Strength training for mountain biking: what does it look like?

Want to ride faster, tackle longer descents and feel stronger on the trails? Here's what the science says about strength training for mountain biking.

If you've ever finished a long descent at Glentress or the Golfie with burning legs, tired arms, and hands that barely want to hold on to the handlebars, you know mountain biking is a proper full-body workout.

But what should you actually be doing in the gym to improve your riding?

The good news? You don't need complicated exercises or hours of training.

1. Build Stronger Legs

Exercise examples: Squats, Split Squats and Trap Bar Deadlifts.

Stronger legs help you produce force through the pedals, manage demanding riding positions, and absorb and distribute force over technical terrain.

A 2025 systematic review of 17 studies involving 262 cyclists found that heavy strength training improved cycling performance, anaerobic power and cycling efficiency.

That means getting stronger in the gym can translate into meaningful improvements on the bike, particularly in power output.

2. Develop Explosive Power

Exercise examples: Box jumps, Med Ball Throws and Power Cleans.

Mountain biking isn't just about producing maximal force. It's about producing it quickly.

Whether you're accelerating out of a corner or absorbing force off a drop, explosive power matters.

3. Improve Grip and Upper-Body Endurance

Exercise examples: Farmer's carries, dead hangs and rows.

Ever experienced arm pump halfway down a descent?

Research into downhill mountain biking found that handgrip endurance was significantly associated with faster race times.

Another study found grip strength decreased by approximately 5.5% after downhill riding.

Building stronger hands, forearms and upper-body muscles can help prepare you for the demands of controlling your bike over rough terrain.

4. Build Upper Body Strength

Exercise examples: Barbell Bench, Dumbbell Bench, Overhead Press.

Ever had that feeling you're about to be spat out over the bars and somehow you just save it? Or taken a big impact and felt your arms crumble and you lose the front wheel?

Well, increasing upper body strength helps takes those big impacts with ease. It also helps reduce fatigue on long technical sessions and the arm pump significantly reduces.

We don't have a single client who hasn't experienced a big impact on the trails, and saved themselves with the raw strength and power that they have developed with us.

5. Build core strength

Exercise examples: Suitcase Holds, Deadbugs, Russian Twists.

Mountain biking, especially over technical terrain, has a huge core strength element to it. It's all well and good knowing the technique, and having the strength and power to execute it in practice. But if we can't put it all together on a steep trail, with an awkward root, rock, or tree in the way then its not as useful as it can be.

You Don't Need to Live in the Gym

For most mountain bikers, two or three well-structured hour-long strength sessions per week are a great starting point.

The goal isn't to replace your riding. It's to make your time on the bike even better.

At Athlete Training Systems in Edinburgh, we help mountain bikers build strength, power and physical resilience through personalised small group training.

Because the gym should help you enjoy the trails, not leave you too tired to ride them.