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MTB's Ronan Dunne spills the fitness secrets behind his remarkable rise
Following on from his stunning breakthrough season in 2024, UCI Downhill Mountain Bike star Ronan Dunne reveals the gym and strength work which helped catapult him from nearly man to podium regular.
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In Autumn 2024, Ronan Dunne became the first Irishman to finish in the top four of the overall standings in the UCI MTB World Championships for Mondraker Factory Racing, capping off a brilliant 12 months which also included two Red Bull Hardline titles in Wales and Australia, a World Cup victory in Poland and donning the Red Bull helmet for the first time.
Audiences lucky enough to witness these milestones first-hand have seen a rider reborn; one who wasn't even sure he had a future in the sport 18 months prior emerged as one of the most exciting riders on the circuit, daring to take corners and pull off moves at speeds most riders would shudder at.
Watch Emerald Storm in the player below to see how Dunne earned his place in the story of Irish mountain biking, then read on as he reveals his key fitness habits:
1 h 4 min
Emerald Storm
Documenting the rise of Ireland’s top MTB riders from their grassroots beginnings to the global stage.
It's not only a bolder mindset that has catapulted him into the podium of late, mind. He also credits a positional change on the bike and added physicality off it for the pace with which he's shot up the rankings. His gym workouts alone have paid off massively in competition.
Speaking from his family home in the Wicklow Mountains, south of Dublin, where he lends a hand on his parents’ farm when not training or competing, we asked him to reveal the fitness work behind his remarkable year. Anyone who's ever wanted to get 'MTB fit', now's your chance...
Ronan after winning Red Bull Hardline in Dinas Mawydd, Wales in 2024
© Dan Griffiths/Red Bull Content Pool
If you're a weaker rider then your position is going to fold at the end of the run, which happened a lot to me last year. I wasn't strong
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The more strength work he does, the more Ronan is able to absorb the impact of big crashes
“I’m probably in the gym three times a week. Any workout usually involves general weight training, squats and the bench press. Squats are a big thing – that's kind of the position you have while riding anyway, and mobility strength is important because obviously when we crash the body is at such a weird angle. You want a bit of muscle so that if you hit a tree, you can take a hit pretty well – you're not going to crumble and then the season's over. Walking lunges, shoulder rotations, bicep curls – there's so many ways you can add muscle. This sport is quite cool for the fact anyone who is super talented could do well in a race if they haven't trained much. However, if you don't put in the gym work and hit a turn too hard, your body completely folds. If you don’t have enough muscle you'll just break your arm or shoulder because you don't have the strength. I use the gym to build up muscle and strength for the bike.
Ronan Dunne is one of the fastest riders in the UCI DH World Series
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool
"For stamina and cardio I'll do 10-second sprints outside with a 20-second rest and do that 18 times; as well as trail riding, which I’ll do another two times a week, and that's a two-hour pedal each time. It all goes into making you faster."
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He's built his own motocross track and rides it to develop arm strength
“Something I've been trying to do more of is motocross, which is super good for full body training and fitness. Those bikes are so heavy when you’re holding on that if you ride a 20-minute motocross session on a track your body is destroyed. You work the whole body and it’s so good for getting your heart rate high for a long time.
"The good thing about our sport is that training is so much fun"
© Dan Griffiths/Red Bull Content Pool
"We get super-bad arm pump [in MTB], which is when your forearms get pumped up and it's quite hard to hold on for the whole run. And since it’s hard to train for that on a mountain bike – you’d have to find a really, really long track for one thing, and the arms would only get sore by the end – within five minutes of motocross you're already feeling your arm pump. It’s the same body position, too. Riding motocross helps with my upper body and also stamina."
You want a bit of muscle so that if you hit a tree, you can take a hit pretty well – you're not going to crumble
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He's not into cross training or HYROX like other riders, but he isn’t ruling it out in future
"There are some beefy downhill riders, strong, muscular ones. I think there are a few that are pretty mad into CrossFit, those boys who do that are insanely fit. And I probably should do some of it, even the cardio side of it, like with the watt bikes and the ski machines. Fitness plays a huge role in MTB, so I do a small bit with that stuff, but not as much as those other boys. I think those people just love pain."
Ronan Dunne takes first place for seeding at Hardline
© Nathan Hughes/Red Bull Content Pool
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Working out won’t make any difference if his body position isn’t right on the bike
“My riding position has changed drastically in the past year. It just looks better and smoother, but I think the bike set-up [plays a role] for sure, because that’s going to determine what angle the bike is at. If you have a higher front end you're going to be in a taller position but then you'll have less traction on the front tyre and more weight over the rear so I think bike position and bike set-up is the main thing. My team-mate has one of the highest front ends, at handlebar height.
The sweet taste of success
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool
"I ride a high front end, which makes my body position look better, and then there's the suspension set-up. All of that takes into account your position and strength, because if you're a weaker rider then your position is going to fold at the bottom, which happened a lot to me last year. I wasn't strong, so my body would fold by the end of the run and you wouldn't look like you were in the best of riding positions, you'd be a lot more hunched over. It’s all about strength training and bike setup, but it's also natural. Everyone has different riding positions."
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Whether in the gym or on the bike, the downhill star keeps training fun
“The good thing about our sport is that training is so much fun. I can go to do some cardio by riding trails in the Wicklow Mountains, I'm getting fit just by pedalling. And if I’m going for a pedal I'll definitely listen to playlists as well. I have a taste for everything really. I don't have one music genre that I listen to, just whatever I'm feeling at the time.
For a recap of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup's season finale, click here. For an in-depth interview with Ronan about his career to date, click here.
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