do you workout?

Yes it helps a lot. I started working out to be able to keep riding for the whole day in the bikepark and not only my endurance and strength went up, all of a sudden I could keep up with my faster riding buddies.

Depends what your goal is.

As much as you can laugh at the Kenny Powers meme its actually true, do you want to get faster on the bike or better at lifting weights up and down?

Personally i do both, and the the training for both is completely different, i dont for one second think that increasing your 1repmax on bench, squat and deadlift will do fuck all for your riding.

For me, using exercises that mimic on bike movements and hitting them for higher rep ranges works, my "bike specific" workout is;

5 sets of dips with a crunch at the end of each rep, for as many as i can do maintaining form.
5 sets of split squats with kettle bells, 10 on each leg
5 sets of pullups, close grip, wide grip, whatever, as many clean reps up to 10 as i can
5 sets standing shoulder press with a set of forearm curls at the end of each.

thats in the gym sorted, out of the gym, ride more, build a singlespeed, eat better.


This all worked for me through trial and error, so its just my opinion, im sure theres some bullshit crosshit workout that will get recommended but i like my spine, and im sure you could read mad amounts of "research" and "science", but id rather see results than read about them.

good luck

Just ask the bulldog:

https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/l/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/127…

It's safe to say that squats, lunges and deadlifts help a lot while riding. Work a lot on your core strength and stability. Pullups and Pushups help too.

As Mo(n)arch says, squats, lunges and deadlifts are key. I personally really like frontsquats as it really helps with your core stability. Using a swissball is really good too, pushups with your feet up on that thing or planks with it. And squats on it too, but carefully it is pretty damn hard.
Also in general just core stability.

I also do a lot of cardio and interval training.

Ahh, not entirely what i meant, but i can see how my post was misleading.

I train all the olympic lifts, and they're great for building general allround strength but i think there are exercises specific to bike riding that you'll see bigger benefits from, such as split squats.

Dont get me wrong, id never sack off the big compound moves, i just think if you want to achieve sports specific goals, you need to train with sports specific exercises.

and like the other guys say, never miss core, but dont forget to target your obliques aswell.

If you get too big, you'll tire quicker. It depends on what you want to ride. Track sprinters and BMX racers build huge muscles and power with big weights but they only ride fast for very short periods. My bro-in-law lifts big (and plays rugby) and he's great at putting the power down for short sprints but long DH runs absolutely destroy both his arms and legs.

When I used to train a lot I spent a lot of time doing squats and lunges and it really paid off but I tended to keep the weights lighter. Stuff like kettle bell squats, single leg squats and working on explosive power paid off much better for me than a year of heavy weights.

Everyone is different (I easily build and maintain leg muscle but my body struggles to develop matching arms no matter what I've tried.

Something like CrossFit might be worth looking at as they aim for strength AND endurance. My GF has been doing it for 6 months now and is a much faster and stronger rider for doing so. And more varied than the regular weight training she used to do.

Working out, when I did, was mega helpful for riding. I mainly focused on core and cardio. For long days in at the bike park it really helped me ride all day without ever feeling too fatigued.

Before you go out and get a gym membership, try searching for a "bootcamp" 30-40 min workout on youtube. They kick your ass, really help with core, and you don't need to buy weights as they're usually all bodyweight exercises. Buying a kettlebell for yourself is helpful too. Takes up no space and can be used for so many different things.

A lot of people will say interval training does the most good for us in regards to cycling. I'm no expert though.

be sure not to go too hard, and, if you're not interested in just shuttling DH, keep a 50/50 (or so) balance between gym and pedalling. And REST!
Honestly, when you start out everything is great: after 2 years of working out on my own, I got a training plan from a cycling coach/personal trainer and now things have progressed a lot faster!

the main focus of my workouts is core work/stabilization work and deadlift, kettle swing, burpess since I have seen the most gains from that as far as riding goes. I also focus on shoulder work but that's mostly due to two separated shoulders. Lower body work is minimal outside stretching which is great for riding. That's my general work out and it really only comes down to about 45 minutes but day to day a lot of variation.

Trailhead - that list of exercises you are currently doing is pretty spot on. I'd only add hip thrusters as they build glute strength more effectively than a deadlift or squat.

Responsiblepirate and Fredleth, not on the right track as much. Your time in the gym isn't best spent training muscular endurance or stability by trying to replicate bike specific positions or exercises. The best way to train for that is by riding your bike and doing so with some structure. Progressively ride longer or faster. Your muscles and cardio will improve. Trying to replicate the instability or position of riding a bike in the gym will lead you to not being able to lift enough weight to generate the neuromuscular adaptations that cross over to improving your strength or power on the bike.

The area of performance that isn't trained on the bike is strength and power (unless you are doing max sprints for 10-20seconds). The large majority of clients that I train initially can't even train strength because their movement is so poor, especially tightness through the hip flexors and quads which helps contribute (along with our love of sitting on our arse most of the day at work or home) to a lack of glute activation, leading to imbalances around the hips and then lower back and knee pain/injuries down the track. Ensure your movement/mobility is good, then learn proper technique in those exercises you listed and then progress towards lifting heavy and lifting fast.

2 sessions a week (3 max) is a good balance to compliment the bike training. Lift heavy and fast in the gym. Leave endurance to on the bike training and incorporate some yoga/pilates/stretching into your program.

Ha, knew that was coming.

The way i train might not match up with a textbook, but its worked for me, thats all i was stating. Now i didnt spend a weekend getting my personal trainer cert, so im no expert, but if i do those "wrong track" excercises and actually see benefits on the bike, then id say that for me, im on the right track.

And on another note, who mentioned mimicking instability? i mentioned mimicking movement and every excercise mentioned was a legitimate strength building movement, speaking of which, have you seen Nino Shurters training video on Pinkbike? he'll obviously never win races by performing bike specific movements like those....

Apologies responsiblepirate, if it works for you go for it. Yes you may see results but there may be a more efficient way to use your time though in order to maximise your performance on the bike, that's all. What if the time you spent training 'muscular endurance' in the gym was spent working on specific V02 intervals, threshold power workouts, sprints etc on the bike? Would your benefits on the bike be better or worse? The instability comment was in regards to someone else's post so you can relax on that one.

Nino's workout is pretty interesting, don't forget that it also included heavy and explosive exercises, not just stability. The thing is though, Nino is the best in the world and has been training for years and years. He is looking for the 1% gains and also has much more available time than the average rider. So when time is limited, you should prioritise the low hanging fruit first and/or choose workouts and exercises that are going to have the greatest effect on your performance. Building generic strength & power first achieves that.

Russian kettlebells, make rider hard like iron...

Using a different technique when exercising at home for large muscle groups. Using heavy chain I have two dumbbells strung loosely and am doing general range exercise. The other dumbbell hangs 6" lower, using a 30lb w/ a 20lb. Goal is to involve stabilizer muscles in forearm, shoulder, back.

Another use of chains is in Flat Bench Press, having extra heavy length of chain off each end - can weigh up to fifty pounds. One rep will have varied weight for ingress/egress, highest once at full extension.

Up until that stomach crap made its way through my home, I was hitting the gym 5 times a week (after work each night). I'd run for 15-20 mins or so on a treadmill, do 200-300 situps, and then lift weights. I need to get back into that groove to stay ahead of injuries.

While I hadn't lost a ton of weight (currently 255lbs) I am in MUCH better shape than I have been in like 8 years.