6 LIFE HACKS TO RIDE FASTER AND STRONGER

Habits that, once formed, will take your riding, health and wellbeing to another level

Whether it’s race-ready in two months or how to double your wealth in three simple steps; we all want easy, pain-free ways to get ahead. And while some hacks can work short-term, most are unsustainable. That’s where habit stacking comes in. Subtle changes that can be integrated into your daily routine and sustained long-term so they compound into improvements in general performance and ultimately your riding ability.

The six habits outlined here aren’t that different from the advice your grandmother would have given you and you don’t need to integrate them all at once. In fact, it’s probably best if you pick one or two and try to make them routine before adding the rest. Yes, there’s no substitute for riding to improve your riding, but these lifestyle modifications should mean that every time your tyres touch terra firma you’re ready for action.

START DOING SOME STRENGTH TRAINING

From the age of 30 you can lose between 3-8% of your muscle mass per decade through sarcopenia; it’s another reason why protein in the diet is so important. And as if sarcopenia wasn’t bad enough, bone destiny also reduces, so not only do we become weaker, we also become more fragile.

The good news is that this double whammy can largely be offset by strength training. Yes, it’s going to be harder than drinking more water, but the benefits are even more profound. For gains in muscle mass you should work in the 5-20 rep ranges, but don’t avoid heavy compound movements like squats, deadlifts and presses in the lower rep ranges for strength gains.

PRIORITISE PROTEIN IN YOUR DIET

When it comes to performance, upping your protein intake can help with recovery and muscle retention. The current Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of 0.8g of protein per kilogram of body weight is the minimum amount needed for health, not the optimum amount for performance. So active individuals should aim for 1.4-1.6g of protein daily. For an 80kg rider that’s 112-128g of protein a day or roughly 40g per meal. While that sounds like a lot it’s relatively easy to achieve at lunch and dinner. Where most of us miss our protein target is breakfast, so switch to eggs, oatmeal and greek yoghurt or ideally all three.

MOVE MORE

Have you heard that sitting is the new smoking? That’s probably a gross misinterpretation of the data to scare people into action, but there’s no denying that we evolved to move. So take work calls on the move or conduct walking meetings. Anything to move more. Low intensity activities such as walking are a great adjunct to the high intensity efforts required in mountain biking so they will aid recovery and help improve fat metabolism too, making you more efficient on the bike. Moving in different ways is also a great idea, so consider mixing in different sports or adding in a movement routine that takes all of your joints through their full range of motion.