Downhill training

[driftking]

Op I would also suggest you check out some mobility and injury prevention things.
Your routine seems like it is coming together well. But things like rotorcuff exercises I would highly suggest. These are done with very little to no weight and are very easy but very important for your shoulder and to reduce injuries.
Check out MTb strength training solutions. There are lots of great articles on there about different exercises to help reduce injury. I found with my planks my rotorcuff was getting fatigued before my core and it was signicficantly limiting my workouts. Rotorcuffs are probably one of te most forgot muscles but ironically one of the most important. I think this is probably due to the fact it's not a big or well known muscle it is commonly not even mentioned but is very important for injury prevention and shoulder strength.

 

[brycethebomb]

Op I would also suggest you check out some mobility and injury prevention things.
Your routine seems like it is coming together well. But things like rotorcuff exercises I would highly suggest. These are done with very little to no weight and are very easy but very important for your shoulder and to reduce injuries.
Check out MTb strength training solutions. There are lots of great articles on there about different exercises to help reduce injury. I found with my planks my rotorcuff was getting fatigued before my core and it was signicficantly limiting my workouts. Rotorcuffs are probably one of te most forgot muscles but ironically one of the most important. I think this is probably due to the fact it's not a big or well known muscle it is commonly not even mentioned but is very important for injury prevention and shoulder strength.

Thanks driftking, should these excersizes be done at the end of a routine? Also, when I do the routine, its hard doing the exercises but after the routine im not very sore at all.
Should I increase the reps or sets? Or have more exercises?
thanks again :madgrin:

 

[Mywifesirrational]

Thanks driftking, should these excersizes be done at the end of a routine? Also, when I do the routine, its hard doing the exercises but after the routine im not very sore at all.
Should I increase the reps or sets? Or have more exercises?
thanks again :madgrin:

There is no need to be sore after exercise, soreness is not an indication that you are getting stronger and in fact soreness (meaning muscle damage) means that you won't make improvements until it passes. As long as your perceived effort is high during the exercises you are doing it right. Also using body weight it sometimes can be hard to overload if you are strong for your given weight 'class'. To make it harder, if possible add more weight - remembering you are at training at home, pushups with theraband, hang a weight during dips / squating etc....

I had a close look at your program this morning, the main thing I think could be improved is the total volume.

many muscle groups are used in multiple exercises, that's not a problem but when you do the first exercise or two they become fatigued and training them further offers no benefits. In the two muscle groups below - they are getting absolutely flogged, sometimes less is more.

Biceps: 150 reps total
Chest: 100 reps total

I'd personally do 1/3 of the workload going through biceps and a bit less for chest. The leg volume looks pretty good.

 

[brycethebomb]

There is no need to be sore after exercise, soreness is not an indication that you are getting stronger and in fact soreness (meaning muscle damage) means that you won't make improvements until it passes. As long as your perceived effort is high during the exercises you are doing it right. Also using body weight it sometimes can be hard to overload if you are strong for your given weight 'class'. To make it harder, if possible add more weight - remembering you are at training at home, pushups with theraband, hang a weight during dips / squating etc....

I had a close look at your program this morning, the main thing I think could be improved is the total volume.

many muscle groups are used in multiple exercises, that's not a problem but when you do the first exercise or two they become fatigued and training them further offers no benefits. In the two muscle groups below - they are getting absolutely flogged, sometimes less is more.

Biceps: 150 reps total
Chest: 100 reps total

I'd personally do 1/3 of the workload going through biceps and a bit less for chest. The leg volume looks pretty good.

ahh okay, well thats good to know. thanks. would something like this be better?

warm up
pistol squats 2 x 5 each leg
lunges 2 x 10 each leg
Rear Leg Elevated Split Squat 2x 10 each leg
push ups 3 x 10
lying bar pull ups 2 x 15
dips 2 x 10
rotator cuff exercise 3 x 10 (what driftking was saying)

30 sec rest

side plank
pull rows 3 x 10
dumbbell fly's 2x10
side plank
hammer curls 3 x 5
plank

Thanks!

 

[driftking]

ahh okay, well thats good to know. thanks. would something like this be better?

warm up
pistol squats 2 x 5 each leg
lunges 2 x 10 each leg
Rear Leg Elevated Split Squat 2x 10 each leg
push ups 3 x 10
lying bar pull ups 2 x 15
dips 2 x 10
rotator cuff exercise 3 x 10 (what driftking was saying)

30 sec rest

side plank
pull rows 3 x 10
dumbbell fly's 2x10
side plank
hammer curls 3 x 5
plank

Thanks!

With rotor cuff exercises there will be at least 3 types of exercises, the rotator cuff is made up of four muscles so it needs to be worked a number of ways, these ways are very simple and easy to work. You don't usually need to do 3 sets on the rotatory cuff, 1 set of 10-15 is enough, the rotatory cuff is usually quite weak to start with and you should find even 10-15 reps of 3 workouts will be plenty for at least the first few weeks.
From there I would then increase the sets to 2 and then after up the weight. It is a easy muscle to overwork so if you are using weights or a resistance band begin with very little or low resistance and very low weight. By low weight I have read places recommend less than 1kg, i know it doesn't sound like much but it works.

 

[brycethebomb]

With rotor cuff exercises there will be at least 3 types of exercises, the rotator cuff is made up of four muscles so it needs to be worked a number of ways, these ways are very simple and easy to work. You don't usually need to do 3 sets on the rotatory cuff, 1 set of 10-15 is enough, the rotatory cuff is usually quite weak to start with and you should find even 10-15 reps of 3 workouts will be plenty for at least the first few weeks.
From there I would then increase the sets to 2 and then after up the weight. It is a easy muscle to overwork so if you are using weights or a resistance band begin with very little or low resistance and very low weight. By low weight I have read places recommend less than 1kg, i know it doesn't sound like much but it works.

okay thanks for that driftking will be be putting that in the routine

 

[Wolfgang D]

First up unless you are as fit as a WC rider you can always improve
In terms of fitness what do you do that is Riding specific?
Fitness and riding fitness is very different. Fitness is not just strength or how tired you get you need to have power and speed. You want to increase your body's ability to react fast and powerful to situations. Consider split stance and more riding specific workouts to help improve the bodies ability on the bike. Also focus on unilateral training to improve imbalances.
If your fitness is 100% than the only way to go faster is to do less that slows you down. Make sure the fitness or strength tou have is been used effectively, ie so do you have the proper technique, will chaning your body position allow for faster corning...focus on braking, try not to brake at all. Braking style brake mostly on the front this reduces skid but also breaking with the front reduces stopping distance significantly, this means more time going fast.
Line choice and how you ride the line. Id this the best line choice, you want to go fast in a section but tou want to also think of the next section. The fastest line might make you go into tr next section with no speed. Where a slightly slower line say 0.5sec might mean the section is faster by 1sec, need to think about overall speed not just section speed. Now how you ride the line can you jump hop double triple or pump a section.
Revisit bike set up if you are getting faster you might need to stiffen up your suspension. Re evaluate your settings they can make a huge difference.

Thank you a lot for that!
I guess what I should've said is that rather than not needing to improve my fitness/strength/power, I have a decent understanding of the physical training aspect and I have the ability and most of the knowledge to improve in the area.

A good friend of mine spent quite a bit of time with me improving my posture on the bike. I used to arch my back a lot and always lock my arms. he taught me about pivoting at my hips and keeping my back straight, etc. and about cornering and weight shifting and body bike seperation. although much of this could be quite improved! when you say proper technique to effectively use strength and fitness could you please explain this a little or point me in the right direction to find out more?
Also do you have any tips for things i can conciously pay attention to when im riding? like what things should i look out for/take note of when im riding and what should I evalulate myself on? Sometimes i realise that im not doing something wrong or it doesn't feel as good as it could but i have trouble annalysing my riding and working out specifically what to improve on.

 

[brycethebomb]

is there a way to figure out what weight dumbbells to use? i have 4kg ones at home, but they see way too light. so the exercises with them are easy.. how heavy should i go?

 

[t_byrnz]

is there a way to figure out what weight dumbbells to use? i have 4kg ones at home, but they see way too light. so the exercises with them are easy.. how heavy should i go?

depending on your age is a main factor in choosing the weight that you want to lift, as you don't want to damage any muscles/joints/ligaments that will then be unable to repair due to being young.. best way to go about it is to get a gym membership and have personal trainers assess your level of strength etc.. that will allow them to right you up a program with the right weights and exercises. If you can not be bothered doing that or spending the money you can go into a gym equipment store and test out different weights (kgs) so then you know your limits. Then it also depends if you are going for muscular endurance or muscular strength/size. eg; muscular endurance is low weight with high reps and more sets and muscular strength focuses on more weight with lower reps and 2-3 sets.

hope that helps

 

[driftking]

depending on your age is a main factor in choosing the weight that you want to lift, as you don't want to damage any muscles/joints/ligaments that will then be unable to repair due to being young.. best way to go about it is to get a gym membership and have personal trainers assess your level of strength etc.. that will allow them to right you up a program with the right weights and exercises. If you can not be bothered doing that or spending the money you can go into a gym equipment store and test out different weights (kgs) so then you know your limits. Then it also depends if you are going for muscular endurance or muscular strength/size. eg; muscular endurance is low weight with high reps and more sets and muscular strength focuses on more weight with lower reps and 2-3 sets.

hope that helps

The best way to approach it is to see a trainer.
The way most people do it and the proper way to to find your 1RM
Your 1RM is the 1rep max, i.e the heaviest weight you can lift for one rep with proper form, this is your limit, you then use percentages of this weight depending on your goals. As you can gather this is too dangerous to do on your own. The plus for your is that you are focusing on body weight mainly so you cant do a great deal, personally in this situation I would start light and complete all the sets and reps, if it is too easy up the weight a little until you can just complete the last rep and set with proper form.
1 set of proper form is better than 10sets of improper form.


DISCLAIMER : My post is just my personal opinion and am in no way a professional in this area or qualified so all information in my post is just my own opinion and personal information and anything that you do decide to use from my post is at your own risk.

 

[brycethebomb]

thanks guys, i would get a personal trainer, but i don't want to get tooo serious about it. but ill go to a gym and try out some weights to see what suits me.
thanks!