5 core workout exercises for cycling you can do from home
Based on my daily yoga routine, for sure I’m spending a proper amount of time training and maintaining my core strength. Nevertheless, when the weather isn’t that inviting to ride bikes that much during wintertime, I love to do some extra workouts specifically targeted on my core.
Building a solid core will enable you to transfer more power on the bike while keeping everything stable and still. It ensures you will be able to ride longer, more efficiently, and more comfortably. Besides, a strong core will also prevent poor casual posture, which can cause back pain and all kinds of inconveniences and even injuries.
As because I noticed that this blog post about training the gluteus medius attracts quite a lot of visits, this core workout post might be a nice additional one.
The EXERCISEs
My physiotherapist learned me these 5 simple home exercises to improve my core strength fast and effectively. It definitely had a quick and huge impact and up to today these are exercises that I mainly do off-season. Carve out just 10 minutes for this little workout for about two days a week. The results in terms of pedal efficiency, power transfer, and overall ease will not go unnoticed after just a few weeks. Promise!
Let’s get to it!
#1 - front plank with walkouts
Lay down on your belly. Elbows in line with your shoulders, hands flat on the ground. Squeeze your abdominals and glutes. Keep elbows in two parallel lines, straight forward. Then push up on your toes and elbows. Keep squeezing your abdominals from your navel. And keep squeezing your glutes! No sagging! Neutral spine holding one long line from the top of your head to your ankles.
Hold for a minute. Can’t do that? Pause in between and let the total planking be a minute.
Want to go more advanced? Come up on your hands and slowly walk your hands out in front. As far as you can, but, you must be able to maintain a neutral spine! Slowly walk front and back for a minute.
#2 - bridge
Lay down on your back. Knees up and feet flat on the ground so you can almost touch your heels with your middle finger.
First, activate your glutes, keep your feet flat on the ground. Now move your cross up in the air. Keep your glutes tight. Hold for a minute.
Want to go more advanced? Stretch out one leg in front for 30 seconds. No tilting! Then the other leg in front for 30 seconds.
#3 - side plank
Lay down on your side. Feet on top of each other. Push up on your arm holding it 90 degrees. Keep your sideline straight from ear to ankle. All the way down. The key here is to compress yourself as hard as you can. Squeeze your stomach. Squeeze your glutes. Squeeze your legs.
You can hold your free hand on your side, or stretch your arm out to the ceiling.
Hold for 30 seconds. When that gets easier, build up to a minute.
Switch sides and repeat on your other side.
#4 - back extension
Lay down on your belly. Elbows down and back on your side. Feet on the ground with toes facing the floor. Keep your knees together. Move your upper body up while keeping your glutes tight.
Hold for 30 seconds. Build up to a minute.
Want to go more advanced? Stretch out your arms straight out in front while holding.
#5 - bird dog rotations
Begin on knees and hands. Tabletop position as to how it’s called in yoga. Maintain a neutral spine by engaging your abdominals. Draw your shoulder blades together.
Now, tilt your hips slightly to float your left knee off the floor. Lift your left knee out to the left side as high as you can without tilting. From here, lift your right hand and bend your right elbow to a right angle. Forearm parallel to the floor. Hold for 30 seconds. Inhale deeply, exhale deeply.
Switch to your right knee and left arm and repeat on your other side.
final notes
My physiotherapist learned me a lot of these stabilize exercises as he was not a big fan of the crunching exercises. He told me the abs are basically meant to stabilize the spine. Not flex it.
Not telling you that you shouldn’t do any crunch type of exercises. But these so-called isometric exercises are really useful for improving your (riding) posture by effectively targetting strengthening and stabilizing.
Hope you like it. Feel free to pay it forward, and/or to drop a comment below.