Strength & ConditioningAnswer

WHY DO CYCLISTS NEED SINGLE-LEG WORK?

By Anthony WalshRoadman CyclingUpdated 26 May 2026

ANSWER

Cycling is mechanically a single-leg sport — each leg pushes independently through the pedal stroke. Single-leg exercises expose and fix the left-right strength imbalances that bilateral squats hide, and they load the hip stabilisers and glutes in the pattern cycling actually demands. 4 exercises cover it: Bulgarian split squat, single-leg Romanian deadlift, single-leg hip thrust, and step-up. These form the core of any cycling-specific strength programme.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Bilateral exercises like back squats hide left-right imbalances that single-leg work exposes and fixes.
The pedal stroke is a single-leg movement pattern — single-leg exercises are directly specific to it.
Glute and hip stability on one leg directly correlates with power transmission and injury resilience.
Most cyclists have a measurable strength difference between legs — single-leg work fixes this over 8–12 weeks.

WHO THIS IS FOR

IS THIS YOU?

The cyclist who does bilateral squats but feels asymmetric on the bike

One leg feels stronger or you pull on the bars to compensate — single-leg work will fix the underlying cause.

The rider who keeps getting one-sided knee or hip pain

Recurring one-sided pain often has a strength imbalance at its root. Single-leg strength work addresses this more directly than bilateral gym work.

THE ROADMAN VIEW

Here is something you can test right now: stand on one leg with your eyes closed for 30 seconds. Then try the other. Most cyclists find one side wobbles significantly more than the other. That asymmetry is on the bike too — it's just hidden by the fact that both pedals are moving and your brain is compensating.

Bilateral exercises like leg presses and back squats let the stronger side do a disproportionate share of the work. You can squat 100kg with one leg doing 60% of it and never know. Single-leg exercises make that impossible — the weaker leg has nowhere to hide, and it has to do the work.

Derek Teel and Anthony have talked through this in detail on the podcast. The consistent finding from cyclists who add single-leg work to their programme: within 8–12 weeks, the left-right imbalance narrows. The secondary effect is often a reduction in one-sided knee and hip pain that the rider had attributed to bike fit.

EXPERT EVIDENCE

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY

Derek TeelStrength coach for cyclists (Dialed Health)
Every cyclist I test has a measurable strength difference between their dominant and non-dominant leg. Bilateral exercises mask this completely. Single-leg work doesn't just expose the imbalance — it's the mechanism that fixes it. Within a 12-week block, most riders can bring that gap from 15–20% down to under 10%.
Hear it: The Best Exercises For Cyclists (Strength Training)
Roadman Cycling — cycling leg dayRoadman Cycling — single-leg strength for cyclists
The case for single-leg exercises in a cycling programme is rooted in specificity. The pedal stroke is a unilateral movement. Training it bilaterally is training an adjacent pattern — useful as a foundation, but not the finished product.
Hear it: I Tried Gym And Bike For 30 Days – The Results Shocked Me

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

DO THIS WEEK

Test your left-right imbalance before starting
Do a split squat with bodyweight, 8 reps on each leg. The leg where the last 2 reps feel harder, or where the movement feels less controlled, is your weaker side. Start that leg first in every single-leg exercise and do it last too if you have the capacity.
Build a single-leg session around 4 movements
Bulgarian split squat (front leg loaded), single-leg Romanian deadlift (hip hinge on one leg), single-leg hip thrust (glute isolation), step-up with knee drive. Three sets of 8 each side. This is a complete single-leg session.
Don't add extra sets to the weaker side
Tempting, but counterproductive. Do equal reps on both sides to maintain neurological balance. The weaker side gets a higher relative stimulus automatically — it works harder for the same number of reps.

COMMON MISTAKES

WHAT CYCLISTS GET WRONG

MISTAKERelying only on bilateral exercises and assuming both legs are equal.
FIXTest and address single-leg strength separately. Bilateral exercises can mask up to 20% left-right difference.
MISTAKEStopping when the balance test is hard instead of working through it.
FIXIf single-leg balance is poor, that's information — it tells you there's a hip stability weakness that needs work. Use a hand support while you build balance, but keep the single-leg loading.
MISTAKEDoing single-leg exercises at a weight that's too light to stimulate adaptation.
FIXBodyweight single-leg exercises are a starting point. Add dumbbells once you can do 10 clean reps on each side. The loading needs to be meaningful to drive strength.

FAQ

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is the best single-leg exercise for cyclists?

Bulgarian split squat is the most direct — it loads the front leg through a range of motion that closely mirrors the power phase of the pedal stroke. It also loads hip flexor flexibility and glute activation in the rear leg. Start here.

How do I know if I have a left-right strength imbalance?

A simple split squat test on each leg reveals it. If one side wobbles, fatigues earlier, or requires more upper body compensation, that's the weaker leg. A power meter on the bike can also show this: look at left/right balance on long efforts.

Can single-leg exercises fix cycling knee pain?

Frequently, yes. Anterior knee pain in cyclists often comes from quad dominance and glute underactivation on the affected leg. Single-leg hip thrusts and split squats retrain the glute to fire, redistributing load away from the knee.

Are step-ups a good cycling exercise?

Yes — step-ups with knee drive closely replicate the cycling motion. They build single-leg strength and hip drive in a pattern that transfers directly to power output on the pedal stroke.

How long does it take to fix a left-right imbalance?

With two consistent single-leg sessions per week, most cyclists see measurable improvement in 8–12 weeks. Complete correction of a 15–20% imbalance typically takes 16–24 weeks. The stronger leg will maintain while the weaker catches up.

RELATED EPISODES

HEAR THE CONVERSATIONS

The Best Exercises For Cyclists (Strength Training)

Strength Training For Cycling Simplified | Derek Teel

I Tried Gym And Bike For 30 Days – The Results Shocked Me