workout program - LEGS OF STEEL

[SirDoofus]

The best "exercise" I have found for riding endurance/strength.

I have tried just about everything in the weight room at one point or another either as a competetive bodybuilder, powerlifter or college strength coach, and I have found more than anything else, one form of leg training to significantly improve my performance on the slope.

Before I get into it though, I want to reiterate what has been previously posted about taking a balanced approach to strength development, it does you no good to have energizer bunny quads if your core can't handle the demands.

Basically what I am reccomending is a sort of dynamic variation on wall sits under load. Now I like to do this in a squat format with weight, however, probably any type of pressing movement can work as well. Now keep in mind that when I say "under load" I mean that relatively. It doesn't take a lot of weight to get a good effect, and in some cases it might be prudent not to use anything more than bodyweight. It just depends on the condition of the individual.

In any case, I would highly reccomend starting out with light weights and slowly increase the weight as your strength (especially lower back) develops.

The exercise. If you are using free bar squat equipment, I would suggest doing this inside a power rack or some other similar device that can support the weigh before you fall to the gound.

Using a LIGHT WEIGHT to start out with, get into the squat position like you normally would, get your watch in front of you so you can see it, and proceed to squat down to the lowest (most bent knee) position you are likely to encounter while you are in a high g turn. Then proceed to press back up to the highest postion you are likely to encounter while in that same high G turn/transition. Be sure not to extend so far up that you take the load off your quads, the idea is to maintain constant pressure on the muscles involved in a turn while moving up and down through the normal vertical range one would encounter on the hill (not including coasting, I am toalking about the range you would encounter while you are working your linked turns).

Now, do this as long as you can (I wouldn't suggest counting reps) and when you absolutely can't go any longer, check your time and make a note of it. The next time you do it, you want to try and either add a little weight and go for the same time, or add no weight and try to increase your interval by 5-10 seconds, or more if you can.

I like this a lot better than wall sits becuase I think it does several things wall sits don't.

1) You are actively lenghening and shortening the muscle under stress which is much more beneficial for functional strength than static contractions

2) you are more closely approximating the actions you go through on the hill, so it is more "sport specific" to carving than wall sits.

3) By adding weight you are emulating the effect of increased G forces encountered in a carved turn (with wall sits the fricition generated by your back and the wall decreases the load on the quads significantly)

4) and you are still getting the benefit of all that lovely lactic acid build up to make your day wonderful

Now of course, like anything, there are I am sure, more variations to this idea than there are riders on this board, and I am sure many of them would be quite good. A few I have tried and like include:

"Ball Sits" put workout ball in between you and the wall so you can easily move up and down, this is a good one if you don't want to use anything more than body weight, but you can certainly hold onto a weight as well.

Using a dip belt to hold wight between your legs instead of on your upper back as in squats.

Using a sissy squat rack

Using a Smith machine.

Varying the speed with which you move up and down. On a few reps I like to "freefall" into the lower postion and then stop myself abruptly, this emulates the sudden increase in G force encountered when you hit a bump or a sudden incline. NOTE!!!! PLEASE BE CAREFUL DOING THIS. Your lower back and knees are particularly vulnerable to injury if you don't use impeccable form. Do not 'freefall' into a position higher than about 60-65 Degrees, i.e. the tops of your quads should be no more than 2 inches or so above parallel to the floor. The reason being is that much above this the ligaments around the knee end up taking the brunt of the load which can be significant when speed is involved, even with a light weight. As you move past 45 degrees, the bulk of the load transfers to the quads, hips, glutes and hamstrings. Also, probably doesn't need to be said but I will anyway....you definitely do not want to drop into a postion much below parallel to the floor, as the knees again begin to progressively take up more of the load the farther past parallel you go.

I did for awhile try to make this movement even more sport specific by putting myelf into the general position I am in when I am riding. However its a bit awkward and I decided that it wasn't such a good idea, for me anyway, because I think it strenghened things in my trunk a bit unevenly. But it might be worth a try for you, just be careful.

As far as volume and frequency goes, I will leave it up to you to decide what will fit best with your schedule, days riding, etc. I will say that I have had great success doing one "set" 2-3 times per week pre-season along with regular leg training, and then

0-3 times per week in-season depending on how much riding I do that week.

There are many schools of though on this particlular subject and I won't get into it. However, for some interesting information on principles associated with training frequency and volume and overtraining you might check out a website www.thinkmuscle.com, click on the articles link, then under 'articles by topic' click on training, then click on the links to hypertrophy-specific training, frequency and endurance. Keep in mind this particular site is dedicated to bodybuilding training which doesn't necesarily correlate really well in some aspects to athletic training, however the principles and research to back them up are interesting. Another site on the same topic is www.hsnhst.com.

Just a quick comment on injuries. I was a strength coach for the OSU Athletic Dept for 3 years, and during the whole time I was there we never had an injury in the weight room that occured while someone was using training poundages. Every injury we had was during warm ups, when people were using light weights and not paying attention to their form or what they were doing. It really doesn't take much to hurt yourself if you are out of position, regardless of how easy or light the weight may feel. So please, take every load seriously and always pay attention to your form and position, no matter what.

Anyway, good luck if you try it, and I am sure you won't be dissapointed.

Cheers, M

:eek:

[Guest north east will]

Originally posted by SirDoofus

Using a sissy squat rack

Using a Smith machine.

whats the difference between these two?

[SirDoofus]

A Smith Machine is basically a power rack with the bar locked in a guide system, see: http://newyorkbarbells.com/smithgyms.html

A sisy squat 'rack' (rack is kind of overdramatizing it) is a small shin/knee high piece of equipment that locks your feet in so you....well, take a look here: http://www.fit-senior.com/acatalog/Fit_Senior_Sissy_Squat_Platform_524.html

Hope that helps.

Cheers, Mike

[Guest north east will]

ive used a smith machine before, i have never seen the sissy squat platform before

thanks for the info

will

[Tim W]

For those of you who want to work on your hamstrings this website has some great exercises and strentches along with other great sport medicine related information.

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0206b.htm

[Guest johann]

Interesting Post sirDoofus, any chance of including your whole workout program on/off season. I'd be interested in seeing the whole thing.

[Guest BoulderGeek]

FWIW, I went out yesterday at little Eldora, outside Boulder, CO.

Snow was dry, 5" fresh, clear blue sky.

I was on my 165 Salomon 550 general freeride board, with TD1 step-ins.

I had thought that my summer of active road cycling around Boulder and mountain biking deeper in the mountains would have prepared me. Perhaps the two weeks I was on my back with the flu caused massive muscle atrophy.

I could barely survive 1500 vetical feet before my quads locked up. I'd have to stop and massage and stretch before I could continue. And I drank creatine on the way up, to increase my intramuscular lactic acid threshold.

So, now I have been humbled. I need to do more prep and leg crunching. Good suggestions above.

I just replaced my 7 year old Raichle 124s (longest lasting $99 I ever spent). And so I am really anxious to take out the 174 prior 4WD with new boots. I need new skeletal muscles to bo with the package, I think.

Ride hard and keep the good chatter going!

[Guest north east will]

if "my quads locked up" to mean you cramped up this is very likely a result of you taking creatine. i have known several athletes who have used it and had problems with dehydration and cramping

will

[Guest BoulderGeek]

Well, it may be, however, creatine use is a normal part of my cycling and boarding at altitude. I find that it prolongs lactic acid saturation and allows a longer period of aerobic activity prior to the onset of cramping.

I find that when I move my exercise to elevations ~10,000 ft MSL, from my resting home of 5400 feet, my muscled tend to not get the oxygen delivery that they want. Creatine can help to at least allow the muscles to work with the available oxygen a little bit longer.

I'm pretty sure that my personal issues were with lack of strength training. However, you are most correct about the need for proper hysdration in all activities, especially when using supplements like creatine. Everyone's mileage may vary.

[SirDoofus]

Johann -- email me sir_doofus@hotmail.com