Singletrack’s new Health and Fitness Column

Want to get fitter over the winter, ready to unleash your awesomeness in the spring? Got a niggling injury you don’t know whether to ride on or not? Can’t touch your toes? Want to know why you fade during longer events? We have the experts to give you the answers – and they’re now open for your questions.

Regular readers will be very familiar with Torq Fitness’ Matt Hart, who has been dispensing training and fitness advice for us for years. Well, he’s being joined by a professional racer, a physio and a doctor in order to round-out the advice we can give you through the fitness pages of the magazine. Every issue we’ll invite your questions for each (or all) of our experts and, if your question is chosen, the answers will appear in the magazine, with you getting a speedier reply so you can get on with getting better, faster, healthier…

So, without further ado, here is the Singletrack Health and Fitness Team for 2012:

Matt Hart
Matt should need no introducing to regular readers of Singletrack. For the last couple of years, Matt has been writing a regular column on fitness and training for the magazine, as well as running Torq Fitness, his nutrition brand. Along the way, he’s covered training for all sorts of events, recovery and nutrition, as well as racing the Yak Attack, the highest mountain bike race in the world and competing in the Exposure 12hr UK Champs this spring (and finishing fourth at his first attempt). Matt will be answering questions from fit people looking to go faster and not-so-fit folk looking to get into shape, as well as covering what to eat, how to train and how to keep the motivation going.

Adam Craig
Adam Craig is a pro racer for the Giant Rabobank team in the USA. He’s a 2008 Olympian, the 2007 Singlespeed World Champion and has numerous USA national titles in Cross Country, Short Track, Super-D and Cyclocross. When he’s not winning stuff, he co-pilots a Scooby WRX rally car for fellow racer Carl Decker, kayaks and has been known to drink the odd beer. We reckon he has the work/life balance pretty sussed. What Adam doesn’t know about bike racing without blowing up or burning out, probably isn’t worth knowing.

Dr Jon
Dr Jon, and his amazing selection of modified bikes, features in this issue of Singletrack. His riding and bike fettling pedigree is unquestionable, but when he’s not pondering custom geometry or taking a Dremel to a Saint mech, he’s actually a genuine General Practitioner. As a racer, rider and general bon viveur, he’s here to answer the more medical questions, as well as those general life and living issues.

Ali Mills
Ali runs our local physio practice, Mills Physiotherapy, and she’s fixed pretty much everyone in the office at some point over the past couple of years after crash damage, thrutch-inflicted acute injury or plain ol’ overuse. As a fell runner and cyclist herself she’s very used to dealing with the insatiable desire we all seem to have to stay on the bike as much as possible, even when it hurts. She specialises in clinical Pilates and is here to advise you on the best way to keep your body running smoothly on the bike, as well as the general maintenance which we should do more of – like the dreaded stretching (bah! – Ed.)…

Got a question?
Send it to fitness@singletrackworld.com and we’ll pass them on to the most suitable guru, though you’re welcome to address questions to specific folks yourself, too. Don’t delay though: the first issue with our new panel goes to press next month, so get in there sharpish if you’d like to see your question answered.

We’re also looking for a bike-savvy nutritionist to join the panel in the near future, so if you can advise us on which of the proliferation of cyclist-specific energy products is worth bothering with if you’re ‘just going for a ride’ and whether pie or pizza makes the better Friday lunchtime pick-me-up, then get in touch.