Strength and mobility exercises are a great way to help avoid injuries and become a better rider. You can do this anywhere, with no special equipment. In Ep2, Vicky shows us some exercises for knees, hamstrings, hips, core and balance. Remember to warm up before you start.
These exercises will work the legs and the flexibility in the hamstrings, also flexibility for the inner part of your thigh. This will help us to have the range of movement and the stability that we need, for the road bike and especially on the mountain bike.
Side Lunge
First-level – keep your hands in front of your chest and your feet wide apart, knees and toes pointing outwards. Bend your knee and lunge down to one side. If it’s easier, you can lift your toes a little bit. Then come back up, before you go down to the other side. This is quite a lot about strength and flexibility on the inside of the thigh and we are working strength on the leg that we flex. Try to get the weight back on your heel. Probably what will happen, is that you’re going to fall forwards a little bit.
Ideally, you should try to do between 10 to 12 repetitions, meaning that you will go from one side to another, 5 or 6 on each leg. We want to add more muscle groups in the different exercises, so we can add some strength and mobility on the shoulders and upper back – try to push your elbows back to maintain a good posture. We go down in the side lunge, and then slowly we just move from one side to another, maintaining a good posture. You choose if you want to keep the foot on the floor or if you want to lift a little bit.
Dynamic Side Lunge and Star
This is a more dynamic lunge. We’re going to work on strength around the knee, which is especially good for the mountain bike, as well as on the road bike when we sit most of the time. We also want to have a stable hip. First of all, we’re going to add the strength, and afterwards we’re going to add a little bit more balance moves and work on the hips and glutes.
Start easy, coming down to the side. Try to stop the movement and come back up quickly. So you brake the movement and explode back up. Try to find the balance, down, brake it and back up fast.
The next level is if you want to start working more on the core. We’re going to add arm and balance movements. We lunge down as before, then add the arms, brake it and come quickly up into a star position. Try to keep your balance. Down, brake the movement and back up fast to the star. The more you can lean over, the more you’re going to feel it around the hip, both on the standing leg and the one that you extend.
The next level is to come down slowly, extend and then add arm and leg movement. Slowly down, control it, explode back up and add movement.
The Leveler
The leveler works a lot on balance, as well as the core, not only the abs, but also the glutes and the back. This exercise will also challenge the flexibility in your hamstrings.
Start standing. Make sure you have a good posture. Now raise your leg and find your balance. When you have your balance, try to extend your leg backwards and your arms forwards until you have a straight line. Square your hips. Hold the position for about 10 seconds and then come back up. If you think it’s hard to find the balance in between, don’t worry. Put your leg down before you start the next one.
What you want to do is to maintain your hips square, meaning that you don’t rotate over on the leg that you’re standing on. Try to square it up and then try to make a straight line. If you are just beginning, it doesn’t necessarily have to be horizontal. A 45 degree angle is fine to start with. The more control and the more flexibility you gain, the further down you can get.
The final challenge – down into the leveler position, raise your leg. Extend backwards. Now, challenge your balance. Tuck your knee and elbows towards the center and extend back out. Maintain the hips square. Four or five repetitions before you come back up for a little break.
Siw Viktoria Johansen is an experienced Fitness and Lifestyle Coach and an Ambassador for Liv Cycling. She rides and races MTB and road bikes.
