Pump Up the Base book and training program

PUMP UP THE BASE:
Rock the trainer this winter.
Rock the trails this summer.

A 12-week plan to:
• Improve your pedaling skills and power
• Ride faster and easier on all terrain
• Train quickly and efficiently

“This is really great! The program reads well and makes sense. The sprint training will transfer strength gains made in the gym to the bike, and improving pedaling skills is equally valuable. I think Lee nailed it!”
– Cody Waite, pro Xterra triathlete and endurance coach, www.epcmultisport.com

“There is basically ‘free time’ to gain all over every trail. And Lee will help you find it. Efficient pedaling is so powerful but not everyone does it. The winter time is perfect to hone this skill for a huge summertime payoff. Thanks Lee!”
– Judy Freeman, professional cross country racer, judyfreeman.blogspot.com

Lee, I only wish you knew how well your teaching transfers to cyclocross. With no suspension and even less traction, poor bike handling wastes more speed and energy than any amount of fitness can overcome. And then there’s the pedaling, you spin to win but the low cadence, high torque efforts are also really important. I can consistently measure the power difference between my old pedal stroke and the one you describe. $15 for Pump Up The Base is an absolute steal.
– Christopher Kelly, leelikesbikes skills client, Pump Up the Baser and podium threat in Class A cyclocross

“I have a long history of both racing and riding spanning over 30 years. Over that time I have established a solid foundation of cycling skills. When I ran across Lee McCormack, I noticed how he broke down the concept of each skill. He was able to turn it into a science that anyone could understand. Explain it in a way that made sense. In the end, things I thought I was doing right for decades had been brought to my attention that I had not quite had it right. I was close, but when reading his books I could see flaws that held me back from progressing to the next level. Lee was able to explain, through his books, how movements are made and how the body and bike work together. Whether your a first time rider or a seasoned pro, Lee is the man when it comes to progressing to that next elevated level. Everyone can benefit from his training.”
– Ian “WingNutt” Cook, mybikestand.com

Particulars

• $14.99 for ebook
• 8.5 x 11 inches
• 33 pages with diagrams and color photos
• Ebook version is a password-protected PDF. It will be emailed to you within 24 hours (most likely much faster than that). You can print the book, but please do not share it.
• Print version will be available soon.

Get your copy

Using this Paypal button, you can pay with Paypal balance, credit card or bank account. You do not need a Paypal account.

To pay with credit card over the phone, email lee@leelikesbikes.com.

Samples

What you’ll be doing. Sweet spot intervals and sprints, that’s what.

How to pedal. This will change your riding life.

This program is designed for indoor trainers, but you can rock the intervals outside. If you can do some of them on a pump track, that is extra rad.

The program uses a simple, easy-to-follow graphical style.

Table of contents

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

THE MISSION

WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING
• Sweet spot training
• Sprinting – fully pinned
• Warmup
• Rest
• Cooldown

HOW DOES THIS FIT INTO THE REST OF MY PROGRAM?

STUFF YOU NEED
• Must have
• Nice to have
• Let’s talk pedals

HOW TO PEDAL
• Our goal
• Pay attention to posture
• Basic seated pedaling
• Power and recovery
• Forward-backward
• Pedaling out of the saddle
• Practice perfectly
• Expand your powerband

HOW TO FOLLOW THIS PROGRAM
• Discipline (or not)
• Consistency!
• Stay in the sweet spot
• Do I really have to ride a trainer?
• Sitting vs. standing
• Sprinting

THE INTERVALS

MAKE IT REAL WITH FOCUSED DRILLS
• Sitting
• Climbing
• Ladder
• Super D
• Mixmaster

TWO WORKOUTS IN ONE
• Workout A
• Workout B

THE PROGRAM
• Workout A
• Workout B
• Pump Up The Base: weekly workouts

Intro text from the book

Why are we doing this?

Mountain biking is awesome, and the better you are, the better it gets. We basically have two ways to improve our performance (and fun) on the bike:

1) Improved skills. See the books Mastering Mountain Bike Skills, Teaching Mountain Bike Skills, Pro BMX Skills and Welcome to Pump Track Nation or take a clinic with me.

2) Improved fitness. Mountain bike fitness encompasses lots of different areas, including:

• Stability
• Agility
• Strength
• Power (these top four items should be developed off the bike)
• Long-term capacity and endurance (how fast can you ride for an hour?)
• Short-term capacity and endurance (how fast can you ride for a few minutes?)
• Fully pinned power (how fast can you ride for a few seconds?)

While you should work on your riding skills and off-bike physical abilities, pedaling is our bread and butter. It’s how we get around, and the cardiovascular benefits translate to other aspects of our riding game (pumping terrain for example).

This program focuses on pedaling power and overall workload tolerance. Specifically, it will help you sustain higher power for longer periods, and it will teach you to reach higher highs.

What’s different about this approach?

This program aims to help you develop cycling power AND skills in a way that most programs do not address. You are not just a hamster in a wheel. You are a Rider — an athlete — and I want every minute you spend on the trainer to help you rip.

The Mission

Pump Up the Base is a simple, effective program for winter (“off season”) bike training.

Winter and early spring are a perfect time to rock this adventure. Ideally, you’ll Pump Up the Base two days per week, work off-bike stability/agility/strength/power two days a week and otherwise do fun stuff and recover. When you finish this program you’ll be ready to wax your buddies or start higher-intensity interval work and crush the races. Either way, you’ll be stronger and faster than before.

More specifically, when you Pump Up the Base you will:

• Build aerobic capacity, neuromuscular power and neuromuscular coordination
• Be able to ride harder, longer
• Learn to pedal more smoothly and powerfully both in and out of the saddle
• Increase your top cadence
• Increase your peak power
• Broaden your powerband
• Stress your body enough to make you improve, but not beat you down
• Use your time very efficiently
• Not go as insane this winter

These workouts are fun and effective any time of year, but winter is a great time to build your aerobic engine and develop new pedaling skills.

Check out this action:

About the author

Hi I’m Lee, and I like bikes. Some things I’ve done:

• Wrote the books Mastering Mountain Bike Skills, Teaching Mountain Bike Skills, Pro BMX Skills and Welcome to Pump Track Nation.

• As the skills development director for NICA, the national high school mountain bike league, I create the curriculum and teach it to riders, coaches and the coaches who teach coaches how to teach riders.

• I work with riders of all style and levels, from beginners to world champions.

• In a previous career, I was part of the team that won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. I honed my infographics skills at a daily newspaper.

• Between intervals and coaching sessions, I design technical and business systems. It’s all about clarity, man.

Get your copy

Using this Paypal button, you can pay with Paypal balance, credit card or bank account. You do not need a Paypal account.

To pay with credit card over the phone, email lee@leelikesbikes.com.