Ug, Thor Strong!

Some quick feedback on my training over the last couple months... For the first time this year, I managed to drag myself to the gym and suffer through 6-8 weeks of weight training, and I'll be damned, BIG difference. Though gym work made me feel very slow, and required that I ride a lot of base to keep a smooth pedal stroke, technical riding, it seems, is much improved by a little bit of brute strength. After a couple months in the gym I'm riding over gnar that I never would have dreamed of this time last year.

The secret formula included single leg isolations for extension and curl, and leg press with both legs, moving to squats as my muscles developed. Upstairs I did bench press, seated rows, and shoulder raises, along with a basic core workout. From a results perspective, the leg work was very successful, but I continue to struggle with upper body strength, suggesting that I still need more tweaking to that aspect of the workout, most likely adding a little more focus on triceps and movement toward excercises using body weight as resistance such as pushups and dips--to include the core and imptrove stability. Now that we've begun to add intensity to our workouts on the bike, I've stopped the weights for the legs, but plan to continue with the upper body until I'm satisfied that my upper body strength is balanced with my legs.