Ride Strong

by Jo McRae

  The essential abdominal exercises included here challenge all three planes of movement to ensure that you develop multidimensional abdominal strength. They include more static stabilizing exercises to stimulate the ‘inner’ abdominals, and some more dynamic moving exercises to strengthen the ‘outer’ abdominals. Conditioning both ensures that your abdominals can support you in their postural endurance role (when riding for long periods, for example) as well as in their dynamic strength role (at higher intensities on the bike as well as in functional lifting movements off the bike).

  Using Swiss balls for big bang benefits

  In this chapter the Swiss ball really comes into its own to help to stimulate your core to become active because of its inherent instability. Compared to similar core exercises performed on the floor, or another stable surface, I have found that Swiss ball exercises are more likely to encourage good form by way of ‘waking up’ core muscles that may otherwise have been dormant for some time. Where your body has got used to cycling (which most of the time has low core demands), it may need a ‘kick’ to wake up those muscles that you are trying to engage to bring about better muscle balance. In particular, if you tend to be hypermobile, the Swiss ball options in this chapter will be the better choices for you to ensure that multiple muscles become active and that you are not overstressing one joint.

  A ‘big bang’ exercise is a term I have borrowed from Paul Chek and refers to exercises that give you many benefits in one go. Several of the Swiss ball exercise in this chapter give you a big bang of benefits, working multiple muscles in one exercise in many dimensions, as well as stimulating your balance and control. You will know a big bang exercise when you encounter one because it will make you quite hot quite quickly!

  Standing posture as core training in itself

  Towards the end of this chapter I include an example of a light bicep curl for postural training and standing awareness. I’ve included this example as an important precursor to the more loaded strength exercises in Chapter 3, where maintaining good upright alignment is essential to practising an exercise with good form. Many cyclists have poor posture because they are not used to moving in an upright way as part of their sport or fitness. Sometimes poor posture is simply a matter of body awareness, and can be easily remedied by relearning how to stand upright. In other instances, poor posture is a combination of lack of awareness and muscle imbalance syndromes or stiffness in the spine acting on the body to pull it into a particular position.

  Some of the common muscle imbalances seen in cyclists have been discussed already, but their impact on your standing posture becomes particularly important when you start to load your body in an upright position. Before adding any weight to any of the strength exercises in Chapter 3 in particular, it’s important to be able to adopt an upright posture with a neutral spine, where the curves of the spine are well balanced so that the whole body is taking the load of the exercise to achieve the desired result.

  Straight vs neutral: Although you may have heard the word ‘straight’ as a technique cue when exercising, the spine should never actually be straight. To ‘stand up straight’ actually means having the spine in its natural, ‘neutral’ position. 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.

  I have included these ‘standing posture trainers’ at the end of this essential core chapter to prepare you for the more upright loading that your body will experience in the essential strength exercises is Chapter 3. These standing exercises can help you relearn good posture and represent a transitional exercise towards including more strength work in your programme. I will explain in more detail how to include appropriate exercises from each chapter in Chapter 6, on periodization and programme design.

  Here I am using a dowel rod as an indicator of alignment in the standing biceps curl. Later I will show you how to use a doorframe to give you some feedback as to how you are standing, and whether you are ready to add load in the strength exercises in Chapter 3.

  Good posture and axial loading

  I have introduced the idea of a neutral spine in Chapter 3 already in relation to the importance of good alignment in the essential strength exercises there. For some cyclists it may take some time before good upright alignment is possible, and the key to changing your posture and being able to establish and maintain a neutral spine during loaded movement is having a strong and balanced core. Throughout this chapter you will see repeated emphasis on correct alignment, particularly in the abdominal exercises where I emphasize the importance of a neutral spine the most.

  Axial loading is the application of weight or force along the long axis of the body. In conditioning terms, it refers to any upright exercise where you are adding significant load by carrying weight, which places compressive emphasis on the spine, hips and pelvis. In these type of exercises: lunges, squats and dead lifts, the core must be stable so that the muscles and joints are sharing the load effectively to generate force without causing injury.

  You will see me using a dowel rod or stick along the spine in the horse stance exercises to give you an idea of what ‘neutral’ should look like, and in the standing posture trainer at the end I explain how you can use an open doorframe to get a sense of your standing postural alignment too. Having good alignment as described throughout these exercises is an important precursor to adding any significant load in the strength essentials in Chapter 3. If you find that you are struggling to adopt the posture described here, don’t worry. Get as close as you can at the stage that you are at and keep working away at the flexibility and core essentials in particular to continue progressing.

  For some cyclists, good posture or a neutral alignment may take some time to achieve due to long-established muscle imbalances and restrictions that need to be unravelled. Don’t be disheartened if you find some of these positions difficult to achieve. Simply continue working on the essential conditioning elements in this book in a varied and periodized way, and you will find that with persistence your body will start to change.

  Assessing your posture with a view to working with weights

  The more you struggle to achieve good posture and alignment with the core essentials in this chapter, the more you need to be aware of your alignment when choosing to include some of the strength essentials from Chapter 3. However, that does not mean that you should not include them, just that you should choose the option that you can do well and keep coming back to those that are more difficult to see how you have improved after a period of training. The key to long-term changes in your condition and performance is maintaining a consistent, balanced and varied approach to your training, which allows you to improve month on month, year on year.

  Chapter 6 on periodization and planning will help you understand how to select exercises that are most appropriate to you at any given time, and help you progress and improve your performance month on month and year on year. (By working with those exercises that you can do well, and coming back to those that you initially find too difficult, you will eventually be able to perform more of the exercises in this book effectively to develop a well-rounded and varied conditioning programme.)

  Repetitions, sets and rest periods

  The repetitions, sets and rest periods in this chapter are quite different to those in Chapter 3 on essential strength training. Many of the exercises here are designed to increase core stability, and for some of the muscles of the back and abdominals in particular, that will be best achieved by holding certain positions, or moving slowly. 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 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 core exercises, I have focused on how the exercises should be perfo
rmed and taken a simple approach to these other variables. Some of the exercises include isometric holds (see below) to maximize the development of postural endurance, an aspect of core fitness particularly important to cyclists. The rest periods are often deliberately shorter too, to maximize postural and core muscle endurance.

  An ‘isometric’ exercise is one where the length of the muscle does not change throughout the movement. Most movements have a concentric phase (when the muscle is shortening under load) and an eccentric phase (when the muscle is lengthening against a load). An isometric exercise is one where the position is deliberately held at some point in this movement. In this chapter, two examples of isometric exercises are the prone cobra for strengthening the lower and mid-back muscles, and the Swiss ball side lead for strengthening the abdominal muscles along the sides of the body.

  Some of the isometric exercises in this chapter develop maximal ‘time under tension’ in the weakest part of the muscles, where we are trying to have the biggest impact. Consequently, they might feel quite different to exercises that you are used to, and can be particularly tough. There will be progressions towards longer holds rather than adding heavier load, or more resistance, with the primary goal being better endurance rather than greater pure strength. Focusing on getting in the best possible position you can and progressively working through the stages will give you the best results, rather than rushing straight to the longer holds.

  Some of the exercises have both an isometric variation (such as with the Swiss ball side lean) and a more dynamic version (as with the Swiss ball side bend), encouraging you to develop stability first, then strength in the movement second. It’s worth working through the exercises in sequence here to ensure you achieve the best form. As part of your periodization you should then cycle through the exercise options to ensure you get a good balance of core stability and core strength.

  The Essential Core Exercises

  Strengthening the back of the body

  I have broadly separated the exercises in this chapter into exercises for the back and front of the body. The exercises for the front of the body can be split further into those that strengthen the postural muscles of the lower and upper back, and those that strengthen the cycling muscles more, i.e. the glutes and upper hamstrings. You will see that the exercises targeting the cycling muscles will tend to have an 8–12 repetitions range, while the exercises targeting the postural muscles will have progressive isometric holds. In some exercises there will be some crossover between the two.

  Hip and lower back extensions (glutes, upper hamstrings and lower back)

  The first of my essential core exercises targets the glutes (buttocks), upper hamstrings and lower back, although all the muscles along the back of the body are involved in the movement. Hip extension exercises are great for strengthening the glutes and back, taking the body into the fully extended position that it never achieves when cycling or sitting. I have chosen this Swiss ball supine hip extension because there is room for progression towards tougher exercises as you get stronger, with no other equipment. Also, the instability of the ball helps to ‘wake up’ sleepy glutes and engage the back and abdominal muscles of the trunk. The more advanced ‘hip extension with knee bend’ version of the exercise has some cycling-specific carry-over too, as it is ‘open chain’ with the legs moving away from and back towards the hips, just as they do when you ride your bike. Targeting these areas in a focused and isolated way can ensure the development of strength in these areas and help you engage these powerful muscles on the bike.

  From a cycling standpoint, weakness in the glutes is probably the single-most limiting factor in terms of muscle strength connected to power output, particularly when you start to work harder and push towards and above your threshold. As prime movers at the hips on the downstroke, the glutes come into play particularly with sprints and accelerations, or for time-trial type efforts along the flat where the pelvis naturally tips forwards. For many cyclists the glutes need activating, so this hip extension is essential in reminding them how to work and get stronger.

  To achieve the biggest benefit from these exercises you should pre-stretch/mobilize the areas that tend to be tight/stiff along the back of the body. These may include the piriformis, lower hamstrings and thoracic spine. Check these exercises from Chapter 2 on essential stretching to see whether you need to perform these stretches to maximize the benefits.

  Swiss ball hip extension feet on ball

  Arms out to sides

  Preparation

  Lie with your legs on the ball and your arms outstretched at your sides, level with your shoulders. To start with, keep the ball close to your hips so that both your calves and the back of your hamstrings are touching the ball.

  Movement

  Push down with your legs and lift your hips and chest as high as you can, drawing your navel in as you move, and squeezing your glutes at the top of the movement. Hold the top position (aiming for your shoulder, hip, knee and ankle to be in one straight line) for 5 seconds before returning your hips to the floor with control. It is very important that you achieve this straight line position to properly engage your glutes before progressing the exercise further.

  If you find you are able to perform the maximum number of repetitions and sets with good form, with the ball quite close to your body, start with it a little further away from you. Small changes in the distance between your hips and the top of the ball can make a significant difference in the difficulty of this exercise, so progress gradually until your heels are on the top of the ball (as shown here). Alternatively, you can progress this exercise by choosing the more unstable option on the next page, with your arms across your chest.

  Arms across chest

  Preparation

  Lie with your legs on the ball as before, but with your arms across your chest. To start with, keep the ball close to your hips so that both your calves and the back of your hamstrings are touching the ball.

  Movement

  Push down with your legs and lift your hips and chest as high as you can, drawing your navel in as you move, and squeezing your glutes at the top of the movement. Hold the top position (aiming for your shoulder, hip, knee and ankle to be in a straight line) for 5 seconds before returning your hips to the floor with control. It is very important that you achieve this straight line position to properly engage your glutes before progressing the exercise further. This variation of the exercise is much more unstable, since your base of support is significantly reduced by taking your arms across your chest. This makes it a good variation if you are keen to emphasize the stability benefits of the exercise in addition to simply strengthening the glutes and back of the body.

  If you find you are able to perform the maximum number of repetitions and sets with good form, with the ball quite close to your body, start with it a little further away from you. Small changes in the distance between your hips and the top of the ball can make a significant difference in the difficulty of this exercise, so progress gradually until your heels are on the top of the ball (opposite). Once you are able to achieve this variation with good form for the maximum number of reps and sets, you can progress by trying the hip extension with knee bend variation opposite.

  Hip extension with knee bend sequence

  This advanced variation of this exercise should only be attempted once you have mastered the previous two variations and worked on them consistently for 8–12 weeks. The increase in challenge with the hip extension with knee bend is quite a jump in difficulty, so I recommend you perform as many repetitions of this exercise as you can do well, and then finish your set with the previous variation.

  Preparation

  Lie with your legs on the ball and your arms outstretched at your sides, level with your shoulders. To allow room for the knee bend you need your heels to be on the top of the ball, as shown.

  Movement

  Push down with your legs and lift your hips and chest as high as you can, drawing your navel in as you move and squ
eezing your glutes at the top of the movement. This top position – with your shoulder, hip, knee and ankle in one straight line – then becomes the start and finish position for each of the knee bend repetitions. From here, dig your heels hard into the ball and lift your hips further as you bend your knees and pull the ball towards you. Your hips must lift up higher as you do this, so that throughout the movement, your shoulders, hips and knees stay in a straight line.

  From this high position (shown centre left) slowly extend back out to the start position, ensuring that your hips don’t dip as you do so. Repeat this movement as many times as you can, finishing the set with one of the previous variations if you need to.

  How many reps and sets?

  Perform 8–12 repetitions for 2–3 sets, with 30 seconds’ rest between sets. Choose the variation that you can do with good form and work on it for 8–12 weeks before progressing to a new level of the exercise.

  Upper and lower back extensions (lower back, upper back and shoulders)