Got a Strong Body Position?
- Jul 10, 2015
- 3 min read
I love it when James Wilson reads my mind and addresses something that I have been working with my students on. Anyone who knows me knows that I am all about a strong body position. And that does not mean you get into the right place then stay there - static.
Its about the movement, it is about being balanced and able to take the hits from the trail as they come at you. And if you get it right it is as easy as standing upright on the ground. Why? Because when we train our muscles to act in a certain way they will respond they way you need them to. The movement and exercises you do off your bike are as important as the ones you do on your bike.
So take a little of James advice and do the exercises that will emulate the movements you need on the bike, building that strength - muscle memory - for the stuff you need on the trail!!
James points out that it is easy to get someone to get into the right position in the parking lot and expecting it to stay that way on the trail is optimisitic. The goal is to get them to have the right position and to be strong and balanced on the bike.
And no, these two things are not the same. I'll leave it to him to explain.
Being strong on the bike requires that you get down into that position while maintaining a strong core and upper back position. Simply leaning over with your elbows flared out isn't going to do that for you.
While there are a lot of great exercises to train this movement skill like the deadlift and swing, the best exercise to learn the movement is probably the Bulgarian Goat Bag Swing.
Created by strength coach Dan John, I learned this exercise last year while attending one of his seminars. This exercise is so great because it gets you into the same position you want on the bike while forcing your hips, core and upper back to stay engaged. This gives you the same feeling you want to transfer to the bike and greatly improve your ability to hold your body position on the trail.
In this video I show you the Bulgarian Goat Bag Swing (in case you're wondering Dan named it that so it would be obvious if someone tried to take credit for the exercise) and explain more about how it can help you improve your body position on the bike.
Try doing 2-3 sets of 10 reps of this exercise with a 25-25 pound kettlebell as part of your next workout. You can also work a set or two into your warm up for workouts with deadlifts or swings to help get the core and hips online. You can also use it before doing your skills drills to help instill the feeling you want to maintain on the bike.
All in all this is a very valuable exercise to add to your toolbox.
Remember that the real key to improving your skills and fitness on the trail is to work on improving how you move off the bike so you can move better on the bike. Knowing what to do won't work if your body can't get into the right position in the first place.
And please help me spread the word by clicking one of the Like or Share buttons below.
Until next time...
Ride Strong,
James Wilson
MTB Strength Training Systems
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