Summer officially starts this weekend and it’s warming up quickly here at Enduro MTB Training HQ. We’re getting out of the house and hitting the trails following local shutdowns and working on finding our rhythm on the bike again. Before starting to ride though, it’s important to warm up the body to activate our muscles and prepare them to be called into action while riding.

This series of stretches is designed to warm up our muscles, raise our heart rate and help us prepare mentally for hitting the trail. Without a proper warmup routine, our bodies will take longer to get comfortable on the bike and makes us more susceptible to injury.

You could swing your arms around a few times and kick your legs a bit and call it a warm up but having a regular and consistent routine will benefit you in the long run or ride as it may be. This series of stretches includes a mix of static and dynamic stretches to prepare you to ride. I recommend a top down approach starting with the neck moving to the shoulders and arms. We then hit our hips and core before moving on to the ankles.

I’d challenge you to try this routine for two weeks before your rides. See how you feel once you start riding, at the end of your ride and at the end of the day. An added benefit to these stretches is they’ll counterbalance the effects of sitting at a desk and working at the computer, too.

Interested in more details on warming up before your ride? I offer a more detailed pre-ride/pre-race warm up guide with the purchase of any of my training plans. If you need help picking the right plan for you, drop me a note and let’s get you started training to be a better, faster, stronger mountain biker.