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If you’ve got a race coming up, you’ve probably heard this before: “Make sure you taper.” But here’s the problem… Most mountain bikers either: Don’t taper at all or Completely shut things down and feel flat on race day Neither works. Because mountain biking isn’t a marathon. What Tapering Actually Means for Mountain Bikers Tapering isn’t about doing less for the sake of it. It’s about: Reducing fatigue Keeping your strength Staying sharp on the bike Done properly, you should

(And why most riders lose their strength every summer) Introduction Every year, it happens. You start the season strong. You’ve been in the gym. You feel powerful. Stable. Confident. Then riding ramps up. More trail days. Longer rides. Maybe a race or two. And slowly… You stop lifting. Not because you don’t believe in it—but because it starts to feel like too much to juggle . A few weeks later: Your legs feel flatter on climbs Your position breaks down late in rides Small ach

How strength, power, and control fade faster than you think — and why it shows up late in your rides As riding picks up, most mountain bikers do the same thing: They stop lifting. Not intentionally — it just… drifts. Rides get longer. Weather improves. Life gets busy. The gym quietly disappears. And it feels fine at first. But a few weeks later, something changes: You’re getting more tired on climbs Your body position starts to fall apart You feel less stable, less reactive

“I was struggling to keep up with my friends on climbs. My lower back was always tight. And I couldn’t figure out how to train without burning myself out.” That’s what Ryan told me before we started working together. He wasn’t unfit. He wasn’t lazy. 👉 He was just training the wrong way. The Problem Most Mountain Bikers Don’t See Ryan’s situation is more common than people think. He was: Training hard Pushing himself in the gym Doing what he thought would make him better …but

If you tried the MTB strength tests in my last post, you probably learned something pretty quickly: You’re either: Strong enough (rare) Close Or you’ve got some clear weak links And here’s the important part: 👉 That’s not a problem. That’s direction. An Opportunity to Improve. Most riders make the same mistake here—they either keep riding and hope it improves, or they jump into harder training. But if you failed a test, the answer isn’t to push harder. It’s to regress to pr

My Reccomended strength minimums based on the trail rating. One of the most common assumptions I hear from riders is this: “I've been riding alot, so I feel pretty strong.” And to a degree, that’s true. Riding builds: endurance skill confidence on the bike But there’s another piece of the puzzle that riders often overlook. Durability. As trails get steeper, faster, and rougher, the forces going through your body increase dramatically. Your arms absorb braking forces. Your leg

One of the most common questions riders ask is: “What should my strength training actually look like?” There’s no shortage of exercises online. Squats. Deadlifts. Core workouts. Mobility routines. But the real challenge for most riders isn’t finding exercises. It’s building a strength training program that improves mountain biking performance without ruining your rides. When strength training is done poorly, riders often notice: sore legs before rides reduced power on climbs

The Best Leg Exercises for Mountain Bikers (Quick List) If you only remember a few exercises for building stronger legs on the bike, start with these: Kickstand Romanian Deadlift – builds posterior chain strength and attack position stability Split Squats – develops single-leg strength and climbing power Step-Ups – reinforces the pedaling force pattern and hip stability Trap Bar Deadlift – builds full-body knee and hip power for accelerations Kettlebell Swings – trains e

How Ryan Rebuilt Strength Without Sacrificing Performance Most mountain bikers don’t quit strength training because they dislike it. They quit because it interferes with their riding. That was Ryan’s experience. Before 2020, he lifted three times per week—heavy and consistently—but the training wasn’t designed for mountain biking or skiing. Eventually, soreness and fatigue from lifting began to slow him down on the bike. So he stopped. And that’s where many riders stay. The P

Most mountain bikers don’t feel undertrained. They feel tired , a bit flat, and unsure whether they’re doing too much — or somehow not enough. They’re riding regularly. They’re training in the gym. They’re trying to be consistent. And yet something feels off. The problem usually isn’t effort. It’s that there’s no governing logic tying the week together. The Trap: More Training Without Clear Priorities Mountain biking attracts motivated people. When riding conditions improve,

A smarter way to think about weekly training priorities in pre-season * Most mountain bikers don’t feel undertrained. They feel busy, a bit tired, and unsure why their riding isn’t improving the way it should. They’re riding regularly. They’re training in the gym. They’re doing more than they used to. And yet… progress stalls. The problem usually isn’t effort. It’s that training volume has crept up without a clear set of weekly priorities . The Trap: More Training Without a

Finding Your Real Strength Bottleneck in Mountain Biking Most mountain bikers ask the wrong question during winter training. They often wonder: “Am I strong enough?” As a coach, I’m much more interested in a different question: “Which part of your MTB fitness is currently holding you back?” Fitness isn’t just one thing. Treating it as such is where most training goes off the rails. Strength Isn't Even a Single Quality Two riders can lift the same weights yet ride very differe

"Ask ten mountain bikers what “core training” means, and you’ll get ten different answers. Planks. Crunches. Sit-ups. Ab circuits that leave you sweating but unsure what actually carries over to riding. There are two problems that most riders encounter when training their core. Most core training doesn’t match what the core actually does on a mountain bike. And more importantly, Most core training isn't serving you as a functional human. Winter is the best time to fix t

If you’ve ever stood in the gym wondering whether what you’re doing actually helps your riding — you’re not alone. Most mountain bikers aren’t short on effort. They’re short on clarity . This is exactly why I explain the purpose behind each exercise in my programs. Winter is the best time to build strength that actually transfers to the bike — if you focus on the right things. This isn’t about random exercises or Instagram trends. It’s about training the movement patterns an

January is a strange time for mountain bikers. Riding is inconsistent. Motivation comes and goes. Instagram is full of people training like it’s already race season — and most riders are quietly wondering: “Am I doing the right thing right now?” I'm here to answer that. Not with hype. Not with a 12-week shred program. But with a clear, seasonal training plan that actually respects how mountain biking works — and how real people live. If you want to ride better, feel stronger

Most riders say they want to get stronger. Very few actually show up. As a coach who works exclusively with mountain bikers, this is one of the most common patterns I see in mountain bike strength training — not a lack of motivation, but too much internal dialogue, self-negotiation. The alarm goes off. You lie there. And the conversation starts. Should I train today? Maybe I’ll just ride more. I’m pretty tired… That conversation is the problem. Not willpower. Not discipline.

By Coach Ackerley | @themtbstrengthcoach  | Take the MTB Fitness Quiz “The pros train harder — so I should too, right?” You’d think so. And on paper, it makes sense. But I’ve seen World cup-level riders fall into the same trap as amateurs: chasing fatigue over function, reinforcing bad form, thinking harder training means better results. They’re left tired, sore, and frustrated — not because they’re not committed, but because their training isn’t actually designed to support

Saturday’s ride should have been one of those rides. Rain in the air. Trails empty. The forest doing its rainforest thing — dark, quiet, alive. Winter riding is usually where I feel most grounded. No crowds. No pressure. Just movement, breath, and space. But this time… something was off. Nothing dramatic. No crash. No mechanical that stopped the ride. Just a drivetrain that wouldn’t shut up. It was jumping slightly under load. Not enough to turn around. Not enough to bail. J

This Pro Coaches' secret weapon - His Ideal Program. If you’re an MTB rider with a job, a family, and a packed life, chances are you know exactly how Mike felt before he started training with me: ✔ inconsistent in the gym ✔ juggling nagging injuries ✔ struggling to find a plan that didn’t burn him out ✔ frustrated that “MTB-specific training” didn’t match the realities of being a working rider Mike isn’t a beginner. He’s a coach, a freerider, and someone who takes durability

4 hard minutes on the rower can tell you Your personalized MTB Fitness Needs. Every rider hits this point in the off-season: You finish your first solid block of training — maybe strength, maybe aerobic base, maybe a short VO₂ block — and suddenly you’re staring at five different directions you could go next. Strength again? Hypertrophy? Power? More endurance? Threshold? Skills? Intervals? Tempo? Mobility? It feels like there are too many options and no clear answer . So b