Mountain Biking - Strength Training
Mountain Biking is a great activity that helps develop physical strength and endurance. Aside from being just a form of recreation, this sport is already part of major competitions and tournaments all over the world.
There are many reasons why people go Mountain Biking. Some do it for fun, as a form of exercise, while some are serious mountain bikers who train and practice for competitions. There are two types of riders: the recreational rider and the competitive rider. A recreational rider is someone who usually rides three times a week at moderate intensity while a competitive rider pursues a race schedule and pushes his or her competitive level to the highest point. No matter what type of rider you are, strength training is very important.
Like in all types of physical activity, you need to train your body to avoid getting injuries and to be able to handle any difficulty. Most riders already follow a program either professionally made for their body’s needs or a program that they have created. There are many benefits of incorporating strength training into your program.
- Strength training helps prevent injuries.
- It is a great way of increasing bike strength and power.
- It is important in hill climbing, time trailing, and sprinting.
- Strength training can prevent and even reverse the loss of muscle mass.
- It can greatly decrease injury potential to your lower back, knee, and shoulder areas.
- You can have better bike control and less chance of ejection after hard landings.
- Your body can recover fast and experience less post-ride muscle soreness.
- Strength training builds power for getting through obstacles.
- Strength training can increase leg strength and help you ride faster and with less overuse injuries.
More and more people are realizing the great effects of strength training. Mountain Biking demands more use of your upper body strength due to changes in posture, riding, tempo, and terrain. This is where strength training can be of great help. A good form of strength training is a program which emphasizes on weight training. You can do this anywhere and with minimal equipment and supervision. This does not only include push ups or crunches. It also involves challenging exercises and variations as you really need to build up your strength and muscles.
Here are some exercises that you can do as part of your strength training:
- Crunches, Squats, Leg Press, Squats
- Push-ups/Pull-ups
- Step ups on a platform with weight on shoulders
- Upright rowing
Be careful during training as you can seriously injure yourself if you do not perform the exercises properly. If you are designing your own program, it is important to have specific goals in mind. But before anything else, check with your doctor first to see if you have any medical problems that will prohibit this type of training. Seeking professional advice from fitness and health experts is also a good option. They can assess your current cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, muscle strengths and weakness prior to beginning a training program. With these things in mind, you can be on your way to improving your race results in no time.
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