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Any general exercises you could recommend that can be done in the office or at home that will improve my cycling prowess?
Other than cycling/walking I don't really exercise and would like some handy things I could do while watching TV/waiting for the kettle to boil.
Squats, traditionally. But I do stretches, makes me look like a total weirdo but seems to help un-knot me.
How did they film that without smirking all the time? Thank you, that's made my morning. Anything less phallic/more office friendly?
Regards the squats. Is it a case of as many as possible or slow/hold that will turn me into a cycling god?
Just ride more (commute).
The reason cycling is so hard is it's so easy, which means the people that are good at it will do it for 8 hours a day to get better. Cyclists tend not to cross train because cycling is the simplest, easiest, lowest impact way to get better at cycling.
Pilates. Get booked in!
Do you mean cycling or do you mean mountain biking?
Pilates here as well although you'll need some coaching for the basics as it is subtle. "If it easy, you are probably doing it wrong".
I mean cycling (road and mtb).
I've upped my riding from twice a week if i'm lucky to 5 days including the commute (24 mile commute) and am seeing the returns. Would not have considered feeling good after a 60 miles road ride but felt fantastic the other weekend.
Will be getting a turbo trainer shortly but feel I could do more and the office time is the only spare time I have. Spare is thw wrong word but I'm my own boss and the only one in the office so I can do what the hell I like while i'm here (types while naked).
EDIT: I like the idea of Pilates classes and having a mother in law who teaches is probably a good start (she lives in Australia but over for a month in July so will pick up some good tips).
I mean cycling (road and mtb).
The fitness required for going downhill on a mountain bike is completely different to the fitness for pedalling a road bike or up a fireroad. Stretching is very good for both though!
The fitness required for going downhill on a mountain bike is completely different to the fitness for pedalling a road bike or up a fireroad.
True, i'm just as knackered sometimes after going down a rocky section as going up it.
If you ignore the Americanisms there's some good (free as well as paid) stuff here:
My two recent strategies are sitting on the floor at some point in some evenings so I do stretching and deadlifts (although even for a medium-sized person like me it requires quite a stack of weights!)
If you don't have any gear I'd get a couple of kettlebells and try some of the kettlebell workouts - just working on the Turkish Get Up will give a lot of head to toe strength and stability.
pilates, stretching, concept 2, single speeding
find all four useful.
that said not feeling that fit right now.
I've found spin and circuit training with alot of squat-style exercise content to be hugely benefitcial for cycling. I'm pushing bigger gears so speed is up, recovery is better and my endurance/overall fitness is up. I'm doing less on-bike riding than last year, but much fitter and better, not just on the bike but in everything.
Overtime
Carefull you don't do too much, you only get fitter when you're recovering, all the training upto that point is just the instructions to the body as to what it should be addapting to. So you might be better being more structured on the commute (2x20, 4x10, sprints, etc) then taking it really easy one week each month.
Commuting to work helps a lot
At home, get some weights and try:
Bent over rows
Deadlifts
Squats
Core exercises
Post-ride stretching - British Cycling has some good cycling-specific suggestions
Yoga for flexibility and core strength
To be strong up hills, ride a lot uphill!
if you havent got weights;
press ups
plank/side plank
single leg bridge
single leg squat
reverse lunge
I agree with the person that is not a spoon.
Squats - a combo of both high rep low weights and low reps high weight depending on what type of riding you actually want to improve. Pilates, Yoga and stretching are all important.
Work on core strength as well, like stretching it's often overlooked by cyclists who often just concentrate on leg strength at the expense of balancing out their muscle groups.
Combine all of that with riding your bike, chuck in some circuits and general CV improvement.
Turbo/rollers. And what TINAS said.
Northwind plus 1