Structural integration for mountain bikers
Hip flexors, T-spine, brake-hand grip
Hip flexors that lock after big rides at Demo. A T-spine that will not extend after a season of descents. Forearms that buzz for a day after every shuttle lap. A fascial pattern shaped by descents, not three separate injuries. That is the work.
The off-season window
November through February. Race season is over and storm cycles shut down soft trails for days at a time. Your body finally has the bandwidth for something other than maintenance. Twelve sessions, eight to twelve weeks, then you ride into spring with hips, T-spine, and grip that have done work rest alone does not do.
What is actually restricting you
Three patterns show up in nearly every mountain biker I assess in Santa Cruz:
- Hip flexor lock. Hours in the saddle keep the psoas and deep front line short. The hips lose extension. The low back arches to give it back to you. The pop on a manual gets weaker every season.
- Descent T-spine. Attack position pins the thoracic spine in flexion. The upper back rounds. The neck cranes. The shoulder blades stop moving the way they need to for steering and bracing.
- Brake-hand grip. The deep front arm line, which runs from the pec minor through to the thumb, gets gripped from hours of feathering brakes through chunder. Forearm fatigue arrives earlier each ride. The shoulder starts to do work the hand should be doing.
Foam rolling and stretching help the surface. Structural integration reorganizes the chain.
The 12-session ATSI series
The series is a project, not a subscription. Twelve sessions, structured in three phases:
- Sessions 1 to 4 (Sleeve). Open the superficial layers. Free the surface lines and the breath. By session four most riders notice the attack position feels less like a chore.
- Sessions 5 to 8 (Core). Work into the deep front line, the psoas, the diaphragm. This is where descent low back actually resolves.
- Sessions 9 to 12 (Integration). Refine rotation, grip mechanics, and how force transmits from foot to hand. Lock the new organization in for the season.
Full program detail lives on the 12-Session Series page.
Where this fits in your recovery stack
- Massage releases tension locally. Useful after big back-to-back days.
- PT rehabs a specific injury. Useful when something is acutely wrong.
- Chiropractic adjusts joints. Useful for joint-by-joint complaints.
- ATSI reorganizes the fascial system so your body needs the others less often.
It is not better. It is different. Most serious riders use all four.
Credentials
- ATSI-certified, 750+ hours of training
- Anatomy Trains teacher-in-training under Tom Myers
- Santa Cruz studio. Mobile sessions throughout the Bay Area.
- Working with mountain bikers, road cyclists, surfers, and climbers since 2015
Book a free 30-minute movement assessment
I will watch you move, ask the questions that matter, and tell you honestly whether the 12-session series makes sense for what you are after. No pitch.
Questions, answered
I am off the bike all winter anyway. Why pay for structural work?
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A winter off the bike is rest, not reorganization. The hip flexor shortening, the thoracic kyphosis, the wrist tension. None of those patterns unwind on their own. They wait. Off-season is when you can actually change them, instead of just letting them sleep.
Will this fix my low back after long descents?
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Most descent low-back pain is hip flexor lock plus T-spine immobility. The low back compensates because nothing above or below is moving. Free the deep front line and the T-spine and the low back stops being the relief valve. The 12-session series is built for exactly this kind of system pattern.
What about wrist and forearm tension from braking?
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The deep front arm line runs from the pec minor through the biceps and into the thumb. Long brake-heavy descents on Demo or Soquel jam that whole chain. The forearm work alone helps. Done in the context of the full series, it tends to stop coming back.
Can I ride during the series?
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Yes. Most riders keep training through the work. We time the deeper sessions away from your hardest rides and races.
I race enduro. I do not want to lose power.
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You will not. The work does not stretch you into noodle territory. It reorganizes how force transmits through your structure. Most racers report feeling more grounded on the bike, not less.