Everyone wants to get faster and beat all their mates to the bottom of a downhill run. So how can you do it? The going faster bit requires practice, practice and more practice, plus a bit of guts and confidence in your abilities. But if you're finding you're always last, you may well need to do some work on your arms.
It doesn't matter how good you are on the bike, if you want to show off big guns and have stronger bike handling skills try the following:
Tricep Dips
Your triceps are the muscles at the back of your arms. They are used to stop you falling forward onto or over the bars and complement biceps so you need to build these up for properly big guns. Do these tricep dips slowly keeping your back upright and close to the bench. Make sure your elbows go directly behind you and not out to the sides. Use a gym bench or outdoors use a park bench. You should really feel the burn on these at the back of the arm.
Bicep curls
Start standing with your feet shoulder width apart and arms down by your side. Curl your arms so your hands ?nish up by your shoulders. Do them slowly. Three seconds to raise the weights up and three seconds back down. If you are in the gym, use dumbells. If you are out on the trails use stones, logs or even your bike. These bicep muscles will not only grow and get stronger, you will also find your strength increases when you pull on the bars and lift up over obstacles.
Arnies
Called Arnies because if you do them right you'll end up with impressive arms like the Terminator. Start in the Bicep Curl position and curl the weights up to shoulder level then press the weights above your head while rotating the shoulders so your palms end up facing outwards.
If you can do all these exercises three times a week you will notice the difference in just a few weeks. So get pumping iron and then hammer those trails and show the boys the way downhill.