Exercises

[Trek420]

What other strength exercises do you all do besides cycling? I want to encorporate strength training to my regimen. I cycle 3-4 times a week. Varies between 5-20 miles depending on time.

Right now cross training is walking, aikido (a Japanese martial art. Good for flexibility and range of motion), not doing weights right now but may in winter.

[Helene2013]

In the summer, I don't have any "structured" plan.

In the winter, I train 5-6 days/week (about 60 minutes and longer on weekends) with the help of a physiotherapist/kinesio. She builds my plan on cycling, muscle training and treadmill. The muscle training is mostly squats, lunges, abdo crunches, working the arms to counter the effect of being crouched on the bike, etc. Treadmill is mostly doing "hill" climbs as I can't really run anymore.

[khg]

I teach ballet and modern dance, so that keeps my body moving... I actually really recommend ballet as a good cross-training activity for cycling. It uses a lot of the same muscle groups (glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves, back) but also has some good counterbalances to cycling--the upright balletic posture can be a good counter to the cyclist hunch; balletic turnout of the legs balances the constant straight forward position of the legs cycling; jumps in ballet add an impact exercise component, good for bone health, that cycling lacks.

At any rate, I have found that the two complement each other quite well.

But if ballet isn't your thing, I also really like the exercises in Tom Danielson's book "Core Advantage"--the exercises in it focus on strength and stability while in motion, which really makes sense to me. We're never still on a bike, so we need solid core support that doesn't depend on holding still.