Most of the attention in cycling is focused on your legs and lungs but strong arms can also play a critical role in on-bike performance.“Having stronger biceps and triceps means your arms will be under less metabolic stress as you ride,” says Dr
and bike-handling skills. But the turbo-trainer comes into its own if you want to work on improving speed endurance, strength and technique. These often involve uninterrupted efforts which are far easier if you don’t have to worry about traffic, sharp
Riding all day nearly always exposes your weakest link, which for most riders is the core. "The core area - your abs, lower back, obliques, hips and glutes - helps transfer power to the pedals, as well as stabilise the rider on the bike," says US
, as well as over and down and the top. Check also that both legs are working equally; it’s not unusual for one to be doing more of the work.Strength 5x2mins hard / 3min spin. Short, hard intervals, with plenty of recovery.Choose a gear that makes you work
Q. I keep reading that the best way to improve on hills is to ride more hills. It's pretty flat where I live, so should I just keep going up and down the one hill I have access to or are there other ways to become stronger on the bike?A. Utilising
If you suffer from an aching back after hours on the bike you may be lacking core strength. “When you hunch over in the saddle for a long time, your back becomes overly conditioned, and if you don’t have equally strong abdominal muscles to counter
strength sessions per week on a turbo trainer.The strength efforts must be at a low cadence/rpm for a minimum of 5 minutes (increase this to 10 minutes after a couple of weeks). Start doing the intervals at 60-70rpm for the first couple of weeks
If you're an experienced cyclist, the bike section of a triathlon holds no fears. But if you haven't cycled since you were a child, a bike can seem a complicated and dangerous machine. Most triathletes start off in the sport with one weakness
: a light build and legs that turnover quickly can be a great advantage in a triathlon. That’s the good news. The bad news is that if you’re coming to triathlon from a running background, you might find that you don’t yet have classic cycling strength
to make those sessions not only bearable but enjoyable - time trialling.Time trials will not only improve your cardiovascular fitness, leg strength and speed endurance, they also replicate the bike leg of a triathlon so you can become used
