Your performance on a mountain bike has four pillars of support: cardio, mobility, skills and strength. Most riders only worry about one or maybe two. Could you be a good rider with just one pillar? Maybe, but why limit yourself? This week it’s been raining pretty solidly here in northern California, and honestly, I couldn’t care less. In years gone by, I'd have been donning rain gear and even spending time on the trainer in an attempt to maintain my aerobic engine, but now I understand that cardio is just one of the four pillars. I get plenty of time to improve my cardio on the trail, so in the rainy months, it makes sense to work on my strength and mobility. James Wilson is a strength and skills coach whose programmes and teaching have been tremendously helpful to me over the past few years. James helped me understand that I wasn’t going to get any faster by doing more of the same and that road riding wasn’t going to make me a better mountain biker. Light hands and heavy feet make for better mountain biking, and flat pedals have helped me learn this by providing instant feedback of my weight being somewhere other than on my feet. Flat pedals are also extremely comfortable and allow me to easily stick a foot out moto-style on tight switchbacks. But what about pulling up on the backstroke? As you’ll hear in this podcast, and as has been shown in the studies cited below, there is no advantage in pulling up on the backstroke, and so this is not a good reason to be using clipless pedals. Not long after we recorded this interview, my new Catalyst pedals arrived and since then I've been enjoying wiggling my toes as I pedal comfortably in a midfoot position. The pedals are long enough to support my whole foot yet narrow enough to minimise rock strikes. But yet I still race clipless! Am I suspending disbelief? Please let me know in the comments below. Here’s the outline of this interview with James Wilson: 0:00:00    I've had fantastic results following James's training programmes. 0:00:52    James has been developing a pedal for about a year. 0:01:28    Do not listen to this podcast if you're easily offended by flat pedals on an MTB. 0:02:23    The controversial article I wrote. 0:03:10    I've ridden mountain bikes since I was a kid, but then I fell away from the sport. 0:03:43    When I moved to the US I got into road bikes. 0:04:05    I used to think weight was the most important thing. 0:04:45    Why is strength training important for mountain bikers? 0:05:05    James hates the word cyclist. 0:05:32    Mountain biking is not road biking. 0:06:25    Road biking doesn't necessarily transfer to MTB. 0:07:16    High-tension cardio on the trail. 0:08:02    The best MTB riders in the world pedal the least. 0:08:18    Aaron Gwin winning a World Cup race without a chain. 0:08:39    James's article on Pinkbike about what makes a great downhill racer. 0:09:12    Gray Cook: "The grip is the window to the core". 0:09:41    Functional core strength is extremely important. 0:10:07    Pedalling is not the only skill. 0:10:26    Mobility and strength are equally important. 0:10:40    Mobility first. 0:10:57    Can you do a bodyweight squat? 0:11:14    Is your squat "stress proof"? 0:11:50    You can make your gas tank bigger, or you can improve your miles per gallon. 0:12:15    Your body will cycle through muscle fibres. 0:12:41    More muscles fibre recruitment means more performance. 0:12:56    Most people take a unidirectional approach, i.e. cardio. 0:14:01    Strength training is the fast track. 0:14:21    Riding will make you stronger. 0:15:09    Training fills in gaps. 0:15:40    Riding already provides us with plenty of cardio. 0:16:22    When you look at it this way, strength training is obvious. 0:16:59    Lee McCormack on my podcast. 0:17:40    Your aerobic engine will only take you so far. 0:18:06    Lack of mobility can stop you from getting into a basic attack position. 0:18:37    Skills and mobility are connected. 0:18:53    You s