Road Bike Training

When setting up a bicycle-specific training regimen, be specific. In order to be better at a cycling, you need to train for cycling. Thus, ultimately if you want to become a better road biker, you need to ride. While this may seem very straight forward, there are many people who simply don’t get in the saddle enough. All that said, cross-training is a key component to success as well.

 

Flexibility:
Stretching will not only increase the range of motion of your limbs while riding your bike and allow for smoother movement, it will also protect against injury, minimize joint wear and tear, and help to work out the muscular tightness that one gets after a hard training day.

Strength Training:
Strength training helps strengthen your legs and enables them to manage the power demand that occurs in cycling. The ability to stand up and pedal away from other riders on a climb has everything to do with strength. This can be accomplished with weight training and dynamic exercise such as squats, lunges, and a variety of other strength movements. Protection against injury is a side benefit of strength training. For example, taking a digger over the handle bars in a crit. Weight training thickens your tendons, and toughens the tendon’s attachment to bone. This is akey to injury prevention. If using weights, workouts should include knee curls for the hamstrings and biceps femorus, knee extension for the quadriceps, and push-offs for the gastrocnemius. A good rule of thumb is 3 days of weights with 3-4 days of riding alternating. And then keep it up. It will likely take up to 3 months of consistent workouts to really see a difference. Winter is a great time to put yourself through this. Then you’ll see a difference.

Alternative Sports:
We all need variety and road cycling is no different. Things like running, swimming, and traditional sports like volleyball and basketball can keep your mind and body from experiencing bike burnout and improve your agility, focus, and confidence.

It’s important to have variety as well as intensity. Variety is what keeps things interesting and can break up the monotony of the ‘white line’ passing under your road bike for hours on end. So take the time to mix up your routine. However, keep it simple. Most of us lead busy lives and really don’t have the time to be super creative every day. Try to maintain a program for 8 weeks, and incorporate stretching, strength, and agility into your program.