Winter training like the pros: Everything you need to know about training in winter!
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The basis for successful winter training is a balanced mix of endurance and strength units, interspersed with coordination and agility. While endurance helps to master long climbs and prevent fatigue, the strength component promotes stability and explosiveness on the trail. And good coordination and mobility are part of every biker's portfolio anyway. The darker months in particular offer the opportunity to work more on the core muscles - the foundation for a stable position on the bike, so to speak. So instead of hiding away like a bear in a cave, it's time to grab the dumbbells and get on the roll! Regularity is the key to success. Three to four training sessions a week are enough to maintain and even improve your form. Current studies in training science show that a combination of interval training and progressive strength training is particularly effective in increasing the specific performance of bikers.
Endurance training in the cold season
Even if motivation drops like the temperatures at the end of the year - regular endurance training is essential to avoid having to start from scratch in spring. Indoor cycling on a roller or ergometer is a very effective alternative, regardless of the weather. Here you can do targeted intervals and work on your cadence. And thanks to Zwift and the like, bikers can pedal virtually with mates along the world's trails from the comfort of their living room. Those who prefer more variety and realism can switch to cross-country skiing or battle their way through the winter landscape on snowshoes. These sports not only train endurance, but also promote coordination - a side effect not to be underestimated for technically demanding trails. In regions with little snow, trail running or bouldering are alternative sports. While endurance is the main focus when running, bouldering is an almost playful way to train strength and agility. Both also promote coordination and body tension, which are important for mountain bikers.
Strength training for more power on the trail
The off-season is the perfect time to work on your strength skills in the gym when the weather is rubbish. While strength endurance primarily provides more stability on the bike and prevents injuries, increased maximum strength helps to get more bang on the pedals. The focus should be on functional exercises that address as many muscle groups as possible at the same time. Squats, lunges, alternating step jumps and planks are true all-rounders that challenge the entire body. Particularly important for mountain bikers: strengthening the core muscles. A stable core is like a solid foundation for a house - it provides support and stability in technically demanding passages. The often neglected arm and shoulder muscles should not be neglected either - after all, they have to do a lot of work on the downhill. Two strength training sessions per week can already achieve noticeable progress. Recent studies show that progressive strength training with slowly increasing weights and decreasing repetitions is particularly effective in improving the specific strength endurance of mountain bikers. In addition, maximum strength can be trained with higher weights and a maximum of three to five repetitions in a second strength training session.
Don't forget regeneration and flexibility
Despite all the ambition to get fit through the winter, one thing must not be forgotten: regeneration. The body needs sufficient time to recover, especially in the darker months of the year. If you are constantly training at full speed alongside your job, you not only risk overtraining and injuries, but also catching a cold in no time at all. Regular rest days should therefore be firmly anchored in your training plan. This time can be used to improve flexibility with yoga or stretching. A flexible body reacts more smoothly to bumps in the terrain and is less susceptible to injury. In addition, targeted stretching in conjunction with the Fascia roller Prevent pain and thus increase performance.
Bike fitting for pain-free riding
Bike fitting is still an often underestimated aspect of all performance improvement measures. The time off from training is an excellent opportunity to optimise your riding position on the bike. By specifically adjusting the saddle, handlebars and cleats, not only can incorrect posture be corrected and pain prevented, but efficiency and power transmission can also be improved. Many pros use the winter months to perfect their position on the bike and thus lay the foundations for a successful season.
Luca Schwarzbauer's winter training
Cyclists are made in winter! That's why the pros also use the winter months intensively to fine-tune their form and prepare themselves optimally for the coming season. He is currently the most successful German mountain biker and his performances make even seasoned track cyclists sit up and take notice: German short-track and cross-country specialist Luca Schwarzbauer. We want to know how Schwarzbauer keeps fit in winter and what he finds most difficult during this time. The pro increasingly relies on a combination of strength training in the gym and long basic sessions on the road bike.
BIKE: How do you structure your winter training to maintain the balance between endurance and strength?
LUCA SCHWARZBAUER: After a three-week break in the season, I'll start training again around mid-November. I mainly do basic endurance hours. The first few weeks are characterised by long and rather quiet purely aerobic rides. Alongside this, I do 45 minutes of strength training about twice a week. I then usually go to a training camp in December to complete the first big block of basic training. A more specific phase then begins with the New Year, in which I work on my threshold performance with 20-30 minute intervals. Things will then get really intense from February onwards.
What alternative sports do you use to add variety to your off-season training?
To add a bit of variety to my training, I go jogging regularly from November to January.
Do you sometimes find it difficult to motivate yourself?
It is important for me that the first few months are not too strict, as I want to distance myself from racing and the associated stress. Winter is physically demanding for me, but I like the peace and quiet and the constant training - as long as the weather isn't too wet. The training volume is high, but you don't have to take it too seriously. That takes some of the pressure off me. I'm off to Catalonia in February anyway - the worst of the winter will be over by then.
Which specific exercises have proven to be particularly effective for you to improve your riding technique in winter?
I just keep trying to go off-road, even in the snow. Unfortunately, there's less and less of it. Otherwise, cross-country skiing is also an option for me to train my coordination.
