The Original Women's Mountain Bike

Meet Robin // https://www.mindfullyrobin.com Follow Robin // @ mindfullyrobin

Hey there! Do you ever find yourself wanting to make gains off the saddle but unsure where to start? Do you have a hard time doing typical gym workouts because it’s hard to see how they translate to riding? Do they just straight up bore you? Or, are you already lifting weights and working out off the mat, but need some fresh inspiration? This is for you!

Back in college, I played competitive soccer that consumed my life, and as a result, I lifted heavy weights all the time, unsure exactly of why I was doing the movement that I did. After graduating with degrees in Exercise Science and Neuroscience and a certified yoga teacher, I realized the exercises I was doing previously weren't exactly what my body needed to perform better in my sport. Fast forward to now, I’ve spent some time building plans for both myself and others to help specifically improve in different elements of sport. Enjoy, and please reach out with questions!

* note: this workout is intended for individuals with some baseline fitness already. If you are new to kettlebells, I recommend working through each exercise without weights to fully understand the intention of each movement.

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Episode 1 Summary:

- Equipment : Mat and Kettle Bell (10-35lb)

- Length : 25 min

- Difficulty Level: Level 2 (out of 4)

- Style: Slower, smooth, and mindful movements

- Focus: Climbing and Descending

- Goals: Strength, Stability, and Endurance

This workout focuses specifically on building strength, stability, and endurance for climbing and descending while riding. Please remember to go at your own pace, listen to your body, and drink plenty of water after you are finished. Be sure to get a solid warm up and cool down as well.

Need a good warm up idea?

3 times through

20 air squats 20 slow mountain climbers 30 sec plank ____________________________________________________

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CLIMBING The following exercises are designed specifically for climbing. When we climb, we are both pushing on the bars and split squatting over the saddle. By focusing on building stability and strength around our shoulder girdle, we can work toward climbing on steep or uneven terrain faster and with more ease. Similarly, by lifting and pushing with our legs in split squat and regular squat positions, we can manipulate our stance while pedaling, and gain stability in an often unstable position.

Uphill exercises

3 times through

Lunge rotations (4 each side) Around the Worlds (8 total) Extra Clean Deadlifts (8 total) *rest goal: try to rest only 30sec to 1 min after each set, with minimal rest in between each exercise and rep to keep the heart rate high through each set.

Lunge Rotations

Right side: Begin in a low lunge position with right foot forward, holding the kettlebell upside down with both hands. Lean forward and lengthen your left hip flexor, pausing to enjoy the stretch. Center your hips once more by returning to a neutral low lunge (left hip stacked above left knee). Push into the mat with your right foot to lift your body up into a high straight leg lunge. Lower with control back down to the left knee, engage your core, and slowly rotate the kettlebell around your head, being mindful of your low back. Return to neutral position, and repeat exercise for a total of 4 times.

Left side: same as right side, 4 times through.

Lunge rotations target our front leg muscles as we push up into a high lunge, and back down into a low lunge, firing up both our big muscles and smaller stabilizer muscles.

Around the Worlds

Begin in a wide standing stance with the kettlebell in one hand. Perform a kettlebell swing on the right side, swinging the weight through the legs and behind the left leg on the downswing. Grab the kettle bell from the right hand with the left hand on the upswing on the left side and perform a bicep curl. With the kettlebell in the left hand, perform a kettlebell swing on the left side, swinging the weight through the legs and behind the right leg on the downswing. Grab the kettle bell from the left hand with the right hand on the upswing on the left side and perform a bicep curl. Repeat for a total of 8 times total, or 4 times on each side.

Around the World is a full body exercise, targeting the legs, core, and arms. This exercise also takes a fair bit of metal focus as I’m sure you’ll find out if you try! Be sure to keep the naval drawn toward the midline to protect your low back, and do not let momentum do all of the work for you.

Extra Clean Deadlifts

Begin with feet slightly wider than hips (this will vary for everyone because our hips are all different). Point your toes slightly out. Squat down, keeping the should drawn back as you go, and pick up the kettle bell with two hands. Draw the naval in, and lift up with the kettle bell. Squat back down again, moving your grip slightly down the handle of the kettle bell, and perform a kettle bell clean, using your legs and trapezius muscles to clean the kettle bell, before lowering down again into a squat and lifting back up. Repeat exercise for a total of 8 times.

This exercise is a basic push and pull exercise to build strength in our legs, glutes, core, and back to get better at climbing steep pitches or getting through rock gardens.

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DESCENDING The following exercises are designed specifically for descending. When riding downhill, we are performing pushing, pulling, rotating, squatting, and hip flexing/extending movements- pushing and pulling the bars up and over rock gardens, rolls, or jumps, rotating while cornering, squatting over the saddle, and perhaps most important to downhill riding, we’re flexing and extending out hips to compensate for steep terrain, rock gardens, big drops, and jumps. These downhill exercises will help you build core, back, quad, hamstring, and glute strength in unstable positions, because rarely while riding downhill are we in a “stable” position. Enjoy!

Descending Exercises

3 times through

Row Push Up Complex (5 total) Hip Hinge Rows (3 each side) Truck Drivers (20 total) *rest goal: try to rest only 30sec to 1 min after each set, with minimal rest in between each exercise and rep to keep the heart rate high through each set.

Row Push Up Complex

Begin in a low squat, shoulders drawn back and belly engaged, holding the kettle bell with two hands as it rests on the ground. Row the elbows back in space, drawing the shoulder blades together on your back and pulling the weight toward your chest, all while keeping the lower body in a low squat position. If your low back starts to hurt (at all), stand up taller, stacking your shoulders more in line with your hips. With the kettlebell resting back on the ground but your hands still gripping the handle, hop or step back into a plank position (can be on your knees or in full plank position) and perform a chest press push up. Hop or step back into starting position, and perform exercise 4 more times.

This exercise strengthens the core and legs to protect the low back while holding a constant squat like we do while riding downhill. The kettlebell row mimics the pulling of the bars up and over rocks or around techy downhill sections. The chest press push ups mimics pushing the bars through corners and as we load to prepare for a jump.

Hip Hinge Rows

Right Side: Begin in a staggered squat position, with the right foot in front of the left. Hinge down to grab the kettle bell with the left hand, and perform a row on the left side, keeping the elbow close to the rib cage as you pull and lower. With the core engaged and arm extended, lift the weight and torso upright to perform a full hip hinge. (You will likely feel the right hamstring engage) Lower the weight back down, and repeat for a total of 3 times.

Left Side: Perform this exercise for a total of 3 times on the left side.

This exercise is designed to strengthen the hamstrings as we isolate left and right sides to mimic squatting over the saddle. The row engages the core and targets our lats, or side back muscles, to aid in stability while riding over uneven surfaces downhill.

Truck Drivers

Begin by sitting on the ground with both feet planted on the mat in front of you. Holding the kettle bell with two hands right side up, twist the torso to the left, keeping the kettle bell tucked into the chest all the while keeping both sits bones rooted into the ground and both hip points facing forward. Twist to the right side, and continue alternating sides for a total of 20 twists.

This exercise targets the core as we move the body left and right in unstable positions. The core is forced to engage to keep both sits bones touching the mat, and the upper body must keep the kettle bell still. This movement will help build strength and stability for cornering, moving through uneven terrain, and jumping while descending.

Cool Down Idea:

3 times through

Standing quad stretch (30 sec each side) Standing side leans (3 each side) Downward facing dog (4 deep breaths long) That’s it! Enjoy and I hope this helps improve your climbing and descending experience! Please feel free to reach out with questions or comments.