Traditionally, cyclists do not do much training off
the bike. While there is certainly a time and a place for the “get miles in the
saddle” approach, this is now a bit out dated. Cross training went through a
big boom in the 90’s as people saw how well triathletes were improving in their
better discipline while spending less time specifically training for it. But
why should cyclists consider doing anything other than riding a bike?
First of all there are the all-important performance
advantages. There are studies showing that doing other sports can increase
performance (1) as well as studies that show that weight training
can increase cycling strength and efficiency (2). Doing the same
activity day in day out can also lead to imbalances in the body as the working
muscles become big and strong while the under-worked muscles weaken and atrophy.
These muscle imbalances have been shown to increase the likelihood of injury in
both the lower (3) and upper limb (4).
So it’s important to get these under worked muscles
moving, but sometimes it’s hard to simply contract a muscle if you haven’t been
used to using it. During cycling rehabilitation sessions at Bespoke PerformanceLab, I find it easier to teach people to activate inhibited muscles (like
the glutes) when they’re not doing a familiar motor pattern like cycling. If
you can learn to active your muscles in a range of different activities and
positions, then you can integrate these muscles into your day to day movements and
see better gains in strength and coordination.
So what areas should we be focusing on when cross training? Firstly
there are our muscles that produce power while cycling; the quadriceps and
glutes (butt muscles). With these, we are looking to use the muscles in a new
way and/or through a different range of motion. Next are our core and hip
control muscles which are important for balance, control and directing the
forces during the pedal stroke. Because we spend long periods bent forward on
the bike, cyclists often develop an imbalance between the anterior chain (stomach
muscles, hip flexors etc) which can become strong and tight and the posterior
chain (back muscles, hamstrings etc) which become long and weak. Finally there
are the under worked muscles in the upper body which, while we don’t want to be
overly big and bulky, we do need them to be balanced and strong enough to counteract
the forces being produced by the legs.
Swimming is a good cross training activity for
cyclists as it forces us to use our upper bodies at relatively low loads. It’s
important however to mix up your strokes as just doing front crawl will put
more emphasis on the anterior chain. Back stroke will encourage the posterior
chain to fire up while breast stroke will use the muscles in the hips in a new
range and if you know how to do butterfly, can you please teach me!!!!
Rowing is a great cardiovascular exercise for
cyclists. It puts huge emphasis on quad strength and glute activation from a
very tight hip angle (the same as coming over the top of the pedal stroke). It
also requires strength through your back to transmit the forces generated by
the legs through to the handle in exactly the same way cyclists need to while
climbing.
Personally, I do something a little more unusual for
cross training; I have taken up inline speed skating. There
have been many examples of skaters crossing over to cycling and being very
successful. Eric Heiden (5) won multiple Olympic gold skating medals
and then went onto win the US pro road champs. More recently Clara Hughes (6)
successfully transferred from the bike to skates and won medals at both summer
and winter games. Sheila Young (7) on the other hand was able to
compete and win Olympic and World golds both skating and track
cycling simultaneously. So there is method to my madness. In essence it’s cycling without a pair of handlebars to hold you up. It
uses very similar muscles to produce the power (glutes and quads) but requires
much more core stability and back strength to maintain the position and control
your force and direction. I’ve found it has really helped my climbing technique
as I can get more of my body weight onto the pedal earlier in the pedal stroke.
I skate for the LondonSkaters Speed Team and race
in a number of events such as marathons (I
recently did the London Inline Marathon in 1 hour 28 minutes) and also a 24
hour relay race at Le Mans.
There is also a hidden danger in only riding a bike.
Cycling is a non-weight bearing sport; meaning there isn’t much impact between
your body weight and the floor. The skeletal system adapts to regular shocks
and compressions caused by impact by increasing bone density. On the other
hand, if this demand is not placed on the body, bone density can drop. There
have been a lot of studies showing lower bone density in competitive cyclist (8),
adolescent cyclists (9) and master cyclists (10). Low
bone density can lead to conditions like osteopenia and osteoporosis where the
bones become weak and brittle. Most famously, this is one of the reasons why
Chris Boardman had to stop racing (11). Alarmingly, a study in 2008
suggests that cyclists can be as much as 7 times more likely to develop
osteopenia than runners (12). Therefore, it would be highly
recommended for cyclists to incorporate weight bearing exercise like running or
plyometrics etc into their training regimes.
I am a big believer that all cyclists should do weight
training (and I’m not just talking about track sprinters here). I know that a
cyclist’s big fear is that they will gain too much body weight by weight
training but this is not the case. By altering reps, sets, rest periods and
weight, you can get big gains in strength and control that you just won’t get
by simply riding a bike. A study in 2010 saw significant gains in cycling
efficiency and aerobic time to exhaustion with maximal strength training (2).
Weight training is also a very quick and efficient way to target weak muscles
and address muscle imbalances.
During a cycling strength and technique session at BespokePerformance Lab we break down the pedal stroke into its key
fundamental movements, train them separately using specific exercises and then
reintegrated into a fluid cycling pattern. This way you can focus on the
specific weaknesses in the pedal stroke and learn to control the movements in a
controlled environment. We progress exercises from simple body weight control,
through maximal strength training to increase nerve activation and then
increase the speed to convert that into power.
Five simple exercises that cyclists should incorporate
are:
Lunge: Simulates the top of the pedal stroke.
Overhead Squat: Simulates the mid-point of the pedal
stroke and requires more thoracic strength than a normal squat.
Single Leg Dead Lift: Requires good core control and
simulates transferring energy through the back and into the bars.
Swiss Ball Hamstring Curls: Simulates the first part
of the recovering stroke.
Bent Over Rows: Works the upper body in the same way
as pulling on the bars.
It’s also important to stretch regularly and specifically the muscles
that you are tight in.
Other things that cyclists might consider are yoga and pilates. I like yoga
as it teaches lengthening and strengthening through whole chains of muscles.
For example, a bridge creates length down the entire anterior chain (stomach,
hip flexors etc) and simultaneously strength through the posterior chain (back,
glutes, hamstrings etc). Pilates is good for teaching core activation and
control. It is important however to do your research when finding yoga and
pilates instructors and make sure you find a good one.
Cross training shouldn't be something that you just do
in the off season as the benefits will be felt throughout the year. It might be that the number or duration of
sessions is reduced during the season as specific training is more effective in
developing performance (1) but it’s important to continue to stress
the body in different ways so that the benefits are not lost. I would aim to do
1 to 2 sessions of 45 mins to an hour during the season while this can be
increased in the early off season to 3 to 4. Target doing cardiovascular
efforts that can be sustained and remember that you will probably tire quicker
doing unfamiliar tasks because you will be using different muscles.
Most importantly, cross training is a great way to
break up the monotony of training. Doing something that is new can be a lot of
fun and a good challenge.
References
1) Foster, C.; Hector, L. L.; Welsh, R.; Schrager, M.; Green, M. A. & Snyder, A. C. (1995) ‘Effects
of specific versus cross-training on running performance’ European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology, Vol 70, No. 4 (1995), pp 367-37
2) Sunde,
A.; Støren, Ø.; Bjerkaas, M.; Larsen, M. H.; Hoff, J. & Helgerud, J. (2010)
‘Maximal strength training improves cycling economy in competitive
cyclists’ Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, Vol.
24, Iss. 8, pp. 2157-2165
3) Niemuth,
P. E.; Johnson, R. J.; Myers, M. J. & Thieman, T. J. (2005) ‘Hip Muscle Weakness and Overuse Injuries in
Recreational Runners’ Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, Jan
2005, Vol. 15, Iss. 1, pp 14-21
4) Niederbracht,
Y.; Shim, A. L.; Sloniger, M. A.; Paternostro-Bayles, M. & Short, T.(2008) ‘Effects
of a Shoulder Injury Prevention Strength Training Program on Eccentric External
Rotator Muscle Strength and Glenohumeral Joint Imbalance in Female Overhead
Activity Athletes’ Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, Jan
2008, Vol. 22, Iss. 1, pp 140-145
5) Eric Heiden: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Heiden
6) Clara Hughes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Hughes
7) Sheila Young: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Young
8) Beatty,
T.; Webner, D. & Collina, S. J. (2010) ‘Bone Density in Competitive Cyclists’ Current Sports Medicine
Reports, Nov /Dec 2010, Vol. 9, Iss. 6, pp 352-355
9) Olmedillas,
H.; González-Agüero, A.; Moreno, L.A.; Casajús, J.A. & Vicente-Rodríguez,
G. (2011) ‘Bone Related Health Status in Adolescent Cyclists’ PLoS ONE
6(9)
10) Nichols,
J. F.; Palmer, J. E. & Levy, S. S. (2003) ‘Low Bone Density in Highly
Trained Male Master Cyclists’ Oesteoporos Int. (2003) Vol. 14;
pp.644-649.
11) Anstead,
M. (2009) ‘Chris Boardman: I had to give up cycling at 32 because I had the
bones of an old woman’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/diets/article-1227777/CHRIS-BOARDMAN-I-cycling-32-I-bones-old-woman.html
12) Rector,
R. S.; Rogers, R.; Ruebel, M. & Hinton, P. S. (2008) ‘Participation in road
cycling vs running is associated with lower bone mineral density in men’ Metabolism
- Clinical and Experimental Vol. 57, Iss. 2 , pp 226-232
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