[Closed] Tips for Enduro/DH training

Look at the James Wilson webnsite.

http://www.bikejames.com/

Basically says the same at GM that physically riding isn't the best way to train for that kind of riding. But has a bit more detail about what you should do.

Just getting technically better will conserve a lot of energy as well, so don't discount working on your skills and sessioning sections and obstacles you think you should improve at.

Also interested in this, as I've got reasonably fit but could do with being able to hang onto the bike better and improve my explosive power.

Greg Minnaar feature is very interesting but dates from 2008, so it's probably 26" specific.

+1 for bike James. I've been following his training since late last year and the improvements are significant. It takes discipline and commitment but its well worth it.

Go on a skills course, having the right techniques on the descents will help you catch you mate better than strength and fitness, although they will help you ride for longer.

Bikejames is a good site

In terms of gym work I would start by building up strength then when you have a good base switch to strength endurance. For strength endurance I do escalating density training.

Also do some yoga the very pleasant Abi Carter has dome some articles and videos for Pink Bikes.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/short-yoga-routine-lower-back-pain-2015.html
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/15-minute-yoga-routine-to-enhance-balance-and-agility-2015.html

When going for rides don't think just about the distance but also the quality of the ride. Better to do a shorter ride and smash it than just pootle for 70km on a sunny Sunday.

Try and hit your local DH tracks on a regular basis doesn't have then a mammoth session just keeping your skills sharp and building confidence.

If your are doing Enduro races you should look at your nutrition as well can probably help with energy levels over a weekends riding.

[i]Look at the James Wilson webnsite.[/i]

It's just me that finds his tone insufferably patronising then?

It's just me that finds his tone insufferably patronising then?

No, not just you.

I listened to one of his podcasts... just the one.

I don't know that I find him patronizing, but there is way too much self advertising to wade through, it is quite American in that. He is right about laying a foundation in the gym for bike fitness, but once you have taken the basics from his site I think you can quickly move on and do your own thing.

Time spent on your bike riding; not in the gym; will make you faster.

davidtaylforth - Member
Time spent on your bike riding; not in the gym; will make you faster.

fr0sty125 - Member
davidtaylforth - Member
Time spent on your bike riding; not in the gym; will make you faster.
You better tell the pros they are doing it wrong.

Are you a pro? Is the OP a pro? Why's it relevant what the pros do?

Time spent on your bike riding; not in the gym; will make you faster.

You do realise its entirely possible to do both?

You do realise its entirely possible to do both?

I can't see how. Surely the only reason the pro's go the gym is because they're sick to death of riding their bikes every waking hour.

For those that are in full time employment; I can't see how you'd possibly manage to fit in gym time.

davidtaylforth, while i agree that time on the bike makes you a better rider, developing power and endurance in the gym over the winter has transformed the way i ride.

I followed one of James Wilson's programs and got a lot out of it initially. Then this winter i was in touch with Chris Kilmurray who coaches a lot of pros and decided to try his program for a while. I am doing TransProvence this year and i wanted to train specifically for enduro races and multi day events.
As with James Wilson a lot of it is gym based as he believes that strength is the building block to endurance.

Now i do not know much about the training side of life outside of my own experience but applying strength and flexibility training to my schedule has definitely improved my riding no end. I have much more stamina on longer rides, i feel much stronger when i am tired and trying to ride harder trails.

As i said this is just my own experience but strength and flexibility training has been of enormous benefit to me.

And no i don't think the pro's go to the gym because they are bored riding their bikes. Thats just weird.

Oh yeh, no doubt it helps. Fact is, if you're on fairly limited time training; it's better spent on the bike (providing you're not just riding round a trail centre)

Very true but nobody mentioned being time crunched before you did 😀

You know what they say; "assumption is the mother of all **** ups!" 😀

Time spent on your bike riding; not in the gym; will make you faster.

I'd argue that time spent training (and not just riding) will make you faster. The question is, what's the most efficient way of doing it.

From the sounds of it the OP is reasonably quick up hill (assuming his mate who races a bit is a decent rider, and not bottom 3rd fodder) but could do with working on his DH skills.

We know that upping his endurance levels will help with that as he's already said he was knackered by the end of the ride, but it sounds like there could be a lot of 'free' time to be gained by focusing on becoming more efficient and quicker on the DH parts. Some skills coaching and actually training yourself to pick out faster lines, corner better etc will make you faster without needing to spend lots of time in the gym.

DirtSchool do fit by bike training plans. I think they are £20. I have the race fit one which I'm trying to follow. It's fairly intense but I'm seeing dividends. The other thing I've looked at is Joe Friel's stuff on heart rate training. I'd recommend both.

Essentially you need to grow the heart muscle to build endurance as this means the heart can pump more blood around the body with each beat and therefore beats slower so ensuring you last longer before getting tired or exhausted (the heart beats faster as you start to tire).

Building cardio fitness is probably not how you think. A lot of it is simply down to heart rate zone training, E.g. At least 2 rides a week at heart rate zone 2 for 2 hours non-stop, which would include climbs and descents. You also need to build in intervals for explosive power when it's needed. Both of these can be done on or off the bike depending on your preference.

IME spin classes aren't great for Enduro type training as they are mostly intervals although they do seriously build fitness. Personally I find them insanely boring and would rather be on the bike outside.

In terms of technique, going out of your comfort zone definitely helps. I spent last weekend riding a steep, rocky and rooty downhill track (BUCS at Innerleithen if anyone's interested) on my 150mm hardtail. This week I've found all the local trails a lot easier and I'm carrying a lot more speed(scientific merits of Strava debatable).

For those that are in full time employment; I can't see how you'd possibly manage to fit in gym time.

Time required to do 60 minutes of weights: 90 minutes maximum.
Time required to do 60 minutes mountain biking: 3 hours minimum.

That's the maths for me, where I live, anyway. I love riding my bike, and hate gym time. But I struggle to find 3 spare waking hours in most days (certainly not daylight ones), so a bit of gym is a lot better than nowt.

🙂

Cheers all. Reality is I'm not committed enough to get down the gym, but more than happy to put the work in at home. Had a poke around the James Wilson site and will download some of the free stuff. I have a fair bit of time for riding (~10 mid-week, inc. roadie) and can do a few more hours on weights/non-bike workouts. Stamina, flexibility and "explosive" power seems to be where it's at.

I definitely could step up it on mtb riding time as I've been off the bike for a couple of weeks, but am blessed by having a v.quiet DH spot nearby. A few more hours up there required methinks. Really makes a difference in fluidity out on regular trails. Definitely scope for technique improvement and I certainly wasn't riding as smooth as normal as I was fatigued. This said, there were many earlier sections where mate's technique was better (him fluid/me braking and consequently pedalling hard).

My reason for posting was that I was surprised how quick fatigue came on. I was riding strong and then levels just dropped, and I was hanging on. I thought I was reasonably quick downhill (normally waiting for local riding buddies), but good to have my backside served on a plate. Makes you realise how relative all of this is when you ride with the really quick folk.

Makes you realise how relative all of this is when you ride with the really quick folk.

Amen to that. 🙂

For road riding, the nature of the activity is very specific and just being on the bike is the best way to train, although most will add in alittle other activities to stave off the bio mechanical issues that can result from doing nothing but cycling.
For xc riding, most will add in a little gym work, recognising the need for some upper body strengh and movement required for the technical aspects.
Enduro is again getting a fair bit more technical, the movement and upper body strength required to keep going on long technical downhill stretches is surprising, the work done building grinding oput miles on road and xc bikes is a completely different kind of fitness and to improve and cope with the physical challenge then some weekly gym time is a must.
For downhill a considerable amount of non cycling training is required.

But that is just for the physical aspects, riding a bike is more fun, unfortunately it does become a lot less fun when you are too knackered to do it well.

OP - Thought about the mental aspect on the ride that prompted this?

Haven't a clue what you're like, but worst case you could have been turning up stressed going out with someone new, keen to impress, burnt yourself out on the first climb, first descent, going in tight, gets dropped, gets even tighter, everything is hard work now with all the tightness, tightness creating mistakes making everything 10X harder work, whilst you're feeling beaten because you keep on getting dropped with no visual effort from your buddy.

Maybe you're already there, but just having a tight day?

In terms of instant power, pump tracks, BMX tracks and doing entire rides standing should quite easily get you somewhere a lot more powerful, no gym involved and a lot more fun, o yea and writing off the easiest gear you have for the occasional ride. This is the sort of stuff i grew up on, but don't do so much any more, but still when i'm out with exceptionally fit, strong people, i still keep managing to match/exceed them on the instant power front much to my disbelief, it has to come from somewhere, i blame the BMX background and riding out of the saddle a lot more than most.

Ha, not 100% off the mark, and yeah I was wondering how the day was going to go, although I'm not quite as neurotic as you suggest 😉 I was just going at normal pace on the climbs and backed off later so not to be an arse. Things definitely tight though so causing mistakes. Being mindful of standing more a good tip.

For those that are in full time employment; I can't see how you'd possibly manage to fit in gym time.

Full time employment, and no kids. Loads of time. My week looks like

Monday - 1 hour strength training
Tuesday - An hour of interval work on the turbo
Wednesday - 1 hour strength training
Thursday - An hour of interval work on the turbo or a couple of hours on the bike
Friday - 1 hour strength training
Saturday - 2-3 hour easy paced ride
Sunday - 4-5 hour race pace ride

That James Wilson stuff is truly awful.

I work full time.

In the summer I ride 4 times a week, hit the gym 3 days a week and try and do yoga every morning or evening.

In winter it is more like 2 rides a week and 5 times in the gym.

That James Wilson stuff is truly awful

In your opinion

If yo're time-limited and want to train on the bike, I reckon the best thing you can do is to get a single-speed.

I ride DH very occasionally, the only time I've been strong enough to ride top to bottom at fort William without stopping was after I'd been riding mostly SS for a few months.

You spend the whole time standing up, which gives you the strength you need to stay stood up on the bike when it gets rough on the descents. And wrenching yourself up the hills is great for your over-all core strength and arm strength too. All that strength training and you get to ride your bike at the same time too!

I got talked into starting a MTB specific strength & conditioning course run by one of Peaty's coaches. Wasn't convinced beforehand, but I have to say it's been worthwhile.

The mobility stuff is excellent - that made an immediate difference. I'm much looser on the bike when cornering. I do a fair bit of stretching anyway, but this has added quite heavily to that.

The weights side of things is taking longer to come through, but now it's getting drier and grippier, I'm aware that I can be much more brutal with the bike - I can corner (much) harder, I've got more pop, etc. I'm also aware day to day that my core strength is massively better, and that can only be a good thing.

In terms of pedalling, I'm not sure if I'm stronger or not. I seem to have gained about 1mph average speed on my roadie, but I've also changed to a new bike at the same time, with lower spinnier gears.

If you're time-limited and want to train on the bike, I reckon the best thing you can do is to get a single-speed.

A very STW perspective! 🙂 You're right though, I have a SS for local jaunts and it definitely gives you a full workout. A bit much for me on my knee to be a very regular bike (many N.Wales hills pretty steep).

Jon, when you mention mobility stuff, can you give examples?

Ha ha, yeah I suppose it is, though it wasn't particularly meant to be. Just my experience of when I was best able to hustle a bike down a hill and why. I wasn't riding SS exclusively, maybe 2-3 times a week. I'd guess once a week would be enough, but might take a few months longer to get the full benefit.

I can't see I'll ever have enough spare time that weights and stretching can be added in without ride time dropping, which will then slow me more than the weights etc would speed me up. And although I have a decent setup in my workshop for indoor training, it's got nothing on real riding in the countryside!

In terms of technique, going out of your comfort zone definitely helps. I spent last weekend riding a steep, rocky and rooty downhill track (BUCS at Innerleithen if anyone's interested) on my 150mm hardtail. This week I've found all the local trails a lot easier and I'm carrying a lot more speed

Yep, its one of the reasons i keep a HT in fine fettle....take it somewhere like BPW, try to chase down the DH lads, ride beyond myself, learn some new stuff....come home and then ride my local trails much better/faster.

Gym time works, bodyweight exercises, core strengthening stuff etc can do wonders.
It doesnt take much time either.

In an extreme abbreviated routine i can be in and out in less than an hour having covered: deadlifts, chins/pull-ups, benchpress, dips, some kind of shoulder exercise, some abdominal work....arms almost get done accidently as the levers involved in exercises like dips and benchpress (triceps) and chins/pull-ups (biceps)....thats a total body workout using mainly free weights and bodyweight type training....in the summer when i want to ride more i'll do this once a week.

In the winter when i ride less i split the gym sessions into two so one is a day where i use my pulling muscle groups: deadlifts, chins, rows, bicep curls.

Second session i train my pushing muscle groups: benchpress, dips, shoulder presses, triceps.

Abdominal/core/oblique stuff can be tagged onto the end of either or both sessions....crucially i'm in and out in about 45 mins each time....easy.

Train smarter not longer.

I still stand by what I say. You've gotta practice your tekkers; no amount of benchpresses will stop you getting pwned by some scrawny 14 year old who can ride a bike properly.

Although the OP may be a shit hot rider already?

fr0sty125 - Member

I work full time.

In the summer I ride 4 times a week, hit the gym 3 days a week and try and do yoga every morning or evening.

In winter it is more like 2 rides a week and 5 times in the gym.

I take it youre not a family man and single then ?.

Although the OP may be a shit hot rider already?

Depends how small the pond is! 😆

In my opinion going fast DH is about 2 things - physical ability & confidence.

I raced DH last year for the first time & did OK, was in the bottom half of my class (bottom third overall) in general. Training was quite a bit of running, me & a mate doing a bit at the local gym for the masses & a few uplift days. Through the winter I joined a gym in a unit with a proper trainer. Usually manage 4-5 times a week doing everything from circuits to core to boxing. It's a proper workout for an hour & I'm riding much faster than I was at this point last year, probably the fastest I've ever been (still waiting for results from my first race of the year - this weekend's SDA at Ae).

As I feel physically stronger I'm getting more confident.

For busy everyday people I don't think there can be much substitute for time spent on the bike honing teh skillz. Thinking of the fastest downhill riders I know they certainly don't go to the gym and won't win any fitness competitions.

The other thing to say is... next time you're stood at the top with your new mate, ask him to show you his lines / where he's going & why & then ask if he'll slow down a bit & let you follow. I've just watched Ben Cathro's helmet cam from the race I mentioned & where everyone else follows the same path, he goes on & off the track all the time. He's cutting corners, riding on the grass at the side as it's got better grip or a better angle into the next corner. Sat here wondering "Why didn't I see that????"

the fastest downhill riders I know they certainly don't go to the gym

http://www.redbull.com/uk/en/bike/stories/1331623080129/gee-atherton-training-mtb-downhill

[quote=bigjim ]For busy everyday people I don't think there can be much substitute for time spent on the bike honing teh skillz. Thinking of the fastest downhill riders I know they certainly don't go to the gym and won't win any fitness competitions.

look at gee atherton vs brendon fairclough. similar age, coming up through the same series to WC level.

Arguably Brendon is a more skillful rider than Gee.

Which one actually wins stuff?

2 pages and 44 posts and nothing from MTbmable telling you your all wrong about everything .... 😛

Thinking of the fastest downhill riders I know they certainly don't go to the gym and won't win any fitness competitions

I regularly bump into Josh Lewis and Craig Evans in the gym, as they do the S&C session before me. I've not seen Peaty there yet, but I know he uses the same place. An awful lot of the non-pro, but bloody rapid, local fast boys do it too.

- also - see point 4
[url] http://velocitysportscycling.com/cycling-myth-busting-from-team-sky/ [/url]

So from my experience, the following will help your fitness, endurance and ability to sprint for longer, not get as much arm pump etc:

Big compound moves, lifting heavy with low reps - deadlifts, squats, bench press.

Dumbell - Chest press, Bent over row, Chest Fly’s

Kettlebell – Hip Swing, Romanian Deadlift, Clean and jerk (can be done with an Olympic bar as well)

Bodyweight – Pressups, situp variations, planks, TRX work

Interval Training – Down to the individual, but I usually do pyramids, so 2 min on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 4 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 2 off.

The above will help, undoubtedlyDon’t compromise time on the bike though, gym training and time on the bike should compliment each other. I mainly do my fitness side in the gym, and use my bike time to practise my technical riding (the part I enjoy!)

as they do the S&C session before me

sack and crack?

I go to the gym four times a week, have done for ten years. I'm still crap at enduro. I don't ride my bike enough.

As with all these things it's a balance .

A lot of James Wilson’s stuff is very American, but the fact is, it works. He’s trained enough top flight racers to know the score – and there are plenty of “me too” people popping up using his stuff under their own brand as well.

I followed his programme a couple of years ago when I was at my peak and raced most of the Superenduro series – the key things I found were that I was able to muscle the bike much more, I was more resistant to fatigue over the course of a long day, and felt a lot more efficient in terms of energy usage/management. I don’t know enough about physiology to fully explain it, but it felt like my whole body was running 10-15% better as a machine. Recovery time post event was far better as well.

Knowing several pro enduro racers now (EWS level, national champion level), a huge amount of their training time is spent on strength, mobility and overall conditioning as opposed to just “leg speed” or “technique” – it’s seeing the whole body as a machine, with lots of different component parts, all summing up to make the overall machine perform better. You wouldn’t tune up a car’s engine without looking at suspension, brakes and tyres. The body is no different.

I'm afraid I don't know Gee atherton, brendog or Peaty, but as biking as is their job I'm sure they do go to the gym quite a bit.

As a normal punter if I only had a couple of two or three hour windows a week spare to get better at biking, I'd certainly be out on the bike and not in the gym anyway. ymmv

Time spent on your bike riding; not in the gym; will make you faster.

it's more complicated though. what's your weakest link? if you're too fatigued to use your aerobic fitness then you need gym time.

I struggled in the paris-roubaix sportive because i didn't have the core strength in the cobbles: could have ridden harder but my middle hurt. Maybe a bit less bike time and a bit more gym time would have left me more balanced. roadie not enduro: blah, blah.

Knowing several pro enduro racers now (EWS level, national champion level), a huge amount of their training time is spent on strength, mobility and overall conditioning as opposed to just “leg speed” or “technique” – it’s seeing the whole body as a machine, with lots of different component parts, all summing up to make the overall machine perform better. You wouldn’t tune up a car’s engine without looking at suspension, brakes and tyres. The body is no different.

The difference is, those guys have all got the skills for the bike riding part already, so they don't need to spend the time sessioning corners/jumps/sections/etc.

They can focus on the smaller % gains over a wider spectrum.

I'll maintain, that for your Average Joe doing some enduro races, the biggest gains will be going out on your bike, as much as possible & trying to ride it as fast as possible.

Once you're knocking on the door of the top 10% in your category, then maybe is the time to worry about the marginal gains elsewhere.

Gym sessions are ok but if you are in n wales go over and do repeated runs of antur stiniog, 10 -15 runs of the black is a mega workout and bike skills training at the same time.
also is you live near any unofficial dh tracks session these and experiment with lines.

I'll maintain, that for your Average Joe doing some enduro races, the biggest gains will be going out on your bike, as much as possible & trying to ride it as fast as possible.

Once you're knocking on the door of the top 10% in your category, then maybe is the time to worry about the marginal gains elsewhere.

Not true, you'd be suprised how competitive all races are, even at the lower end, and the level pople ride and train at. I race the UKGE and a few EWS, and the level at the UKGE is so much higher than 2/3 years ago. Time in the gym and time on the bike are both important. If you want to race and do relatively well, you need to make time for both, as you can be sure everyone else is....

Time in the gym and time on the bike are both important. If you want to race and do relatively well, you need to make time for both, as you can be sure everyone else is....

I managed to chat to Gee Atherton about this last summer, he saw gym work as being essential to stay at the top and help to prevent injuries. Also its an arms race - If one racer is doing it to get an edge then the rest will have to. Natural talent can only carry you so far.
Completely agree with the point about marginal gains being important all the way down the category - if you can gain 10 seconds on a stage through being fitter / stronger / not crashing and there are 6 stages that's a minute saved over the next rider (or a minute not lost depending on your strengths and weaknesses)
If you're serious about getting progressing then a dedicated and measurable programme is the quickest way forward - Strava / HRMS / workout logs are all there to measure your performance, tie this into quality time on the bike and you should see decent improvements.

Coming from the angle of someone who rides their bike a lot. I did the Bike James one this year and the gains were enormous. Uphill I sort of expected but suddenly I was the fastest in my group by quite a way. The DH gains were what surprised me. I do plenty of riding, say 5000-15000m down a week so thought I'd have developed the muscles already but I noticed really big speed gains and also in how comfortable I was moving the bike around. Everyone commented on it. Then I herniated two discs in my neck and have had two months off the bike! Back now but it was pretty rough. Was it to do with the training? Who knows. I think I was getting a bit carried away with it and really going for it. Also I have a heavy baby, spend a lot of late nights working on the computer and driving. The Dr said that all these were as likely as the training. I do know that the last month I was in pain but zipped up my man suit and proceeded to totally screw myself up!

Has anyone done the BIke James bodyweight plan? I really hate gyms.

I reckon... Well, this is obvious but it's going to mostly depend on you and your own basic capability.

Like, SES round 1 at innerleithen, by the bottom of prospacker people were [i]dying[/i], I spoke to folks who'd been in pure survival mode because they were so burned out, or been struggling with basic control because of tiredness, claw hands etc, who'd usually be fast down that section but who couldn't make it happen. If that's you, then there's huge gains to be made- we're not talking seconds here, it slows you down over huge sections, causes crashes, etc. Basically, takes you out of your comfort zone.

And I think that's mostly just because people aren't generally used to riding harder stuff for longer, or after a pedal section. It's physical but also a matter of composure- one undermines the other. Building up upper body strength or cardio fitness could make a massive difference, and transfer back into better riding.

Similiarly, if over the course of a day you're flagging, then fixing that'll make an enormous difference too. No amount of strength or skill is very useful when the tank's empty.

But if you can already sustain that sort of riding to a decent level, then the gains are going to be more marginal- you can always pedal harder but you can't make up those gulfs.

I'm doing the hardtail cat of the scottish series this year and frankly it is kicking my arse, everything is just that little bit harder work and sometimes it's put me back into that space where instead of gaining or losing a second or two, I lose composure or commitment and end up losing 10 seconds through a section, or screwing up lines etc, that I never would normally. For the first time in years I've had trouble with arm tiredness etc. It's actually a pretty small difference in performance, but it makes a huge difference in outcomes.

I suppose what I'm fundamentally saying is no more complicated than "know yourself", and working with that. But in particular, removing weaknesses can be more productive than building strengths. There's a tendancy to play to your strengths though because it's usually more satisfying.

I find going to the gym the most tedious thing under the sun, hence I'd much prefer to do a complimentary sport. Maybe try yoga or bouldering/climbing? Both will really help with your core strength, balance and subtlety of grip/strength. They're fun and you don't have to look at all the meatheads in baggy wifebeaters, mentally rubbing one out over themselves, for an hour every night.

That, and cutties. Lots and lots of cutties. Everywhere.

Has anyone done the Bike James bodyweight plan? I really hate gyms.

Not quite but I am doing the kettlebell programme which doesn't need a gym. I have the bodyweight manual too which he gave me but I haven't followed it. I started off on the gym programme but being able to do the circuits in a busy gym was a bit of a pain so I wanted something to do at home. The KB stuff works perfectly with a home setup. I replaced the gym sessions in the programme with the KB sessions and mix them up with his Energy System Development (ESD) programme.

Overall it's working very well for me. I need stucture in my training, and in most things in life. "just riding my bike" doesn't work for me as it lacks direction. I like to see things planned out with clear progression. Last year was my first year of racing and a real eye opener. At the start of the year I thought about what I could definitely improve. There's no guarantee I could get braver and more confident on the bike, but I could definitely get fitter and stronger so I decided to focus on that with the belief that improvements in that area would also allow me to ride better and more confidently as I'd be physically improved. I don't have any raw talent on the bike unlike others!

So far the results are noticeable. Massive improvements in strength, fitness and stamina. Unofficially based on Strava I'm seeing significant time improvements particularly in climbing segments and overall endurance. I can ride pretty much non-stop for 3+ hours now and not feel totally burst. Officially from a racing perspective I've had by far my best result ever relative to the rest of my class, and the gap between my times and those I race regularly with has improved significantly. That to me makes the investment, both from a time and money perspective, 100% worthwhile.

thanks Bob, never used a kettlebell before, do I just need to buy one?

Not true, you'd be suprised how competitive all races are, even at the lower end, and the level pople ride and train at. I race the UKGE and a few EWS, and the level at the UKGE is so much higher than 2/3 years ago. Time in the gym and time on the bike are both important. If you want to race and do relatively well, you need to make time for both, as you can be sure everyone else is....

I know how competitive they are, I race in them!

I haven't been near a gym in years, I just ride my bike & do some commuting to work, as do all the guys I ride with. Normally we hover (assuming no issues) around the top 15% in our category in a UKGE.

I don't doubt things could improve if I took it more seriously, and went to the gym, did some targeted training etc, but it's just a bit of fun.

My point being you could, just by riding your bike, get into the top 20% of your respective category.

never used a kettlebell before, do I just need to buy one?

He gives recommendations in the manual for suggested weights. Complete novice with low strength levels = 12kg kettlebell. I use a 15kg one and by the end of a session I'm burst. To give you an idea of what a session looks like, the "hard" phase 2 session is

Mobility and warm up drills (foam roller and stretching)
30 kettlebell clean and presses (15 each side)
48 two point rows (24 each side)
32 Bulgarian split squats (16 each side)
110 single arm kettle bell swings (55 each side)

All of those are split into sets of 3x8 etc. The manual comes with demos of every exercise and video links to full demonstrations of each session. Really professional stuff.

My point being you could, just by riding your bike, get into the top 20% of your respective category.

I was just riding my bike and couldn't get out the bottom 20%!

The general rule is: play to your strengths, work on your weaknesses.

So if you find you are picking the wrong lines then do laps on technical sections to work on picking better lines. However if you are picking the wrong lines because you are tired then you need to work on your stamina. If you are picking poor lines because you don't have the strength to handle the bike through them then you need to work on your strength. This needs quite a bit of post ride analysis which is why top athletes have coaches, it's someone to get feedback from, if they are doing their job right then they'll pick up on the causes rather than the symptoms. Most of us can't afford to have a coach so need to do the job ourselves.

Most sports are very specific in their muscle demands so gym work or similar is worth doing to ensure that you don't get a muscle imbalance. You have primary muscle groups which do the main bulk of the work but also secondary muscle groups that do things like keep joints in alignment and these need workouts as well. As a climber I began going to Pilates classes, hmm doing nothing here, it's easy! An hour later and I'm wondering why everything is such hard work! Doing something different gives your body a wakeup call

Of course none of this works in isolation: if you are stronger then you don't tire so easily so you pick a better line so you use less energy (nervous and physical) so you don't get so tired.

To be effective [b]all[/b] training should have a specific purpose: I'm doing this exercise/activity to improve that weakness.

the other challenge I have is I have nowhere close by that can effectively replicate race conditions. I have to drive for well over an hour to find somewhere with a 10-12 minute descent, so in order to maximise my training I have to do off bike stuff.

He gives recommendations in the manual for suggested weights. Complete novice with low strength levels = 12kg kettlebell. I use a 15kg one and by the end of a session I'm burst. To give you an idea of what a session looks like, the "hard" phase 2 session is

Mobility and warm up drills (foam roller and stretching)
30 kettlebell clean and presses (15 each side)
48 two point rows (24 each side)
32 Bulgarian split squats (16 each side)
110 single arm kettle bell swings (55 each side)

All of those are split into sets of 3x8 etc. The manual comes with demos of every exercise and video links to full demonstrations of each session. Really professional stuff.

thank you very much

was just riding my bike and couldn't get out the bottom 20%!

Completely agree. If you are lucky enough to be that talented a rider, then that's great, but others have to find other areas to improve. I was always finishing around 25-35% from the back. First two races this season have been top 50%. A proper off season look to have helped.

Something else, like the insanity programmes may be of use, having never tried them I couldn't recommend, but a few friends have got in very good shape from doing it. Seems good for overall body conditioning.

Completely agree. If you are lucky enough to be that talented a rider, then that's great, but others have to find other areas to improve. I was always finishing around 25-35% from the back. First two races this season have been top 50%. A proper off season look to have helped.

Indeed. So far this season I've managed to beat 40% of the field in one race which is my best so far. the Scottish series is harder to gauge so far as the field is much more stacked this year, but if I compare myself to fast mates, last year I was generally 20%-30% slower than them. So far this year I've closed that gap to 10%-15%.

best thing I've found is insanity work out. i work away a lot and don't have access to a training bike 🙁 but this does help. hope I've helped you out
it can be dowloaded from a torrent site but shhhhh

Only sped read this and can't see it mentioned. Best way to get quicker is to ride with someone who is quicker than you. They'll push you, you'll push more to keep up. You'll try their lines etc.

That's why I have such a following.. Nawt

My point being you could, just by riding your bike, get into the top 20% of your respective category.

Just riding won't help as much as structured training. It's way too easy to go out for a ride and not push yourself anywhere near hard enough to get the maximum benefit from the time on the bike.