One of the best experiences of my coaching career was being able to work with Aaron Gwin at the beginning of his riding career.
I had a connection with Rich Houseman, who “discovered” Aaron at a local SoCal DH race. Rich called me and told me that I needed to start helping this kid because he was going to be great.
I had the chance to work with Aaron for about 3.5 years, before he was a sponsored rider and then through his time with Yeti. Aaron was actually the reason that the Yeti team hired me because he was impressed with what I was doing with him and wanted to make sure that I was the strength coach for the team.
Over that time he came and stayed with me to train and I had the chance to see him go from an unknown rider to the best American DH racer in a generation, getting 10th in his first ever WC race, finishing as high as 3rd in a race and placing 5th overall after just a few years of racing.
I learned some valuable things from working with and observing him and here are the top 3 things I took away from our time together.
Don’t make excuses.
Keep your emotions in check - never too high or too low.
Staying injury free is more important than maximizing performance with your training program.
I hope you got something from these lessons as well. You don't have to be a pro racer to apply these things to your own training and riding.
Until next time...
Ride Strong,
James Wilson
Strength Matters Recap
Skills Training for Mountain Biking
Endurance Training for Mountain Biking
Speed Training for Mountain Biking
Why Strength Training is an important part of improving your endurance.
How to use Flexibility Training to improve your performance.
Some tips to help you maximize your off-season training plan
Forging the Blade vs. Sharpening the Edge
Perception drives movement function and movement function drives perception.
Talking with Coach Al Painter about using strenth training with endurance athletes.
How to make an exercise harder without adding reps or weight plus tips on climbing
Why understanding the 2 levels of cross training is the key to becoming a better rider.
Cardio Training for Mountain Biking
New Rider Q&A Podcast answering your MTB training questions.
Why Standing Pedaling is Better than Seated Pedaling
Heart Rate Recovery, Race Day Nutrition & Spin Classes for MTB
Psych: Achieving optimal mental focus during performance
Zen Mountain Biking - Improve your riding 100% in 30 days
Maximizing Your Off Season Training
Tension Based Cardio Training
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