About This Time Limited Training Plan To Prepare for MTB Races
This plan is for those who are short on time and need to train indoors or close to home a lot of the time BUT who want to be as ready as they can for a Mountain bike race!
It is best applied ~8 weeks ahead of your goal of Cross-Country or 'XCO' mountain bike race. It focuses on developing speed and getting off-road when possible.
Ideally, you will have completed a general preparation or 'base' phase to establish fitness and cycling skills before this block of training.
If your race is further away consider our Best Selling Off Road Base Training Plan
Is This Time-Limited MTB Training Plan for You?
This plan is ideal for riders who are 2-3 months out from their competition season and who can't get outside or to trails very often.
It focuses on specific workouts that are short and effective but that are often done indoors or on the road due to limitations in time or location.
- Designed for Mountain Bikers who don't have much time or access to trails
- Options to do workouts on the trainer, road or mountain bike trails
- Requires 3–5 days on the bike and 1-2 days of strength/core work per week
- Weekly volume ranges from 4 to ~9 hours, with many options to scale volume up or down
- Usable with Heart Rate, Power, or RPE (no device required)
Not quite the right fit? See all of our training plans here.
What’s Included in Consummate Athlete Training Plans?
- Structured workout downloads for Garmin, Zwift, and other platforms
- Baseline fitness tests to assess endurance and threshold
- PDFs (or links) for core/strength routines and yoga/mobility sessions
- Clear workout descriptions using HR, Power, and/or RPE for full flexibility
Need a Custom Plan?
If You have an irregular schedule or bold performance goals? Our personalized 3-Month Made-for-You Plans are a unique offering from Consummate Athlete that remove the guesswork by tailoring your training plan to your life, schedule, goals, and equipment.
Learn more about our Made-for-You Plans here.
Questions?
Email Peter with any questions or to discuss your ideal plan.
Peter Glassford is a full-time Chartered Professional Cycling Coach specializing in off-road cycling disciplines including mountain bike, gravel and cyclocross. He's also a Registered Kinesiologist and has been coaching since 2000.
Along with author Molly Hurford, he operates Consummate Athlete:a website, podcast and coaching business that helps busy adult athletes balance life and big adventures by focusing on Consistency, Confidence, Cross-training and Community!