Get Fit - Part 2

Source: Strand Fitness Coaching

GET FIT Part 2

If you haven’t put in the effort to get fit this off-season, it’s too late! No, just kidding, but if you don’t want to loose your lungs and legs on the trails, I’d motivate asap! Please do take the time to read, and do, part 1 of the series before thinking about incorporating this phase. Remember, what I’ve provided you with here are only guidelines, consulting a professional trainer is the safest and most effective way to go.Read Get Fit - Part One HERE.

One other safety point – if you are a youth, you are able to strength train but, it would be wisest to work with a trainer to ensure you aren’t causing long term damage.

Part 1 was about building a base. Now that you’ve established a base, it’s time to pick up the intensity. The next phase will focus on continuing to build strength, introducing explosive power exercises, and teaching yourself to both tolerate lactate and clear lactate quickly. Without spending too much time boring you with what lactate is exactly, all you need to know is it is the funny feeling you get (usually in your legs), from pushing it really hard.

If you have the opportunity to ride your bike, then of course, do it! You can incorporate your cardio training with your rides too. As I said in Part 1, mountain biking is extremely technical so don’t neglect training your skills.

Your typical week should look something like this:

2-3 times/week strength training
Once a week plyometrics
2 times/week cardio training (Once a week sprint training, once a week longer intervals)

Strength Training

For your strength training during this phase, you should focus on lower repetitions than before (6-8 ) at a higher intensity. Because you are working with lower reps, you should be able to lift heavier weight. However, DO NOT compromise form for a heavier weight and use a spotter if you can. Try for 2-3 sets of each exercise. It is also important to change the program to avoid plateaus. At this point, your body will need a new challenge. Before you start the strength exercises, start with a minimum 10 minute cardio warm–up that slowly increases your heart rate and brings you to a light sweat. After the program, stretch!

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Sample total body workout:

You can group these exercises into ‘mini-circuits’ (see Part 1) or individually, you choose!

1.Front squat

Primary muscles used:
-quads, hams, gluts

Key points:
-start with your feet hip width apart, toes pointed slightly outward.
-for this squat, you will rest the bar across the front with either a forward elbow position or crossed arm position (see photos)
-come down slow and controlled maintaining a line between your toes, knees and shoulders. Continue the downward phase until your thighs are parallel to the floor (if achievable), your trunk begins to round or flex forward (bad!) or heels rise from the floor (bad!).
-a true squat is when you come down to at least 90 degrees. If you don’t have the flexibility to get this low, practice proper technique with no weight before you move on.

Crossed Arm

Forward Elbow Position

Deep Squat

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2.Step-up

Primary muscles used:
-quads, hams, gluts

Key points:
-choose a box which creates a 90 degree angle, or slightly more, at the knee joint when the foot is on the box
-step up onto box, shift weight to lead leg, push with lead leg to come up to standing on the box
-when coming off, come down with trailing leg
-repeat with the same sequence before switching lead leg

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3.Leg press (with isometric hold)

Primary muscles used:
-quads, hams, gluts, calf group

Key points:
-place feet on platform hip width apart
-push out to extension but do not lock the knees
-just before you reach the beginning position, hold this position (isometric hold) for 3-5 seconds, then come back to your beginning position

*try placing your feet on the platform in ‘bike stance’. Make sure you either switch position half way though a set or switch it up for a complete set.

Bike Stance

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4.One-arm dumbbell row

Primary muscles used:
-rhomboids, trapezius, biceps

Key points:

-stand on one side of the bench, kneel on bench with inside leg, position torso parallel to floor
-pull dumbbell toward chest keeping upper arm and elbow next to ribs
-lower dumbbell slowly and under control to a fully extended elbow position

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5.Chest press (with dumbbells)

Primary muscles used:
-pectorals, triceps, deltoids

Key points:
-press dumbbells to extended position overhead
-lower dumbbells to just above outer chest, do not drop your elbows below chest height

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6.Lat pull, reverse curl

Primary muscles used:
-lats, biceps

Key points:
-start with elbows extended, reverse grip
-bring bar down and towards body until it lightly touches the upper chest
-guide bar back up with full control

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7. Core

-include a core portion to your workout that builds strength in your front and back core. See Part 1 for examples.

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Plyometrics

Try including one day/week of intro plyometrics. Plyometrics is a type of exercise training designed to produce fast and powerful movements and is used to increase the speed or force of muscular contractions. This explosive power will come in handy when pedaling out of corners, jumping and short sprint sections.

When planning your weekly schedule, organize a lighter day after your plyometric work out as they are very demanding on your body. So, for example, don’t plan your sprints the day after. To begin, emphasize quality and make sure you don’t sacrifice your form.


Sample Plyometric workout:

1.Squat jumps
-2 sets of 6-10

Key points:
-begin by flexing downward to a half squat position
-immediately explode upward as high as possible, extending the hips, knees and ankles to maximum length as quickly as you can.
-reset before you begin next repetition

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2.Box jumps
-3 sets of 3

Key points:
-land lightly with your full foot on the box.
-if you can do 3 reps easily at a certain height, make the box higher!

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3.Plyo pull-ups
-3 sets of 12-15

Key points:
-explode up from a ¼ squat to give you height
- use your legs and arms to get your chin above the pull-up bar
-don’t rest between pull-ups

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4.Lateral bounds with balance
-2 sets of 12-15

Key points:
-start on one foot and bound to the side as far as you can
-land on the opposite foot and maintain balance before you continue with the next repetition

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5.Explosive push-up
-2 sets of 6-12

Key points:
- maintain push-up form but explode when you push back up

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6. Tabata squats
-1 set


A Tabata workout is an interval training cycle of 20 seconds of maximum intensity exercise, followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated without pause 8 times for a total of four minutes.

So, with the Tabata squats, you will do as many air squats as you can for 20 seconds and then take a 10 second break before repeating the drill for a total of 8 times. Even though a true tabata is 8 reps, you might want to start with 4 and build up to 8 to avoid getting really sore legs for the next few days! Also, make sure you do this exercise last – if you do it at the beginning, it will be impossible to expect full effort out of your legs for the other plyometric exercises.


Key points:
-maintain squat form (see series #1), make sure you come down to 90 degrees and back up to full extension, a true squat!
-if you build a ‘feedback’ platform (see photo), it will tell you how low you need to go to reach 90 degrees BUT don’t bounce back off of it. Instead, control your squat on the descent.
-count how many squats you can do for each rep.

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Cardiovascular training:

Keep up with the cardiovascular training outlined in Part 1. You can do these types of workouts structured or unstructured - meaning using a set ratio (example: work hard for 3 minutes, recover for 2 minutes ) or unset ratio (this works easily when you’re doing a cross country ride – work hard on the way up, push it or not on the flats, etc.).

In addition to the cardiovascular training from Part 1, add some sprints to this phase with a 1:10-12 ratio. This means if you sprint for 10 seconds, you should take at least 1 minute and 40 seconds off (meaning still spinning but light) before you do your second rep. As you progress, you can either sprint for longer with the same recovery or sprint for the same amount of time with a shorter recovery, or both. Try to keep the ratio no less than 1:5.

Recovery Days

Don’t forget your recovery days! They are as important as your days on. If you don’t feel rested and ready to go when a workout is planned, you’re better off skipping the session. Doing otherwise is risky and will eventually catch up with you in the form of over training, injury, illness, or burnout. One missed workout won’t make any difference, but one too many could cost you several days or weeks of training.

So give this one a try and see how it goes. Remember, these are just guidelines and it is definitely not the only way. The ideal situation is to consult a professional trainer.

Tune in next month for the next part of the plan...

-Katrina Strand

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Katrina does a bunch of stuff in the bike world. And she is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist who does most of her work out of Meadow Park Sports Center in Whistler. You can read all about her on www.canadiandhgirls.com and strandfitnesscoaching/Welcome.html. Check those sites out for contact info as well.