Conditioning for your mountain bike adventure.
Photo: John Entwistle/Whistler Tourism
Getting ready for the mountain biking season involves more than just checking your gear; it's about ensuring your body is primed to tackle the challenges of the trail. Your approach to preseason fitness will depend on your available time and access to gym equipment. However, whether you're a gym enthusiast or prefer to train at home, a combination of cardio fitness, dynamic strength, and full-body conditioning is essential. In this guide, we'll explore various exercises tailored to target different muscle groups, including legs, core, hips, and upper body, ensuring you're ready to conquer the trails with confidence.
Supplement your training with a massage or RMT at the award-winning spa at Nita Lake Lodge, or conditon your body at our excellent onsite gym for your functional fitness needs.
Legs
Endurance
Spin Bike/Indoor Trainer: Boost your cardiovascular fitness and leg strength by incorporating spin bike or indoor trainer sessions into your routine. Mimic the intensity of mountain biking by alternating between high-resistance intervals and recovery periods.
Strength
Depending on your goals and current fitness levels, squats can be adapted and build upon. Start off with simple bodyweight squats to a comfortable depth, and build in variations like single legs squats and goblet squats to challenge strength and engage stabilising muscles from the core. Pistol squats can be a great variation of the single leg squat, but be careful of the required mobility needs of such an exercise
If you prefer the help of a personal trainer, our exellent onsite gym offers discounted personal training to our hotel guests. Book your stay now.
Glutes
The importance of the glutes in any sport should never be overlooked. Use hinging exercises to buildup stability and strength in the hips for better balance and endurance for your riding.
Clamshells: Target the often-overlooked muscles of the hips with clamshells. Strengthening these muscles can improve stability and reduce the risk of knee injuries on uneven terrain.
Deadlift: Many variations of deadlift exist, for preseason training we recommend starting off with single leg RDL’s (Single Leg Romanian Deadlifts), to aid in stability and coordination without the lower back injury risk of standard deadlifts.
Progress to dumbbell deadlifts, focusing on proper hip hinge mechanics. This exercise improves power generation and helps maintain proper body position on the bike.
Flow laps in Whistler Bike Park
Photo: Justa Jeskova/Whistler Tourism
Core
The core is the powerhouse of any athlete’s body and needs to be a focus in order to allow strength to build in other areas. Try these exercises to get the foundation of your workout going.
Side Plank, Plank: Develop core stability with exercises like side planks and traditional planks. A strong core is essential for maintaining control and balance on technical trails. Side planks will really help get the most out of your hips.
Burpees: Incorporate burpees into your routine for a full-body workout that strengthens the core and improves cardiovascular endurance. The explosive nature of burpees mimics the dynamic movements required in mountain biking and you will really feel the burn!
V-Ups, Wood Choppers, Leg Raises: Target different areas of the core with exercises like v-ups, wood choppers, and leg raises. These movements engage the abdominals, obliques, and hip flexors, enhancing overall core strength and stability.
Upper Body
A strong upper body will help on technical and flow trails to combat the forces that build up at speed. Develop strength and endurance with some simple upper body work and you will notice the difference in the break bumps!
Pushup and Pushup Variations: Build upper body strength and stability with pushups and variations like incline or decline pushups. These exercises engage the chest, shoulders, and triceps, essential for maintaining control during descents and technical sections. If comfortable with standard pressups, try doing the movement in a slow circular motion moving down over one hand and across in to the other in low position. Feel the isometric burn!
Spiderman Pressups: Incorporate spiderman pressups to target the chest, shoulders, and core while also improving mobility and coordination.
Back:
Band Pull Aparts and Pullups: Strengthen the muscles of the upper back and shoulders with band pull aparts and pullups. These exercises improve posture and upper body endurance, crucial for navigating challenging terrain and maintaining control on the bike.
Consider "supermans" to help strengthen the whole spine too!
Exploring the endless trails around Whistler
Photo: Justa Jeskova/Whistler Tourism
By incorporating these exercises into your preseason training regimen, you'll not only improve your overall fitness but also enhance your performance and endurance on the trails. Remember to progress gradually and prioritize proper form to prevent injuries. With a bit of dedication and consistency, you'll be ready to tackle the world class biking trail that surround Nita Lake lodge in Whistler.
See why Nita Lake Lodge Resort & Spa is the prefered hotel for Whistler bikers.