ‌‌Spotify‌‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌all‌ ‌other‌ ‌major‌ ‌podcasting‌ ‌platforms.‌ ‌ Some of the things we talked about include: How Rodney became a Real World Self Defense expert. Origins of The School of Crazy Monkey. Coach Rodney’s philosophy of self defense Why a lot of what you see on YouTube won’t work. Common mistakes people make in self defense scenarios. Detecting and Avoiding violence. Neurology of Interpersonal Violence and how this affects us physically. How the mindset and tools needed to survive a self defense situation are the same you need to become a better rider. You can learn more and sign up for a free self defense basics course at http://www.SchoolofCrazyMonkey.com. I strongly encourage you to start there as a first step if you need to improve your self defense skills. It is an important part of being an MTB Warrior and something that we can’t put off on someone else to do for us. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training Systems “Always be aware of the easiest way to accomplish something. Do not strive to do something difficult because you seek favor in the eyes of others.” Miyamoto Musashi

In this podcast I cover Performance Breathing for MTB and how you can use specific breathing methods and workouts to improve your endurance and ability to focus in high stress situations. You can stream or download it from the link below or you can find it on Itunes, Podbean, Spotify and all other major podcasting platforms. Here are the notes from the podcast: In a previous podcast I covered the basics of Better Breathing for MTB and why you need to focus more on this important part of health and fitness. The 3 Keys to Better Breathing are: Nasal Breathing Breathing with the diaphragm Matching your breathing to your effort level In this podcast I want to focus more on High Performance Breathing and how you can improve your endurance and ability to focus in high stress situations. To do this there are 4 methods you can use: Breathing Gears If you look at your breathing patterns as “gears” then you can see how to use them more effectively. You have 3 basic breathing patterns: Easy: Nose-Nose with a 3-4 inhale and 3-4 second exhale Moderate: Nose-Mouth with a 2-3 second inhale and 1-2 second exhale Hard: Mouth-Mouth with a 1-2 second inhale and 1-2 second exhale You can train this through Superman Breathing during your warm up and using them during your workouts. Breathing Gears Intervals and Ramping Isometrics are two methods that train this skill directly. CO2 Tolerance Workouts (a.k.a. Breath Hold Training) Breath holds have a long list of benefits for us as endurance athletes (even DH Racing is a Strength/Power Endurance Event) Improved CO2 Tolerance (changing your relationship with CO2), increased EPO (which signals maturation of red blood cells) and improved strength of the breathing muscles through isometric contractions are some of the top benefits. By creating a Low Oxygen (hypoxia) and High CO2 (hypercapnic) environment you create the metabolic environment needed to signal these changes. This is accomplished easiest by holding on the exhale and then moving. You can do things like: Walking Running Riding Bodyweight Exercises like Squats and Push Ups By using a pulse-oximeter you can see how low you are getting your blood oxygen saturation and make sure you are getting it to at least 85% (equal to being at 14,000 feet) to get the most benefit. You are looking for 5 strong breath holds to trigger the metabolic changes you are looking for. It may take a few times doing it to be able to push yourself that low - especially if you have a low BOLT Score - but you are still gaining benefit through the exposure to higher levels of CO2 so don’t give up just because the numbers aren’t going down that low. Proactive Breathing Tied to the Breathing Gears Method, this method has you shift gears before you need to when you know a hard effort like a climb or hard sprint is coming. Doing this keeps you ahead of the fatigue curve by blowing off CO2 and getting more oxygen to the muscles in anticipation of the hard work to come. Overbreathing on purpose like this has a place in your toolbox but you still want to avoid overbreathing on a regular basis both on and off the bike. Breathing Workouts (Tempo Breathing and Fire Breath a.k.a Wim Hof Method style) Taking time to do breathing specific “workouts” is also a great way to improve your High Performance Breathing. Tempo Breathing like Triangle Breathing and Box Breathing are good ways to improve CO2 Tolerance and reduce Overbreathing. Fire Breathing like you see in the Wim Hof Method has been shown to decrease markers of inflammation along with having a positive effect on the immune system. I personally do 3 rounds of Fire Breathing and then 10-15 minutes of Breath Light to improve my breathing and mindset. Your breath is the foundation of your performance and should be a focus of your cardio training efforts. Without doing that, over the long run you are usually doing more to reinforce crappy breathing habits than you are to improve your performance. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson “Flexibility is a very important attitude. Things will not always go your way regardless of your practice and your attempts to define your own existence.” Miyamoto Musashi

In this podcast I talk about fear, or more specifically, your relationship with it. Learning how to deal with fear is an important part of improving as a mountain biker and understanding how it works and what you can do about it can improve your riding and your life. You‌ ‌can‌ ‌stream‌ ‌or‌ ‌download‌ this episode ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌link‌ ‌below‌ ‌or‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌on‌ ‌‌Itunes‌,‌‌ ‌Podbean‌,‌‌ ‌‌Spotify‌‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌all‌ ‌other‌ ‌major‌ ‌podcasting‌ ‌platforms.‌ ‌ Here‌ ‌are‌ ‌the‌ ‌notes‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌podcast...‌ ‌ This last weekend I went to a workshop put on by Tony Blauer, creator of the SPEAR System for self defense. While I learned a lot of easily applicable tools for dealing with a bad guy, I also learned a lot about dealing with fear. Tony uses a flowchart to explain what he calls The Fear Loop and explains how managing it is the key to success. In a self defense situation, getting caught in the Fear Loop will cause you to hesitate or fail to react at all when your life is on the line. In life the Fear Loop is what keeps us from doing what we know we should do but keep finding reasons not to. And on the trail the Fear Loop is what keeps us from trying new technical features or going on epic rides that we haven’t “trained for”. Fear can weigh us down and oppress us or it can act as the fuel to survive and even thrive in all of these situations. The goal isn’t to get rid of fear, the goal is to change your relationship with it. “Fear is a friend of exceptional people” - Cus D’Amato (Mike Tyson’s first trainer) You can’t solve a problem if you are part of the problem and you are part of the problem if you are stuck in the Fear Loop. The Fear Loop is basically the movie you start to play in your mind after a fear spike happens. In this movie you are cast as the #1 victim and it can have a lot of different ways to play out, including associations, visualizations, limiting beliefs and the doubt-hesitation-fixation-anxiety cycle. The goal is to find a way out of this loop either through a Challenge or a Threat “Door”. Going through this “door” is how you start to figure out what you want, how to get it and what you plan is. Acting out this plan while reviewing the results and watching for a slip back into the Fear Loop is the next step. While the goal is to move with complete confidence through this last part, you may be hesitant and not sure. The main thing is to take some action versus complete inaction. The first step is to realize what is going on and be self-aware enough to figure out what you are really afraid of. If you know what you are afraid of you can start to get out of the Fear Loop much faster. Remember, though, that fear can also inform you about what you need to do or improve as you move through the Challenge/ Threatened Door. And limiting beliefs are sometimes true but that isn’t an excuse to not try or to tap into other things like heart and grit. Practice courage in small steps because it is contagious...but so is fear. Ultimately, fear can be the fuel that saves your life or pushes you to a new level on your bike. “Change your relationship with fear and you will change your mind. Change your mind and you will change your life.” Coach Tony Blauer Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

In this podcast I answer a rider question about e-bikes and another question on how to maintain muscle mass and strength while riding. You can stream or download it from the link below or you can find it on Itunes, Podbean, Spotify and all other major podcasting platforms. Here are the notes from the podcast... Q: “Are e-bikes good or bad for mountain biking?” This isn’t about whether you should get an ebike or not, simply what my opinion of them is. I get a lot of riders who assume I must dislike them since they make things “easier” but that isn’t the case. Like almost everything else in life, when you start talking about ebikes you need to first give your opinion some context. While some people see ebikes as the next best thing to the invention of the “safety cycle” itself, others see it as a sign of the coming apocalypse. It seems to me that the problem is that two people can be talking about the same word and yet be talking about two totally different contexts. On one hand you have the people who see the ebike as a great way for riders to ride further and longer than they would have, either due to age, injury or just their own preferences. On the other hand you have the people who are talking about the weekend warrior type who are using an ebike because they are “easier” and seem like they want to be able to ruin as many people’s experience on the trail as possible with their ignorance of trail rules and etiquette. Both of these types of riders exist and they both use ebikes. I completely support the first group but not the second. Call me an elitist but I think that there is more to being a mountain biker than owning a mountain bike. The industry wants to “grow” the sport simply to sell more bikes and equipment, not because it is what is best for the sport. I think that the weekend warriors who bounce from one outdoorsy sport to another and never take the time to learn how to help preserve the things they are doing are bad for our sport and will eventually lead to negative consequences for everyone else. But that is an industry focus problem, not an ebike problem. Ebikes are simply tools and how you use them will ultimately determine if they are “good” or “bad”. Q: I'm a 40 yo male who does a full body style workout 4 days a week doing all the big compounds and have made some great gains. My question is I want to be more proficient on my rides but do not want to lose the muscle that I’ve achieved. Is this possible? Thanks! The ultimate question - how do I be good at riding without looking like a cyclist. This is a great goal, especially as you get older. At a certain point your body starts to lose muscle mass and working on having and maintaining a healthy level of muscle mass is an important part of Riding For A Lifetime. Another reason to want to maintain your muscle mass is that it is the best armor you can put on your body. The more muscle mass you have the more stress your body can take before something goes snap. But to get better at riding your bike you need to ride your bike...a lot. So how do you balance the two? Here are some ideas… You may have trouble lifting 4 days a week while also focusing on riding 3+ days a week (which is what I would recommend you do to get better at riding). I’d recommend cutting back to 2 days in the gym and doing 2 days of Isometrics (Atomic Strength Training Program). When you ride, focus most rides on shorter rides of 45-90 minutes. On these rides focus on your skills and efficiency instead of trying to “go fast” or “work hard”. Once every 5th ride or so you can go fast/ hard or go for a really long ride. If you have any questions you’d like to send my way I’m always happy to help, just send an email to james@bikejames.com. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson “It is essential for a student on the path of the warrior never to close their mind to the possibility of other possibilities.” Miyamoto Musashi

In this podcast I talk about medical training for mountain bikers and why you need to know how to help yourself or a fellow rider. The truth is that what we do is a dangerous sport that usually takes place away from civilization and knowing how to stabilize someone who has suffered a traumatic injury until the real help can arrive is an important skill in the MTB Warrior’s toolbox. You can stream or download it from the link below or you can find it on Itunes, Podbean, Spotify and all other major podcasting platforms. Here are the notes from the podcast... If you ride long enough you are going to crash. If you crash enough eventually you or someone you are riding with is going to get hurt. What we do is dangerous and a lot of the time we are doing it away from civilization where help can take some time to get there. I’ve personally been around a few bad injuries, including a broken neck and kid who fell off a cliff, and I’ve known some riders who had bad puncture wounds, including the femoral artery with their handlebars. The point isn’t to scare people, simply to point out something that the industry as a whole tends to ignore, which is probably resulting in worse outcomes for some riders who could have benefitted from someone who was ready to help. Most people will say that they are ready to help if needed but it takes more than just the desire to help. You need the knowledge, skills and tools to help as well or your desire to help can’t be put to use. The goal of this podcast is to cover some general topics, including the MARCH Algorithm for dealing with traumatic injuries, and hopefully spark some interest in learning more. I’ll also make some recommendations on equipment to carry to help you as well. Remember too that the goal is not to become a trauma medicine expert, simply to be able to help stabilize someone long enough for the real help to arrive. The first thing you need to do is assess the situation and make sure that it is safe for you to help. You don’t want to make the situation worse by adding another person who needs help to the situation. You also want to make sure that someone has contacted help or is going to contact help. If possible, make sure someone is going to meet the help somewhere that they know so they can be led directly to the person needing help. Once you have done that it is time to apply the MARCH Algorithm… Massive Bleeding. If someone is bleeding heavily then you need to stop it before they bleed out, which may be only a few minutes if they have severed an artery. Tools to use include a tourniquet, gauze, compression bandage, quick clot or an “Israeli Bandage”. Airway. You need to make sure that they can breath as comfortably as possible so check for airway obstructions or have them get into the recovery position on their side (assuming no head trauma so do this after completing the algorithm). Respiration. Check to see if they have any sucking chest wounds that need to be addressed. Chest seals work best but you can also use a plastic bag and duct tape, taping only three sides to leave some ventilation. Circulation. Re-check to see if you missed anything or any tourniquets you placed need to be tightened again. This is also the place to start CPR if needed. Head Trauma/ Hypothermia. Head Trauma means making note of the presence of head trauma because you don’t want to move someone who has a brain or spinal injury. Hypothermia refers to how the body can have trouble staying warm after massive bleeding and you need to cover the person up to keep them warm, even in a hot environment. Solar Blankets work well for this purpose. After you have assessed the situation and taken the needed actions at each step you are now ready to decide on the next course of action - stay put or try to move them to help. These skills are also valuable in your everyday life where you could come across a car accident or have a bad accident at home that requires more than a band-aid to fix. Being the MTB Warrior means having the skills to “bring the others back” (which includes being able to bring yourself back if needed too) and the medical side of things is an important part of that skill set. And we’ll end with a quote from Miyamoto Musashi’s The Book of Five Rings… “Force yourself to develop the skills needed to become the warrior you define yourself to be.” Be sure to visit www.bikejames.com to sign up for a great free isometric workout program and, if you like it, get the Atomic Strength Training Program. And also visit www.pedalinginnovations.com to learn more about the Catalyst Pedal, the world’s only double-pressure point pedal that allows maximum stability and performance from your feet. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training Systems

In this podcast I talk about becoming an MTB Warrior, or someone who is able to “bring the others back”. Being the kind of person who can help yourself and others both on and off the trail is something that the world needs more of and something I think we should talk about more as a sport. You can stream or download it from the link below or you can find it on Itunes, Podbean, Spotify and all other major podcasting platforms. The truth is that mountain biking is a hard, dangerous activity. And while the cycling industry keeps working harder and harder to soften the edges and make it as appealing to as many people as possible in an effort to sell as many bikes and accessories as possible, you can’t get rid of all of these elements. Wrecks on the bike and mechanical failures can put you in a position where you will need to know more than the geometry and specs of your bike. You also have to look beyond just the trail and make sure you are prepared to deal with potential issues like vehicles getting stuck in the middle of nowhere and hostile animals/ fellow humans. Because of this I think that it is important to look beyond the bike and become an MTB Warrior, or someone that can help themselves and others if needed. The point isn’t to become paranoid but simply to be prepared. Look at it like this - You can pretend that nothing will happen to you or you can pretend that something might and take appropriate steps. Either way you don’t know until the end how it turns out so you're just deciding on which “pretend” you want to play. In my experience there are 7 skill sets that you need to truly be prepared: Health/ Fitness - It all starts here. Being healthy and fit for the tasks needed is the foundation that all your other skills are built on. MTB Skills - Being able to ride with efficiency and flow is important not only for your performance but your safety as well. Riding at the ragged edge of your skills all the time because you have none is a sure way to end up hurt and the one needing help. Maintenance and Mechanical Skills - You need to know how to work on your own bike. While you don’t need to be able to build a wheel, knowing how to keep your bike running and safe is not something you want to outsource to someone else. You also don’t want to be the guy standing on the side of the trail hoping that someone will come along who knows how to fix whatever is wrong with your bike. Medical - We participate in a dangerous activity that can take place far away from where medical personnel can easily get in to help. This means you should know how to stabilize someone who has suffered a traumatic injury until help arrives. Combatives/ Self Defense - Violence can happen anywhere and to anyone. Pretending that it isn’t going to happen to you won’t help if it comes your way so you need to know how to spot it and handle it if it does. Bushcraft Skills - Since we can get pretty deep into nature it is only smart to know how to co-exist with it. Being knowledgeable about what you might encounter and how to survive overnight if needed can be the difference between a cool story and a tragic tale. EDC (Daily/ Vehicle/ Bike) - EveryDay Carry is simply what you have on you so you can be helpful if needed. From carrying a small knife and flashlight on a daily basis to having a tourniquet in your hydration pack, there are a lot of simple things you can carry that can keep you prepared for whatever gets thrown your way. My goal with MTB Strength Training Systems is to expose and educate my fellow riders on these other elements that I feel should be part of their training program. In the meantime you can join a BJJ gym, watch the free video series on Mountain Man Medical and make sure you have the basic things you need to fix minor mechanical problems on the trail. To close, here is a quote from one of my favorite warriors from the past... “The warrior attitude is very simple. Focus your mind on your goal, constantly strive to attain perfection, and do not allow yourself to be sidetracked.” Miyamoto Musashi Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

In the final episode of the series, Content Director Rob Spedding talks with Alan Murchison. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Professional coach and elite mountain bike racer Tom Bell returns to talk about how a training plan can help you achieve your cycling goals this year. Following on from the episode on fitness testing, Tom reveals the secrets to setting goals, planning training blocks and what to do if you don't have much time to train. We also talk about common pitfalls to avoid and how get yourself back on track in the event of any setbacks. For more information on Tom and his coaching business, High North Performance, check out www.highnorth.co.uk or subscribe to Tom's YouTube channel. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, we talk to Tom Bell, a professional coach and elite mountain bike racer, about why you should be testing your fitness regularly, and how you can go about doing it. We go through all the kit you'll need (and what to do if you don't have any of it), as well as some of the key performance metrics that you should consider measuring and what they can tell you. At the end of the show, we'll also set you a little bit of homework… For more information on Tom and his business, High North Performance, as well as more information on training and racing, check out www.highnorth.co.uk or subscribe to Tom's YouTube channel. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We're back with Ben Plenge from MTB Strength Factory to look at practical ways in which you can improve your strength with mountain biking and cycling in general, in mind. If you missed the previous episode on why strength and conditioning is so important for cycling, check out last-week's episode.For more information on Ben and his Strength Factory in-person and remote coaching business, check out www.thestrengthfactory.uk or his social media pages – ‘mtbstrengthfactory' on FaceBook and ‘strengthfactory_coach' on Instagram. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We talk to Ben Plenge, a strength and conditioning trainer from Bristol, who's clients range from every-day riders up to World Cup and EWS racers and pros, including Wyn Masters and Vero Sandler.In this episode, Ben talks us through why strength and conditioning training is so important if you're looking to improve on-bike performance. While Ben's work focusses on mountain bikers, there's plenty of relevant information for our road-riding listeners too.For more information on Ben and his Strength Factory in-person and remote coaching business, check out www.thestrengthfactory.uk or his social media pages – ‘mtbstrengthfactory' on FaceBook and ‘strengthfactory_coach' on Instagram. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of the BikeJames Podcast I tell you why trying to use your ankles to absorb shock on your bike is a bad idea and actually makes it harder for your lower body to absorb shock properly. The notes for it also turned into an article, which you can read below if that works better for you... One of my biggest surprises with bringing the Catalyst Pedal and the mid-foot position it allowed to the MTB world was the push back I got from the skills training industry. It turns out that the vast majority of skills coaches and organizations have bought into the false logic of needing the be on the ball of the foot to move properly on the bike. The logic goes that you need your ankles to help absorb shock and that if you use the mid-foot position then it is like landing a vertical jump with flat feet, which is very jarring and obviously not the way to land a jump. The idea is that the range of motion of the ankle that is giving you the extra shock absorption that is making the difference in the two landings, which means that you need your ankles to absorb shock. The problem is that, once again, people are pointing to analogies from other sports/ activities that don’t reflect the context of being athletic on the bike, i.e. the feet don’t come off the pedals. When your feet come off the ground then you do need to use the ankles to help you land but even then they aren’t being used to absorb shock. In fact, MTB is the only sport where coaches are actively looking to put extra stress on the ankle joint. It is known as one of the most sensitive and easily injured joints in the body and the goal is usually to minimize stress in order to avoid injuries. The ankle joint is a small joint with a long lever arm, which magnifies stress being placed away from the ankle joint itself. It is not designed to absorb shock, it is designed to move itself (and the foot) into a neutral position to let the real shock absorbers do their work. The hips are surrounded by the largest muscles in the body and have amazing leverage for both producing and absorbing shock. They are the shock absorbers of the lower body. Most lower body movement problems stem from not being able to use the hips properly, which makes using them efficiently a top priority. But your foot has to be in a certain position and stabilized correctly to let the hips do their work in the most efficient way possible. If it isn’t then the hips can’t absorb as much shock, which places that stress on the knees and ankles. This means that being on the ball of the foot screws you in two ways… First, having the pressure point being so far away from the ankle joint increases the leverage and hence the force being placed on the ankle joint. This is why you’ll see people’s ankles buckle sometimes and in extreme cases Achilles tendon tears (ala Rachel Atherton a couple years back). This is why most DH riders actually run a more mid-foot position than you are led to believe. Second, by having nothing under your heel you leave that end of the arch unstable, which makes it much harder to recruit and use your hips. The back of the arch has to be able to create pressure into something so that the hope can work efficiently. This is why you are told to not come up on your toes when doing deadlifts or squats and to drive through the whole foot, including the heel.  Even OL coaches tell people to “stomp” their heels back down to the ground to get their whole foot stable before the weight starts to come back down and they have to absorb it. If you really needed your ankles to absorb shock then they would cue their athletes to wait until the weight started to come back down and then use the ankles to help catch the weight. And what about the vertical jump, which is the Holy Grail of analogies for this story? What you see during a vertical jump is the ankle moving to get the foot flat so that the hips can absorb the impact. Once again, it is not being used to absorb shock. Another thing that a lot of coaches don’t want to talk about is that vertical jumping is only one example of jumping, with the broad jump being another. However, it doesn’t conform to their logic as you see the heels hit first on a broad jump as this is the best way to get the foot flat while going along with the momentum. If you needed land on the ball of the foot for the ankle to absorb shock in all instances then this wouldn’t be the case. There are also a lot of examples where athletes absorb shock without using their ankles, including surfing, skiing, snowboarding and skateboarding. In the gym you see this with Swings, where you keep the foot flat on the ground because that is the best way to absorb shock in that context. When you look at analogies from sports and activities that have the same context as MTB you see a clear picture, which is that you need to have both ends of the arch supported so the foot spreads out the forces going into the ankles and it is easier to recruit the hips. Even the broad jump is closer to what you want to do on your bike, as the explosive movements we make are wanting to project energy forward, not straight up.  On a personal level for you, the rider reading this, this is why your ankles are stiff and you have plantar fasciitis, knee pain or low back pain - being on the ball of the foot creates a crappy situation for your lower body where it has to adapt by getting stiff in the ankles and spreading force meant for the hips over the other joints that aren’t meant for it. This is also why you have so much trouble moving properly when you stand up on your bike - your hips are locked up because of how unstable your feet are. It doesn’t matter how mobile you are off the bike, your ability to use it on the bike will always be compromised without the right foot position and support. And yes, there are a lot of good riders who use a ball of the foot position. That is a testament to their mental focus and the human body’s ability to adapt to just about anything, at least in the short term. What you don’t hear about is how much pain those same riders are in or how hard they have to work to keep it under control (massage, chiro, cryo, etc.) and how it adds up over the years. There is a difference between adapting for the now and creating sustainable movement habits. Just like the clipless pedal industry is still clinging to the “pull up on the backstroke” story to help the need to attach yourself to the pedals, we see a lot of well meaning skills coaches sticking with the “you need to use the ankle to absorb shock” story to sell the ball of the foot position.  And no, it isn’t a matter of “personal preference” or “what works for you might now work for everyone”. This is a nonsense argument that is used by people who can’t support their point of view. You should be able to give some sort of reason based in science, movement principles or context appropriate analogies or else you are just being what I call a “reality rager”, where you are mad at reality and refuse to deal with it. Basic human psychology tells us that once you’ve created a story and you have sold other people on that story it gets tough to go back and admit that you were wrong, even if a better idea is presented (it is called the Semmelweis Effect after the guy who figured out that washing hands could save lives but got thrown in an asylum for his “crazy” ideas). But at some point the MTB industry needs this to happen so we can move forward with finding the best ways to perform on our bikes.  Lastly, if you’re a skills coach then you owe it to yourself and the industry to do more in the areas of how to apply basic movement principles to the bike. At the end of the day you are a movement coach as you are trying to help people move better on their bike, so you first have to understand how to help someone move better in the first place. This will also help you spot the countless false analogies and faulty logic used in our sport to sell people on outdated concepts. Being on the ball of the foot to create or absorb energy is an old, outdated concept that we have to move past. Our sport isn’t very old and cycling as we know it is only around 150 years old so we have not had the time to work through the bad ideas like some other sports have. It is ok for us to have made a collective bad decision based on the best info we had at the time but it starts to become sad the longer we hang onto these ideas once they have been disproven and actually shown to work against us.  Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

In this episode of the BikeJames Podcast I answer some rider questions that I’ve gotten over the last few weeks. They include: Q: Is it alright to turn your feet out on the pedals? Q: What are your new strength standards for MTB? Q: How can I use intervals to train myself to keep pushing past the top of a climb? You can download or stream this episode, as well as see the show notes, by clicking the link below. If you have a question for me send it to james@bikejames.com and I’ll be happy to help. Nothing is more frustrating than not knowing what to do to help you with your problem and I try to help as many riders as I can avoid that frustration.  Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training Systems

In this episode of the BikeJames Podcast I interview Chuck McGee III, a breathwork specialist from Northern California. Chuck is featured in the book Breath as the man who introduced the author James Nestor to the WIm Hof Method and someone has helped me a lot on my own breathwork journey. In this interview I share some of my own breathwork journey and what got me started down this path and Chuck tells us what most people don’t realize about better breathing, why nasal breathing is the way we were meant to power our efforts, how you can assess your own breathing and the transformational power of taping your mouth at bedtime. We also talk a lot about the Wim Hof Method, which has had a profound effect for both of us and something I now do on a daily basis. You can learn more about Chuck and sign up for his free Monday evening breathwork session at www.icedvikingbreathworks.com. You can learn more about the Wim Hof Method at www.wimhofmethod.com.  Like I say in the beginning of the podcast, in many ways this is the most important podcast interview I have done because of the power that better breathing has. Coupled with how many people have some sort of breathing dysfunction, the info he shares in this podcast has the potential to help a lot of riders in a more profound way than just about anything else I’ve ever talked about on the podcast. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

In this episode of the BikeJames Podcast I interview strength coach Dan John. Dan is one of the most sought after strength coaches for his unique insights and ability to produce results with a wide variety of clients and goals. Dan has also been one of the most influential coaches on how I look at training, including his focus on Fitness vs. Health and how those two goals can sometimes be at odds with each other. His concepts have helped shape my training programs and philosophy and over the years I have had the chance to meet, train and even share a couple of beers with the man that many people affectionately call Coach. He is the author of several books, including the classic Never Let Go and his most recent work, Attempts. His website www.danjohnuniversity.com is also a great resource for great info and training programs and you can try it free for 14 days (as of this podcast you can use the coupon code CORONA to get a special deal on a membership). In this interview I ask Coach about his views on training for performance versus health, how his religious studies background has impacted his training philosophies and why Connect 4 can help you learn better strategy. And as always, Coach was full of great insights and stories that help you understand complex concepts. Until next time... Ride Strong, James Wilson  

In this new episode of the BikeJames Podcast I cover... Training Grip strength training for mountain biking: What to do, when to do it and why some common grip strength exercises aren’t very MTB specific. Skills Avoid the “Attack Position” - Why spending too much time in this position makes it harder to steer and maneuver your bike. Bro Science Effect of isometric strength training on mechanical, electrical, and metabolic aspects of muscle function - A look at the study that convinced me that Isometrics are some of the best cardio training you can do. You can stream or download this episode by clicking the link below. You can also find  the BikeJames Podcast on Itunes and Podbean. If you have any questions about this episode or anything else related to training or riding let me know, I’m always happy to help. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training System Show Notes: Training Grip strength training for mountain biking. I get most of my grip strength training from riding and my “normal” strength training. If I am riding less than 2 times a week I will add in some other specific grip strength work. I’ll also prescribe some grip specific work to help quickly improve that area if someone is deficient in the specific grip strength skills needed on the bike. The context for grip strength on the bike is needing to change tension levels quickly while stabilizing the wrists in all 4 directions. This is why things that work on “grip strength” by challenging the grip with static loads and no wrist stability have limited carry over for MTB...and yes, this even means Farmers Walks, which I do more for the High Tension Cardio than grip strength. The best ways to train MTB specific grip strength is through Swings and Mace 360’s/ 10-2’s. Swings can be either KB or DB. Mace 360’s/ 10-2’s are the best, most specific grip strength training you can since it does a better job challenging the wrist stability. Skills Avoid the “Attack Position” The Attack Position has a few names but it is essentially the Low position on your bike with your butt back and your chest down, kind of like the bottom of the Deadlift/ Hip Hinge position. While it has its uses, the trend to find a single position to move from on the bike has people spending too much time in it. As you get low on the bike your weight will naturally start to shift back as your hips slide back. This takes weight off the front end and biases your weight to the back of the bike. This is a good position if you need weight off the front end but your ability to steer relies on your weight/ pressure on the front tire and a lot of skills require a weight shift from front to back. If your weight is biased to the back then it makes it harder to maintain traction in a corner and to initiate skills like manuals, bunny hops, drops and jumps. The Attack/ Low Position is good for keeping you from going over the handlebars but unless you are in imminent danger of going over the bars then it isn’t needed and actually makes it harder to move and steer on the bike. You want to have a taller, more forward “neutral” position on the bike and drop down into the Attack Position as needed, not use it as your neutral position. Don’t be afraid to put some purposeful pressure on the front end and you’ll find that you can steer and move much more effectively. Bro Science Effect of isometric strength training on mechanical, electrical, and metabolic aspects of muscle function. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00420988 6 sets of twins were used with one twin doing isometric knee extension training on the right leg. Results showed several really interesting things: Iso group showed a 20% strength increase in the right leg AND an 11% increase in the left leg. Increased EMG activity in the Rectus Femoris. Decrease in the IEMG/ tension ratio at sub max levels, indicating a more economical/ efficient use of the RF Muscle biopsies showed an increase in the enzymes responsible for aerobic metabolism.  Conclusion - increased recruitment of available motor unit recruitment pool, improved efficiency at sub-max loads and enhancement of oxidative metabolism in the muscle. If this were a “cardio training” technique results like that would make it a must-use method but because it is a “strength training” technique it is dismissed. Isometric training improves strength and your cardio in ways that nothing else can, which is why I use them and recommend them to every rider.  

In this podcast I cover... Skills Trackstands: The most under-rated skill in mountain biking. At its core this is the skill of balancing without any momentum. The slower you are going the more you need your slow speed balance. Skills like switchbacks, technical climbs and rock gardens all require this skill. Allows you to use skill instead of momentum and luck. Easy to improve/ One of the best uses of your “off trail” training time. Make sure you work both feet forward. Rider Q&A Are flat pedals bad for your knees/ role of float in clipless pedals. Your leg and foot don’t create energy in a straight line, they use a spiral motion where the foot “screws” into and off what it is on. This movement is in relation to the ground/ what you foot is on. When you strap the foot to the pedal and restrict its movement in relation to the pedal then your knees will blow up from this lack of rotation. Putting float in clipless pedals allows a little rotation before you unclip, allowing the foot to rotate a little and taking stress of the knee. On a flat pedal your feet aren't restricted in relation to the pedal and so it can create that screwing motion into the pedal. This is the more natural way for your foot to function and captures the rotational energy the foot and leg produces. This is why people with knee problems often see improvement when switching to flats despite the lack of “float”. Float is a solution to strapping your foot to the pedal, which is a product of the unstable forces going into the pedal.  Your foot doesn’t need or want “float” as you find it in no other sport or situation.  If you fix the problem of the unstable energy through a pedal like the Catalyst Pedal then you don’t need to strap your foot on the pedal in the first place. Gear Review Sense Of Motion Shoes Small operation making shoes in Montrose CO. Foot healthy shoes. Light and breathable. Dry quickly. Just enough sticky rubber to do the job, especially on Catalyst Pedals. www.SOMfootwear.com  Until next time... Ride Strong, James Wilson

In this episode of the BikeJames Podcast I talk about a few topics and how they can help your training and riding. On Bike Movement Skills Inside hand pressure for front wheel traction during cornering - The #1 thing you need to focus on to corner with precision. Bro Science 1 Set vs. Multiple Sets for Strength Training - Why you need both for best results and how I’ve been using Isometric Training to help me safely do this. Gear Review Wim Hoff Method app and Fundamentals Course - I’ve spent the last 4+ weeks following the Wim Hoff method and I’m convinced that it has a lot of value for riders looking to improve their performance and recovery. If you have any questions or comments please leave them below this post or send me an email to james@bikejames.com, I’m always happy to help. Until next time… Ride Strong,   James Wilson

I’ve always thought of mountain biking as a great way for men and women to come together. My wife and I ride together, I’ve had several female riding buddies over the years and, in general, if a girl was willing to show up and get a little dirty, she was welcomed into the group. Unfortunately, over the last few years I’ve seen the slow creep of the social justice warriors into our sport, which has led to the idea that women would flock to mountain biking if the stinky guys would just get out of the way. Part of this idea is the argument that mountain biking is “gender neutral”. At its heart this is well intentioned - no one should be discouraged from riding based on their gender - but it also ends up harming the same people it is trying to help. Nothing in nature is “gender neutral” and that includes mountain biking. It is in understanding the differences that we can help each individual find the best path for them. Pretending that there are no differences between men and women means that we can’t have honest discussions about the best path for each to improve. In this podcast I explore this idea and explain why mountain biking is not gender neutral, why this is alright and what this means for really empowering women riders to take control of their improvement. Like I say at the beginning of the podcast, my intention with this is not to discourage women from riding but to help them find their own personal path to mastery and enjoyment. Nothing is more discouraging than not knowing how to find that path because people won’t be honest with you, and in the end that will lead to more women quitting riding. I hope this podcast can help you better understand the differences between the sexes and how you can use that to make better training and riding decisions. We need more people using mountain biking as a tool for self improvement, not as a battleground for ideas that are not based in reality. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

In this podcast I share my insights in the concept of Riding For A Lifetime. Based on my own journey with getting older along with my 30 years of strength training experience - 20 years of it as a fitness professional and 15+ years focusing on mountain bikers - this concept is based on one simple idea... There is a difference between training for short term performance gains and training for longevity.  Performance enhancement and longevity can’t both be most important, you have to choose one. And for too long the info we’ve been getting from the fitness and cycling media places performance enhancement first...and we’re paying the long term physical price for it. In this podcast I share where the idea came from, why I think there is a critical need for this type of info and the three pillars of the Riding For A Lifetime concept, which are - 1 - Sustainable Fitness Training. 2 - Sustainable Riding Strategies. 3 - Efficient Movement On & Off The Bike. My goal with the Riding For A Lifetime concept and the camps, workshops, programs and other things I will create based on is to help riders understand the best ways to prioritize sustainable practices that will keep them riding strong tomorrow and for years to come. If you have any questions about the info in this podcast post a comment or send me an email to james@bikejames.com, I’m always happy to help. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

KELLY NOBLES interview recorded on the MOR cruise. Talking about Kelly’s double bass drumming, his career with the band RAIL, now becoming a HEMP farmer for CBD production, and debuting Frank’s new single.. Ride Strong!

First, I hope that this podcast finds you healthy and safe. Mountain biking is an important part of our lives but there are much bigger things that a lot of people are going through and I hope that you're doing as well as you can with the situation. With that said, I know that a lot of riders find themselves trying to figure out how to modify their normal training and riding schedule - I'm one of them as well. So I wanted to put together a list of my top 3 tips for doing that. Top 3 Tips for Training During the CV-19 Pandemic Try to maintain your routine as much as possible and keep your normal training time.  If you need to outfit a home gym without a lot of money then consider using strength bands and isometric training to help. Use this time to develop the movement skills behind the technical skills you use on the bike.  Bonus Tip - Don’t try to make up for lack of trail rides with a lot of Crossfit style/ High Intensity strength training type stuff. The best cardio you can do is on a bike so if you have access to one then use it, otherwise don’t panic and start using strength and power training as cardio training. This type of training has a higher chance of getting you hurt and getting you back on the trail with bad movement habits and overuse injuries waiting to happen. Unless this is the endgame for the world government/ Illuminati and we end up under a medical dictatorship then we will get through this to ride another day. Doing what you can to keep up a good training routine will help in the short term and the long term so hopefully these tips will help you do that. Until next time... Ride Strong, James Wilson

Have you ever heard the saying that “to achieve what others can’t, you must be willing to do what others won’t”? Of course, you can use this saying to motivate you to work out or watch what you eat...and you should, because those are important things...but I’d argue that you should also use it to motivate you to get more sleep. Most people reading this are sleep deprived in some way, either from a lack of sleep or poor quality sleep. And while I knew that sleep was important, it wasn’t until recently that I realized how important it was. Whatever the cause, the results from sleep deprivation are the same… Decreases in aerobic capacity Decreases in strength and power Increases in reaction times  Increases in catabolic “stress” hormones ...and this is just to name a few. As the guest on this podcast put it, sleep is the lever that you can pull that will impact everything else in your body. In this episode of the BikeJames Podcast, I interview sleep coach Nick Lambe. He helps people improve their sleep habits and the quality of their sleep through his business The Online Sleep Coach and he came on the podcast to share some insights and tips to help you with yours. You can learn more and contact Nick on IG at @theonlinesleepcoach or online at www.onlinesleepcoach.com. He does both private and small group sleep coaching and I highly recommend checking out the free stuff he posts on Instagram.   Sleep is like a legal performance enhancing drug that far too few of us take advantage of. Hopefully this podcast will help you achieve better results both on and off the bike by daring to do what others won’t...getting enough sleep. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training Systems

In this episode of the BikeJames Podcast, I recap the 3 lessons I took away over the course of the two day skills and fitness camp I hosted a few weeks ago. All four riders who made the trip made some big breakthroughs with how they moved on and off the bike and I hope that these lessons can help you too. They are: The importance of Isometric Training for developing strength. The importance of having weight on your hands to drive your movement on the bike. The importance of mobility training if you want to “ride for a lifetime”. I also give a review of the Eliptigo M-SUB, which is a stand up bike that I used at the camp to help the riders get a better feel for some of the positions I was talking to them about. I think that it has a lot of potential for us as mountain bikers - definitely a better off season training option than a road bike - and you can check them out at https://www.elliptigo.com/ after you listen to the podcast if you’re interested in learning more.   Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

Last week I posted a review of a new soft tissue tool I’ve been using called the Boomstick. At roughly 2 feet long and weighing 20 pounds, it opens up ways to address tightness and mobility that I didn’t know existed. Having a long history with the foam roller I thought I knew a lot when it came to improving recovery and mobility through soft tissue work but after experiencing the Boomstick at a seminar I realized I still had a lot to learn. So I decided to go to the man behind the Boomstick, Chris Duffin. Chris is the founder of Kabuki Strength, a company dedicated to moving the fitness industry forward through innovative training tools and education. He is also the author of the book The Eagle and The Dragon, which tells the story of how he overcame a lot of obstacles to get to where he is today. I got Chris on for a podcast interview to go over his views on strength and recovery and how they tie into the next level soft tissue work you can do with tools like the Boomstick. We also touch on barefoot training and Mace Swinging (a.k.a. 360’s and 10-2’s). It was a great talk covering a lot of topics but one that anyone interested in maximizing their recovery while decreasing the chance of injury should check out. If you’re interested in learning more about Chris, the Boomstick and Kabuki Strength you can check them out at www.kabukistrength.com or one of the other links below: Educational Content - @kabuki_virtualcoaching  Kabuki Strength - @kabukistrengthlab Chris Duffin -  @mad_scientist_duffin I hope you enjoy this interview and get some stuff from it. And be sure to check out the Boomstick Review for some videos on how to use it on common problem areas for riders. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training System

In the book Sapiens - which I highly recommend BTW - the author talks about the superpowers that separate humans from other animals. We have a couple of them but the one that I like to focus on is the ability to purposefully affect our future-selves. Unlike other animals that are only focused on the present, humans can see into the future and project themselves into it. This allows us to make sacrifices now that we know will help ourselves in the future. But, like any superpower, if we choose to ignore it then it doesn’t do us any good. You have to embrace the power and the responsibility that comes with it if you want to put it to use. This is why I tell people that if you are a mountain biker then you are a mountain biker 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Every decision you make is going to affect your future self, both in the short term and the long term. Trying to separate yourself from the impact of your decisions on your riding is ignoring your superpower. What you had this morning for breakfast, your sleep habits and your recovery strategies should all looked at as to how they will impact your riding. Which brings me to this week’s BikeJames Podcast. In this episode I recap the Bioforce Coaches Weekend, where I saw some great presentations and met some really smart coaches.  I had a lot of takeaways from it and have a couple of the speakers lined up for podcast interviews so we can dive deeper into some of the subjects.  I hope you get some useful stuff for your own training, sleeping and recovery plan. I’m looking forward to putting some of the things I learned into place and sharing the results with you down the road. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

By the time you get this podcast I’ll be on my way back from a seminar in Seattle. It’s hosted by Joel Jamieson for his Bioforce Certified Coaches and I’m looking forward to sharing some of what I learned with you over the next few weeks. In the meantime, though, here is a new BikeJames Podcast. Here are some notes from what I cover in this episode... Training Balance training for mountain biking: Does “balance training” work for improving your balance on your mountain bike? Skills Training Why dropping your heels on descents or dropping your outside foot in corners is a bad idea. Bro Science Do clipless pedals increase the risk of hip injuries? Three studies would suggest the answer is “yes”, which means a lot for the discussion about clipless vs. flat pedals. Links to the studies - Study #1/    Study #2/    Study #3 Rider Q & A Studies show that sitting is more efficient at sub-max efforts so why do you recommend standing up to pedal so much? I hope you enjoy this episode and get some stuff you can apply to your own training. And remember that if you have any questions or comments about this episode or if you have any suggestions for topics you want me to cover let me know. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

One of the recurring themes in my life lately is the need to identify the right problem before you can come up with the right solution. Sometimes we think the problem is one thing and work like crazy to find answer to it only to be frustrated over and over again because we were seeing the wrong thing. From life to training to riding your bike, it is all one big series of “problems” to solve with physical and mental tools you have available. But you only know the right tools to develop when you know the problem to solve. The reason I bring this up is that “find the right problem to solve” became the theme of this episode of the BikeJames Podcast. By shedding some light on a new way to look at some common problems we face on the bike and in the gym I hope I can help you come up with better solutions to them. In this episode I share some thoughts on... Training: Horizontal Loading vs. Vertical Loading: What is it and which is better for improving hip movement on the bike. Skills: Pressure vs. Weight for Standing Climbing: Why you don’t need or want you butt on the seat for traction. Bro Science: Functional Threshold Power vs. Intermittent Power to predict XC race results: Does improving your FTP improve your MTB? Equipment: Angles 90: Great training tool for chin ups and deadlifts. I hope you enjoy this episode and get some new perspective on the problem how to improve your power, endurance and skills on your bike. I’ll be in touch next week with a new video showing how standing climbing makes it easier to navigate technical climbs. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

Hope you had a great holiday weekend. I had a good one myself, getting some riding in with Aka the Trail Mutt.  Aka is getting a little older - just like his master - but he just refuses to slow down. I joke that he gets me out as much as I get him out but it’s true...without his enthusiasm for getting out on the trail as much as possible I probably would have skipped more than a few rides over the last 7+ years. But I’m always glad when I do get out. The combination of being in nature, getting the “runners high” from a long, grinding climb and the adrenaline rush of some sweet momentum fueled fun is something that never gets old. Nothing else provides this combination of soul-recharging elements, which is what makes mountain biking so unique. The struggle it provides and the environment it provides it in are the things that keep me coming back to the trail after almost 2 decades of riding. That’s also why I love sharing my passion for riding and training with everyone. I know that mountain biking isn’t easy but with a little knowledge you can fast-track you progress and avoid unnecessary frustrations.  Which brings us to this week’s podcast. In this new BikeJames Podcast I cover some topics that I think will help you ride faster, longer and with more confidence on the trail. This Week’s Podcast Topics Rider Q & A: Why does my female training partner who can’t deadlift as much as me (load or strength-to-weight ratio) outclimb me? Doesn’t my higher deadlift strength mean I’ll have more power and can outclimb her?  Bro Science: Three studies that  tell us the characteristics of a good mountain biker. Training: Why Crossfit or “Mixed Cardio” isn’t as good as “regular cardio” for MTB specific training. Skills: Cockpit Control workshop overview and insights. Equipment Review: Neat Ice Bag You can stream or download this episode below. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training Systems

This week I’ve got a new BikieJames Podcast for you. A lot has happened since the last one and I had a few interesting topics to share, including... The opening of my new Catalyst Training Facility in Fruita CO Rider Q&A: Is speed determined by power? Why your handlebars are too wide Resistance Bands: Why I like them and some experiments with them Bro Science: The role of emotions on Pacing Strategy Until next time… Ride Strong, James WilsonMTB Strength Training Systems

This week I’ve got a new podcast to share with you. Instead of a single topic, I had a few random things that wouldn’t make for a whole episode alone so I put them together into this BikeJames Podcast. In this episode I cover… Knee Stomp vs. Hip Stomp: Why “stomp your feet” can be a bad coaching cue for jumping or manualing your bike. The importance of foot position on the bike for using your Hip Hinge and “stomping your feet” the right way (and why this is a major reason the Catalyst Pedals work so well). Some history on the Turkish Get Up and why you may be missing out if all you do is the kettlebell version. Some interesting studies on Isometric Training and my Bro Science interpretation of them for us as riders. I hope you enjoy this month’s episode and I’ll look forward to sharing more stuff with you in the next one. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training Systems

In this episode of the BikeJames Podcast I look at two recent studies and their application to mountain biking and training. You can find the full studies below: Recovery Posture Low Carb Diets  Until next time... Ride Strong, James Wilson

Everyone knows that training hard is part of getting better. If you don't push your body past what it did yesterday then it won't have any reason to improve your fitness levels. But we also know that if you push too hard things can go wrong. Usually referred to as Overtraining, almost everyone reading this has experienced the symptoms of pushing our body harder than we should have, which include lack of energy, getting sick and overuse injuries. Your body will force you to take time off and rest but taking time off is one of the worst things for your progress. Staying consistent with your training is important and so pushing your body hard while also avoiding Overtraining is the key to long term progress. In this episode of the BikeJames Podcast I dive into the subject of Overtraining, letting you know exactly what it is and how you can use that information to help you. I also share some tips, strategies and tools I've found to be especially helpful for this goal. Until next time, Ride Strong, James Wilson

Spending some time getting stronger is one of the best things you can do to improve your perfomance on the trail. While nothing can replace riding your bike, there are 3 reasons that strength training will help you in ways that just riding your bike can not. 1 - It helps you work on tension skills that you need on the trail but don't do enough on the trail to improve past a certain point. 2 - It helps you work on movements you need on the bike in a less stressful learning environment. 3 - It helps you avoid acute and overuse injuries, helping you stay consistent with your riding and training, which is the #1 secret to improvement. In this podcast I go over these points in some more detail and hopefully convince you that strength training is not an option if you want to be the best version of yourself both on and off the trail. Until next time... Ride Strong, James Wilson

In this new episode of the BikeJames Podcast I share my thoughts on Enduro Racing and how approach training riders for it. A lot of riders are making some common mistakes with their training and my goal is to help you avoid them while knowing what you did need to focus on to be successful at Enduro Racing. Click the link at the bottom of this post to stream or download the MP3 file for this episode. Remember that you can download the BikeJames Podcast through Itunes and Podbean as well. If you are a seasoned vet looking for an edge or a new racer looking for a place to start your training journey, then this podcast will have a lot of great info for you. Enduro Racing can be a fun and rewarding part of your mountain biking experience and with the right training plan it can be even better. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson MTB Strength Training Systems Show Notes: Goal with this podcast is to inspire you to take your results into your own hands. With the right approach you can make dramatic changes in your performance. Enduro Racing gets scored on the DH sections, which makes them the most important. There is no bonus for transfer times so they don’t matter. Top Enduro racers come more from a DH background than an XC background. For them Enduro Racing is slower than their normal pace and for XC it is faster. It is easier to train slower for longer than to increase your speed. Big mistake riders make is training like it is an endurance event and not emphasizing where the points are really scored, which are the shorter DH style sections. In DH your strength-to-weight ratio and your technical skills are the biggest factors. This means they should be emphasized in your training. Enduro specific fitness includes having the anaerobic engine to ride as fast as possible on the timed stages while being aerobically fit enough to ride the transfer with minimal impact on the anaerobic energy system. In the gym this includes getting stronger and more mobile to improve strength to weight ratio and movement efficiency. This includes 2-3 days of strength training and 5-7 days of mobility work (can be as little as 10 minutes a day). Right now I like to get strong with Ramping Isometrics (great for Strength to Weight Ratio) and use tools like Indian Clubs and the Steel Mace to work on movement efficiency. I’ll mix in some “traditional” movements for variety but I’ve found that using them to get “stronger” usually led to getting hurt or having my training take away from my riding. Cardio Training = Breathing/ Make sure you are training your breathing. Domino Theory - Last domino is “cardio” but first one is breathing. The best cardio training you can do is trail riding…but only if you do it right. You won’t become a better Enduro Racer in the gym or on a trainer - it will only happen on the trail. Most Enduro racers waste their most precious training time by just going for a ride and calling it training. To be training it must reflect what you are training for, which isn’t a normal trail ride. Enduro training trail rides should include 2 types: Moderate Skills Focused Rides: These rides have you focusing on riding as smoothly as possible instead of trying to go hard and fast. They are a great time to pick a specific skill and focus on it. Avoid redlining for sustained periods of time and focus instead on using as few pedal strokes as possible. Get 2-3 of these a week. Hard Race Simulation Rides: These should reflect how you race, which includes transfers with climbs followed by timed sections. On the trail you should try to mimic the length of time you would ride a transfer stage while focusing on keeping your breathing under control and not redlining, which includes walking if you need to. You should also have some sections that reflect a stage and can vary in length. Rest if you need to but focus on putting down your hardest effort for those runs. In other words, instead of just riding “hard”, have some easy and hard sections. This may include lapping the same section if that is all you have access to to train on. Do 1 of these every 7-10 days. Some easy rides or days that you work on skills drills can round out your riding. If you can’t ride and have to do some “cardio training” I would encourage you to include some “cardio strength training” like combo drills or mace flows (Upper Body Cardio/ Grip Endurance). Watch out for programs that treat you like a roadie or XC rider with lots of long, sustained effort rides. If it doesn’t seem to reflect the realities of Enduro Racing and they can’t give you a really good reason why not then odds are they are trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Enduro Training doesn’t have to be rocket science but you do need to apply some critical thinking to it. You have what it takes to be successful already and with the right training program you can unleash that.  

In this episode of the BikeJames Podcast I recap the insights and lessons I took from the recent Perform Better Functional Training Summit. It was a 3 day event in Long Beach that brought in some of the best coaches in the industry to share their knowledge. You can stream or download this episode by clicking the link below. You can also find the BikeJames Podcast on Itunes. My Big 5 Take Aways: 1 - Leverage and Torque based tension are different than Compression based tension. This is why the Mace and Indian Clubs are more effective for “real world/ farm boy” strength.2 - The Glute Bridge/ Hip Thrust deserves a spot with Squat and Hinge as lower body movement patterns that need to be trained. Ramping Iso Bridge achieves the goal of the loaded hip thrust.3 - The hips are made to create and absorb force along multiple planes and they need to be trained that way. 4 - Keto is overrated and misunderstood.5 - Functional Training needs to evolve past the current “Correctives + Kettlebells” formula. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

In this podcast I look at the 4 steps I'm now using to help riders improve their movement and performance, the BPTM System, which includes... 1 - Breathing. Crocodile Breathing Meditation 2 - Position Mobility Stretching 3 - Tension Isometrics (Ramping Isometrics) 4 - Movement Training (GPP) Playing/ Competing (SPP) Until next time... Ride Strong, James Wilson