We all want to be better riders. Whether it’s railing corners faster, learning to jump, muscling up steep technical climbs, or simply reacting to terrain in the blink of an eye and making better line choices. The end game is to keep improving and have a blast doing it.
But just like any physical pursuit, practice alone won’t make perfect. You need to train, because being stronger and fitter will make every other aspect of riding a mountain bike easier. And while we’re all happy to spend hours on the bike working on specific skills, or simply riding around hoping to improve, a more focused approach can bring surprisingly rapid results.
Using an indoor smart trainer is time-efficient, lets you control your effort, and avoids the worst of the weather.
On-bike training for mountain biking
Improving fitness and performance is often a key motivation to train for mountain biking — maybe you’re racing and you want better results, perhaps you’re trying to complete a specific challenge, or simply working your way up the group pecking order. Interval training is one effective method that can significantly improve fitness, and really works well for mountain bikers — not only do we need good levels of fitness to simply complete hilly rides, we also need a burst of sustained acceleration on every ride to tackle changes in terrain and gradient.
Indoor training on a bike with a power meter is very effective.
High-intensity intervals for mountain biking
Interval training is an exercise structure that mixes periods of exercise at a set (generally quite high) intensity, with periods of recovery between them, thus allowing you to repeat these efforts multiple times. The intensity of these work efforts can vary, so too the duration of the efforts and the work to rest ratio – i.e you can reduce the recovery time between efforts to make the session harder.
An interval training session is easy to weave into a regular mountain bike ride, or even a commute, with just a little planning. Or you could invest in one of the best home smart trainers or use a stationary bike at the gym.
Be sure to start with a gradual, progressive warm up for at least 10-15 minutes. Aim to have an elevated heart rate, close to that at which you’d experience on a climb, at the end of the warm-up.
example interval session
- Warm-up
- 4-6 x 3 mins at hard effort with 3 mins recovery between
- Cool down – very easy spin for 10 mins
Those 3 minutes efforts should be doable at a consistent pace, but by the end of the interval you should feel like you can continue at the same level for another minute.
Alternative interval session
- Warm-up
- 4 x 30 second sprint followed by 90 seconds recovery
- 5 mins recovery
- 4 x 30 second sprint followed by 90 seconds recovery
- Cool down – very easy spin for 10 mins
Zone 2 riding involves going very steady.
Zone 2 training for mountain biking
High intensity workouts are great for getting fit in a short space of time, but if you really want to make long-term improvements as a mountain biker, you’re also going to need to incorporate steady state cardio, or zone 2 training. You might think riding harder would be better to improve fitness, which may be true in some instances. However, with harder efforts comes longer recovery time, which in turn limits the amount of time you can train or ride effectively. By focusing on lower intensity training, you can spend more time improving fitness without beating yourself up.
In terms of sessions, start by introducing one session per week of 40 – 60 minutes at 60-70% of your maximum heart rate. If you can commute to work by bike, that would be a great way to start. Once you’re confident you can hold your effort in the sweet spot, add more sessions and/or increase the duration of the rides. Over as little as a few weeks your body will adapt and you will be able to handle more volume.
There are various ways to monitor your effort to ensure you are hitting the sweet spot; not too hard but not too easy. Three of the best ones are heart rate monitors, power meters and perceived effort.
Use a heart rate monitor to control your zones.
Heart rate monitor
Use a heart rate monitor, or one of the best fitness trackers on the market, to view your heart rate in beats per minute in real time, which can then be used to gauge your effort. Most heart rate monitors will display the ‘zone’ you are working in. Steady state cardio is commonly known as ‘Zone 2 training’, which is roughly 60-70% of your maximum heart rate. This is where you should spend the majority of your time for best results with this type of training.
A power meter is a great tool for letting you control your effort.
Power meter
These measure the power you put through your pedals in watts, and can be viewed while you ride with the help of a power crank or power pedals. They’re not cheap, but if you’re serious about training they might be worth considering. The other alternative is a Wattbike or other indoor trainer with a power sensor. These are very accurate and programmable but the downside is you’re stuck inside.
Hope you enjoyed the tips folks,
Carly Crank.
great job carly!