| |
Cross Training
Cross training simply means participating in a variety of different
physical activities in order to benefit your cycling. Aerobic sports
such as running and swimming help to develop general fitness by
improving the efficiency of the heart, lungs and circulation of
blood to the muscles.
Cross training is useful for both novice and experienced cyclists
and is done for several different reasons. For those new to mountain
biking, cross training helps us to gain a good basic level of fitness
without overloading the body with one repetitive exercise when our
body is de-conditioned and not used to cycling. It therefore helps
to prevent injury.
Alternative sports also help to develop strength in other muscle
groups, for example swimming helps to develop strength and stability
in the trunk and shoulders. This can be beneficial to mountain biking
as it is such as an all round physical sport. We need a strong back
and good abdominal muscles when hill climbing and strength in the
arms and shoulders when carrying the bike.
More experienced cyclists benefit from cross training because it
adds interest and prevents boredom when you are perhaps doing up
to 5 workouts a week. Cross training workouts provide “active
rest” as they still use the cycling muscles but in a different
way. An example of such a recovery session would be an easy 20 minute
run on the day after a long ride. Cross training sessions should
therefore be done in minutes rather than hours, as their role is
to supplement rather than substitute the MTB training.
Cross training also provides a great alternative for exercise if
the weather is just too grim to head for the trails. A session in
the gym, an aerobics class or a quick run can be done instead -
it will make you feel way better than if you did nothing at all!
It is worth remembering though, that fitness is specific to training.
Other activities can add to strength, reduce injury risk and improve
general fitness but if you want to be a faster mountain biker, the
best training is to get out there and ride!
|
