Top 3 MTB Skills Training Myths Replay

One of the things I love about mountain biking is the blending of fitness and skill it requires. I’ve often described mountain biking as the love child between an endurance sport like distance running and an action sport like surfing, making it a unique sport to both participate in and train for.

This is one of the reasons that skills training is such apopular subject among riders. While some riders try to “out-fitness” their way through everything, a lot of riders recognize the need to improve their trail specific skills.

And so every year thousands of riders invest countless hours and money in attending skills camps, watching videos and reading articles and books in an attempt to improve their fundamental skills on the trail.

But what if some of the most popular advice that is being given isn’t really the best way to teach someone the desired skill?

Worse yet, what if some of this advice was actually holding you back on the trail?

Well, unfortunately that is exactly what I’ve found to be the case. After spending years trying to apply the normal skills training advice to execute basic skills like Body Position and Cornering, I came to realize that a lot of what we are taught has us focused on the wrong things.

The problem that I found was that most of this skills training advice was either blindly applied from another sport (usually motorcycle riding) or it sounded good in theory but it actually went against how the human body is designed to optimally move.

By focusing on the specifics of our sport and respecting the human body in the process I found I was able to improve my skills much faster and, better yet, I was better able to apply those improved skills to new trails and situations.

Over the years I’ve had the chance to work with hundreds of riders and I’ve found that there are 3 pieces of skills training advice that are pure myth. These 3 things actually hold back a lot of riders who try to apply them.

And while I’ve talked about them all at one point or another on my blog and podcasts, I wanted to put on a free webinar that goes over these Top 3 MTB Skills Training Myths all together.  Here’s what you’ll learn in this free webinar:

- Why "elbowsout" is the wrong way to get your arms in the right position...and what simple cue can get your elbows in the right place every time.

- Why "lightlights, heavy feet" can result in an unbalanced position that robs you of braking power, traction and cornering stability...and what you should be focused on to maintain the best balance in any situation.

- Why "lean the bike and not your body" may work on a motorcycle but is the wrong way to corner your mountain bike for maximum traction and balance...and how a childhood game is the key to unlocking this skill.

- And much more…

Like I’ve said many times before, I’m not a “natural rider” and I’ve had to work hard to improve my skills. I invested a lot of time and money in the process and yet I always found my ability to consistently apply a lot of the advice I was given to the trail.

Only when I started to think outside the normal “skills training box” did I start to find ways that worked better for myself and my clients. I hope that you’ll check out this webinar replay where I’ll share a lot of the hard learned lessons I’ve learned along the way and hopefully they can help you enjoy riding even more.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

MTB Strength Training Systems