The workouts of the pros are normally out of reach for everyday riders. Whether they are too intense, too time-consuming, or both. In part two of “Hitting the Gym with Nino Schurter”, the World Champion lets us in on some unique exercises he uses to develop the coordination and balance required to compete at the highest level. Nino and his coach have fine-tuned these exercises to meet the demanding needs of mountain bike racers. They combine power, coordination and regeneration exercises, replicating a race environment. Get a look at some never before seen cycling workouts that could very well change the way you ride a bike.
Nino talks us through the importance of a well-rounded workout: Why do mountain bike riders need good coordination?Mountain biking is a very demanding sport. Not only in terms of endurance, but also with regards to power and coordination. As a rider, you always need power and coordination at the same time - whether going downhill, accelerating or simply when managing tricky trail situations. That`s why I try to combine power and coordination exercises in my workouts.
What does your indoor workout look like?My coach Nicolas Siegenthaler built up a 30 min indoor circuit with nine different exercises, each requiring a high level of coordination and balance. My goal with this workout is to keep up a very intense level to simulate situations which are very close to race situations. All of the exercises are physically very demanding.
What is special about this workout?The exercises are specifically developed to simulate a cross-country race. Even the regeneration exercises simulate real situations in races - like downhills. After two power exercises I do one regeneration exercise but here I do not fully relax – like descending on a long section of a trail, I try to balance and activate the same muscle groups. I try to even close my eyes when doing these exercises to teach my body to feel what's going on.
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MENTIONS:
@SCOTT-Sports
and speaking of Gary Roberts... garyrobertshpt.tumblr.com/post/66380079426/strength-maintenance-part-1
But wouldn't you say that routine reiterates my point? I understand there's a deadlift in there but that is a workout based around unconventional none bodybuilding excecises. Even the deadlier wasn't conventional strictly speaking, although I know I'm being pedantic there
At least in this video, Nino points out that he's doing a lot of those balance movements as "Active Recovery", not the sole focus, so for some muscle (namely core) "activation" and "proprioception".
Now I don't know what exactly Gary Roberts is into, but in the example of "caged" (trap bar) deadlifts they teach a beginner with reduced flexibility and technique to "hip hinge" and allow the experienced athlete to lift heavier and safer than the conventional deadlift, both have their place.
My point is that I think Nino and @Scott-sports in these videos should be showing, so people understand, some of the real work that Nino does in the gym, which is probably those compounds movements like squats (exhibited in first video), deadlifts, chins, etc. along with plyos and mobility which would have a much bigger net effect than these "fluff" exercises. Off course I exaggerate when I say "fluff" but thats really all (except for a few) they are is creative core and muscular activation exercises.
I did my practicum in University working with the National Ski and Speedskating teams, along with some of the varsity teams. In the very early 2000s they experimented with many of these "balance" type exercises. Entertaining and impressive looking stuff for sure but TOO LITTLE BANG FOR BUCK and little crossover, plus too much time+resources taken away from the more effective exercises.
www.musclemagfitness.com/bodybuilding/exercises/the-deadlift.html
"Stabilizers Worked When Performing Deadlifts
Erector Spinae
Trapezius, Middle
Rhomboids
Trapezius, Upper
Levator Scapulae
Antagonist Stabilizers Worked When Performing Deadlifts
Rectus Abdominis
Obliques
Dynamic Stabilizers Worked When Performing Deadlifts
Hamstrings
Gastrocnemius"
Which athletes have amongst the greatest flexibility? Gymnasts yes, but also……………………………Olympic lifters, OMG, say it isn't so!!
Which athletes are amongst the most badass? Pole vaulters and skiers because they combine big balls, power, lower and upper body strength, time and spatial awareness, blah, blah, blah. In other words, functional bitches
Remember, strength doesn't just mean you're able to lift heavy things, it also means you're able to do other things easier, not to mention structural balance in your body, preventing injuries, etc, etc.
In my opinion the strongest overall athletes that have amazing strength, mobility and balance are all around gymnasts. By body weight they are the strongest f*ckers of any other sports and their workouts are almost 100% bodyweight training! But as an all around gymnast their body goes through a complete range of motion that no sport ever even comes close to and again in my opinion I think its probably an awesome type of training for mountain bikers as well.
Check out "Convict Conditioning: The Forgotten Art of Bodyweight Training", which a gymnasts basically wrote. I will put money down that no power lifters, not even Olympic power lifters, have the strength, balance or mobility to do half the stuff these guys can do.
We are just saying it's important to build on a foundation, one that's based around strength.
I'll take you on that last bet, have you see what the lower weight power lifters can do?
I agree, the lower weight power lifters have overall strength and much better stability, but they have no reason to train to do for example a one handed handstand pushup, or a hand stand from a back arch position or to pull off an inverted iron cross on the rings. So you may loose money on that bet But, not that they can't train to learn how to do that, its just not in their ability because they're strength training does not incorporate the level of stabilization needed to pull off moves like that. Not many athletes have that kind of mobility and stabilization because they only concentrate on the "strength" aspect of training and I agree that building a foundation is important but how you build it is the million dollar question and there are so many opinions on that. I personally think that it must be incorporated with mobility and stabilization in mind and the majority of traditional bodybuilding is lacking in that category.
Chill the f*** out and ride your bike.
In fact I can already hear the angry voice: "i don't care if the effing world champion is using an effing handlebar attached to a skateboard while balancing on a wobble-board GET THAT SHIT OUT OF HERE and WHAT!!!? HOW much did that thing cost are effing kidding me??
While I understand your sentiment as a fellow lifter, the word "functional" has become so widely used in the fitness industry that it can mean many things.
When I think of functional exercises I usually think of squats, DL, OHP and maybe the olympic lifts. These are lifts that can make a person stronger in every day life, picking up heavy things and putting them down efficiently. Without injury.
However, in the context of this article, "functional" is referring to excercises that will specifically help mountain biking. This can include a lot of excercises that you may not normally consider. Is skateboarding a normal functional exercise? Of course not. But it will absolutely improve your mountain biking balance, self awareness and cahones. It's why a friend and I split the cost of a mini-ramp.
I don't want this to be ranty so I'll end here. The word functional has a lot of ambiguity when it comes to fitness. Squats and DL's are traditional functional exercises. But other non-traditional exercises can be extremely functional when applied to specific sports.
I mean look at the snatch. Its a super wide gripped, straight armed, locked out lift of the weight above the head, into a full squat, with the weight still over the head. There is absolutely no way something like that is "functional" for a normal person. The only reason to ever do such a lift is to practice doing that lift for a competition.
But yes, only if you have a lot of training experience and a coach are they beneficial. Otherwise time is better spent doing the compound lifts.
Now that is not to say that one leg squats aren't also a good thing. They are, because working out those aforementioned stabilizer muscles is also good. So really what I'm saying is its not really one or the other, but doing both is likely the best bet.
Big props for showing this vid, more of these please!
I have been searching online for one with no luck Help suggestions ? cheers in advance
I was a little surprised for how fit that guy is, that his push-up techniques was so poor. He clearly has ripped triceps. Has he forgotten to work on his pecs!?
I am inspired to build my own balance board out of an old skateboard deck, and use that for doing pushups and the various dynamic movements that he showed (including juggling and hula hooping!)
After all, it's great to see the pro's in action, but it's even better to understand the work that goes into becoming one.
The most explosive people outside of Oly lifters, are arguably football players. What do their workouts consist of? Old fashioned compound movements like squats, deadlifts, bench, snatch, clean and jerk and variations of those movements. Sure things like rings and other things are sprinkled in for stability muscles....but nothing replaces moving weight with arguably simple compound movements. There's a reason Olympic lifters that never train for jumping have insane vertical jumps and crazy box jump heights. Explosive power. Some of them only do like 3 movements regularly: clean, snatch, and jerk.
And taking away nothing from Nino, but REAL functional strength for mountain biking...look at riders like TRA, Kenny Beleay, Vincent Hermance and the Coustelliers. Speed, power, and lifting your bike when in an odd body position strato dabbing on one leg is functional. If you take away talent, the guy who lifts heavy weights explosively will win....every. Time.