There’s a certain window on the bike, between the 12 and 5 o’clock positions of your stroke, where your legs work like pistons, pressing down on the pedals to propel you forward. And during that window, your quads and buttocks they are doing most of the work; in the back half of the trace, its hamstrings and calves Tap to lift your foot up.
All these primary muscles are crucial for force generation, and injury prevention (your glutes help stabilize your hips as you pedal, while your hamstrings help stabilize his knee). That’s why out of the saddle strength training is an obvious strategy for any cyclist.
“Building leg strength Getting off the bike is important because it will allow you to put more load through your muscles and recruit more motor units,” says Christopher J. Lee, founder of Kinesis Embedded Performance in Boulder, Colorado, and an NSCA-Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, NASM-Certified Corrective Exercise Specialist, and Level 1 Functional Movement Specialist. “This will result in being able to generate more force more easily at the pedal stroke ”. AND what translates to faster speeds and more powerno matter what terrain you face.
One of the best strength training moves for cyclists it is the traditional reverse lunge. Not only do “lunges target the muscles that control the ankle, knee, and hip joints,” but “the angles of the movement are similar to pedaling a bike,” says Lee.
Plus, he adds, “Lunges are a great way to train your lower body. unilaterally”, meaning you use only one limb at a time, just like you do on the bike. And single leg exercises tackle any muscle imbalances that could lead to injury, while firing your core to ensure better stability in the saddle.
Here’s everything you need to know to get the most out of the lunge, a strength training staple.
How to do a lunge
The lunge is one of the most basic. compound exercises, which means it works multiple joints and muscles at once. For a traditional reverse lunge, Lee lays out the basic steps:
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, then shift your weight to balance on your left foot.
- Then simultaneously bend your left ankle, knee, and hip, while stepping your right foot back. Gently place your right foot on the floor behind you, bending at the knee. Further down, both knees are bent at about 90 degrees, the front thigh parallel to the ground and the rear knee just off the ground.
- Press your left front foot into the floor to come back up.
- Repeat on the other side.
Common lunging mistakes
Those steps sound pretty easy, right? But there are a couple of things to keep in mind as you go through this exercise.
For starters, you want to keep your compromised kernel, open chest (think: proud stance) and eyes looking straight ahead. As she lowers into the movement, “a slight forward lean from the hips will allow her to rotate toward the hips and use her buttocks more,” he explains. The hinge is the important part – you don’t want to round the back of it. “Keep a high posture it’s key to activating the posterior chain muscles,” says Lee. Many times people will lean back too far or fall through the chest, two key points to avoid.
When you’re at the bottom of the exercise, “don’t push off with your back leg,” says Lee. His front leg is the working leg. “A lot of people will push off with their back leg, but you want to have 70 percent of your weight on your front leg,” says Lee. This ensures that you are engaging the correct muscles. As you stand up, think of the top of your head going straight up to the ceiling.
As you go down into the lunge (and come back up), also make sure to push through with your entire front foot. Sometimes, especially in walking lunges, people lift their front heel, putting additional stress on the knee joint.
Finally, make sure you have the movement pattern low before adding resistance.
4 lunge variations for cyclists
The reverse lunge is a staple for all the reasons outlined above. But different variations of lunges can also help develop power output and prevent injuriesLee says.
stationary lunge
Why it works: This variation, in which your feet are anchored to the ground, is more stable than a reverse lunge. “That allows you to use more load, which leads to higher overall strength,” says Lee. It’s also a good option for those new to lunges.
How to do it: Start to stand up. Take a big step straight forward with your right foot. You will maintain this split stance the entire time. Bend both knees to 90 degrees, keeping the front knee over the ankle. Lunge as low as you can without sacrificing form. Then, lead with your right foot to step back into a split stance position with your legs straight. Repeat.
walking lunge
Why it works: “Cycling is a stationary position and doesn’t normally load the tendons,” says Lee. “The weight transfer and deceleration component of walking lunges forces the core to stabilize as the weight shifts and will load the tendons, helping to prevent overuse injuries in the bike.”
How to do it: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Step forward with your right leg and bend both knees 90 degrees. Without stopping, push off with your right foot and bring your left leg forward in a lunge, repeating the movement on that side. Repeat, alternating legs as you walk forward.
side lunge
Why it works: “Cycling is a linear position,” says Lee. Imagine your legs spinning the pedals, at no time moving from side to side. Side lunges develop the adductors and abductors (the muscles that move the legs toward and away from the midline of the body, respectively). “When you don’t work those stabilizers, it can lead to muscle imbalances and injury,” he explains.
How to do it: Stand with your feet side by side and take a wide step with your right foot, keeping it parallel to your left. Bend your right knee and push your butt back and down, twisting your hips, shifting your weight to your right heel. Keep your left leg straight, but your knee is soft. Push off your right foot to stand back in the wide stance position. Then repeat on the left side. Keep alternating.
bowing lunge
Why it works: Just like a side lunge helps you move into a new plane of motion, so does the bow lunge. It also targets the gluteus medius, a muscle smaller than the gluteus maximus, but one that is very important for pelvic stabilization and power through your pedaling.
How to do it: Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Step your right foot diagonally back, to roughly the 5 o’clock position. Bend both knees. Keep your front knee over your ankle and your chest high. Drive through the front left foot to get back on your feet. Repeat with the left foot stepping back diagonally. Keep alternating.
How to incorporate lunges into your training
with just one or two strength training sessions per week, cyclists can improve their strength, functional power and power-to-weight ratioto study published in the Sport Biology in 2021 found. TO study published in Medicine and science in sports and exercise in 2019 found that just 13 minutes three times a week can be enough to help you gain strength.
From there, it’s easy to incorporate lunges into any strength session. Stationary lunges, with their inherent stability, can be done early in the week with a heavy loadLee says. He aims for 3 sets of 5-7 reps with a weight that feels challenging, but doesn’t compromise your form at any point. For walking lunges, do 3 sets of 7 to 10 reps later in the week with a medium load, she says. Finally, side lunges can be done twice a week, using a light load for 3 sets of 10-15 reps to increase your muscle hardening.
Try to schedule your strength training workouts on the same days as his cycling training. It takes 24-48 hours for your muscles to fully repair themselves after a hard workout (cycling or otherwise), so stack up to two higher intensity workouts and follow up with a recovery day it’s the best way to ensure you won’t end up feeling too sore the next time you’re riding hard.
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