Earlier in the year we teamed up with the bike fitting experts, Velo Atelier, to bring you six simple – but challenging – stretches for cyclists. We’ve joined forces again to bring you six essential strength exercises.
Being both supple and strong on the bike are key to unlocking your potential performance. Whatever your discipline is, you need to have a certain level of flexibility to be able to adopt those race positions, and to throw your weight around the bike at the drop of a pedal.
We’ve worked with Dorte Jensen, who is a level 3 pilates instructor with over five years experience. The stretches in these videos aren’t likely to be unknown to you, but she’ll demonstrate the correct way to carry them out and highlight common errors which can hamper the effects of the stretch. Here are the cycling stretch videos we did earlier this year:
- Glutes (view that one here)
- Quads (view that one here)
- Hamstrings (view that one here)
- Hip Flexors (view that one here)
- Neck (view that one here)
- Calves (view that one here)
Moving on to strength exercises…
It isn’t just about having a flexible and supple body though. Having a strong core is more than just a six pack, it includes your pelvis, lumbar, abs and much more. This group of muscles is responsible for fending off early onset fatigue, keeping a stable riding position and distributing your weight efficiently.
We’ve already covered:
- Strengthening the neck (view that one here)
- Strengthening the abdominals (view that one here)
- Strengthening the thoracic (view that one here)
- Strengthening the rhomboids (view that one here)
Strength exercise number fours looks at strengthening the glutes.
The gluteus maximus (a.k.a the glutes) are the predominant muscles surrounding the hips and bum. They are your pistons for pedalling, and it’s important to take care of them.
In order to avoid injury, strain and to fight off fatigue, your muscles need to be supple and strong. There are so many simple techniques to help boost your bum muscles and engage them for power mode. Simply walking up the stairs clenching your buttocks is one way!
This strengthening exercise is an easy floor routine that you can do any time. Watch the video below tips on strengthening your glutes, and getting those buns of steel.
