Downhill Mountain Bike Training Plan

Downhill Mountain Bike Training Plan

$49.00

  • 5 weeks, 6 days/week training plan to prepare athletes for a Downhill Mountain Bike season, trip, or event – prepares you for a full day of downhill mountain biking
  • Trains bike-specific leg strength, upper body hypertrophy, and downhill biking fitness
  • This training plan is one of the 450+ Plans included with an Athlete’s Subscription.

Description

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

This 5-Week, 6 day/week training program is sport-specifically designed to prepare athletes for an upcoming downhill mountain bike season or trip. It is designed to prepare athletes for a full day of downhill mountain biking.

This training program has 3 general objectives:

  1. Increase Grip Strength and Endurance for the demands of downhill mountain biking
  2. Increase downhill bike-specific leg strength, core strength, and upper body strength/durability
  3. Increase downhill biking fitness

This is Version 1 of this plan, built September, 2025.

Grip Strength
Downhill riding drives high and repeated forearm loading from braking vibration and impact bracing, and measurable grip strength loss occurs during and after downhill runs. Research reports a significant drop in grip strength immediately post ride and even mid run, confirming the need to train both maximal grip and grip endurance for sustained bar control and braking precision. This plan targets grip endurance using a structured dead hang progression and farmer carries to build time under tension and fatigue resistance in the forearms.

Strength Work
This training plan includes focused, downhill biking-specific leg, mid-section and upper body strength training deploying heavy barbells, sandbags, and dumbbells/kettlebells.

Work Capacity
This training plan includes focused downhill biking work capacity efforts that progress in total work time throughout the plan. These work capacity efforts are designed to mimic the demands of a downhill run.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE
  • Mon: Lower Body Strength, Dead Hangs
  • Tue: Work Capacity, Upper Body Hypertrophy, Chassis Integrity
  • Wed: Lower Body Strength, Dead Hangs
  • Thu: Work Capacity, Upper Body Hypertrophy, Chassis Integrity
  • Fri: Lower Body Strength, Dead Hangs
  • Sat: Moderate Pace Spin/Ride (60-90 Minute)
  • Sun: Rest
REQUIRED EQUIPMENT
  • Spin Bike or Mountain Bike
  • Fully Equiped Gym – Barbells, Dumbbells, Kettlebells
  • 40#, 60# or 80# Sandbag
  • Pull Up Bar
  • 20″ Box for Box Jumps
COMMON QUESTIONS

How Long do the Sessions Last?
60 minutes Monday – Friday. 60 – 90 minutes on Saturday.

What if I miss a day?
Begin where you left off when you return to training. This program is progressed – each session builds upon the prior session – so don’t skip a session or skip around. Follow the training sessions in order, regardless.

Where do I find unfamiliar exercises?
See our Exercise Library HERE. The Run Calculator is listed as an exercise.

What about nutrition?
See our Nutritional Guidelines HERE.

More Questions? Email coach@mtntactical.com

DISCLAIMER
Before beginning any exercise program, consult with your physician to ensure that you are in proper health.  Physical training contains inherent risks including, but not limited to, muscle strains, tears, physical and bodily injury up to and including death.  This training program is not meant to provide medical advice; you should obtain medical advice from your private health care practitioner.  If you are unable to assume these risks then you should not engage in this training program.  No liability is assumed by Mountain Tactical Institute, Inc, its owners or employees, and you train at your own risk.  Mountain Tactical Institute makes no warranty, express or implied, of any kind in connection with this training program.

Required Equipment


  • Spin Bike or Mountain Bike

  • Fully Equiped Gym - Barbells, Dumbbells, Kettlebells

  • 40#, 60# or 80# Sandbag

  • Pull Up Bar

  • 20" Box for Box Jumps

Sample Training

Sample Training

Below is the first week of programming from the plan:

SESSION 1

OBJ: Lower Body Strength, Dead Hangs

Warm Up:

  • 3 Rounds:

    • 8x Front Squat - Start light and increase weight as you warm up

    • 8x Hand Release Push-up

    • Instep Stretch

    • Lat + Pec Stretch

Training:

  • Front Squat 1RM

    • Work up to 1RM Front Squat

    • Add 10-30# to your finishing warm up load and do 5 reps.

    • Then add 10-30# and do 3 reps.

    • Then add 5-30# and do 1 Rep. Keep adding weight and doing 1 Rep (single) until you reach your 1RM.

    • Aim to be at your 1RM by your 4th or 5th single.

    • RECORD 1RM FRONT SQUAT RESULTS

  • 5 Rounds:

    • 3x Front Squat @ 80% 1RM

    • 3rd World Squat Stretch between Rounds as Active Rest

  • 3 Rounds:

    • 5x Hinge Lift - Start light, increase load as you warm up

  • Hinge Lift 1RM

    • Work up to 1RM Hinge Lift

    • Add 10-30# to your finishing warm up load and do 5 reps.

    • Then add 10-30# and do 3 reps.

    • Then add 5-30# and do 1 Rep. Keep adding weight and doing 1 Rep (single) until you reach your 1RM.

    • Aim to be at your 1RM by your 4th or 5th single.

    • RECORD 1RM HINGE LIFT RESULTS

  • 5 Rounds:

    • 3x Hinge Lift @ 80% 1RM

    • Toe Touch Complex between Rounds as Active Rest

  • Dead Hang Assessment

    • Max Time Dead Hang

    • RECORD RESULTS

  • 6 Rounds:

    • 30% Max Dead Hang Time

    • Rest 30 Seconds

Cooldown:

  • 1 Round:

    • Foam Roll Complex

    • Ham Hip Mobility Drill

SESSION 2

OBJ: Work Capacity, Upper Body Hypertrophy, Chassis Integrity

Warm Up:

  • 3 Rounds:

    • 10x Squat

    • 5x Push Ups

    • 3x Box Jumps - 20" Box

    • Instep Stretch

    • Lat + Pec Stretch

Training:

  • 8 Rounds, Every 30 Seconds:

    • 5x Box Jumps - 20" Box

    • 2x Burpee

    • Rest in the Skier Tuck (forward leaning half squat) position

  • Rest for 2 Minutes

  • 8 Rounds, Every 30 Seconds:

    • 5x Box Jumps - 20" Box

    • 2x Burpee

    • Rest in the Skier Tuck (forward leaning half squat) position

  • Rest for 2 Minutes

  • 8 Rounds, Every 30 Seconds:

    • 5x Box Jumps - 20" Box

    • 2x Burpee

    • Rest in the Skier Tuck (forward leaning half squat) position

  • 6 Rounds:

    • 10x Bench Press - Increase load rapidly each round until 10x is hard, but doable

    • 10x Renegade Rows - Increase load rapidly each round until 10x is hard, but doable

  • 15 Minute Grind:

    • 90 Sec. Farmers Carry - Increase weight until 90 Sec. is hard, but doable

    • 5x Sandbag Keg Lift - 40/60#, Increase to 80# if possible

    • 6x Sandbag Twist & Toss - 40/60#, Increase to 80# if possible

    • “Grind” = work steadily not frantically for the prescribed time or rounds. Pace yourself, but don't stop to rest

Cooldown:

  • 2 Rounds:

    • Foam Roll Back

    • 5x Lunging Dislocates

SESSION 3

OBJ: Lower Body Strength, Dead Hangs

Warm Up:

  • 3 Rounds:

    • 8x Front Squat - Start light and increase weight as you warm up

    • 8x Hand Release Push-up

    • Instep Stretch

    • Lat + Pec Stretch

Training:

  • 8 Rounds, 3x Front Squat

    • Round 1 @ 50% 1RM

    • Round 2 @ 60% 1RM

    • Round 3 @ 70% 1RM

    • Round 4-8 @ 80% 1RM

    • 3rd World Squat Stretch between Rounds as Active Rest

  • 3 Rounds:

    • 5x Hinge Lift - Start light, increase load as you warm up

  • 8 Rounds, 3x Hinge Lift

    • Round 1 @ 50% 1RM

    • Round 2 @ 60% 1RM

    • Round 3 @ 70% 1RM

    • Round 4-8 @ 80% 1RM

    • Toe Touch Complex between Rounds as Active Rest

  • 6 Rounds:

    • 30% Max Dead Hang Time

    • Rest 30 Seconds

Cooldown:

  • 2 Rounds:

    • Pigeon Stretch

    • 3x Floor Slide

SESSION 4

OBJ: Work Capacity, Upper Body Hypertrophy, Chassis Integrity

Warm Up:

  • 3 Rounds:

    • 10x Squat

    • 5x Push Ups

    • 3x Box Jumps - 20" Box

    • Instep Stretch

    • Lat + Pec Stretch

Training:

  • 12 Rounds, Every 30 Seconds:

    • 5x Box Jumps - 20" Box

    • 2x Burpee

    • Rest in the Skier Tuck (forward leaning half squat) position

  • Rest for 2 Minutes

  • 12 Rounds, Every 30 Seconds:

    • 5x Box Jumps - 20" Box

    • 2x Burpee

    • Rest in the Skier Tuck (forward leaning half squat) position

  • 6 Rounds:

    • 10x Arnold Press - Increase load rapidly each round until 10x is hard, but doable

    • 10x Barbell Bent Over Row - Increase load rapidly each round until 10x is hard, but doable

  • 15 Minute Grind:

    • 90 Sec. Farmers Carry - Increase weight until 90 Sec. is hard, but doable

    • 5x Sandbag Cross Clean - 40/60#, Increase to 80# if possible

    • 5x Sandbag Getup - 40/60#, Increase to 80# if possible

    • “Grind” = work steadily not frantically for the prescribed time or rounds. Pace yourself, but don't stop to rest

Cooldown:

  • 2 Rounds:

    • 3rd World Squat Stretch

    • Hip Flexor Stretch

SESSION 5

OBJ: Lower Body Strength, Dead Hangs

Warm Up:

  • 3 Rounds:

    • 8x Front Squat - Start light and increase weight as you warm up

    • 8x Hand Release Push-up

    • Instep Stretch

    • Lat + Pec Stretch

Training:

  • 8 Rounds, 3x Front Squat

    • Round 1 @ 55% 1RM

    • Round 2 @ 65% 1RM

    • Round 3 @ 75% 1RM

    • Round 4-8 @ 85% 1RM

    • 3rd World Squat Stretch between Rounds as Active Rest

  • 3 Rounds:

    • 5x Hinge Lift - Start light, increase load as you warm up

  • 8 Rounds, 3x Hinge Lift

    • Round 1 @ 55% 1RM

    • Round 2 @ 65% 1RM

    • Round 3 @ 75% 1RM

    • Round 4-8 @ 85% 1RM

    • Toe Touch Complex between Rounds as Active Rest

  • 6 Rounds:

    • 35% Max Dead Hang Time

    • Rest 30 Seconds

Cooldown:

  • 2 Rounds:

    • Frog Stretch

    • 5x Shoulder Dislocates

SESSION 6

OBJ: Moderate Pace Spin/Ride

Training:

  • Spin or Mountain Bike for 60 Minutes at a Moderate Pace

    • "Moderate" = Comfortable but not easy.

1)  Mission Direct

Gym numbers mean nothing. All that matters is mission performance. 

To this end, MTI’s fitness solutions and programming are not boxed in by convention, tradition, orthodoxy, public opinion or any other artificial constraint driven by inside or outside forces.

We begin with the raw fitness demands of the mission and build a fitness solution which directly prepares the athlete for those demands.

 

2) Fitness Solutions Built from the Ground Up

MTI’s programming is not “re-tread” bodybuilding, football, CrossFit, kettlebell, strength or general fitness programming. We’ve built our fitness programming for mountain and tactical athletes from the ground up.

The Fluid Periodization methodology we deploy to concurrently train multiple fitness attributes is completely original and has continued to evolve and improve over the years.

Our mid-section training methodology, Chassis Integrity, is also original, as is our endurance programming, 7 strength training progressions, tactical agility, and work capacity programming.

Our mountain sports pre-season training plans, tactical PFT, selection, school, course, and fitness improvement training plans across military, LE and Fire Rescue are MTI-developed, tested and athlete-proven.

Over the years hundreds of athletes and coaches have taken our advanced programming and unit fitness leader programming courses and MTI is widely recognized within the mountain and tactical professions and fitness media as a thought leader in fitness programming for military and tactical athletes.

 

3) The MTI Method

→ Research: MTI begins program design with extensive research of the fitness demands of the mission, sport or event, identifies the exercises and progressions which sport-specifically meet those demands, chose end-of-cycle goals, and program backward to design the training plan.

→ Deploy & Assess: We deploy the training plan “Lab Rats” at our Wyoming facility. Training session and cycle issues are identified and fixed as we work through the training plan. Post cycle we assess the programming’s effectiveness and efficiency. We keep the stuff that works, and fix or toss the stuff that doesn’t.

→ Publish & Assess Again: Plan is published for purchase as an individual training plan and made available to our subscribers. Feedback/results are assessed.

→ Iterate: We take what we learn from lab rats and athletes, re-visit, update and improve already published training plans. Several of our individual training plans are on their 4th or 5th version.

 

4) Mission-Direct Research

MTI exists to “Improve Mountain and Tactical Athletes mission performance and keep them safe.” To that end, we have developed a unique research methodology aimed at identifying real world areas of improvement and identifying immediately deployable mission-direct solutions. Click HERE to learn more about MTI’s Mission-Direct Research methodology, and Here to read about just few of our research efforts.

 

5) Field Proven

Our stuff works. Weekly we receive unsolicited reviews of our programming and testimonials to its effectiveness.

 

6) Programming Breadth

MTI’s library of 200+ sport-specific fitness plans for mountain and tactical athletes is unmatched. Resources range from specific programming for tactical special forces selections, to specific plans for climbing Rainier and Denali, to general fitness solutions such as running improvement, to post-rehab from injury.

Over the past decade, MTI has partnered with hundreds of athletes throughout their individual mountain and tactical careers, and provided fitness solutions as they face new mountain objectives, tactical schools, selections, PFTs and deployments, and came back from injury.

 

7) Worldwide Influence

Our work is not limited to US Athletes.

We’ve developed selection-specific training plans for Canadian, UK, Australian and German Special Forces Selections and worked with individual military personnel from Scandinavia, South, and Central America.

Canadian, Australian, UK and western European law enforcement and fire/rescue athletes have used MTI programming for mission-direct fitness.

On the mountain side, Alpinists from Japan to Slovakia have consulted with MTI and used MTI’s programming to prepare for mountain objectives.

 

8) Mission Performance beyond Fitness

MTI’s exists is to improve Mission Performance for mountain and tactical athletes and keep them safe. 

This focus on “mission direct” solutions, enhancements and improvements drives our work and research and extends beyond fitness solutions to include training, leadership, gear, team culture, and safety. 

Fitness is just one area of our work.

Our non-fitness research has included tactical cultures, combat uniforms, and gore-tex performance, and effect of stress on marksmanship.

Our work on defining what it means to be a Quiet Professional has had penetrating influence and driven healthy conversations with both mountain and tactical professionals.

 

9) Direct, Honest, Clear Answers

Since 2007 we’ve taken and answered dozens of questions weekly from mountain and tactical athletes. We’ve saved these individual Q&A’s and now thousands are archived on our site.

We’re not salesmen, and our answers are noted for their directness, honesty, and clarity. Our stuff isn’t for everyone. If we can help, we’ll let you know. If we can’t, we’ll let you know that, too.

– Rob Shaul, Founder

 

All of the Above is Backed Up By Our Promise: Our Stuff Works. Guaranteed.

Our Stuff Works. Guaranteed.

By Rob Shaul

I received notes frequently from athletes hesitant to purchase a subscription or training plans asking me to sell them on why they should make the purchase.

While I understand the question, I’m not a salesman – so I can’t put a hard sale on anyone for our programming.

I can tell them the process we go through to design our programming.

We begin with extensive research on the fitness demands of the event, identify the exercises and progressions which sport specifically meet those demands, chose end-of-cycle goals, and program backward to design the plan.

Then we test the cycle on ourselves and our lab rats here in Wyoming. We document, note what works and doesn’t work, re-assess, and make changes and modifications.

Then we publish the programming in the form of one of our plans or as part of our subscription daily training sessions for tactical and mountain athletes.
We don’t stop there – our daily programming is the “tip of the spear” for our programming evolution. We use these sessions to learn and make continuous improvement.

As we learn more and improve, we go back, and update the sport-specific training plans on the website. For example, we’re currently on Version 5 of our Ruck Based Selection Training Plan and Version 3 of our Dryland Ski Training Plan and Version 4 of our Big Game Back Country Hunting Training Plan.

We understand our programing isn’t cheap, but we believe it’s a great value. The $79 for the Ruck Based Selection Training Plan, and $39 for the Dryland Ski Training Plan reflect the, research, work, innovative theory, iteration, testing and feedback we’ve put in and received to make these plans effective.

All that matters for us is outside performance, and we feel strongly that Our Stuff Works in the real world.

Here’s our guarantee:

1) Individual Training Plan Purchase:
If you purchase an individual training plan, follow it as prescribed before your season/event/pft/selection, and if you don’t feel you were physically ready for your season/event/pft/selection, and/or didn’t see dramatic improvements in your early season performance, we’ll refund your money, no questions asked.

2) Athlete’s Subscription
If you purchase an Athletes’ Subscription, follow the training sessions as prescribed, and are not satisfied with the quality of the programming, notify us within 30 days of purchase, and we’ll refund your money, no questions asked.

Questions?
Email: rob@mtntactical.com

COMMON QUESTIONS:

Do you have any reviews or testimonials from athletes who have used your Athlete’s Subscription
Yes. Click HERE.

Is it true you guarantee your stuff works?
Yes. If you purchase an Athletes’ Subscription, follow the training sessions as prescribed, and are not satisfied with the quality of the programming, notify us within 30 days of purchase, and we’ll refund your money, no questions asked.

How is MTI programming different than CrossFit?
This is a common question. Read our answer HERE.

You have a lot of competitors. Why should I choose MTI?
MTI is driven to improve mountain and tactical athletes’ mission performance and keep them safe. This emphasis and focus on mission performance sets us apart. Read about more that sets us apart HERE.

If I purchase a plan or subscription, how do I access the programming?
All of our plans are online, accessible via username and password.
You can log in through our →Website  or Mobile App →IOS and Android.

Do you have downloadable .pdf’s of the training plans?
No. But you can print the programming, by week, from your browser. You access individual training plans online via a username and password.

Do you have a mobile app?
Yes, we do. Available for IOS and Android.

What is the difference between purchasing an individual training plan, packet of plans or an Athlete’s Subscription?

  • Plan – Like purchasing the DVD of the first Star Wars movie. You own it forever, including any updates we make to the plan.
  • Packet – Like purchasing the DVD’s of all the Star Wars movies. You own them forever, including any updates we make to the plans.
  • Athlete’s Subscription – Like subscribing to Netflix. You get access to all 200+ plan in our library, but lose access if you unsubscribe.

If I purchase an Athletes Subscription Can I cancel on my own, anytime?
Yes.

Do I have to contact MTI to cancel or can I do it myself?
You can do it yourself. Instructions HERE.

If I purchase a subscription and have questions about where to start or what plans(s) to use for my goals, will you help?
Yes. We answer dozens of training questions from athletes weekly. Email coach@mtntactical.com.

If you add new plans or update existing plans after I subscribe will I have access to them?
Yes. We are continuously adding training plans and packets (2-5/month) and updating plans. With your subscription you’ll have access to all new plans, new courses and plan updates.

What Equipment is Required?
Click the “Required Equipment” tab to find out what equipment is required for the specific plan you are interested in.

Where do I find unfamiliar exercises?
See our Exercise Library HERE. The Run and Ruck Calculators are listed as exercises.

What about nutrition?
See our Nutritional Guidelines HERE.

Can I see sample training?
Click the “Sample Training” tab to see the entire first week of programming. You are encouraged to do it before purchasing.

What if I have more questions?
Email rob@mtntactical.com

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