bennybenny

Hello,

I would like to start competing in some longer mountain bike races, dont really care if I 'win', just want to finish.

I've been Spinning, dropping weight, and doing some trainor in the old family room, but want some advice as winter fades away (slowly, ugh). Questions:

1. do you ever lift weights to strengthen your legs, or leave that to rides?

2. Ideally, I would like in the summer to train on trails, but not always possible as best one is 45 minutes away. Do you ever ride your mountain bike on the road like the roadies to train? I usually only see road bikes out on the road; was wondering if it would be beneficial to get on the mountain bike right out the door and do some rides on the road?

Other ideas?

Thanks.

Benny

zenzo

Hi Benny, it may be a bit late to help you with advice for this season but still here are some of my views.

1. Working on leg strength is very important and best done early in the training season. You should initially focus on developing max strength (low reps, 3-5). As you build your fitness on the bike (trainer or whatever, early in the season) and start introducing high intensities then you increase reps to 20-30 to develop muscular endurance. To keep things simple: yes, strength work is very beneficial. After every winter I do some serious lifting I'm usually one of the strongest riders in the early part of the year (Feb-Mar).

2.In my opinion you can train your fitness on any terrain/road, but with MTB you have to be careful to develop your technique as well so riding trails is important in that aspect. Otherwise, if under time pressure or don't have access to trails just take the bike and train on the road. I do that often with my MTB (even if I have a road bike I do like to change position from time to time).

bikeme

I don't do weights personally but I do a core workout that includes push ups, planks, crunches, air squats, and various lunges. These are all body-weight exercises and I do them 2-3x per week along with riding. It's made a huge improvement to my racing fitness. I do ride my mtb on the road but typically use my road bike for that. I would increase your intensity and make your rides longer to mirror the longer distances you want to compete in. If you're short on time, you must increase intensity to make up for it.