We have featured many articles on our website before about the need for strength training for runners and various sports like Golf, Tennis and Football, but we have not discussed the value and need for this with cycling. I myself have been a very competitive cyclist for many years and still do a few races each year. I used to race Mountain Bikes before I ventured into road cycling so I have a good understanding of the different skills and requirements for both disciplines. The biggest mistake many cyclists make is that they are ignorant to the many postural problems and muscle imbalance that their sport can cause. As the sport is so repetitive it is great for improving efficiency but a disaster for creating long term postural problems that lead to injury and pain. This can easily be avoided by adopting a corrective plan, and the good news is it will actually help you to ride much faster! Just spending endless hours on the road in the hope that you will get faster is not a well thought out plan. Other sports know of the benefits to their game by adopting conditioning and cycling is no different. Even if you are just an amateur and just like to ride with your friends you still need to do some form of strength work or risk developing problems down the track. Which could eventually lead to no more cycling!
Walking is one of those movements we all take for granted. We don't regard this as an exercise, it is just something we all can do. But what happens if you have an accident, injury or suffer with some type of disease that affects your ability to walk correctly? What can you do about it? A severe loss of balance, strength, and confidence to do things that were previously easy and taken for granted can now completely change your way of life. A stretching program will help to some degree but will not be your answer for lack of strength. A strength program will help, but will not be your answer for lack of stability and mobility. What do you do? To answer this is more than just one secret exercise or a one size fits all approach. We have worked for many years in the rehabilitation field (16 years now) and work closely with many health therapists successfully helping people overcome all types of injury, from spinal injury and back pain to ACL reconstruction rehabilitation. But out of all these injuries, the loss of the ability to walk would be right up there with being the hardest and trickiest to work with to find a successful solution for the client. In this article I am going to share with you some of our most successful exercises, strategies, and methods for helping people learn to walk correctly, or in some cases getting out of the wheel chair and learning to walk again!
You might be thinking I don't need to add muscle fast, I just want to get fit and lose a bit of weight. Well adding muscle is the fastest way to a lean and fit body. As long as you have your nutrition under control and get enough quality rest and recovery, these workouts will rip your body into shape in no time! A word of caution however, these programs are designed for people who who have plenty of strength training experience, with no injuries and are already training regularly. If you are a beginner, these workouts maybe too challenging for you at the moment. I suggest building some baseline strength with a focus of improving your skills and techniques across all movements before trying these programs. Read our article Why People Get Hurt When Starting An Exercise Program. Also if you are injured or are coming back after a long break, it would be wise to address your injury first or have a few months of regular training before you try these workouts. For the rest of you buckle in as I am going to give you some tough workouts to try out!