Mountain Biker Gym Plans
All riders should spend some of their training time in the gym. This cyclist specific plan is split into two training days a week and each session is 1 hour long. Session 1 focuses on Lower Body and Core, and session 2 on Upper Body and Core. The workouts are designed to be challenging, with high repetition - low weight work, which will give you a good cardiovascular pump while you push weights. Strengthening your upper body, lower body and core will make you stronger on the bike, and will improve your performance.
The ideal structure is to combine this program with your cycling training program by doing the gym sessions on your cycling off days (or at least your easy training days).
Mountain Biker Gym Plan - Beginner (8 weeks)
The Beginner training plan is for the mountain biker who is new to the gym, or has never worked on a structured training plan in the gym before. You will find the work challenging but enjoyable. You need not have any gym experience to use this program. The sessions are easy enough to follow and complete (at least at the start). The sessions get progressively harder as the program progresses.
Preview: Week 1, Session 1
1. Warm Up
Reps:1 Tempo:NA Rest:0
General and Varied 10 minute cardiovascular warm up. Choose 2 or 3 varied pieces of cardio kit, and work progressively harder on each piece for the 10 minutes. For example, have a 3-4 minute brisk (slight inclined) walk or slow jog on a treadmill. Then do 3-4 minutes on a rowing machine (slightly harder than the treadmill). Then do 3-4 minutes on the elliptical trainer with a fair bit of resistance. This will get you mobile, muscles warm and will get your heart rate going and ready for your workout.
2. Legs - Calf Raises - Standing Free
Reps:15,15,15 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:30
Using a gym step, next to a wall for balance. Stand with your heels off the back of the step, legs straight. Drop your heels to the floor, then push up through your toes and go up on to your tip-toes. In a controlled manner, drop your heels back down to the floor. That is 1 rep complete. For variations, point your heel either slightly in or out, or try single leg calf raises.
3. Legs - Hamstring - Leg Curl
Reps:15,15,15 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:30
Leg-Curl machine, either Lying (prone) or seated variation.
4. Abdominals - Plank (front)
Reps:1,1,1 Tempo:Hold 20 sec Rest:30
Facing the floor, up on your toes and your elbows, keep your shoulders, bottom and feet in line. Hold. The REPS for this exercise refer to the number of seconds you must hold the plank position for.
5. Legs - Quadricep - Leg Extension
Reps:15,15,15 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:30
Leg Extension Machine. Be sure to keep the weight on your legs at all times, resist the temptation to rest at the bottom of the movement.
6. Abdominals - Lying Crunch
Reps:15,15,15 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:30
Lying on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Put your hands behind your head, and raise your torso off the floor up to your knees. Lower yourself in a controlled manner.
7. Legs - Squats - Body-weight Free Squats
Reps:12,12,12 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:45
Standing upright with your feet shoulder width apart. Move your hips back and bend your knees to lower your torso to the floor. Squat until your upper leg is parallel to the floor. Keep your torso as upright as possible (do not bend over too much). You should not descend too quickly, and your knees should remain aligned with your toes.
8. Abdominals - Lying Knee Raises
Reps:10,10,10 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:30
Lying down on your back. Your hands should be straight down by your sides, with your palms on the floor. Keeping your legs straight and knees together, lift your heels just off the floor. Keep your left leg still and straight, pull your right knee as far up as possible. Pause, then extend right leg back to starting position. Repeat with the other leg.
9. Legs - Step-ups - Body Weight Step-ups
Reps:10,10,10 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:45
Using a Gym Step (set high), Step up with 1 leg. bring the other leg forward, knee up in front of you and then back to the floor without setting it down on the step. Step down and repeat with the other leg.
10. Cool Down
Reps:1 Tempo:NA Rest:0
Minimum 5-10 minute stretch and cool down, focusing on the muscle groups and body parts worked today. Start off with a couple of minutes on one of the pieces of cardio equipment (treadmill, bike, elliptical trainer). Focus on your breathing, go very easy and bring your heart rate down. Follow this with a good stretch (20-30 seconds per body part worked, at least twice each).
Mountain Biker Gym Plan - Intermediate (8 weeks)
The Intermediate Mountain Bike Gym Plan is designed for the rider who knows their way around a gym, and who is ready to take their riding to the next level by focusing on some time in the gym. The sessions are hard, but manageable and the work gets more challenging as the program progresses.
Preview: Week 1, Session 1
1. Warm Up
Reps:1 Tempo:NA Rest:0
General and Varied 10 minute cardiovascular warm up. Choose 2 or 3 varied pieces of cardio kit, and work progressively harder on each piece for the 10 minutes. For example, have a 3-4 minute brisk (slight inclined) walk or slow jog on a treadmill. Then do 3-4 minutes on a rowing machine (slightly harder than the treadmill). Then do 3-4 minutes on the elliptical trainer with a fair bit of resistance. This will get you mobile, muscles warm and will get your heart rate going and ready for your workout.
2. Legs - Calf Raises - Standing Dumbbell
Reps:15,15,15 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:30
Using a gym step, next toa wall for balance. Stand with one heel off the back of the step, leg straight (your other leg provides balance). You need to hold a dumbbell in the same hand as the working leg. Drop your heels to the floor, then push up through your toes and goup on to your tip-toes. In a controlled manner, drop your heels back down to thefloor. That is 1 rep complete.
3. Legs - Hamstring - Leg Curl
Reps:20,20,20 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:30
Leg-Curl machine, either Lying (prone) or seated variation.
4. Abdominals - Plank (front)
Reps:1,1,1 Tempo:Hold 25 sec Rest:30
Facing the floor, up on your toes and your elbows, keep your shoulders, bottom and feet in line. Hold. The REPS for this exercise refer to the number of seconds you must hold the plank position for.
5. Legs - Lunges - Body-weight Standing Lunges
Reps:10,10,10 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:30
Standing with legs shoulder width apart, hands on hips. Take a big step forward, landing with your heel first. At the bottom of the movement, your front knee should be bent at 90 degrees and directly above the toes, and our back knee should be just above the ground. Return to your standing position by driving upwards with your front leg.
6. Abdominals - Lying Crunch
Reps:20,20,20 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:30
Lying on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Put your hands behind your head, and raise your torso off the floor up to your knees. Lower yourself in a controlled manner.
7. Legs - Hip & Thigh Extension
Reps:12,12,12 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:45
On your back, left leg bent and foot flat on the floor. rest your arms balms down next to your body. Extend your right leg fully out in front of you with your knees touching. push your hips off the floor so that your right leg, hips and shoulders are in a straight line. Lower back to the floor. That is one rep. Finish on the one side (all reps) then move to the other side.
8. Abdominals - Lying Knee Raises
Reps:12,12,12 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:30
Lying down on your back. Your hands should be straight down by your sides, with your palms on the floor. Keeping your legs straight and knees together, lift your heels just off the floor. Keep your left leg still and straight, pull your right knee as far up as possible. Pause, then extend right leg back to starting position. Repeat with the other leg.
9. Legs - Step-ups - Dumbbell Step-ups
Reps:10,10,10 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:45
Using a Gym Step (set high), Holding dumbbells in your hands, Step up with 1 leg. bring the other leg forward, knee up in front of you and then back to the floor without setting it down on the step. Step down and repeat with the other leg.
10. Cool Down
Reps:1 Tempo:NA Rest:0
Minimum 5-10 minute stretch and cool down, focusing on the muscle groups and body parts worked today. Start off with a couple of minutes on one of the pieces of cardio equipment (treadmill, bike, elliptical trainer). Focus on your breathing, go very easy and bring your heart rate down. Follow this with a good stretch (20-30 seconds per body part worked, at least twice each).
Mountain Biker Gym Plan - Advanced (8 weeks)
There is no mucking about with the Advanced Mountain Bike gym plan. The work is hard from the start, and gets more difficult to challenge your body even further. The reps are high, the weight should be challenging and combined with limited rest between exercises, you will be challenged both physically and cardiovascularly. You should ideally be a regular gym user who would like to follow a structured plan to help you get the results you are looking for on the bike.
Preview: Week 1, Session 1
1. Warm Up
Reps:1 Tempo:NA Rest:0
General and Varied 10 minute cardiovascular warm up. Choose 2 or 3 varied pieces of cardio kit, and work progressively harder on each piece for the 10 minutes. For example, have a 3-4 minute brisk (slight inclined) walk or slow jog on a treadmill. Then do 3-4 minutes on a rowing machine (slightly harder than the treadmill). Then do 3-4 minutes on the elliptical trainer with a fair bit of resistance. This will get you mobile, muscles warm and will get your heart rate going and ready for your workout.
2. Legs - Calf Raises - Standing Machine
Reps:15,15,15 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:30
Using a calf raise machine. Stand with your heels off the back of the step, legsstraight. Drop your heels to the floor, then push up through your toes and goup on to your tip-toes. In a controlled manner, drop your heels back down to thefloor. That is 1 rep complete.
3. Legs - Hamstring - Gym Ball Hamstring Curl
Reps:15,15,15 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:30
Lie face up with your head on the floor and your claves on top of a gym ball. Your body should be off the floor in a straight line. Hands at your side, palms facing down. Roll the ball towards you maintaining a straight line between your shoulders and your knees. You should end up with your feet flat on the ball. Slowly roll the ball back to the starting position. That is 1 rep.
4. Abdominals - Plank (front)
Reps:1,1,1 Tempo:Hold 30 sec Rest:30
Facing the floor, up on your toes and your elbows, keep your shoulders, bottom and feet in line. Hold. The REPS for this exercise refer to the number of seconds you must hold the plank position for.
5. Legs - Lunges - Dumbbell Standing Lunges
Reps:10,10,10 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:45
Standing with legs shoulder width apart, dumbbells in your hands. Take a big step forward, landing with your heel first. At the bottom of the movement, your front knee should be bent at 90 degrees and directly above the toes, and our back knee should be just above the ground. Return to your standing position by driving upwards with your front leg.
6. Abdominals - Gym Ball Crunch
Reps:20,20,20 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:30
Lying on a gym ball with your lower back supported, knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Put your hands behind your head, and raise your torso up. Lower yourself in a controlled manner. Repeat.
7. Legs - Groiners
Reps:12,12,12 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:30
To loosen up your inner thigh muscles and fire up your core. Get into a standard push up position, bring your right foot forward and place it next to your right hand (or as close as possible). lower your hips briefly and then return your foot to the starting position. Repeat on the left.
8. Abdominals - Lying Knee Raises
Reps:15,15,15 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:30
Lying down on your back. Your hands should be straight down by your sides, with your palms on the floor. Keeping your legs straight and knees together, lift your heels just off the floor. Keep your left leg still and straight, pull your right knee as far up as possible. Pause, then extend right leg back to starting position. Repeat with the other leg.
9. Legs - Squats - Barbell Squats
Reps:10,10,10 Tempo:2-1-2 Rest:45
Barbell across the back of your shoulders, hands holding towards the outside of the bar. Standing upright with your feet shoulder width apart. Move your hips back and bend your knees to lower your torso to the floor. Squat until your upper leg is parallel to the floor. Keep your torso as upright as possible (do not bend over too much). You should not descend too quickly, and your knees should remain aligned with your toes.
10. Cool Down
Reps:1 Tempo:NA Rest:0
Minimum 5-10 minute stretch and cool down, focusing on the muscle groups and body parts worked today. Start off with a couple of minutes on one of the pieces of cardio equipment (treadmill, bike, elliptical trainer). Focus on your breathing, go very easy and bring your heart rate down. Follow this with a good stretch (20-30 seconds per body part worked, at least twice each).
|