One of the reasons that strength training has historically struggled to gain popularity among cyclists is the difficulty in making it seem relevant to cycling performance.
Balancing muscles and developing strength needs to happen off the bike, but the gains you make should have an impact on the bike too. Stretching, core work and strength training are known to help prevent injury by improving balance in the body, but these conditioning elements can also directly enhance your cycling performance.
To optimise this adaption it’s important to integrate specific practices into your training that focus on technique, teaching your body’s neuro-muscular systems to engage and co-ordinate any new found length or strength into the cycling movement. As we more from spring to summer, now is the ideal time to integrate these drills into your riding to make that important connection between what you do on and off the bike.
