Improve Your Spring Trail Speed

For many riders, spring is the best time of year. After a cold, wet winter you really appreciate the warmer weather, prime conditions and longer days. Whether you are racing this year, or simply riding, being fitter and stronger on the bike will help you enjoy your spring and summer riding more, letting you go further and faster whilst having more fun. To find out how you can improve your spring trail speed this year, keep reading for some top tips.

First things first..... where are you starting from?

If we want to make a plan for getting fitter, then it really helps to know where we are at right now.

What holds you back? Is it power, strength or endurance? Upper body or legs? Make a list of what would help you be a better rider this spring and summer. Don't forget to think about skills as well. We don't just want to be gym robots, we actually want to be better riders too.

 In general terms, there are three main areas that will make a difference to your trail speed. How you prioritise each will depend on the time of year, the time available and the weaknesses identified in your list, above.

1. Aerobic training. Also known as, ‘Zone 2’ or, ‘Base’ training, low intensity aerobic training forms the foundation of your mountain biking fitness. When you train at lower intensities for extended periods of time, you create adaptations in your cardiovascular system that are not seen with moderate or higher intensity work. This is the foundation upon which you layer your interval training in order to really turbo charge your fitness for racing or riding. As well as improving your endurance, it also makes you more efficient and helps you to recover between hard efforts and even between hard rides and back to back days. This training is usually neglected by mountain bikers as it takes discipline to ride slowly.

2. Interval training. This is intense training where you target a certain duration or physical quality in order to improve your power output. Intervals can be anywhere from 15-20 seconds up to 20 minutes plus, and are the best way to boost your fitness, especially if you have a good level of aerobic fitness already. Interval training has the added bonus of being very time efficient and you can usually do a very high quality and effective session in an hour or less, including warm up. If you have left your training late for a race or event, then intervals will make the biggest difference in the shortest time.

3. Strength training. When I think about strength (and power) training for mountain biking I like to think about it in two (overlapping) ways. Exercises focused on building and developing your pedal power, and exercises focused on your riding position and posture when descending. For instance I would suggest that a bent over row is a great exercise for strengthening your riding position for descending technical trails, and it does little to improve your pedalling power. A dumbbell step up, however is a great way to develop single leg drive and power that can then transfer over to your pedals out on the trails. It is easy to see how training in the gym can make you more powerful, but many riders fail to appreciate that strength training can also improve your endurance and resistance to fatigue over long rides.

Here are a couple of videos to give you a bit more information about aerobic and interval training:

To help you understand how to put it all together, here are a couple of example riders and their needs:

Rider #1 lives in Canada, and heavy snow has meant they have done very few long rides, and no aerobic training. Instead they have been in the gym and doing occasional interval sessions on the turbo trainer and rowing machine. As the snow melts and the trails re-open they should prioritise getting in a large volume of aerobic riding, whilst maintaining strength in the gym.

Rider #2 has got a week booked in Whistler this summer, but always struggles with shoulder strength and an achey lower back when they ride their local bike park trails. This rider needs to prioritise gym time to increase their upper body strength and endurance. They should also work on strengthening their hamstrings, glutes and core to better support their lower back and to avoid the build up of fatigue when riding all day. Some aerobic training will also help them deal with altitude better as well as helping them to recover day to day.

Rider #3 is a typical, all-rounder. Sometimes they pedal 3000ft (1000m) vert days and other times they hit park laps and even a couple of enduro races each summer. There does not seem to be one particular area holding them back, but the main issue is time and a busy schedule. This is probably typical of most riders, and their priorities will change and switch throughout the year. This keeps things interesting as well as making sure that they remain well rounded whilst still progressing. Below you can see a typical training week template for this rider.

Now you have a solid idea of what to work on and how, here are some top tips to help you put it into practice:

Be Consistent. Real progress takes time, and the best riders train and ride consistently. That’s why they are so good.

Test. If you are performance focused then consider some sort of testing on the trails or indoors on a Wattbike or smart trainer. The numbers won’t lie.

Nutrition. You can train as hard as you like, but if you are eating junk and glugging soda all day then you won’t get far. Focus on real, whole foods for the most part and drink plenty of water.

Sleep. You recover and re-build when you are sleeping. Aim for 8-9 hours of quality, uninterrupted sleep per night.

Rest and Recover. You can’t just go hard week in and week out. Plan in some easier weeks and easier sessions and don’t train when you are sick or have a cold.

Be Flexible. Sh*t happens and when it does, Plan-A goes out the window. That does not have to mean doing nothing, instead go for Plan-B and do something constructive, even if it’s just 15 minutes of mobility.

Keep a Diary. Use a spreadsheet, a notebook or a fancy app, it’s up to you, just keep track of what you are doing and how it’s going. Then you can review it and learn about what really works for you.

Have Fun. That’s the whole point! I don’t want you to think every ride needs to be a training ride. It doesn’t.

If you found this article useful, and really want to improve your riding fitness, then you should check out, The Complete MTB Programme from The Strength Factory. It is designed for trail and enduro riders who want to ride harder and faster, whilst having more fun. Simply hit the link above to find out more, and enter the code VITAL 15 to get 15% off your program until 16th April 2023.

Ben Plenge has been running The Strength Factory for 9 years now, coaching riders of all levels to be fitter, stronger and faster. He currently coaches 2022 Red Bull Hardline 2nd place, athlete, Joe Smith as well as a growing roster of fast UK enduro racers. He has previously coached Charlie Hatton, Vero Sandler, Wyn Masters, Mike Jones and Lewis Buchanan to name a few.

You can follow The Strength Factory on Instagram and YouTube. If you have any questions about this article or anything to do with MTB fitness training, then get in touch through the website or social media. Cheers. Ben