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What Happens When You Only Ride?
A Long-Term Look at MTB Strength, Skill & Injury Risk — and How to Turn It Into an Advantage The Big Idea Riding season is precious, and...
Alex Ackerley
May 302 min read
How to Strength Train During MTB Season Without Compromising Your Rides
You’ve been building strength all winter, dialling in your mobility, and improving your engine. Then spring hits — and boom — you’re out...
Alex Ackerley
May 233 min read
Quitting the Gym this Summer?
Blog Article: How Fast You Lose Strength Gains—and How to Keep Them While Riding More Than Ever I had a ton of interest in last week's...
Alex Ackerley
May 163 min read
Ride More, Lose Less:
Why Ditching the Gym Sets You Back Every Season Every year, when the trails dry out and the stoke goes through the roof, there's one big...
Alex Ackerley
May 114 min read
How to Taper for Your MTB Race
(And How It Changes by Age, Sex, and Life Stage) When you’ve put in months of hard work, a proper taper can be the difference between...
Alex Ackerley
Apr 264 min read
Strength to Weight Ratio Part 2 - Descending
Why Strength-to-Weight Ratio Matters Just as Much on the Way Down In the world of mountain biking, strength-to-weight ratio is usually...
Alex Ackerley
Apr 214 min read
Strength-to-Weight Ratio: Why Climbs Feel Hard (And What You Can Do About It)
It’s one of the most common things I hear from riders when they start working with me: “I’ve been grinding away on the trainer, but that...
Alex Ackerley
Apr 123 min read
Why all Mountain Bikers Should consider a little Olympic Lifting
If you want to ride harder, accelerate faster, and pop off the ground with control — you need power . Not just raw strength, but the...
Alex Ackerley
Apr 112 min read
🧠 DOMS for Mountain Bikers: What Soreness Means, and When to Worry
“Should I still ride if I’m sore from strength training?” If you’ve ever asked yourself that, you’re not alone. DOMS—Delayed Onset Muscle...
Alex Ackerley
Apr 43 min read
Don't make my Mistakes
Why Strength Training Matters: The Hard Lesson I Learned in My First MTB Race When I first moved to Squamish, I was a rookie mountain...
Alex Ackerley
Mar 274 min read
Don't give up when you're just getting started
Why Bikers Should Keep Strength Training in Season (Even When the Trails Call Your Name) As the weather warms up and trails dry out, most...
Alex Ackerley
Mar 265 min read
More Riding Doesn’t Always Mean More Progress
It’s easy to assume that if you just keep riding, you’ll keep improving. But at a certain point, that stops being true. Without...
Alex Ackerley
Feb 195 min read
Success Stories: How Nate Transformed His Riding Through Strength Training
About a year ago, Nate approached me with a realization—if ski guiding and mountain bike coaching were going to be a long-term career for...
Alex Ackerley
Feb 103 min read
Get Race-Ready for your Spring Enduro: Your 12-Week Training Plan!
The Squamish Enduro on April 27 is rapidly approaching. It might feel like the distant future, but with just 12 weeks to go, now is the...
Alex Ackerley
Jan 302 min read
Your Hips might be letting you down.
The Importance of Hip Rotation for Cyclists When we think about improving cycling performance and comfort, we often focus on power...
Alex Ackerley
Jan 213 min read
Not a gym person?
I have a fix for that - really. For many mountain bikers, stepping into a gym can feel intimidating. The unfamiliar equipment, technical...
Alex Ackerley
Jan 143 min read
Start now, Crush it Later
Why It’s Not Too Late to Start Your Winter MTB Training Program If you’ve been following along on Instagram , you’ll know we’re already a...
Alex Ackerley
Jan 72 min read
First Things First: Foundational Strength Development for Mountain Biking Performance
If you're here, you already know. Strength training is a cornerstone of mountain biking performance and longevity. It builds power for...
Alex Ackerley
Dec 12, 20244 min read
Mastering the Swiss Ball Pike: The Secret Weapon for Mountain Bikers
Whether you’re tackling sharp corners, landing jumps, or climbing steep terrain, a strong connection between the lower and upper body is...
Alex Ackerley
Nov 25, 20243 min read
From Intimidated to Empowered: How Strength Training Transformed Shawna’s Riding
When Shawna came to me, she shared how challenging it had become to keep up with her kids on family bike rides. As their interests...
Alex Ackerley
Nov 22, 20243 min read
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