Example

All of the above may seem a little overwhelming so below is an example of a full MTB warm-up you can try before your next on-the-bike training session or use as a template by making changes to it to suit your own needs. It has a slight “sprint” session bias but is pretty versatile. (For example you can easily replace the sprinting and high cadence parts with cornering, wheelie and bunny hop drills to prepare you for a trail ride instead of a training session.)

General Portion

Off Bike

25 X Jumping Jacks

10 X Reverse Lunge with twist (each leg)

On bike

3 min pedalling on flat ground at moderate but increasing intensity (RPE 3-4)

Off Bike

10 X Scapular Push Ups

6 X Spiderman Lunge with Reach (each side)

5 X Big shoulder circles (each side)

Specific Portion

All On Bike

2 min moderate pedal

2 X 30 sec “build” with 1 min easy pedalling between

2 min gradual increasing moderate pedalling

2 X 4 sec Max cadence Seated “spins” with 30 sec between

1 min moderate pedalling

1 X 6 sec rolling start uphill “max effort” sprint

2 min easy pedal

READY FOR MAIN SESSION

Total Warm Up Time = 16 minutes approx.

In my opinion 15 minutes is about spot on for most warm-ups, an elite athlete may need more time or a “newbie” may need to reduce the overall intensity and duration to avoid creating too much fatigue, but that 15 minute mark is not a bad starting point.

The only other part of the specific warm-up that you may wish to include is specific rehabilitation or personal performance needs that can be or need to be integrated into your warm-ups. Frequently the re-hab or pre-hab for injury prevention is included into your dynamic warm-ups pre-gym training, but they can also be integrated into your bike based warm-ups. That’s one of the reasons I like to include the “off the bike” parts in my warm-ups; it allows you to integrate re-hab moves and also prevent injuries by preparing the body to move through a more complete range of motion than possible on the bike.

You get some funny looks (I know I do) hopping off the bike to do some leg swings and ground based mobility moves but the benefits to performance, health and fun on the bike are more the worth the stares!

The brain game

This is where warm-up can become more dark art then sports science. Some people will achieve the perfect mental mind-set for training or racing just by having a planned warm-up, others will need the warm-up to flow and be more organic so they can “feel-out” the perfect mental state.

Practice does make perfect and finding the tools and techniques that you can integrate into your warm-ups so you are not overly excited but are just excited enough to perform to your best mentally is the goal. Finding and fine-tuning these pre training warm-up techniques and then using that experience to transfer it to pre-race warm-ups if needed is the final step.

It may be total quiet and meditation before any physical activity, a special music playlist timed to your warm-up, visualisation and positive self-talk or smelling the inside of a dirty helmet. The exact methods of psyching yourself up optimally during your warm-up are up to you it just requires trial and error, but don’t neglect the positive effects it can have, even if you are just a true weekend warrior. It could be just as simple as chatting with mates during a general warm-up to help settle your nerves or a social coffee just before you kick off!

Take Home Points

• Build warmth through gradually increasing intensity movement
• Move sufficiently so your joints and muscles feel fluid (dynamic mobility moves help here)
• Optimise your warm-up by including psychological preparedness strategies
• Use the “specific” portion of your warm-up to prepare the body in detail for the activity to
• follow
• Keep it concise, 15 mins is a good number, less can be more as-long as sufficient warmth
• and fluidity are achieved to reduce the risk of injury and promote good performance

Winter warm-up tips

• Start with plenty of layers of clothing that can be easily removed as temperature
• increases
• Keep the extremities warm, hands, feet, arms and legs will take longer to achieve good
• operating temperature when air temps are cold.
• Stay hydrated as hydrating even though you may not feel thirsty, is crucial to regulating
• body temperature, so drink enough water.
• Passive warming up (sitting in a car with heaters on etc…) can help get you started but
• “warmth” must come from movement to achieve all the positive benefits of a warm-up.
• During cold temps the duration of your “general” warm-up may need to increase so you
• achieve warmth! But the “specific” portion will generally remain the same.

Point1 Top Tip

There was no mention of stretching in this article. Why? Because I think stretching and flexibility should be an integral part of life and training not just something sporadically thrown into a warm-up. There is also some evidence out there to show that stretching before physical activity can reduce performance so, it’s better to be safe rather than sorry. Stretching for flexibility, recovery and wellbeing, not for warming-up!