Training Mistakes Made by Mountain Bikers

Do you recognize any of these mistakes you may be making?

Training for mountain biking is a fairly new concept. Riders are trying to figure out how to train. Some coaches are experimenting with different variables in training plans trying to create a system that works. Including me! There's a lot of good and lots of bad advice out there. 

I am going to dive into the common mistakes I see mountain bikers make when training. This comes from the experience of working with dozens of mountain bikers the past couple of years and hundreds (if not thousands) of athletes in other sports. The successful ones don't make the mistakes I discuss below.

Inconsistency

4 workouts one week, 2 the next, then 2 weeks off and repeat. Consistently training 2-3 times per week will get you better results that 6 random workouts over 4 weeks. Once your momentum and motivation are on a roll 4 workouts a week will become routine. Having a plan, even a basic one, and sticking to it is the best way to see success in your training journey.

Randomness

Always have the same fitness year after year? This could be why.

Do you get bored with repeating workouts? You don’t know what to do so you may pick whatever workout or race shows up on Zwift when you sign in. Maybe you saw a cool looking kettlebell swinging workout the half naked influencer posted on Instagram this morning.  

This may lead to some initial improvement and a sense of working hard. Unfortunately not consistently repeating workouts and movements designed with the fundamental movements and intensities specific to mountain biking will eventually stall your progress. Constantly changing what you are doing in the name of entertainment doesn’t give your body a strong enough training stimulus to consistently build a stronger version of itself.

No Plan

Lack of planning leads to guessing and winging what you do every time you go to train. Eliminate inconsistency and randomness by having a plan. Even if the plan isn’t perfect or you can't complete 100% of it you will see better results than if you make it up as you go. Consistently completing over 80% of a good training plan will lead to amazing results.

Poor Execution

Not having the knowledge to use correct exercise technique or follow a structured training ride properly can lead to poor results and injury.

Take time to be educated and receive feedback on how to perform exercises and workouts in a training plan correctly. This is one of the best things you can do to improve your development as an athlete and will lead to long term sustainability.

Training for other sports or cycling disciplines

There is a common trend of taking training concepts from other cycling disciplines and sports in an attempt to piece together a training for mountain biking

Training like a road biker is a common trend. Pedalling all year with out any cross training will lead to great endurance, but will not build the strength and athleticism needed to progress as a mountain biker. 

Sports like CrossFit, BodyBuilding and Olympic Lifting are often used as training programs for Mountain Biking. While they are great sports, the training for them is designed to improve that sport not mountain biking. The strength sports mentioned have very different demands when compared to mountain biking. While each sport utilizes weight training as a means to improve performance, the way the program is designed is focused on improving short term strength gain instead of maintaining strength for long time in the saddle and dealing with the technical demands of riding trail

Only strength training in the winter

I’ve mentioned before how important strength training is for mountain bikers.

3 or 4 months of focused strength training in the winter is great, but if you don’t do any strength training for the other 8-9 months you will not see noticeable improvements year after year as you will lose strength since you only train it 25% of the time.

A lower volume of strength training during the time of year your riding volume is high will maintain your winter strength gains and allow you to keep shredding hard all summer long. 

Having to make up lost ground in strength and athleticism each year limits your potential as a mountain biker.

Need help with avoiding these mistakes? I offer 1-on-1 Coaching, Training Plans, and have a Membership dropping soon.