My colleague Jake Stephenitch is a strength and conditioningcoach based in the Chicago area who specializes in programs for BMX riders. Asa BMX rider himself he came across the power of strength training to improvehis riding and decided that he wanted to help his fellow riders by becoming acoach himself.

I’ve known Jake for a few years through email and socialmedia but had never had the chance to talk to him and pick his brain on hisapproach to training. After writing a great article on When Should Kid’s StartUsing Clipless Pedals I figured it was time to get him on the BikeJames Podcast.

Which is exactly what I did. I had a great conversation with Jake, covering a lot of topics like…

- Why would a mountain biker care about what a BMX coach hasto say?

- Advice on training kids

- Thoughts on flats and clipless pedals for BMX racing.

- How the PRI system has influenced his training programs.

- Why breathing is the most important thing for you totrain.

- His favorite exercises for improving core strength andoverall power

You can find out more about Jake at his blog www.sparkbmxtraining.com. And if youlive in the Sandwich IL area you can learn more about training with Jake athis gym by visiting www.sparkmovementfit.com.

I hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast and get somegood takeaways from our conversation. If you have any thoughts or questions besure to sure them in the comments section on my blog.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,