Why You Need Strength Training to Stay on Your Bike Longer

Cycling has so many great benefits for our overall health and mental fitness. Unfortunately, no matter how much we love our bike, it isn’t the only thing that will keep us strong, healthy and active for the rest of our lives. Not only that, at some point we’re going to peak in our performance on the bike and just riding more isn’t going to help us go to the next level or keep us from injury.

Here are just a couple of reasons why the bike is not enough:

Bone Health

As women, we know that we have a great risk for osteoporosis. Research is now showing that even non-elite cyclists who spend a significant amount of time cycling have a lower bone density. This means if you’ve been been using cycling as your primary source of regular exercise for many years, you could be at great risk for osteoporosis.

Mobility

Although cycling offers the benefit of being easier on the joints, it also keeps us in a seated position for long periods of time. This leads to tight hip flexors. Your hip flexors are the group of muscles toward the front of the hip. They help you move or flex your leg and knee toward your body. Tight hip flexors can lead to weak glutes which cause all kinds of problems, including low back pain. According to the Chief of Orthopedics at Northside Hospital, mobility plays a larger role in our ability to age in a healthy way than any other single factor.

The good news is we can counter these effects by adding a simple strength training routine to our week. If you’re first thought, was, ‘I hate strength training’, then you’re not alone. Strength training evokes images of hours at the gym on boring machines, barbells, or even Crossfit competitions. Who has another 3 hours to add to their schedule per week plus the expense of a gym membership and dealing with the gym culture? There’s a reason you ride your bike outside right?

It doesn’t take much to build a great strength training routine. Although I’ve done everything from Olympic weightlifting to Bootcamp to TRX over the years, with my current focus and busy schedule, I’m going back to my first love when it comes to strength training - kettlebells.

Why the kettlebell? The kettlebell is a unique piece of equipment in that it allows you to do both power and strength movements, meaning there are kettlebell exercises that will allow you to get your heart rate up and build your aerobic endurance while building strength or you can also use the kettlebell for pure strength. Because of the way, it’s weighted, it’s always requiring the small tendons around our joints to be working, giving us even greater benefits each time we use the bell. Finally, to get a really great workout, you only need 1-3 Kettlebells and they are easy to store.

I practice a style of Kettlebells called Russian Kettlebell. The primary differences you’ll experience between Russian and American style is the level of the kettlebell swing and the emphasis on the posterior chain (glutes and hamstrings) for the power move. The Russian Kettlebell style is also focused on breathing and the ability to hold and release tension in your body - both skills that have a great crossover into cycling. Finally, Russian Kettlebell is focused on mobility, making sure you move well and open up parts of your body that are tight. Within any strength workout, you’ll also be working your mobility.

Maybe the best reason to practice Kettlebells, you can get a great full-body workout in about 18-minutes or less. Now, here is an important note. You really need an expert to teach you the dynamic movements - the Kettlebell swing, clean and snatch. I recommend finding someone who has completed the RKC or Strong First Certification. If you don’t perform these movements properly, you can get hurt. And I’ve seen a lot of cringe-worthy examples of these movements at my local gym. If you’re going to purchase a set of Kettlebells, I suggest a 20 or 25 pound (12kg) bell, a 36-pound bell (16kg) , and a 53-pound bell (24kg) in that order. Kettlebells are designed to work the big muscle groups so anything less than a 20 or 25-pound bell isn’t going to offer you a lot of benefits.

To finish setting up your home kettlebell gym, you might want a yoga mat. That’s it, you’ve got everything you need.

The other thing that makes Kettlebell work very easy to do at home is that Kettlebells are practiced barefoot. Yep, that’s right. You will make the most out of your kettlebell practice when your foot is grounded on the floor - similar to yoga. The first question I always get is, what happens if I drop it on my foot? After teaching over 100 Kettlebell classes, I’ve never seen that happen and if it does, a tennis shoe isn’t really going to help you when you drop 36 pounds of metal onto your foot.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting a series of articles and videos with some of my favorite power workouts using the kettlebell to help you stay healthy for a lifetime of adventures on the bike!