Winter MTB training

A light bike doesn't replace good fitness.

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gadget_333
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Oct 12, 2006 2:15 pm
Location: Surrey, UK

by gadget_333

I got my first decent MTB at the start of this year and love the riding so started doing some club rides and found my fitness was OK. Then I did a race this year and felt really unfit so I figue I need to do some proper training rather than spinning and a decent Sundy ride so I can do more races next season (2 months away).

I average 4 or 5 hours a week as that is all the time I have but I want to make my training more effective.

I have read about big ring, long climb, lactic acid training and also high cadence sprint training but there does not seem to be any particular preference.

Can anyone suggest a programme that will help with MTB races and fit into the time I have.

Any useful help is welcome :D

JK
Posts: 1057
Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2002 7:49 pm
Location: The Netherlands - Europe

by JK

The problem with spinning is that, although it is a lot of fun, it is way too intense to be proper training and you excersize a lot of different abilities in one training session. Fast spinning, Big gear riding, anaerobic threshold intervals (depending on how much brake you put on...), all at once.

The thing is, your body adapts much quicker if you train very few abilities at once and for a longer period of time. That is the principle of periodization. I hear a lot of beginner racers say: "I did a lot of spinning and felt really good about it, why am I not competitive??"... That is because you never put in a good base of (relatively slow) endurance rides, all the riding you did was intense and you never focused on one ability for a period of time to get really good at it. Instead: You focused on a lot of things, making only average or below average progress at each aspect doing that.

My tip would be to start reading a bit about training. Joe Friel's mountainbiking training bible is a good one. It takes into account your available time and teaches you to gradually build up your training: Build up an endurance base first, continue on to sub-anaerobic threshold work and once the bottom of the pyramid is laid, you are ready for the really intense stuff, like the examples you mention!

Also, do not forget bike handling skills. This is where most MTB newbie's fail to focus on. It is not all about fitness.

That's my 2cts. Good luck!

by Weenie


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