by Jo McRae
To fully develop your twisting strength you will need to include movements outside the scope of what is possible with a simple set of dumbbells and a Swiss ball at home. If you have an athletic background and have exhausted the options here, it might be worth speaking to a personal trainer or strength and conditioning coach who can suggest some more dynamic standing twisting variations for you to include as part of your training programme.
Working at home with just a ball and dumbbells makes it harder to include some strengthening twists in your programme, but the ones I have included here offer an introduction to ensure you maintain the mobility of the spine needed for effective rotational strength in the back and abdominal muscles, and without becoming ‘flexion dominant’, which is a risk for cyclists who rely on many cross-crunch type exercise variations for their twist strength.
The movements I have included here are somewhat isolated because of the limitations created by working with just the basics at home. As a result you will see that there is some crossover between the exercises here and the core essentials in Chapter 4. For example, I have included an upper-body Russian twist here in the essential strength chapter, while there is a lower-body Russian twist in the core chapter.
In practice, using a mixture of the twisting exercises included here together with the more isolated core variations in Chapter 4 will keep you mobile and strong enough in the upper body, helping to improve your cycling posture and optimize your bike fit. Mobility together with improved strength in the upper back can also help prevent neck problems.
Swiss ball seated reverse wood chop (twist)
This dumbbell exercise targets the muscles of the upper back while encouraging mobility in the same area. I have chosen to include this exercise seated on the ball because for most cyclists it will be easier to maintain good form in a seated position than when standing, and it will help you target the exercise to the upper back where your body needs the work the most.
Preparation
Start by sitting upright on the ball, with your feet a little wider than shoulder width and your knees in line with your ankles so that your lower leg is perpendicular. Grasp one dumbbell with both hands, the underneath hand being the dominant one (the one in the direction of the movement), and the other hand wrapping over the top for support. If you are rotating to the left, your left hand is the dominant hand, if you are rotating right, your right hand is dominant.
Movement
Keep your head facing forwards as your torso rotates and, drawing a diagonal line across your body, pull with your dominant hand, keeping your arms straight through the midpoint of the movement (shown centre) until the dumbbell is level with the opposite shoulder (shown right). Then, retrace the movement in reverse, following the same line as you return to the start position shown. As you move the dumbbell, try to keep your hips still and rotate through your torso, lifting your chest as you raise the dumbbell.
How many reps and sets?
Perform 8–12 repetitions for 2–4 sets, with 1 minute’s rest in between sets. For this exercise you can do both sides together for one set, and then take the minute’s rest, before doing both sides again. You should be able to do between 8 and 12 repetitions with good form and you should be working hard to maintain your position and technique for the last two or three repetitions. If you find that you are much better on one side than the other, only do as many reps as you can do well on your weakest side until you start to be able to work more evenly. For example, if you can only do 8 repetitions on your left side, you would only do 8 on your right side even if you could actually do more. You should start to fail between 8 and 12. If you find that you can do more than 12 repetitions well, you need to progress by adding more weight to the dumbbell.
Swiss ball cross crunch/chop (twist and bend)
This Swiss ball chop uses gravity together with the supine position to work the abdominal muscles in a twisting and chopping movement. This exercise is a good option for you if you already have good upper-back mobility as you bend and extend over the ball, but should be approached with caution if you are stiff in the thoracic spine.
To test whether this exercise is a suitable option for you, perform the rib expansion test as outlined in Chapter 2 on essential stretching and work into the exercise with caution, increasing the range of movement progressively by working in a more extended (backwards) position as you get used to it. If you know you have a rigid upper back or experience neck problems, or have difficulty looking up overhead, then this may not be a good choice of exercise for you.
Preparation
From a seated position, and keeping the dumbbell over your hips as you roll, shift your weight forwards down the ball and lie backwards over it until your back is arched over the ball with your hips and head both resting on the ball. Notice that the ball supports the spine along its length and your hips are resting on the ball (rather than lifted as in the bridge position needed for the chest press described earlier).
Grasp the dumbbell with the hand on the side to which you are going to pull the weight, and wrap your other hand around it for support. In the picture here Jake is chopping to the left, so his left hand is the dominant hand and his right hand is wrapped around for support. Reaching up and overhead with both hands, take the dumbbell above the opposite shoulder, so that you are being stretched backwards and diagonally against the load of the weight.
Movement
From this position, pull the weight over your head and diagonally towards the opposite hip, tucking your hips under so that your hips come up to meet the weight as it comes down. Briefly, hold his end position and engage your abdominal muscles fully before releasing back by retracing the pathway taken by the dumbbell to return to the start position.
How many reps and sets?
Perform 8–12 repetitions for 2–4 sets, with 1 minute’s rest in between sets. You should be able to do between 8 and 12 repetitions with good form and you should be working hard to maintain your position and technique for the last two or three repetitions. You should start to fail between 8 and 12. If you find that you are much better on one side than the other, only do as many reps as you can do well on your weakest side until you are able to work more evenly. For example, if you can only do 8 repetitions on your left side, you would only do 8 on your right side even if you could actually do more. If you find that you can do more than 12 repetitions well, you need to progress by adding more weight to the dumbbells.
Swiss ball upper body Russian twist (twist)
Using the supine bridge position on the ball coupled with an upper-body twist, this exercise focuses the rotation on the upper back where cyclists can tend to be stiff and immobile. There is a balance element to this exercise and you will need to be quite confident moving into and out of position on the ball without falling off, so be alert!
In addition to working the upper back, the bridge position has the advantage of strengthening the hips and back at the same time.
Preparation
From a seated position on the ball, walk your feet forwards and keep your weight over the ball until you are in a bridge position with your upper back and head supported by the ball, your chest and hips lifted, and your arms extended, palms together as shown. When moving into and out of position for this exercise the trick is to trust the ball and keep your weight firmly over it. Your knees should be over your ankles, and your knees, hips and shoulders should make one straight line to form your bridge foundation.
Movement
Keeping your hips lifted throughout, pull on your shoulder and turn your upper body in that same direction, focusing your effort on getting the ball moving underneath you. Your arms should stay straight and solid, imagining them as an extension of your upper body and torso.
When you cannot rotate any further, pull back to the centre position and re-establish your position and balance, before pulling with the shoulder on the other side to twist in the opposite direction.
When you first learn this exercise it’s best to
stop in the centre position between each rotation, but as your balance improves and you become more dynamic on the ball you will be able to move straight through the centre position to turn to the other side.
How many reps and sets?
Perform 8–12 repetitions for 2–4 sets, with 1 minute’s rest in between sets. For this exercise 8–12 repetitions represents the total number of reps on alternating sides. You should be able to do between 8 and 12 repetitions with good form and you should be working hard to maintain your position and technique for the last two or three repetitions. You should start to fail between 8 and 12. If you find that you can do more than 12 repetitions well, you need to progress by holding a dumbbell in both hands (wrapping one around the other, as with the previous reverse chop exercise) which significantly increases the challenge of the exercise.
Essential strength ready reference pictures
The squat
Swiss ball supported
Prisoner squat/stick squat
Overhead stick squat
Dumbbell front loaded squat
Dead lift
Split squat
Press-up
Swiss ball dumbbell chest press
Swiss ball shoulder press
Bent-over row
Swiss ball seated reverse wood chop
Swiss ball cross/crunch (chop)
Swiss ball upper body Russian twist
4. Essential core
Overview of this chapter
•What is ‘core’?
•Why do cyclists need core training?
•Problems associated with a weak core and the benefits of focused work
»Symptoms of a weak core
»Benefits associated with strengthening your core
•Remembering the success formula
•Weakness caused by the cycling position – the upper and lower back
•Weakness caused by the cycling action – the gluteals and upper hamstrings
•Straight line cycling and lack of abdominal stimulation
•‘Inner’ and ‘outer’ abdominals
•Using Swiss balls for big bang benefits
•Standing posture as core training in itself
•Good posture and axial loading
•Assessing your posture with a view to working with weights
•Repetitions, sets and rest periods
THE ESSENTIAL CORE EXERCISES
•Strengthening the back of the body
•Hip and lower back extensions (glutes, upper hamstrings and lower back)
»Swiss ball hip extension feet on ball
»Arms out to sides
»Arms across chest
»Hip extension with knee bend sequence
•Upper and lower back extensions (lower back, upper back and shoulders)
»The prone cobra
»Off the floor
»Swiss ball variation
»Wide arms variation
•Extension with rotation
»Alternating superman
»Off the floor
»Swiss ball variation
•Strengthening the front and sides of the body
•Core without flexion
•Four-point exercises for stability and ‘inner units’
»Horse stances
»Vertical
»Horizontal
»Abduction
•Abdominal strength in all planes of movement
•Exercises for sagittal plane core strength (forwards and backwards)
»Planks
»Swiss ball forward ball roll
»Kneeling plank
»Plank on toes
»Swiss ball crunch
»(Neck crunch)
•Exercises for frontal-plane core strength (sideways)
»Swiss ball side lean
»Swiss ball side flexion
•Exercises for transverse plane core strength (twisting)
»Swiss ball lower body Russian twist
»With medicine ball
» With cross crunch (no ball variation)
•Preparing the body for upright (axial) loading
•Standing posture trainers (dumbbell biceps curl as an example)
ESSENTIAL CORE READY REFERENCE PICTURES
What is ‘core’?
The term ‘core’ has largely been popularized in the fitness industry to describe exercises that target the mid-section of the body, for the most part the abdominal muscles. Among sports coaches and strength and conditioning professionals in particular there is a different approach taken to the terminology; the word ‘core’ will be frowned upon, and instead ‘the trunk’ will be the favoured descriptor for the midsection, including your hip, abdominal and back muscles.
There is a certain amount of snobbery around this distinction, at the root of which is the understanding that there is no such thing as a core muscle, since all the muscles of the body work in interrelated chains, and those that cross the pelvis and spine in particular can have multiple roles in stabilizing or moving depending on the movement being executed. Any muscle that has an influence on the spine and pelvis could be called a core muscle, which leaves very few muscles that aren’t technically core muscles at the edges of your body, like those of your arms and legs. The more fitness-orientated term ‘core’ has also been used as a marketing tool to capture the attention of people looking for a flat stomach and an aesthetic look, while the term ‘trunk’ acknowledges the role of the midsection in a more functional way, connecting the upper and lower body, the front and back of the body, and the left and right of the body.
In this book I am using the term ‘core’ to describe the mid-section of the body, both in terms of the muscles involved – including the hips, back and abdominals – and in terms of their function in keeping you injury free and performing at your best. It is outside the scope of this book to describe in great detail the anatomical function of each of the muscles, as I’m more concerned with giving you a broader understanding of what to do to effectively balance your core to become a stronger rider.
Why do cyclists need core training?
Core training has become a catch-all buzzword for something we should all be doing, cyclists included. But not only is there confusion around what the term means, but also around how you should train your core to prevent injury and maximize performance. ‘Core weakness’ is a blanket reason given for injury too, to the lower back and knees in particular, but there can be many different dimensions to a ‘weak’ core that lead to injury and limit performance. Usually where some muscles are weak, others have become tight. I have explained in some depth those muscles that tend to become tight in Chapter 2, so in this chapter I am turning my attention to those muscles that tend to become weak. Both stretching the tight and strengthening the weak will give you the best chance of bringing your core into balance.
The approach I am taking here is to illustrate some essential core exercises that target and strengthen the core muscles that tend to become weak in cyclists. The exercises will help you to coordinate and engage the ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ muscles of your abdomen, appropriately strengthen your hips and back, and learn correct alignment and posture to support your spine. The goal is to restore and maintain normal length-tension relationships in the muscles around joints to maximize cycling performance and reduce risk of injury.
The core exercises here will target the muscle areas that tend to weaken because of the cycling position, and also those that weaken due to the repetitive pedalling action. They will also take into account that the cycling position together with a desk job can lead to poor posture, increasing risk of injury and poor performance. The core essentials I have included here are easy to do effectively and target specific isolated areas to bring your body into balance.
Many forms of exercise incorporate elements of core work. However, some of the movements and exercises involved may be quite complex and seem difficult to follow or understand, so using the exercises here as a foundation will be most useful
to start with.
The cross-training options that might enhance your core strength and control further will be discussed later in Chapter 5 on ‘cross-training’.
Many core exercises can be a poor choice for cyclists because they tend to emphasize flexion (such as in any variation of a sit-up). And others can be too challenging for a cyclist’s body that is too deconditioned at the outset to achieve good form (a plank can be another example here). Since cyclists often have poor posture with rounded shoulders and a flattened lower back, some of these exercises can actually make the balance and alignment of the muscles around the core worse, leading to an increased risk of injury. Poor posture and alignment is a sign of core weakness in itself, indicating that some tight muscles (or joints) are pulling the body out of position while others are unable to hold the body still. A cyclist’s deeper core muscles (those responsible for postural endurance and maintaining a stable spine) are often weak and relatively ‘switched off’ too, which makes many of the more challenging core exercises out in general circulation relatively high risk for cyclists who have never done any conditioning off the bike before.
Consequently, you need to be discerning about your choice of core exercise to ensure that your intention to improve your core strength is matched by your exercise selection. Exercises that strengthen the core without flexion (‘crunching’) would be my favoured abdominal exercise options for cyclists, together with back strengthening exercises that encourage extension (or backwards bending) because they can help to correct for the slumped posture that often comes with bike riding and sitting at a desk. The essential core exercises included here will strengthen your core while bringing your body as a whole into better alignment. Exercises that emphasize the deeper muscles of the core are also included. These exercises are often missed out because they are more difficult to execute well and sometimes it’s hard to feel like you are doing anything at all. In this chapter you will find core exercises that challenge you in three dimensions, another important facet in a well-balanced core programme.
