THE EXPERT’S GUIDE TO CYCLING FASTER
PHASE ONE: POWER AND STABILITY
The muscles used in cycling fall into two groups: power generating and power transfer. For everyday cycling, the first set is more important. “The power muscles in your legs—particularly the quads and the glutes—serve primarily as your motors,” says Borut Fonda, the lead scientist at the Absoluteblack Science Lab in Slovenia.
Meanwhile, when you mash the full force of your quads and glutes into the pedals, your body wants to rise out of the saddle, which isn’t energy efficient on flat roads. So stabilizing muscles come in, preventing it from happening. Your arms, back, and core hold the body rigid and apply counterforce necessary to stay pinned down.
“During acceleration, you’re putting so much strength and torque into the pedals that the body has to lock down,” Vaughters says. “Otherwise, you’d throw yourself off balance.”
By building your power and stabilizer muscles in the gym, you essentially increase the size of your body’s engine and help keep it working at peak.
For the exercises below, aim for three to six sets of six reps, with as much weight as you can safely handle. Do it twice a week. If you’re new to these moves, start with a lower weight until you’ve mastered the form.
POWER
1. BARBELL SQUAT
Another quads-glute challenge, this move also requires abdominal muscles to fire, which are key stabilizers. Rack a barbell at chest-height, loading it medium-heavy. Position the bar on your shoulders behind neck, stand, step back, and place feet hip-width apart. Keep your back flat and heels on the floor as you squat. Pause briefly and reverse for one rep.
2. DEADLIFT
It’s the quintessential glutes move—and it has more to offer. At the apex of the lift, stabilizing muscles in the legs and torso turn on, which you’ll use while climbing. If legs are tired from a string of gym sessions or rides, drop the weight and add reps. Stand over loaded barbell, feet shoulder-width apart. Hip hinge back, lift bar, lock out legs, and reverse to start.
STABILITY
1. CORE WORK
A strong, still core will help prevent a loss of power transfer as you ride uphill, while lessening pressure on the hip flexors, especially at the end of long rides, when legs are pooped and proper form is hard to maintain. Do an array of exercises—high plank taps, crunches, side planks, mountain climbers—to hit a wider range of abdominal muscles. Twenty reps are a set.
2. PENDLAY ROW
Muscles in your back and arm keep the body stiff against the bike frame as you sprint hard or power up a steep climb, so spend time on your upper body. Start like you would a deadlift. Hinge hips to grab a lightly loaded barbell. With legs still and back parallel to floor, pull barbell to chest, elbows behind rib cage, and tap weight on floor for one rep.