Cross-Training for Cycling: What to Do on Days Off
Cycling on a regular basis has many great health benefits, from strengthening your cardiovascular system to increasing muscular strength, building aerobic endurance, and promoting good mental health and wellbeing. Even though cycling has numerous health benefits, it’s beneficial to add other activities to help you reach your greatest cycling and health potential.
Cycling is a low-impact exercise that helps develop very specific muscle groups. Since cycling targets specific muscle groups, it’s important to add exercises that improve core strength, upper body strength, general mobility, and bone density. Developing these areas can have a significant positive impact on cycling performance. Neglecting these areas can sometimes lead to injuries or setbacks, which we want to avoid.
Add these activities during the off-season and a few days a week during the season to help improve your cycling performance and overall health!
In-Season and Off-Day Activities
Whether you’re a competitive cyclist aiming for peak performance or a recreational rider looking to stay fit and enjoy the ride, the right exercises can make all the difference. As the cycling season progresses, maintaining and enhancing your fitness levels becomes crucial to staying ahead of the game and avoiding injuries. Here are examples of how you can stay in your best condition through the entire season.
Register for our 2024 Gran Fondo Here.
Off-Season Activities
As the cycling season winds down, it’s time to shift focus and prepare for the months ahead with off-season training. The off-season is the perfect opportunity to lay the groundwork for future success, allowing your body to recover from the demands of in-season riding while building the strength, flexibility, and endurance needed for peak performance next year. Here are ways you can continue to maintain your strength and enter next season ready to go!
Incorporate these exercises into your schedule to help develop functional core strength, upper body strength, general mobility, and bone density. Adding these exercises will not only improve your cycling performance but also enhance your overall health! Looking for a way to stay fit for a cause? Learn more about Pedal for Alzheimer’s today!
Feehery is a professional crit and road race cyclist who has raced in the USA Professional Cycling Championship for the past ten years. He has won multiple stages, been on the overall podium eight times and won the overall two times in the ten-day crit-racing series, Intelligentsia Cup Chicago. He currently races for the Miami Blazers and uses his global reach to share the mission of Pedal for Alzheimer’s. Feehery won his first National Championship in the overall and crit at the Collegiate Road National Championships in Richmond, Va. He also placed third in the 2016 Tour of Fuzhou and fourth in the 2015 Delta Road Race. Over his professional cycling career, Feehery has over 50 professional wins.
