Key Strength Exercises For Cyclists
If you’ve been inspired to get out on your bike recently, you may have noticed that your muscles react differently to this type of exercise than others.
Strength work is just as important for cyclists as it is for other sports, so we’ve put together some key exercises to include in your training…
Exercises to Build Power
In order for your pedaling power and lower body stamina to improve, it’s essential to include exercises that target the hamstrings, quads and glutes. Larger, compound movements are good for this such as:
- Squats
- Lunges
- Romanian deadlifts
All of them require a focus on stability and posture too.
Joint Strength
Cycling can place stress on the joints, particularly when climbing hills or pushing for speed, therefore it’s important to include conditioning exercises that can help improve joint strength such as:
- Single leg squats
- Steps ups
- Bulgarian split squats
All of these focus on strengthening hips and knees in particular so are very effective for cyclists.
Postural Work
It’s normal for cyclists to spend a lot of time hunched over, particularly when racing or pushing their speed. This can potentially cause tension in the upper back and neck if those muscles are not strong enough.
We highly recommend trying to include the following exercises to help work on posture and strength combines and can be done with gym equipment or without:
- Lateral pull downs
- Press ups
- Lateral raises
- Pull ups
All of these are strength exercises but they also help to open the upper back and chest, leading to a stronger posture through the top half of the body.
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