5 Things Cyclists Lack

I am most definitely biased, but I think cycling is the best sport in the World. Unlike many traditional team sports, it’s something you can do far beyond your school and university days. It’s a lifelong sport and one of the most effective ways to see the world. Cars seem to go too fast to appreciate the scenery and walking doesn’t get your far enough. On top of all of the enjoyable aspects of cycling, it’s also therapeutic with the rhythmic motion being cited as meditative, the aerobic aspect being good for your heart, and the nature of the sport makes it a common rehabilitation exercises for various injuries. Even the best things have their limitations, though. Here are 5 things that cycling and cyclists often lack.

1.) Weight Bearing

Wolff’s law of bone explains that bones respond to the forces placed upon them. In other words, if you stress your bones, they will become stronger. This isn’t a completely novel concept; we are used to the idea of the body getting stronger due to stressors. We place stress or force on muscles and we expect them to grow bigger and stronger. Bones are no different. 

Bones will get stronger from forces such as weight lifting or even running where there is pounding and force going through the skeleton. Cycling, though, is considered a non-weight bearing sport. 

If cyclists don’t stress their bones through other activities, they are at risk for their bones to become weaker and weak bones are more likely to succumb to injuries. Cyclists should take special efforts to load their bones through other cross-training activities. Personally, I do weight training year-round. I supplement my cycling workouts with 2 heavy lifting sessions each week. 

2.) Lateral Movement

Cycling occurs exclusively in the sagittal plane. This means that in cycling we are only moving forward. Unlike sports like basketball or soccer that require athletes to move both forwards and sideways, cycling mainly uses the muscles that move our bodies forward. 

Since we aren’t stressing the muscles that move our bodies from side to side, these muscles will often atrophy or become weak. Despite not using them for forward propulsion, we still need these muscles for stabilization, injury prevention, and being a well-rounded human. 

The Gluteus Medius is a muscle often underused in cycling that can cause issues when it fails to fire. A weak Gluteus Medius can result in knee pain, IT band issues, low back pain, and hip pain. In order to strengthen your Gluteus Medius consider adding fire hydrants, clam shells, lateral leg raises, and/or lateral band walks to your pre-exercise routine. I spend 5 minutes before every ride completing glute medius exercises. Fire hydrants and clam shells are my staples. 

3.) Eccentric Movement

Cycling is primarily an exercise of concentric movement. Concentric exercises involves the muscles shortening when working against resistance (the upward phase of a squat). Eccentric movements involve the muscles lengthening (such as the downward phase of squat).

There are many benefits to concentric exercise such as building muscle mass and concentric exercises are easier on the muscles (causing less soreness). Eccentric exercises often cause more soreness, but they also help to strengthen tendons and can be helpful for injury prevention. In order to be a well-rounded athlete, you should work to include both concentric and eccentric exercises in your workout routine. For me, eccentrics are as simple as emphasizing the eccentric phase of certain lifts I do in my weight training routine. For example, I will concentrate on a slow and controlled downward phase of my back squats.

4.) Good Posture

In a world where we fight against poor posture constantly, cycling seems to only make things worse. After leaning over our laptops all day with rounded shoulders and a curved spine, we then head out on our after-work ride with rounded shoulders and a curved spin as we reach for our handlebars. 

Cyclists need to spend special time working on posture. In my own routine, I include exercises like wall angels, cat cow, bird dogs, and open thoracic books to encourage my body to return to neutral after all of my many hours of forward slouching on the bike. 

5.) Upper Body Strength

Cyclists never miss leg day! Upper body day, though, some cyclists are actually scared of it. If you’re a road cyclist then you may wonder why upper strength even matters especially when looking at World Tour Cyclists. If you’re a mountain biker, though, you understand that upper body strength is critical for controlling your bike, avoiding crashes, and surviving the inevitable crash without broken bones. Either way, we need upper body strength to be functional humans. Don’t be afraid of lifting weights. Some of my favorite upper body exercises are overhead press, landmine rows, and single arm dumbbell snatches. If nothing else, start small with body weight exercises such as push ups, pull ups, and tricep dips. You’ll be thankful for your extra efforts when carrying groceries inside, lifting up your child or grandchild, or putting your suitcase in the overhead bin.

Everything in Moderation

I’m definitely not telling you to cycle less! In fact, a great thing about cycling is that unlike sports like running, it’s relatively easy on the body which means we can log more hours than most sports. That said, it’s still important to take everything in moderation and to supplement our favorite sport with some additional exercises to keep us strong enough so that we can ultimately do even more pedaling.

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