Good/Proper posture is essential in life as it is in the gym.  A good personal trainer will spend the time showing and adjusting your every movement to ensure proper posture while performing lifts.  It is up to you to carry this into your daily life.

First off, why is good posture so important.  Well, not only does it speak volumes about your self worth, esteem, and confidence, good posture helps ensure correct form while exercising and reduces the risk of injury.  Poor posture, on the other hand, exudes low confidence and low energy.  

There are several ways to improve/maintain your posture through exercise.  Patience and commitment are vital in the process of improving your posture.

- focus on breathing techniques during exercise

- develop a balanced exercise program (a good fitness trainer can help!)

- learn which muscle groups should be engaging in any given exercise 

- while performing standing movements, focus on softly bending knees, drawing your shoulders back, keeping the weight on your heels, and decrease any forward head movement

- engage core musculature to support body and added weight

- focus on a smooth movement with the appropriate amount of weight

While the primary focus of increased performance in cycling (mountain or road) is endurance, resistance training should be viewed as a vital component to improvement.  Why is is so important to incorporate resistance training into your cycling regimen?

1) A strong core is important to have to increase the efficiency of your pedal stroke.  Strength in this area allows the rigidity for the legs to maximize their force.

2) Muscular strength specific to cycling will improve your short bursts while riding such as steep hills.  Proper strength training may make the difference between walking and riding up.

3) Upper body strength may also increase the ability to handle falls

4) May also prevent fatigue during your rides

Some basic things to consider while developing a cycling-specific training program are to:

1) Train the body evenly and symmetrically- train both sides independently and evenly and make sure to include upper, lower, and core movements and all of the support musculature

2) Focus on training each major muscle group at least twice per week, preferably not on adjacent days

3) As is pertains to cycling, be sure to include core, quad, hamstring, and glute development.

As in golf, there has been a stigma going around about the addition of resistance training to endurance sports.  These types of athletes were concerned about gaining bulk that would interfere with the performance of their sport.  Research has shown that this is completely false.  Sport-specific training programs are designed to enhance the performance of the sport, strengthen the sport-specific musculature, prevent injuries, and maintain the flexibility desired for the sport.