5 Bodyweight Exercises to Keep You Fit All Year
Kickstart your strength journey today with these no-equipment moves.
Every cyclist can benefit from adding a strength training day or two to their calendar, considering strength work helps improve efficiency on the bike. Luckily, building the strength you need for better performance on the road doesn’t have to be overly complicated or extremely expensive.
In fact, you can build strength simply by practicing the bodyweight exercises below. This is especially true if you’re new to resistance training and need to get to know the movements before adding any weight.
These five bodyweight exercises, demonstrated by Charlee Atkins, certified trainer and founder of Le Sweat, target all the muscles that support you in the saddle but that cycling itself doesn’t strengthen. By targeting them, you’ll ward off overuse injuries and set yourself up for a successful season. All you have to do is carve out a little time on your schedule, plus a space the size of a yoga mat.
The Best Bodyweight Exercises for Cyclists
How to use this list: Perform the exercises below circuit-style, going from one move to the next with minimal rest between moves. Do 10 to 20 reps of each move (depending on your strength level). Perform the entire circuit 3 times. Aim to perform the workout 2 to 3 days per week.
You need no equipment, but an exercise mat is optional.
1. Superman
How to do it:
- Lie facedown on a mat, arms fully extended in front of you, palms down.
- Squeeze glutes and simultaneously lift arms, legs, and chest off the floor.
- Hold for 2 seconds.
- Lower back down.
- Repeat.
Make it easier: Start by lifting just one arm and leg at a time, alternating sides throughout the set.
2. Push-Up
Why it works: This move builds strength in your shoulders, chest, and triceps, which support you on the handlebars. It also improves your core strength and stability—both of which help you put more power in your pedals.
How to do it:
- Start in a high plank position, shoulders over wrists, core, glutes, and legs engaged.
- Bend the elbows to lower body to the floor. Elbows should point back at a 45-degree angle.
- Push back up to plank, making sure to keep hips in line with the rest of the body.
Make it easier: If you can’t push up without dipping hips or get chest to floor, drop to knees or place hands on a couch, steady chair, or even the wall.
Make it harder: After you perform the push-up, walk left hand and left foot over to the right so your hands and feet are next to each other. Then step right hand and foot back out so you’re in a wide plank position. Perform another pushup and walk your right hand and foot back to the left, and left hand and foot back to a regular plank position. Repeat, alternating sides throughout the set.
3. Glute Bridge
Why it works: This move strengthens your glutes, which are often neglected during rides, and can help keep you stable in the saddle and eliminate back pain. It also strengthens your core and hips.
How to do it:
- Lie faceup with knees bent and feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart. Rest arms at sides, palms down.
- Keeping thighs parallel to each other, contract glutes and lift hips up toward the ceiling so body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees.
- Hold for 3 seconds.
- Slowly lower hips back down.
- Repeat.
4. Jump Squat
Why it works: This move strengthens the prime movers in your pedal stroke, a.k.a. your quads, while also adding some impact to help build bone strength, which cycling alone doesn’t do.
How to do it:
- Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, toes slightly turned out. Clasp hands in front of chest for balance.
- Send hips back and down and bend knees to squat down until butt drops below knee level.
- Drive the feet into the floor to stand back up, exploding off the floor and jumping straight up.
- Land softly, immediately dropping into another squat.
- Repeat.
5. Curtsy Lunge
Why it works: This move fires up all your glute muscles (maximus, medius, and minimus), which are notoriously weak in cyclists. Strong glutes, particularly the hip abductors, can improve your pedaling mechanics and prevent knee pain.
How to do it:
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, hands clasped at chest in front of you.
- Step right foot back on a diagonal, so feet are diagonal. This is the starting position.
- Bend both knees to lower into a lunge, keeping chest tall and core engaged. Right knee should be in line with left heel and just graze the floor. Left front knee should track over toes.
- Drive through feet to straighten legs and return to starting positiong.
- Repeat for reps.
- Then switch sides.
All images by: Julia Hembree Smith
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