Strengthen Your Legs for a Better Cycling Experience

Cycling

Cycling is one of the essential exercises that work out our entire body. In recent years, cycling has seen a boom. Gone are the days when there used to be only one type of cycle; now, not only do we have stationary bikes, which provide us with the comfort of working out from home, but we also have bicycles that suit everyone’s riding styles. We have mountain bikes for off-roading purposes, road bicycles for commuting within the cities and on paved surfaces, as well as hybrid bicycles, which are great not just for paved roads but for off-roading as well. We also have electric bicycles that are quite futuristic and are garnering a lot of attention across the globe. While it is important to pick the right bicycle as per your preference of riding, it is also essential for us to strengthen our bodies for a better cycling experience.

Cycling is an immensely beneficial exercise when it comes to the lower part of our bodies. Therefore, it is important that we strengthen our legs for a better cycling experience. Here we have five important points that will help you strengthen your legs. Let’s go:

1. Practice endurance: Endurance is a crucial activity because it helps develop stamina. It is important that our legs have the stamina to cycle for long durations as it is the ultimate test of the strength within them. One of the easiest ways to strengthen our legs for a better cycling experience is to slowly develop our stamina on the bicycle. Start cycling at a low intensity, and once your legs are warmed up, develop the speed to moderate intensity. Maintain the moderate intensity for a certain amount of time but stop or reduce to a low intensity once your legs start to cramp or feel fatigued. Maintaining a moderate intensity is important as it is the ultimate test of our strength. If you can cycle at a moderate intensity for 10 minutes, then strive to increase the duration slowly and steadily. Remember, endurance is directly proportional to consistency. The more consistent you are with your cycling, the better your endurance will be. You should also invest in a good quality bicycle, and the Endurance 700C by Ninety One Cycles is an exquisite bicycle that will improve your overall performance on the roads.
2. Strengthening is key: Our muscles need to be strong to be able to perform well on the bicycle. There are a lot of lower body exercises that can help us strengthen our muscles. Exercises like Bulgarian squats, standard squats, lunges, split squats, weighted squats, and glute bridges are a few examples of strength exercises that can be included in our routines. We can elevate the resistance of these exercises by introducing dumbbells, kettlebells, and even resistance bands. Pick three to four exercises that work the lower body efficiently and practice them at least three to four times every week.
3. Mobility plays an important role: Mobility plays an important role in elevating the overall cycling experience; while the cycling benefits for legs are many, an unplanned approach to the activity can wreak havoc upon our joints. Make sure that you are doing mobility exercises that work your sacroiliac joint, knees, ankles, hips, and entire pelvis. Our joints need to be fluid and smooth to truly enjoy the cycling experience. Painful joints and bones are not pleasant and often indicate an underlying problem. If the problem persists despite mobility exercises, then you must visit a doctor.
4. Stretching is essential: You have done your endurance, and you have performed your strength training sets as well. Now it is time that you spend some time stretching. Stretching helps with absorbing the beautiful benefits of your exercise. Our muscles love stretching, and therefore a cool-down routine after your workout will definitely help you in wrapping up the entire routine. Stretching also starts the essential process of recovery. You can also include a short yoga routine that focuses on your lower body. Leg strengthening exercises for cycling, along with important stretches, will truly give you amazing benefits.
5. Recovery shouldn’t be compromised: As mentioned in the point before, recovery is important for our bodies. Remember to take recovery days in your week. Recovery not only includes relaxing and taking an off from our workouts, but it also includes eating a good diet throughout the week and consuming lots of fluids. Recovery also includes sleeping on time and not compromising on recuperation. If we truly want to see the benefits of our exercise, we must focus on all aspects of a workout.

We hope that the tips above will help you get the most out of your exercise. Remember, strengthening our legs takes time. There will be days when we will be too tired to work out, or our muscles will be cramping, but we must still be disciplined in our approach.