Find out how the team are training for Race Across America. Strength and conditioning has always been an imporant element in my preparation for most cycling races and events. S&C work helps keep the body strong and robust and helps improve bone density, which is especially important in none-weight-bearing sports like cycling.
I’ve found that S&C work also adds a lovely bit of variety into my training – as they say variety is the spice of life. It’s not all bike, bike, bike.
Here are two of my favouite exercises.
Leg Press
Leg Press is a brilliant and pretty safe exercise to do. The motion is controlled by the machine and because of this it is a brilliant exercise to do to build pure strength. It also really isolates the legs.
Deadlifts
The deadlift is a brilliant compound exercise that engages pretty much every muscle in the body. It builds hamstring, quad and glute strength as well as core and back. This can be quite a technical lift and one that should be built up to slowly. It is the exercise that I find has the biggest positive impact on my overall on-bike strength and if I could only do one exercise in the gym it would be deadlifts.