Cyclists often overlook strength training in favour of aerobic endurance. But former pros Alex Dowsett and Tim Don say these best strength exercises for cyclists will make you a better rider.
Strength and conditioning is important to all athletes, yet it’s frequently overlooked in many cyclists’ training programmes. Cyclists can spend several hours sitting in a fixed position, which can create all types of tightness and muscle imbalances around the body. So just as you’d always wear a pair of your best cycling shorts, don’t forget to incorporate the best strength exercises for cyclists into your routine.
Tight hips, quadriceps and hamstrings can all have adverse effects, creating knee and lower back pain, while tension in the arms, upper back and shoulders can create postural issues.
Therefore, keeping mobile pre- and post-cycling as well as activating and developing the correct movement patterns is important for all types of cyclists – no matter their ability or goals.
These are the best strength exercises for cyclists
We wanted to know what exercises professional cyclists used to develop their strength and conditioning. So who better to ask than former World Tour rider Alex Dowsett? These are Alex’s go-to exercises, which he still uses to improve performance and keep him injury free.
- Yoga deep squat
- Dynamic hamstring stretch
- Extended puppy pose
- Wall touch
- Spine twist
- Spiderman stretch
- Quadratus lumborum stretch
- Downward dog into walkthrough upward-facing dog
- Unloaded split squat
- Unloaded single leg deadlift into knee raise
- Hinge patterns
- Plank variations
Keep reading for full exercise instructions.
1. Yoga deep squat
One of the best strength exercises for cyclists, this move opens up the hips. It stretches the ankles, calves, knees, groin and glutes. It also strengthens the feet and ankles, and can help to alleviate lower back pain.
2. Dynamic hamstring stretch
This can be done with a towel or band. Perform it with a slight bend in the knee to isolate the hamstring, an important muscle when it comes to time-trial bike flexibility. Perform an initial stretch, then point and relax the foot to build a deeper stretch into the hamstring and calf.
3. Extended puppy pose
This popular yoga pose calms the mind and invigorates the body. It also stretches the spine and shoulders, improves flexibility, especially in the spine, and strengthens and stretches the arms, hips and upper back.
4. Wall touch
Standing with your back to the wall with heels, glutes, upper back and head touching the wall, touch your wrists and elbows against the wall and slowly raise your hands up above your head and down again. This is a good move for shoulder and spine mobility, as well as opening up the chest and the diaphragm.
5. Spine twist
Twisting the spine while lying down with the support of the floor allows you to slowly relax and settle into a deep spine rotation. One of the best exercises for supporting strength in cyclists, this pose stimulates digestion, creates balance and also opens and relaxes the chest, shoulders and upper back muscles.
6. Spiderman stretch
This stretch simultaneously lengthens multiple muscle groups in both legs and also stretches the groin. With continued use of this exercise, flexibility for all muscles near the hips should increase, contributing to speed and strength gains and helping to prevent injury. You can also raise the upper body to vertical or add in a twist to give the hip flexors some much needed love and attention.
7. Quadratus lumborum stretch
The QL can be described as the toddler in the physiology of the body: once it’s upset, everything else will know about it. It’s a vital part of the flexion and extension of your core. Keeping it in good health will benefit your overall spinal health and stability.
8. Downward dog into walkthrough upward-facing dog
One of the best strength exercises for cyclists, this one works your posterior chain and everything in between. It also engages your mind, focusing on controling what you’re asking your body to do.
9. Unloaded split squat
Unlike regular squats, split squats focus on one leg at a time. It requires more muscle focus and increases muscle activation, where the crossover to cycling is huge. Aside from the growth of muscles, this is great for efficiency around the unilateral movement that is cycling.
10. Unloaded single-leg deadlift into knee raise
The single-leg deadlift strengthens the posterior chain muscles, namely the glutes, hamstrings, lower back and core muscles. Your balance and movement skills will also be improved with this exercise. This ticks almost every single box in terms of muscles needed for cycling. The dynamic then assisted knee raise adds an extra stretch to the process. Stretching the arms out horizontally and shoulder width apart assists shoulder and spinal mobility.
11. Hinge patterns
One of the best strength exercises for time-trial cyclists, loaded or unloaded hinge patterns at the hips help improve power output at a tighter hip angle.
12. Plank variations
Perform a traditional plank (top), then to help improve both core stability on the bike and shoulder flexibility and strength you can incorporate plank variations such as spine raises and drops and shoulder shrugs (middle). Hip touches (bottom) are also useful for controlled dynamic movement.
A progression of this would be to use a fit ball under the arms or feet for a more unstable platform, then knee to elbow variations can be added in. Core stability is key on the bike. Having a strong and stable platform to press, turn and pull the pedals will add to power output, efficiency and fatigue resistance.
Why are strength exercises for cyclists important?
“From the Tour de France pros to recreational cyclists, strength training is a must – a no-brainer,” says former professional triathlete Tim Don. “To go faster, to be stronger, you need the whole body to be firing, and some basic strength and conditioning is going to get those extra watts out and delay your fatigue on the longer, tougher rides, as well as help prevent injury.
“In short, S&C will make you ride a bike more efficiently and smoothly. So come race day – whether it is a 300km route around Mallorca, an Ironman, a super-sprint triathlon or just your local mid week TT – you’ll go faster for less energy, which is a win-win situation.
“Get in the gym or even work on it at home with a range of basic exercises. They’re worth their weight in gold.”
Tim Don is a three-time Olympian and four-time ITU World Champion in triathlon and duathlon, as well as a former Ironman world record holder. He’s now a TV pundit as well as manager of the Santara Tech Eagles in Super League Triathlon.
Alex Dowsett is a former World Tour pro cyclist, riding for Team Sky, Movistar, Katusha-Alpecin and Israel Start-Up Nation. He was a time-trial specialist, winning Commonwealth Gold as well as six British Time-Trial Championships and setting a new world hour record in 2015. He is now a Wattbike ambassador.
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