When it comes to riding, think of strength as the glass and everything else—cardio, endurance, skills—as the liquid you pour into it.

If you’ve got a small glass, it doesn’t matter how much you pour in, you’ll run out of room fast. But if you’ve got a big glass, you can hold more of everything.

In other words, the stronger you are, the more room you have for endurance, cardio, and skills to actually show up on the trail.

Unfortunately, most riders make two big mistakes with this.

Mistake #1: Ignoring strength training altogether.

A lot of riders think cardio is the only way to build endurance, so they hammer away at intervals and long rides but never touch strength training.

The problem? They’re leaving performance on the table.

A stronger rider doesn’t just pedal harder—they pedal easier. When your legs, hips, and core are stronger, every high-tension effort costs less energy.

That means you last longer before fatigue sets in. Strength isn’t separate from endurance—it’s the foundation of it.

Mistake #2: Turning strength into cardio.Even riders who do strength training often miss the mark by treating it like another endurance session. Endless circuits, minimal rest, sweating buckets…that’s not building strength, that’s just another form of cardio.

To truly build strength, you need to rest long enough between sets (3–5 minutes) for your muscles and nervous system to recover. That’s how you lift heavier and get stronger week after week.

Instead of wasting that rest time, fill it productively with mobility and breathing work. I like to use drills from the Original Strength Reset routine, plus focused nasal breathing to relax and recharge before the next set.

One of my go-to methods is the 5-3-2 routine:

Do 5 reps, add some weight.

Do 3 reps, add some weight.

Do 2 reps.

The 2-rep set doesn’t need to be all-out failure. The goal is steady progress—adding a little more weight over time.

If you’re over 40, this is even more important. We naturally lose strength as we age, and if you don’t fight back, you’re shrinking the size of your glass every year. At least one workout per week should be focused on pure strength with straight sets and longer rests.

Build the glass bigger, and you’ll be amazed at how much more “liquid” you can pour in—more endurance, better cardio, and more trail skills that stick.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson
MTB Strength Training Systems