Best Exercises for Cyclists that can make your leg muscles strong

 

Like how you do gym exercises to burn calories from your body, similarly to cycle faster and with more efficiency, you have to do some lower body exercises to improve your power on your bike. You have to give you more effort and force through pedals. And for that, you have to make your body more strong mainly your lower body. So, to help you, I’m going to give you some strength exercises that can help you to increase the strength of your body and improve your power on your bike. But before knowing about the exercises let’s grab some knowledge about the effective muscle groups that have a vital impact during cycling.

Which muscles work during cycling?

If you want to train you for cycling then you have should have some knowledge of your body. Having this knowledge can help you to decide which muscles you should focus on to improve your cycling performance.

The lower part of your body works the most during cycling. Not only lower but your upper body also work during your ride but we will now focus on lower body muscles because this muscle has the most impact during cycling.

 

The muscle groups used in cycling are:

Gluteus maximus Hamstring Quadriceps Calf muscles Shin muscles

 

   

 

 

  

 

 Gluteus maximum

This is the main muscle behind your every stroke as you pedal your bike because the gluteus maximus is the largest of the three gluteal muscles and this is the muscle behind your pedalling power. These muscles come into effect when you push down pedal during the ride. 

Hamstring muscles

These muscles run from your hips to the back of the leg passing through the back of the knee. These muscles are active both during the pushing the pedals down and pulling up.

Quadriceps

These muscles are found at your thigh. These muscles play a vital role during strong downward power on the pedals.

Calf muscles

Bulging the calf is a sign of a real cyclist. These are found at the back of your lower leg (below knees). These are as important as quads when you pedal downward and are most active when you hit pedals with your toes.

Shin muscles

These muscles are present at the front of your lower leg opposite to the calf. Where calves are vital for strong downward force, shin plays a vital role in drawing your foot in the pedal stroke.

These are the key muscles groups that have the most impact during cycling. And, all exercises in this article focus mainly on these key muscle groups.

 

Exercises that cyclist use to improve their muscles:

 

1.       Squat 2.       Burpee 3.       Bulgarian lunge 4.       Deadlift 5.       Leg lift

   

 

 Squat

The squat is a lower body exercise that targets your thighs and glutes. Squats help you improve your core strength and stability, back muscles and calves. This means that squat helps you to strengthen your bones and muscles and increase flexibility.

 

1.      Stand with keeping your feet wide apart. And keep your toes pointing slightly outward.

2.      Then, look straight ahead and focus on a point in front of you.

3.      Put your arms straight and parallel to the ground, keeping your chest up and spine erect.

4.      Put your body weight on your heels and keep your whole body tight during this squat.

5.      Breathe deeply and push your hips back. Keep going until your hip joint is lower than knees.

6.      Once at the bottom, breathe out and drive through your heels and move your hips upward and stand up.

 

Burpee

Burpee is a full-body exercise, you can also say it strength exercise or aerobic exercise. Burpee acts at your arms, back, chest, core, glutes and legs. You can also improve your cardiovascular fitness by a burpee. Not only that it will also check your body balance and coordination. By doing this workout, you will soon notice improvements in your physique, mobility and cycling strength.

 

1.      Start from the squat position, keeping your back straight and knees bent. Then lower your hand to the floor in front of you.

2.      After lowering your hand, kick your feet back so you’re on your hands and toes (take a push-up position).

3.      Try to keep your body straight all the time. Do one push up.

4.      Do a frog kick by jumping and take your feet back to their original position

5.      Stand and take your arms overhead and jump quickly into the air and land back where you started.

6.      As you land, get back to the squat position and repeat those steps.

 

Bulgarian lunge

A Bulgarian lunge is a form of split- squat. It’s a very good lower body exercise that strengthens your legs muscles including the quads, hamstring, glutes and calves. That means by this exercise you can improve your balance and mobility. You can also see that this exercise mainly focuses on your leg muscles rather than on your whole lower back which might help you in this by improving your performance and balance.

 

1.      Stand a few feet ahead of a bench or a step. Then lift your left leg behind you and place it on the bench or the step.

2.      Keep your feet wide apart and your feet should be far enough to do lunge comfortably.

3.      Roll your shoulder back and lean forward a little. Then begin to lower your right leg which is on the floor, bending the knee.

4.      Keep going till the thigh of the right leg gets parallel to the floor.

5.      Then push your leg up to get to standing pose.

 

Deadlifts

The deadlift is a weight training exercise. It is similar to weight lifting. You just have to lift off a weight perpendicular to the ground. This exercise activates your hamstring, glutes and quadriceps which are not only important for cycling but also other athletic works like running and swimming. This exercise can help you to increase your power on pedals.

 

1.      Stand straight with your foot wide apart with the weights on the floor.

2.      Bend over and make a tight grip on the weight. Then bend your knees till your shin touches the bar.

3.      Lift your chest and straightens your lower back. Then stand up with the weight.

4.      Hold the weight up for a second with your hips and knees locked, and then put the weight back to the floor.

5.      Your weight could be barbell or bars. Deadlifts also have many variations like sumo deadlifts and Trap-door deadlifts that you can practice too after getting good at basic.

 

Leg lifts

After deadlifts, we will now discuss leg lifts. As you have got it from the name “Leg lifts”, you have to lift your legs in this exercise. It is an awesome lower body exercise that works at your glutes and helps you to strengthen your legs. You may also do it to tone your thighs and glutes. Along with strength, it also improves your stability because, it works on your hips, core and all stabilizing muscles.

 

1.      Lie down flat on your back with your leg stretched. And keep your hands down flat on the ground with your palm down. If you do this on a workout bench then it would be good as it will improve your range of motion.

2.      Then raise your legs with bending your knees. Try to keep your calves parallel and thighs perpendicular to the ground.

3.      Straightens your legs and point your feet towards the ceiling. Then lower your legs slowly to the ground keeping your legs straight.