How To Be a Healthy Mountain Biker

Downtime - The Mountain Bike Podcast

Downtime MTB

Sports, Leisure, Fitness, Health & Fitness, Hobbies, Wilderness

4.9 • 628 Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2025

⏱️ 114 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, we’re joined by Strength Factory’s Ben Plenge to find out how to improve our riding by being healthier humans. Ben breaks it down into five pillars of health, from nutrition and hydration, through weight and sickness management to muscle, mobility, cardio and sleep. This is the complete guide to looking after yourself, so you can have a long and happy life riding bikes and generally being a healthy, functional human. As always with Ben, there’s heaps to learn. So sit back, hit play, and enjoy this episode with Ben Plenge.

You can also watch this episode on YouTube here.

Here are those discount code details if you want to follow one of Ben’s plans.

Code: DTPOD expires on 2nd November.

Gives you 1/3 off The Over 40s MTB Program or 50% off the first month of Complete MTB Program and you still get a 1 week free trial. Both programs now include The MTB Nutrition Guide for free!

You can follow Ben on Instagram @strenghfactory_coach or @mtbfatloss.

Podcast Stuff

Supporting Partners

Fox Racing

This episode is supported by Fox Racing and they recently launched the brand new Jackson Goldstone signature collection. Check it out here.

Loam Pass

Loam Pass are currently offering their 2026 pass, which enables you to access over 70 destination in North America for the bargain price of $250. This is the cheapest you’ll ever be able to buy the pass and you can get yours at this price from 1-14th Octcober right here – loampass.com.

Strength Factory

Don’t forget that you can get a discount on Strength Factory programmes by using the code DTPOD before 2nd November 2025. That code will give you 1/3 off The Over 40s MTB Program or 50% off the first month of Complete MTB Program and you still get a 1 week free trial. Both programs now include The MTB Nutrition Guide for free!

Patreon

I would love it if you were able to support the podcast via a regular Patreon donation. Donations start from as little as £3 per month. That’s less than £1 per episode and less than the price of a take away coffee. Every little counts and these donations will really help me keep the podcast going and hopefully take it to the next level. To help out, head here.

Merch

If you want to support the podcast and represent, then my webstore is the place to head. All products are 100% organic, shipped without plastics, and made with a supply chain that’s using renewable energy. We now also have local manufacture for most products in the US as well as the UK. So check it out now over at downtimepodcast.com/shop.

If you want a bit more Downtime in your life, then you can join my newsletter where I’ll provide you with a bit of behind the scenes info on the podcast, interesting bits and pieces from around the mountain bike world, some mini-reviews of products that I’ve been using and like, partner offers and more. You can do that over at downtimepodcast.com/newsletter.

Give us a follow on Instagram @downtimepodcast or Facebook @downtimepodcast to keep up to date and chat in the comments.

For everything video, including riding videos, bike checks and more, subscribe over at youtube.com/downtimemountainbikepodcast.

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Our back catalogue of amazing episodes is available at downtimepodcast.com/episodes

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Do you want a five grand bike with five quid legs?
0:02.6	You know.
0:07.1	Hey everyone, I'm Chris Hall and this is the downtime podcast,
0:10.3	the podcast for the true fans of gravity mountain biking,
0:12.9	taking you deeper into the sport than anywhere else.
0:15.9	This episode is supported by Fox Racing, Loan Pass and the Strength Factory.
0:19.8	Loan Pass is your ticket to ride some of the best trails across North America. With Loan Pass, you get two days riding at each of 70 amazing riding destinations, and right now they have an incredible offer for you. Exclusively from the 1st of the 14th of October, you can grab your 2026 pass for just $250. That is the cheapest it'll ever be, and when you do, you'll also get the rest of 2025 thrown in for free. On top of that, this year, your loan pass unlocks exclusive discounts of between 20 and 40%, with brands like crankbrothers, troily designs, trailforks, airy bikes, evo.com, and bike flights. Don't miss out on this amazing deal. In theory, the offer expires today,
0:54.9	but if you're lucky, I heard that they may extend the deadline a little bit. So head to loampass.com
0:59.7	now. Jackson Goldstone won the World Cup overall this weekend to add to his world champ stripes,
1:05.0	and you could say that that was the perfect promotion for his freshly launched Fox's signature
1:09.5	collection. Here's what Fox had to say.
1:11.9	With the constant weight of expectations on his shoulders, Jackson Goldstone's hunt for precious
1:15.8	metal struck the richest seam of all to take the gold and title of 2025 downhill world champion.
1:21.6	All season long, he's broken the brains of those seeking to emulate his singular style.
1:26.0	Who could forget that World Cup fourpete?
1:28.1	And now it's time to celebrate this rare talent with the launch of his first ever signature collection.
1:33.5	Inspired by the rare cobalt, blue spinel and hard rock granite features found in his home of Squamish, British Columbia.
1:39.7	This collection is a curated assembly of ride kit and gear plus apparel and youth sizing. While his
1:45.0	ride start is unmatched, his ride stees on and off the bike is now there for the taking with
1:49.2	the Goldstone signature collection. State your claim and don't miss a piece of this must-have kit.
1:54.2	You can check it out over at foxracing.com. All right, just a couple more quick things before we
1:59.2	get stuck into this week's episode.
	...

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