Having a muscle cramp up on you in the middle of a ride sucks. And it hurts. But mostly it sucks as you have to stop and hope that it goes away long enough to let you ride out. You can’t come into a ride in a chronically dehydrated state and expect to perform consistently. [...]

Let’s look at a common thing found in hydration drinks – high fructose corn syrup . I read a great article a few years ago that everyone should check out regarding this prevalent carb source (I’ll link to it below). In a nutshell, just like trans fatty acids when man tries to introduce an unnatural [...]

Here is something that we all need to be reminded of sometimes – you’re not that advanced! Be it as a rider or in the gym, the vast majority of people reading this are not as advanced as they like to think. It’s called the “10% rule” – only 10% of people are advanced enough [...]

For a lot of the mountain bike riders I work with racing season is well underway. While training plays a huge role in how you perform on race day how you fuel up plays a big role as well. How you eat the hundreds of days that you aren’t racing makes the biggest difference but [...]

Here is the second part to this two part series. You can read the first part by clicking here. 6) Orange Juice – I use orange juice for pre- and post workout/ ride drinks. Sure, you can spend a lot of money on fancy recovery drinks but I’m not sure that you will get much [...]

Here is my completely unofficial list of mountain biking super foods. To qualify as one for my list it had to be something I actually eat and use on a consistent basis and since I don’t eat a ton of broccoli and cauliflower you won’t find them or their kind. I also needed for it [...]

Nutrition is a funny subject – it is very simple and yet very complex at the same time, resulting in a lot of confusion and a lot of people simply giving up ever trying to figure out how to eat properly. However, I think I have a way to look at things that will help [...]

The Warrior Diet has been the subject of a lot of controversy in the fitness world. From the first time its creator Ori Hofmekler first started writing about it several years ago nutritional experts have been lining up to take shots at it and discourage people from trying it. It was, and still is, nutritional [...]

A while back I was lucky enough to get two members of the Precision Nutrition team on the phone to talk about nutrition for mountain biking. We discussed some basic nutrition strategies, some race day strategies, supplement recommendations and dispelled some myths about carbo loading and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). Definitely worth checking out if [...]

Here is a new feature I’m trying out, let me know what you think…     -James Wilson-

I have noticed a trend on people’s food logs in my facility – breakfast either breaks the 4 main habits I look for or is practically non-existent. Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day. In fact, on days you don’t train it is the most important meal by far (your post [...]

In this edition of the MTB Strength Coach Podcast I cover… – Gear Review: The Yeti ASR-7 is one of the new breed of long travel trail bikes and I’ve spent the last year thrashing mine around Western Colorado. Here is my take on this much-talked-about bike. – Nutrition Tip: The 123′s of Mountain Bike [...]

In this episode of the MTB Strength Coach Podcast you will find: Supplement Review – Creatine: This is one of the most popular supplements in the world but most of the recommendations are base on bodybuilding and general fitness. Learn what creatine does do for you, what it doesn’t do and how to get the [...]

Here is the newest edition of my podcast. In it you’ll find: – A review of the Hammerschmidt system – A review of the CardioTrainer App for your smart phone – A review of pre- and post workout drinks, including why they’re important, what I recommend and if chocolate milk is just as good – [...]

The last week has been a lot of fun and very enlightening. Getting to hang out with some of the fastest riders in the world as they prepare for the upcoming season has shown me a side of racing I had not seen before. The amount of preparation and planning needed to get these guys [...]

I was lucky enough to get two members of the Precision Nutrition team on the phone to talk about nutrition for mountain biking. We discussed some basic nutrition strategies, some race day strategies, supplement recommendations and dispelled some myths about carbo loading and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). Definitely worth checking out if you want to [...]

While I try to keep this blog pretty mountain bike specific, I am a fitness professional and tend to keep up with a wide variety of health and fitness topics. I have just started listening to an audio book called The End of Overeating and while it may not pertain to most of us, almost [...]

When I was at Interbike a few months back I met Joe Weissenburger who was promoting his new company Fortis Vita. They make a new supplement, Ocinna, that is billed as supporting “body durability”. After looking over the ingredients list and doing some research on them I decided to contact Joe and see if he [...]

I have noticed a trend on people’s food logs in my facility – breakfast either breaks the 4 main habits I look for or is practically non-existent. Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day. In fact, on days you don’t train it is the most important meal by far (your post [...]

Here is something that we all need to be reminded of sometimes – you’re not that advanced! Be it as a rider or in the gym, the vast majority of people reading this are not as advanced as they like to think. It’s called the “10% rule” – only 10% of people are advanced enough [...]