5 Easy Mountain Bike Exercises You Can Do At Home

No time to hit the gym? No problem! Here’s some handy equipment free exercises you can do in the comfort of your own home…

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These exercises are a great place to start if you’re looking to improve your performance on the bike. We want to have a functional body for mountain biking, not just vanity muscles that we can’t use. 

Whilst we can’t replace time in the saddle to get us bike fit, we can optimise our training to help get us there quicker and overcome specific issues we might have. 

It’s common in MTB to experience something of a plateau in our performance after a certain amount of time spent on the bike; maybe you’re still struggling to make that climb, or you’re frequently losing balance and power on rooty, technical sections of the trail. 

By training off the bike, mimicking the same movement patterns and working the same muscle groups that we use on the bike, we can actually train our bodies to recruit the muscle fibres it needs faster, and in a more efficient way. These new and more efficient muscle fibres developed off-bike will translate directly into on-bike performance and have a huge impact on our riding overall.

If you really want to up your fitness game and see a difference in your riding then take a look at our MTB specific fitness programmes.

Now let’s do some jargon-busting and define some industry terms, before we dive into our mountain bike specific exercises. 

- Fitness Terms -

In case you’re new to working out, or just unfamiliar with some of the terms used in the industry, here is a quick guide to help you decode the jargon you’ll come across.

- Reps -

Also referred to as ‘repetitions’, ‘reps’ are quite literally the amount of times you repeat a movement. 

Example 

Exercise: Lunges

Reps: 10 on each side

If you were to do 10 lunges on one leg and then 10 on the other, you'd have done 20 reps- or 10 reps on each side. Simple. 

- Rest -

On the face of it, this is quite simple- just make sure you stick to what you’re given. 

‘Rest’ is essentially the rest period you allow between different exercises, or once you’ve completed your reps. It’s often a carefully constructed amount of time that keeps your heart rate and work rate at the required level, so don’t go taking extra time between moves! 

Example 

Exercise: Lunges

Reps: 10 on each side 

Rest: 30 seconds

In this example you would complete your designated lunge reps and then be allowed 30 seconds to rest before beginning the next exercise or next set of reps.

- Sets -

A ‘set’ is a collection of reps. 

In our example, completing 10 lunges on each leg  equals 1 set. There can be multiple sets during a routine or series of movements. The number of sets indicates how many times you need to complete the full number of reps, and there is often a rest period or a change in movement between each set.

Example 

Exercise: Lunges

Reps: 10 on each side 

Rest : 30 seconds

Sets: 3 

In this example, we would complete 10 lunges on our left leg, then 10 on our right leg. We would then rest for 30 seconds before repeating this process 2 more times, for a total of 3 complete cycles (or sets). 

Don’t forget to warm up before you do any exercises!

- Let’s get Moving -

Now we’re familiar with the jargon, here are 5 exercises you can do at home or in the gym to get you started. You don’t need any equipment but feel free to add some weights if you want a little bit more difficulty.

1. Mountain Climbers

Reps: 8 - 12 on each leg

Rest: 45 - 60 seconds between each set

Sets: 3

Mountain climbers are a great core exercise that will raise your heart rate straight away. It helps to stabilise the core & shoulders whilst the lower body is active, just like pedalling on a bike!

- Too hard? -

Try slow mountain climbers- it’s exactly the same principle, just at a slower pace. Come back to the plank position each time before moving the next leg.

2. Forward Lunges

Reps: 8 on each leg

Rest: 45 seconds between each set

Sets: 3

Lunges target all the main muscles used in cycling, and front lunges mimic the forward direction in which we pedal. Improving our muscular endurance and strength with this movement will help us to ride harder for longer, and these single leg movements have the additional benefit of adding an element of stability to the exercise- which is a win-win in MTB!

- Too hard? -

Use assistance, like the back of a chair, to help with balance.

3. Wide Push-ups

Reps: 8

Rest: 45 seconds between each set

Sets: 3

Whilst mountain biking predominately has a lower body focus- for obvious reasons- the upper body still has a crucial role to play. Think about the suspension on your bike; it’s aimed at keeping your wheels pressed into the ground, and when your wheels are on the ground, you have grip. Good upper body strength means you can actually improve your suspension by being able to push and pull the handle bars to get the bike over obstacles on the ground like roots, holes and rocks- the best suspension you’ll ever have is your arms and legs after all. We generally ride with our hands wider than our shoulders, and wide push-ups mimic this set up- if you ride with narrower bars then adjust as necessary. 

- Too hard? -

Try going from the knees to make this one a bit easier, you can slowly build up to doing full push ups. 

4. Side Plank + Hip-dips

Reps: 8 on each side

Rest: 45 seconds between each set

Sets: 3

These two movements focus on the obliques which is great for improving lateral core strength. Lateral movements can help us greatly with cornering; as you lean your bike, your hips need to shift laterally (to the side) to stay balanced which in turn, recruits the stabilisation muscles (including the obliques) to help us stay upright! The dip adds another element of shoulder, core and hip stabilisation. 

- Too hard? -

Again, drop to the knees for this one. Legs should be bent at a 90 degree angle and with your feet behind you. 

5. Lateral Squat Walks

Reps: 8 on each side

Rest: 45 seconds between each set

Sets: 3

This is a great exercise to strengthen your hip abductors. Weak hip abductors can cause our knees to move in towards the bike’s frame when we are pedalling. Because we lack proper form this will affect the amount of force we can push through the pedal which means you’ll be working harder, getting fatigued faster and not travelling as far. In addition to this, and more importantly, incorrect form can lead to injury. 

- Too hard? -

Try building up your leg strength with regular squats plus leg abductions. Perform the squat and once you reach full extension at the top (a standing position) then raise a straight leg out to the side keeping the toes flexed. Squat and then repeat on the other side.

Now just time for a cool down!

- When Should I do These? -

The sweet spot is to do these exercises 3 times per week then get out on the bike or go for a run, a swim, a dance session, or anything else active, 1 to 2 times per week (basically any form of cardiovascular training to focus on building the aerobic system). This leaves at least 2 rest days for your body to recover. Rest days don’t need to be consecutive; you could work out for 3 consecutive days, have a rest day, and then work out twice more before taking another rest day- whatever formula takes your fancy is fine.

If you're just getting started I’d recommend doing this workout 1-2  times per week. 

If you're already in the fitness game and this is your only form of training, aim to do this 3 - 5 times per week

If you want more from your workouts, take a look at our MTB specific fitness programmes to boost your performance on the bike.

Happy exercising!