There are two popular programs that get a lot of people drawing comparisons between them and my programs. The P90X and Crossfit programs do share some similarities in the exercises and tools used but the reality is that they couldn’t be more different in the results they produce. Because both of these programs emphasize bodyweight exercises, basic compound lifts and Crossfit even uses kettle bells so they do indeed look similar on the surface. But the problem is that you are looking at the… Read More

The “hip hinge” movement pattern is your basic ability to move from your hips and not your lower back. It is a vital movement on your mountain bike because without it you simply can not achieve good, balanced body position. Being able to get your butt back and chest down while maintaining a long spine improves your balance, pedaling power and reduces the amount of stress on your lower back and shoulders, however most riders have trouble with their hip hinge and so struggle with applying this… Read More

I would have to say that 90% of the MTB riders and racers that I have met would be defined as “over skilled”. It sounds absurd since most feel that some aspect of their riding needs work, be it skill related such as gate starts or fitness related such as better power endurance (I define MTB specific fitness as a “skill”). However, when you really understand how the human body functions and best adapts to MTB specific skills and fitness you will see what I mean. First, though, I need to explain… Read More

I love to train and I love to play but I hate to workout. Confused by that statement? According to emails I get from riders trying to piece together a program to take their riding to the next level, if you are confused then you are not alone. However, knowing the difference and how to balance the 3 is the key to being able to see progress month after month and year after year without burning out. First up is the word Training… The definition of the word training is “deliberate practice in the… Read More

One of the common arguments against strength training for cycling is that the contraction speed seen in lifting weights is much slower than that seen during the pedal stroke. While I won’t get into how much more there is to riding – especially mountain biking – than pedaling, I want to stick with that idea to point out a few fundamental flaws in that simplistic view of performance training. First, not all pedal stroke efforts are created equal. When talking about contraction speeds during… Read More

Nutrition is a funny subject – it is very simple and yet very complex at the same time, resulting in a lot of confusion and a lot of people simply giving up ever trying to figure out how to eat properly. However, I think I have a way to look at things that will help clear some of the confusion up. I call it Primary and Secondary Food Filters. Primary Food Filters are the “rules” that cover general nutrition principles and Secondary Food Filters are “rules” that dig into more specific aspects of… Read More

My buddy Lee McCormack (www.leelikesbikes.com) recently sent me this question… James!OK dude. I’ve been doing longer rides lately, and it’s starting to feel good. My climbing legs are coming back, and I’m comfortable for 2+ hour rides. The weak link is actually appearing on the DH. I’m training and riding the way I always do, but my mid-back is starting to get tired. More specifically, the erector muscles along the right side of my spine. I can think of two influencing factors: 1) Bike setup.… Read More

Strength training for the MTB world has been slow to catch up to the unique and highly physical demands of our sport. Today’s average rider rips up trails that just 5-6 years ago would have been considered extreme and today’s extreme rider…well, let’s just say that they continue to defy all logic in their quest to progress our sport. Considering how fast our sport has evolved in such a short period of time it really comes as no surprise that most MTB specific strength and conditioning programs… Read More

One of the biggest obstacles I face when trying to discuss clipless vs. flat pedals with riders is that there are a lot of pseudo-technique that has been developed by the clipless pedal industry and sold to the cycling world. For example, one of the common things I hear as an argument against flats is that they don’t allow for “float” since the rubber of the shoe sticks to the pins of the pedal and does not allow for lateral rotation of the shoe. This is said as if that is a bad thing since the… Read More

So my blog post on bike fits certainly caused some controversy, which is exactly what I wanted it to do. Being forced to critically think about your position on something instead of just going with it because it is how it has always been done is vital to the growth of a sport. However, as always the internet is a double edged sword. While it allows me to get thought provoking views on mountain bike training into the conversation, it is very easy to misinterpret what I write. In this case, I… Read More

Most exercise professionals would agree that there are many components to fitness. A well rounded approach to fitness that addresses all of them is usually the best way to achieve lasting gains and continual progress from a program. Being deficient in even one of these components leads to slow progress and results in a condition I call “false fit”. “False fit” is when someone perceives themselves to be fit when there are glaring holes in one of the 5 Fitness Components. While each area can… Read More

Being the first post of 2012 I wanted to set the tone for the rest of the year with a book review. While I read this book a month or so ago I wanted to save the review for today because I think that the message in it is especially appropriate today. One of my favorite parts of having a Kindle is how you get books suggested for you based on past purchases. Since I buy a lot of training books and books on mindset/ self improvement I was not too surprised to see Mike Mahler’s new “self help” book… Read More

Being the last post of the year I wanted to reflect on some of the big lessons and take aways I had from 2011… #1 – Do less stuff and do it better. I got deeply immersed in the kettlebell culture in 2011, attending an RKC course and reading a half dozen or so books on kettlebell training. While everyone likes to show off their fancy kettlebell lifts, one of the central themes among the best is the mastery of a handful exercises. The Swing, Goblet Squat, Turkish Get Up, Clean, Shoulder Press,… Read More

One of the more common responses I get to the early phases of my programs is that they look too easy, especially for those riders who have some strength training experience under their belt. For a rider who has built up to doing 50+ push ups at a time (although I have yet to see 50 perfect push ups from anyone) only doing 5-20 reps seems like an insult to their pecs. Surely they should do more, right?Not so fast…I am not impressed when someone tells me that they are not challenged by an “easy”… Read More

One of the things that really separates strong riders from everyone else is the ability to stand and hammer on their bike. If you are a downhill or 4X/ Dual Slalom rider then this seems pretty self evident – the fastest guys are just as strong while standing at the end as they are at the beginning of a run while everyone else is fighting the urge to sit down and rest. However, this also holds true for trail and XC riders as well. Sure, you’ll hear from all he detractors who will tell you that… Read More

So I’m going to piss some people off with this statement but I feel it needs to be said - A bike fit is extremely overrated for mountain biking. I know that they have a place in some cases but for your average trail rider I think that they are close to worthless. First, bike fits usually just help you maximize your dysfunctions, which may result in a short term performance gain but does not really make you a better rider. Second, I strongly believe that seated pedaling is simply bad for the… Read More

One of the more common responses I get to the early phases of my programs is that they look too easy, especially for those riders who have some strength training experience under their belt. For a rider who has built up to doing 50+ push ups at a time (although I have yet to see 50 perfect push ups from anyone) only doing 5-20 reps seems like an insult to their pecs. Surely they should do more, right? Not so fast…I am not impressed when someone tells me that they are not challenged by an “easy”… Read More

I have to admit that I was pretty surprised by Chris Carmichael’s book The Time-Crunched Cyclist. When someone told me about it and dropped it off for me to read I figured I’d glance through it but did not think it would hold much for me. After all, my battle cry for years has been to ditch the roadie influence and stake a claim to our own training identity. However, as soon as I saw that the book was based on getting max results for those who had less than 8 hours a week to train I was… Read More

The Warrior Diet has been the subject of a lot of controversy in the fitness world. From the first time its creator Ori Hofmekler first started writing about it several years ago nutritional experts have been lining up to take shots at it and discourage people from trying it. It was, and still is, nutritional heresy. What is it that makes it so controversial? In a nutshell, the Warrior Diet has you use controlled fasting during the day and controlled overfeeding at night. In other words, skip… Read More

One thing that holds most riders back is the search for the “magic bullet” – that new bike or upgrade that is going to help them make a quantum leap forward in their riding. This is somewhat understandable since every where they turn they are bombarded with messages from the bike industry about how equipment is the answer to everything. Want to climb faster? Get some fancy new clipless pedals. Want to smooth out the ride? That new fork or rear shock will do the trick. Want to ride farther with… Read More

Click Here to check out the interview I did with the Donegal MTB Club in Ireland. I talk about everything from how I got started with MTB Strength Training Systems to my views on clipless pedals to pre and post ride nutrition . Read More

When working with people at my facility I always need to help them get over the “no pain, no gain” myth. Actually, I guess I should say that I need to help them understand it better. You see, muscular “pain” and discomfort are alright and needed – if you are not uncomfortable you are not pushing hard enough to elicit a change in the body. However, joint pain is a totally different thing. Joint pain is a sign that your body is not moving correctly and is much like the “check engine soon” light… Read More

Jukka is a European rider and coach who I’ve been corresponding with over the last couple of years – in fact, he’s even made the trip over to Grand Junction to see my facility and talk training. He’s a bright guy who, like me, appreciates what strength training can do for mountain bikers. He sent me a couple of studies recently that I thought brought up some really interesting points, especially in light of some recent posts I’ve made about kettlebell swings being more “specific” to riding than… Read More

We’re all going to crash – it is just a fact of life for mountain bikers. I don’t know why but practicing basic tumbling drills is not something that has been recommended for mountain bikers to help them understand how to crash better…until now. Getting good at these basic drills will save your a** some day. It can be the difference between walking away from a crash and lying there in a bloody, wimpering heap. Trust me on this one, I’ve had these drills save me more than once! -James Wilson- Read More

Better is a relative term, especially when talking about artificial means of performance enhancement. The mistake people make is assuming that because something improves performance it must be better and therefore you want to use it all of the time. The fact is that equipment can either enhance good technique and fitness or cover up technique and fitness gaps and there is a huge difference between the two. The first will let you tap into your own abilities even more and the second will lead to… Read More

The book Do More Great Work by Michael Bungay is a great book the importance of figuring out and focusing on your Great Work. I’m a big believer in the human drive to contribute to something bigger than ourselves and one of the problems with society is that most people don’t recognize the need to do more than just earn a paycheck. The book is actually a series of thought exercises that you can do on downloadable “maps” that are designed to get you thinking about a certain aspect of doing more… Read More

Here is a video I shot showing the Hanging Leg Raise, an exercise I picked up from Pavel’s Naked Warrior program and the Convict Conditioning book. This is a great core training exercise for mountain bikers wanting to build hip strength for the trail. Enjoy! -James Wilson- Read More

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when getting into mountain biking is to think that it is a great way to get into shape. This mindset is actually a big problem with the fitness world in general – playing a sport is not how to get into shape. Things work out much better when you have a base level of fitness going into trail riding and it becomes a way to apply and hone your fitness. There are a couple of problems with trying to use mountain biking as a way to get into shape. First,… Read More

Something I will readily admit to is that I am not the smartest guy in the whole world… BUT I am smart enough to learn from the best and “borrow” liberally from what they do. One of the brightest guys in strength and conditioning is Dan John, and I have been following his articles and books for many years. He has an uncanny ability to boil complex subjects in the strength training world down to a couple of simple points that make you wonder why you didn’t think of that sooner. His latest book… Read More

A while back I was lucky enough to get two members of the Precision Nutrition team on the phone to talk about nutrition for mountain biking. We discussed some basic nutrition strategies, some race day strategies, supplement recommendations and dispelled some myths about carbo loading and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). Definitely worth checking out if you want to learn more about how to maximize your training and riding through nutrition! You can find out more about Precision Nutrition by… Read More

This is a re-post from of my recent pinkbike.com article - A couple of things transpired to give us this months training post. First, my wireless mic was used to announce some slalom racing at The Ranch – I got smoked by Geoff Gulevich, the eventual winner – and I couldn’t get it back in time to shoot a video like I usually do. This left me trying to find something that I could do that did not need a video. Second, I had Mikey Sylvestri come to town so that I could help him develop an off… Read More

Last week I wrote on article on Dan John’s 4 Quadrants of Training (link to 4 Quadrants article) – I don’t know why but this concept really pulled a lot of things together for me. I wanted to share some of my thoughts on how we can apply this concept specifically to mountain bikers and optimal journey they should take. Q1 riders are those who are just starting with mountain biking. They would want to gain exposure to a wide variety of trails and types of riding. Short rides, long rides, epic… Read More

Here are two cool drills I used last month in my facility for some extra cardio at the end of the strength training sessions. These are a great way to get some cardio in if you only have a few minutes. They also work well for the time crunched mountain biker as stand alone workouts if you are really pressed for time but want to get something in. - James Wilson- Read More

The kettlebell swing and snatch are two of my favorite exercises for increasing mountain bike specific power. The hip action and upper body demands are very similar to riding a bike and I still say that doing a hard KB swing or snatch workout is as close as you can come to the physical demands of a trail ride without throwing your leg over the bike. While most people who read my blog and follow my MTB Kettlebell Conditioning Program are familiar with kettlebell swings there are a couple of… Read More

This last weekend I was at Yeti headquarters conducting a training camp for the team. We spent 3 days doing movement screens, going over a new routine I developed to help them quickly build foundational movement, going over nutrition and supplements and conducting an on-bike skills session to help them tie it altogether on the bike. It was an amazingly productive weekend and I came away with some great ideas and insights. Read More

Strength training for the MTB world has been slow to catch up to the unique and highly physical demands of our sport. Today’s average rider rips up trails that just 5-6 years ago would have been considered extreme and today’s extreme rider…well, let’s just say that they continue to defy all logic in their quest to progress our sport. Considering how fast our sport has evolved in such a short period of time it really comes as no surprise that most MTB specific strength and conditioning programs… Read More

One of the most frequent questions that I get from riders around the country is “what are the best exercises for gate starts?” Apparently a lot of people are looking for the “magic exercises” that will make a big difference in their perceived weakness out of the gate and/ or the few strokes immediately afterwards. First off, if you are looking for just one exercise to cover most biking ills I would have to recommend the deadlift, as a properly performed deadlift will target most of the areas… Read More

Let me ask you a question - Do you want better cardio? Or do you want to be able to ride harder, faster and longer on the trail? Think these two goals are the same thing? Perhaps not… One of the toughest things I face when bringing new and improved training concepts to the mountain biking world is trying to work around the large amount of confusion that surround certain terms. For example, when you use the terms “aerobic training” and “cardio training” interchangeably then my call to avoid… Read More

One of the best ways to improve your riding is to include a heavy dose of single limb training, also known as unilateral training. While bilateral training is better known and also important, there are several unique advantages that unilateral training offers that makes it a must to include in your program. Before I get into their 4 main advantages, though, let me clear up a common misconception. Simply using dumbbells does not constitute unilateral training. Even though both limbs are moving… Read More

 If you participate in mountain biking long enough then odds are you will end up with an injury at some point. The injury scale varies, ranging from surgery and intense physical therapy to simply needing time off with some ice. However, what almost all injuries have in common is that there is usually a gap between where rehabbing the injury leaves off and the level of strength and coordination needed to safely and effectively return to your sport. In order to best bridge that gap you need to… Read More

When it comes to constructing a dominant and injury resistant mountain biker few exercises match the power of the deadlift. While some may consider the squat to be the “King of Exercises” I contend that, rep for rep, no other exercise matches the results that you get from the deadlift. Every time you do a deadlift you are strengthening the torso, hamstrings, glutes, upper back and grip, all of which can make or break you as a mountain biker. Not even the squat can claim an impressive list like… Read More

One of the biggest concerns I get from mountain bikers about adding strength training into their regimen is that they do not have time for it. Family, work, personal lives and (most importantly) riding all add up leaving some of us with less than 2 hours per week for any other type of training. Because most programs (including my Ultimate MTB Workout Program) require 2-3 hours per week to complete these riders end up doing nothing. However, this does not need to be the case. There is a training… Read More

In a previous article I wrote about the differences between “cardio training” and “endurance training” and how mountain bikers everywhere had been unduly influenced by the idea that they are the same thing. As I illustrated with my MTB Performance Wheel, though, cardio training is only one of eight training components that really influence how fast and long you can endure on your bike, making endurance training a different concept entirely. Now I want to get into how this information should… Read More

I would have to say that 90% of the MTB riders and racers that I have met would be defined as “over skilled”. It sounds absurd since most feel that some aspect of their riding needs work, be it skill related such as gate starts or fitness related such as better power endurance (I define MTB specific fitness as a “skill”). However, when you really understand how the human body functions and best adapts to MTB specific skills and fitness you will see what I mean. First, though, I need to explain… Read More