Ride Strong

by Jo McRae

  Take lifting and carrying, for example. Consider that you want to put your bike up on the roof rack of your car. Several movement patterns will be involved in you achieving this goal. First, you will bend to pick up your bike, before lifting it and pushing it overhead, where you will reach to secure it on the roof rack. When you take your bike off the roof rack, you will go through the same movement patterns in reverse. If you carry your bike in the back of your car, you may have experienced the challenge of bending and reaching to put your bike into the boot, often a more difficult movement, because the weight of the bike is carried further away from your own centre of gravity as you manoeuvre it into position.

  As a relatively fit cyclist, it would be very unfair to injure your back putting your bike in your boot as you head off to a big event, but this is not unheard of. Equally, other innocuous household tasks like hoovering or gardening can cause an injury that keeps you off the bike for weeks if you lack strength in these basic movements.

  The essential strength exercises in this chapter represent the absolute minimum every cyclist should aim for to avoid injury caused by poor biomechanics, a lack of movement skill, and insufficient strength to perform day-to-day tasks safely. Good technique in the exercises explained here should be achieved before adding more load and weight to develop strength further.

  Developing your strength further for optimal performance

  Some readers may be keen to develop their strength and conditioning further to maximize performance gains. The simplest way to go about this would be to use the exercises in this chapter, but progressively and gradually add load to make the exercises more challenging.

  I have deliberately selected exercises here that allow you to learn the movements and begin to load them without any special equipment, aside from a set of adjustable dumbbells that you can keep at home. If you find that using the variations here becomes too easy, it would be worth considering joining a gym so that you have access to heavier weights, as well as more varied ways to train and load the same movements.

  The dead lift and the squat in particular need significant loading to maximize the benefits. When you are looking to load more heavily, a barbell can allow you to move more weight than dumbbells can. A squat rack is also a really valuable tool for developing your squat strength to your full potential. Allowing you to load the bar in the rack means that you can carry the weight above your centre of gravity throughout the squatting movement, and don’t have the problem of getting the weight into the right position at the beginning and end of the movement. Using the end of a squat rack to perform a dead lift from the top down (rather than from the ground up) can also be useful for cyclists who often struggle to pick a bar up off the floor with a neutral spine to start with. By working from the top down, you can develop strength and flexibility in the movement together, until you have sufficient range to lift safely from the floor.

  Another useful tool in a gym environment is a cable machine, which allows you to develop standing strength in pushing, pulling and twisting movements in particular. When working at home your options with these movements are limited, but with a cable pulley you can adjust the direction of pull to almost an infinite number of combinations, offering a more rounded training stimulus and allowing you to combine some of the movements. An example might be a lunge with a single arm push and twist (as shown below).

  All of these movement options represent just a window into the possibilities that are almost endless if you are interested in exploring strength training further. However, I am conscious that most cyclists prefer to stay out of a gym and can be intimidated by too many choices, which is why I have focused on the essentials here, to give you somewhere to start. The strength essentials in this chapter give most cyclists all they need to stay strong enough to remain injury free and ready to develop the sport-specific strength and power elements on the bike itself. For most cyclists, too many training tools can be a distraction, and going back to basics will keep you focused and ensure that you don’t do more than is necessary to achieve your cycling goals in the minimum time.

  Whatever level you are working at, ‘the form principle’ must be applied consciously and consistently. The form principle dictates that you never compromise form for added load. In other words, your position and your technique take priority at all times. You should never be afraid to increase the weight, but you should only do so when you can still maintain good form for the desired number of repetitions. If you follow the technique points outlined in this chapter, and use the photos for guidance, you will achieve good form with the exercises here.

  The neutral spine philosophy

  Strength is inextricably linked to alignment and muscular balance in the body, and following the form principle is the key to ensuring your alignment is good and you are developing balanced muscles. In a nutshell, if you do a strength exercise well you will get stronger, do it poorly and you may exacerbate imbalances that are contributing to injury and poor performance.

  All of the essential strength exercises in this chapter are relatively ‘free’, and deliberately so. There are no machine weights involved, and they require that you control your body as a coordinated whole, rather than work and develop one muscle in isolation. This more ‘functional’ approach is key to my approach to conditioning and is explained in more detail in Chapter 1.

  Through this chapter you will see that almost exclusively the core maintains a neutral alignment throughout the movement. A neutral spine ready for loading or strengthening is one where the lower back curves inwards slightly, the upper back is slightly extended with the chest lifted and the head and neck are centred over the body.

  Maintaining the natural inwards curve of the lumbar spine when lifting and moving significant load allows the natural biomechanics of the core to do their job. The lumbar discs are able to cushion the load, while the connective tissue of muscles that cross the core assist by decompressing the spine when the abdominal muscles are engaged correctly.

  The ‘neutral spine philosophy’ dictates that whenever you are lifting with significant load (such that you can lift no more than 16–20 reps), you should maintain the natural postural curves of the spine.

  For some of you there will be no problem maintaining a neutral spine through the exercises here, while for others it may be more difficult. Squatting and bending movements in particular may take some learning and particular care might need to be taken with the dead lift (bend) movement under load to ensure that you learn correct form. If you struggle to achieve the correct position with the movements here, it’s likely that either tightness or poor core control are making it difficult for you to achieve.

  Straight vs neutral: Although you may have heard the word ‘straight’ as a technique cue when exercising, the spine should never actually be straight. The postural curves are dynamic and can change with movement, but an upright spine is more correctly described as ‘neutral’ because the natural anatomical curves help the body function when loaded from this position.

  If in working through the instructions and exercises here you feel you are unable to achieve good form and a ‘neutral spine’, simply leave the exercises out that you are struggling with, and come back to them at a later date to see how you are doing. If you continue to work on your essential stretches and core exercises you will find your ability to perform these strength exercises improves since the elements of flexibility, core and strength are inextricably connected.

  Consciously engaging your core through the strength movements

  Maintaining a neutral spine through the movements is very important, but equally important is engaging your core muscles to ‘offload’ and support your spine in the way described above. For some people core engagement comes naturally and happens automatically, while for others conscious engagement of the abdominal muscles in particular is essential to achieve the desired result.

  For most people focusing on ‘drawing the navel in’ is a useful cue to ensure that the deeper abdominal muscle i
s engaged and supporting the spine through the movement. If you have already worked through some of the core essentials in Chapter 4 you will most likely have become aware of this core engagement through some of the exercises there. Because the essential core exercises are more ‘isolated’ you are more likely to get a feel for core engagement, and then be able to maintain that same core control in the more integrated movements here.

  If you struggle to get a sense of engaging your core or find it difficult to maintain a neutral spine through the strength exercises here, you might be wise to maintain some of the core essentials in Chapter 4 as part of your programme. As the control and strength of your core improves you will notice the difference that it makes to your ability to perform the strength essentials here.

  The impact of short and tight muscles on form and alignment

  As well as needing to engage your abdominal muscles throughout the movements, you may find some movements are limited by shortness and tightness too. Two good examples from this chapter are the dead lift and the split squat.

  For the dead lift, in order to maintain a neutral spine to strengthen the lower back, gluteals and the upper hamstrings, you have to learn to tip your pelvis down at the front and up at the back as you pivot from the hips into and out of the movement. This ensures that you don’t ‘round out’ your lower back, which can lead to injury, especially under heavier loads and if the abdominals are not engaging properly. If you have tight hamstrings (as is common in most cyclists) as you get into this position, you will experience a stretch sensation as your tight hamstrings want to pull in the opposite direction, down at the back of the pelvis as you bend forwards. Applying the form principle to this example and only working within a range where you can maintain a neutral spine will help you develop strength in the dead lift and flexibility in your hamstrings at the same time.

  In contrast, to achieve and maintain the neutral spine desirable in the split squat you have to learn to consciously tuck your pelvis down at the back to engage the glutes on your back leg to ensure you don’t ‘dip’ into your lower back. If you have short or tight hip flexors at the front of your hip and thigh, as you go into this movement they will tend to pull down on the front of the pelvis, causing this excessive inwards curve in the lower back, and you will have to choose a level of the exercise where you have good control of your pelvis and lower back to move forwards.

  Both of these examples show how flexibility is linked to strength, and how working on flexibility and strength together can help you make the most progress. The instructions alongside each of the exercises here are designed to help you achieve the best form possible, even if you have some tightness in some of these areas. In practical terms, using the essential stretches in Chapter 2 directly before your chosen strength essentials will maximize your chances of optimal form throughout the exercise.

  Combining the essential stretching, strength and core exercises in an all-round programme will give you the best chance of improving your all-round condition and cycling performance. Choosing exercises to get the balance right for you will be discussed further in Chapter 6 on programme design and periodization.

  Strengthening the upper body

  Cyclists often make the mistake of selecting pushing and pulling movements in isolation, believing that the legs and lower body will have developed some strength through cycling. While relatively isolated upper body exercises can be useful for the purposes of balancing or correcting for weakness, overall this rationale is misguided, and doesn’t help you develop the functional strength you need day-to-day, to prevent injury and enhance performance. When cycling, the upper and lower body are constantly working together, connected by the core, both seated in the saddle, where the legs are moving and the upper body is stable, and in particular out of the saddle, where both upper and lower body are working connected by an active core.

  Working exclusively with isolated upper body exercises (where the lower body is inactive) does little to stimulate the core and does not teach your body to integrate the use of the legs with the arms in real-life situations, and when working harder on the bike, when the upper body becomes more active. For some people (men in particular), this more isolated approach may also lead to unwanted muscle development and weight gain without any added performance benefits.

  For these reasons, my first choice of upper body exercises would be standing pushing and pulling exercises where the legs and core are working together with the upper body to generate force. In a gym situation a cable machine is the perfect tool for these exercises, and pushing, pulling and twisting variations can be combined with squatting, lunging, twisting and bending to develop functional upper body strength and flexibility without developing unnecessary bulk.

  Since the essential strength exercises in this book are designed to allow you to make a start at home, I have chosen the best upper body strengthening exercises I can using only a ball and dumbbells. As a result, these are relatively isolated exercises compared to the ‘primal standard’, but they will help to improve your posture and correct for typical weak areas to establish some foundational basics as a minimum standard for upper body work, or as a foundation for further progressions later on.

  Repetitions, sets and rest periods

  Throughout this chapter you will find that there is some similarity in the number of repetitions, sets and rest periods that I recommend. For strength training enthusiasts and specialists, the science and art of reps, sets and rest periods is quite complex. Depending on what type of strength you are trying to achieve in a particular movement or muscle group, you can manipulate these variables for different and desired results.

  A detailed discussion of the science of intensity, repetitions, sets and rest periods is outside the scope of this book. In this chapter on essential strength exercises I have focused on how the exercises should be performed and taken a standard and basic approach to these variables. This is adequate for most cyclists to achieve their goals. For those exploring strength training further, I recommend you find a good personal trainer or strength and conditioning coach who can help you develop a more tailored programme.

  With most of the exercises here, there are one or two preparatory exercises to ensure you learn correct form before adding any load. Then, for the most part, I am recommending 8–12 repetitions for each exercise for 2–4 sets, with 1 minute’s rest in between sets. In practice, this means that you should be able to do between 8 and 12 repetitions of the exercises with good form, having to concentrate and work hard to maintain your position and technique for the last two or three repetitions. Essentially, you should start to fail between 8 and 12. You should not be able to do more than 12 repetitions, so if you can you need to increase the loading by adding more weight, or choose one of the more challenging versions of the exercise. If you are unable to do eight repetitions with good form, you can either choose an easier version of the exercise, or leave it out altogether until your core strength and flexibility improves.

  The level of the exercises and the number of sets suggested here should help bring about strength without adding much muscular weight. For some individuals there may be some muscle development as a result of this type of training, but in most cases it’s unlikely that this will be significant enough to have a negative impact on power-to-weight ratio by way of increased body weight. In fact, for many cyclists, some strengthening work can help improve lean muscle mass and enhance your fat-burning metabolism for a more athletic body.

  The Essential Strength Exercises

  Throughout this chapter I refer to movements more than to specific muscles.

  All the exercises here are compound functional movements where the whole body is working together to generate force. I will describe the main muscles involved but keep in mind that the movement is more important. For example, your squat strength is more important than your leg strength.

  I will describe any specific cycling benefits first, then explain the relevance of each movement for day-to-day basic hum
an fitness too, for injury prevention and for maintenance of musculoskeletal health.

  The squat

  For cyclists, the squat is an essential strength exercise for the quads at the front of the thigh, and the glutes and upper hamstrings at the back of the thigh and hips. These muscles are all prime movers on the pedalling downstroke and developing muscular strength here allows you greater potential for power production, particularly when kicking into an acceleration out of the saddle, such as when ‘jumping’ away from traffic lights or sprinting for a finishing line.

  The squat forms the foundation for standing/sprinting power on the bike, as it is the foundational movement for any ‘jump’. Squat work can be dovetailed with specific accelerations or ‘jumps’ to translate gains in strength to speed and power on the bike. Conditioning your body with a squat (and a bend too) while learning to maintain a neutral spine can also help you adopt this posture naturally and easily when confronted by day-to-day lifting and carrying tasks. This can prevent you incurring injuries off the bike that affect you on it.

  The ‘prime movers’ are the main muscle driving any movement. Other muscles may be involved as helpers or stabilizers, but the prime mover is the one that generates force.