Hi ,

‘Hey coach, I am an older cyclist, but I was wondering if I should I add weight training to my programme?’

I get asked this a lot and the answer is of course...

It depends on your goals and your fitness history. 

Notice I did not say your age! 

Over the years of playing or participating in any sport, our body goes through changes and adaptations to help us better get into the positions and movements for that sport. While our body is trying its best, cycling can lead to poor posture and a loss of range of motion at many of the joints. 

Not great eh? AND you may already be experiencing this…

Luckily, with an intelligent strength training program, you can avoid these negative changes and instead bolster your in-sport abilities and boost your performances.

Over the next few weeks, I want to share a few MISTAKES that riders make when adding strength training to their training week.

Let’s start with Focusing on mimicking cycling movements 

Many athletes who are new to strength training make the mistake of thinking that in order to get better at their sport, they need to strength train in the same movement patterns as their chosen sport. 

This can act as counterproductive as you avoid BALANCE. What I mean is that you need to understand the basics of muscle action around a joint and how a muscle pulls but can’t push. Basically, all muscles work in pairs and it is this relationship that creates balance. Think of the poor knee joint getting pulled in one direction by the quadriceps and then in the opposite direction by the hamstring! Even a basic science knowledge tells you that the term ‘quad’ suggests more than one! 

‘So, coach, all my squats are bad for me?’

No, but we need balance! We need to look at cycling and understand that we have a dynamic and static divide. Our up body is being held mainly in one position, so the joints are being held in a position that creates more of a ‘push’ on some muscles. Then we have our lower limbs that have movement at the hip, knee and ankle. BUT there are huge ranges on the forces placed on the joints at different angles. IT is this angle approach that has people using all sorts of weird and wonderful devices and techniques that quite frankly can be quite gimmicky and a waste of money. 

A well-designed program may have as little as 15 percent of movements that match those of the sport. Close to 40 percent counter the movements dominant in the sport, helping the athlete maintain balance.

Work on balancing out the imbalances that occur in our sport. Working on good breathing patterns, thoracic extension, pulling, and rotary stability give you some of the biggest returns on investment.

Creating exercises that use your own body weight and alter your balancing point with movement will improve your core stability. This in turn will improve your cycling and general posture which improves your breathing control and head support. 

Did you know that your head weighs between 4-5 kg! That’s without your aero lightweight helmet and no matter how much you diet it is not going to get much lighter BUT the muscles can surely get weaker as we age!  When was the last time you even thought about that? 

Next week I will share more strength tips and watch out for some new videos with key exercises to help you.

If you want more from coach Scott, then CLICK HERE to book a call and unleash your superpowers.

Scott Maclean

Kinetic Cycle Coaching

Head Coach

Mobile: 07933158473

Web: www.kineticcyclecoaching.com

Coaching | Bike Fitting | Nutrition