Mountain Biking - fitness & so much more!

Here are a few of the things that I regularly tell people. They all work with each other and you can bring these thoughts to any MTB goal you may have. Don’t forget that your goal is big, important and personal to YOU!!

Do not Compare Yourself to Others

One of the first things I say to people is do not compare yourself to others. That is a road full of little streets and dead-ends that distract you from the main road to your own goals. All the other streets and dead-ends are paths that lead to other people's goals. Using people to inspire you and motivate you are two very different things. If you find yourself hearing words in your head “they are better than me” then change it to “if they can do it then I can give it a go too”.

Mental Strength

Fitness or being the fittest or fastest is not the key thing to success. I have learnt first hand through my years of Ironman training that it is mental strength that enables you to succeed and reach your goals, ride over those scary roots, finish that race or climb that impossible hill.

To find ways to keep going is what enables you to stay on track and to succeed. Fitness can get you so far but if you mentally give up and don’t believe in yourself then it doesn’t matter how strong or fast you are, you wont be able to keep going. I therefore also focus on mental strength training as well as fitness training as I believe they come hand in hand.

Setting Challenges/Pushing your Comfort Zone

We naturally avoid what we don’t like or are bad at and therefore we lean towards what we are good at. If you want to improve and get better we need to do the opposite. Going out of your comfort zone stretches you and when you see improvements it boosts your self esteem and belief that you can do things. So keep pushing those boundaries out, this in turn makes you mentally stronger. You can use my Bite Sizes to Achieving Your Goals below to help with this.

Staying Motivated

Setting goals will keep you motivated. Make sure you set aside time every week where you ride and practice what you are trying to achieve. Meeting others can help to ensure that you stick to your goals and help you stay motivated. 

Bite Sizes to Achieving Your Goals

Whether its trying to ride further, reach the top of the massive hill you hate or descending that scares the hell out of you don’t hide from it. Face it full on and just try and tackle it one bit at a time. 

If you want to ride further add a mile or two at the end of each ride.

If trying to climb a hill set yourself a tree as a marker to reach that is a little further each time, but if you feel ok then set another tree just a few metres ahead and keep doing this until to reach the top. Always get in the habit of stopping 10 metres past the top of the hill rather than immediately at the top. As you get stronger and fitter you will then realise that you can actually keep riding and no longer need to stop. Keep pushing yourself, it will pay off.

When confronted with a scary hill to descend, just walk it the first time, and maybe a few times after that to get familiar with it. You could maybe start at the bottom and walk up to a part where you feel comfortable in coming down and gradually build up the hill. Or in reverse go from the top but just do a few metres at a time or break it up into rideable sections. Sometimes looking at the hill in its entirety is too scary but when you allow yourself to just do part of it it makes you relax more. If you feel comfortable then go straight into the next section.

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