Hi James!

I have a problem. I have a bad tendency of crouching my back as soon as it gets wet or really technical (when I get little bit scared to by totally honest).
Is this due to week core muscles or just bad habit? Or both?

I have been using the 12 week program plus other core training and it has helped my considerably but I still do it when it gets rough. Plus I”ve been more aware of it and really worked on holding my posture. Before I crouched my back all the time.
Is there something specific I should think of? I want to get rid of this nasty habit.

Kind Regards
Rafael Grifenfeld
Sweden

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It can be tough to break that habit – one of my riders calls it the “mountain bike fetal position”. When the going gets rough we tend to tuck the tail, raise the chest and crouch instead of staying low and aggressive. It really just takes practice and being conscious of it on the trail, as well as a lot of practice in the gym. Core strength helps but if you don’t have a strong command of the hip hinge movement pattern (butt back and chest down) then you will struggle on the trail.

I just posted a video on body position and some ways to fix it on my blog, you can check it out here.

Hope this helps…

-James Wilson-