100 Year Athlete - Mike McGurl
100 Year Athlete Spotlight: Stay Park City Cycling’s “Mayor Mike” McGurl
When you’re pushing 60 and hurting after every bike ride, what do you do? If you’re Mike McGurl, you train with Off The Mountain to kick ass on the mountain
Last winter, Park City local Mike McGurl went hard. Really hard. He managed to ski powder, alpine ski race, ski tour, fat bike, cycle indoors, and hike his dogs 600+ vertical feet daily at age 60. “Without the gym, I wouldn’t have been doing what I was doing,” says McGurl.
Before fall of 2022, though, you wouldn’t have seen McGurl in a gym.
Born and raised in New England, McGurl put wear and tear on his joints as a ski racer and later as a competitive road cyclist and mountain biker. He moved to Park City in 2000 and became known around town for co-leading Stay Park City Cycling, a community of over 500 local endurance athletes.
By the time McGurl heard about OTM, he’d been through a hip replacement, four knee surgeries, multiple lower spine injections, and plenty more. His back hurt after long rides on the bike, and his surgical knee acted up frequently. He read A Cyclist’s Guide to Back Pain, written by OTM’s Ben Van Treese, and decided to give the gym a shot. In the past, high-intensity gym work had left him too wrecked to ski and bike. Maybe OTM would be different.
McGurl wanted to build strength—a smart move when pushing 60—and address his knee and back pain. He was starting to “feel like an old man,” as he puts it.
At OTM, McGurl went through our Functional Range Assessment (FRA), which was a “humbling moment,” he admits. His hips, knees, and spine were super tight, which is typical for endurance athletes. Cycling, for instance, involves repetitive actions that don’t move joints through their full range of motion.
McGurl saw fast progress. Mobility exercises like 90/90 PAILs/RAILs, a favorite, and knee CARs got his joints moving again. Like most cyclists, Mike worried about building too much upper body strength and hadn’t bench pressed since high school. Benching translated into more control and stability on the mountain. In addition, core exercises like ab strap dead hangs and active hollow holds helped his body handle the abuse of Utah’s snowiest ski season ever.
To fellow endurance junkies, McGurl explains that “The gym is complementary to what we do.” It’s not a replacement for cycling or skiing but an enabler of them. “It feels like I can do more with less training,” he adds. Importantly, says McGurl, “I don’t feel destroyed after the gym.” He saves the bulk of his energy for the mountains.
We believe Mike is a role model for aspiring 100 Year Athletes. He rests and recovers diligently, works his joints consistently, and uses OTM to hold himself accountable. He trains in the gym to maximize longevity while continuing to perform at a high level on the bike and skis. Instead of suffering through his 60s, 70s, and beyond, Mike is preparing to keep doing what he loves.
“He who has the most fun wins” is Mike’s adopted life motto. By that definition, Mike is definitely training to win.
