This is more of a question for the enduro/trail riders than the MX guys but I'd like to hear from both groups.

What gym exercises do you think help the most with your riding?

Axxis,
in my heydays...about 30 years ago (I'm 50 now and still riding, but more towards recreational endurance rather than MX), I used to do a lot of cycling to enhance my stamina....and balance...
I do a lot of push ups and situps...this helps to keep me steadier on the bike and helps my movements.
Lots and lots of stretching...better agility and mobility while riding...

Now? Only cycling...and stretching.....hahahahahahahahaha.....old horse oledi...owner can shoot me anytime.

Do you find anything in particular challenging?

It seems many riders suffer from something called "arm pump." For those who don't know what it is, it's when your arms feel like cement blocks after riding for a while. It's caused by blood in your arms not being able to circulate out of it, so it saturates the tissue there. Or something like that.

If you google the topic, there's a whole host of exercises which help prevent that. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to spend much time figuring out what's impt and what's not, but the general impression I got is there aren't any special exercises one should do.

Several guys claim wrist exercises work wonders. Basically, they take an old piece of pipe, then wind a weighted piece of rope up with their wrists. It trains your forearms which I suppose is where all the blood pools.

Personally, my main problem is stamina. I can lift a fallen bike up, no problem. But doing that repeatedly just shocks my system the same way doing multiple deadlifts does (yes, I fall quite often haha). And thereafter, my mind's in a haze and I feel too exhausted to focus properly. So I suppose cardio exercises are the way to go.

That's something I should work on.

Yep. Cardio for general fitness and also HIIT or interval training is important. I find that riding is kinda anaerobic. During a hard and fast ride, the tiredness is like sprinting man!.

Anyway, for muscles I do Lat pull down, bend over rows, bicep curls, tricep pull downs , squats (lifting bikes and constant sitting and standing on the bike) and abs exercises (Important! We move a lot when we ride, having a strong mid section is good). A rule of thumb is to see which muscle groups are used when you ride. I used to have arm pumps but ever since I picked up mountain biking for 2 years now, I have none of it now.

By the way, don't get the impression that I'm super fit or a greek god. Haha.. guys who know me will see that I'm a plus sized rider..

you might find this website useful

www.thumpertalk.com/fo...p?t=857379

rowing is meant to be good but its boring...i cycle mainly and ride as much as possible

My main problem is overheating and feeling very ill (migraines with vomitting) every single time after riding.
I want to find ways to make riding easier so that I don't get so hot so quickly.

I've been back at gym for about 4-5 months now after many many years of doing nothing.
I just do general upper body workouts and recently I've started adding squats into the mix now that my knee can finally handle it.
Slowly gaining back some strength but my fitness is still CRAP!

Cycling, running and rowing are all a no go for me as every time I try I end up with a swollen throbbing knee which takes weeks to recover.

Has anyone tried the Kettlebell workouts? I'm thinking of giving this a try.
The other option is swimming I guess.

Try riding to places where you can swim in the sea , waterfall or river with running water (sg dont have),I always jump into the river to cool myself down .

One of the items i always see riders wear ,good protection but will cause heatstroke / exhaustion in our weather



No need to go gym ,just ride more ... the more you ride you will get fitter along the way !!!

I used to do smoke a lot of cigarettes every day and drink lots of beer but i now i can only drink beer

Beer is good and been helping ugly people make love for hundreds of years

Axxis wrote:

Has anyone tried the Kettlebell workouts? I'm thinking of giving this a try. The other option is swimming I guess.

There are cooling vests on the market but they don't work well in humid climates like Singapore.

The easiest thing to do is to fill your water bladder with ice-water? Or do you already do that?

What exactly happened to your knee, and how did you injure it?

I already use vented jerseys, plus two of the most cooling helmets on the market (Fox V3 and Bell Moto 8).
I do the ice water thing and stay well hydrated but nothing seems to help.
Obviously I would stay cooler if I remove the kidney belt and chest protector but that's just not sensible.
Guessing I'll have to stick with short rides on cool days.

Road accident. Fully torn ACL, partial tear on the MCL, cartilage + meniscus tears (two places).
I've had a knee reconstruction and the ACL/MCL is good now but the meniscus damage seems to be the main problem for certain activities.
It is getting better (slowly but surely) but it's still trial and error to see what works.

Don't miss the core workouts...strong lower back helps in most activities, prevent injuries too.

Axxis - hydration starts the night before and in the morning before you head out... perhaps you need a lager camel pak or 2 =)

Roy> Yeah I drink heaps the day before and end up awake half the night going to the bathroom. Maybe my body just refuses to retain water.
I think I've just got a head from the reject bin.

As for the core exercises, yeah, gotta do more of those.

motomuppet wrote:

rowing is meant to be good but its boring...i cycle mainly and ride as much as possible

Gosh ..how cu I forget about rowing...used to do this by the sets of dozens..this is one good exercise as it helps strengthen ur knees, tummy, wrist, arms, and back...an almost complete workout.

And one good way of re hydrating urself shud be...drink lots of water at night before the ride...(don't gulp and swallow...sip and swallow a mouthfull every 5 minutes..

chris, make love more. best work out!!.. helps with stamina.. helps get rid of fatigue while riding.. hehe