The best gym exercises for cyclists are not a fixed list. They are the movements a rider can perform well, progressively load and recover from while the important bike sessions continue to improve.
That is less clickable than “the only eight exercises you need,” but it is more honest. The newest cyclist-only review supports heavy strength training as a category. It does not rank the Bulgarian split squat above the leg press, prove that single-leg training transfers better or identify one ideal repetition range for every rider.
The answer in 30 seconds
| Need | Practical exercise options | Evidence boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Knee-dominant strength | Goblet squat, split squat, step-up, leg press | No named movement is mandatory. |
| Hip-dominant strength | Romanian deadlift, trap-bar deadlift, hip thrust, machine hinge | Choose by competence, equipment and symptoms. |
| Single-leg capacity | Split squat, step-up, supported single-leg hinge | Useful when it serves a need; not proven superior from resemblance alone. |
| Calf and ankle strength | Standing or seated calf raise | Add when relevant to the rider's programme or health goals. |
| Upper-body strength | Row, press, pull-down, push-up | Supports whole-body strength; do not promise direct watt transfer. |
| Trunk capacity | Carry, side plank, Pallof press, dead bug | Choose progressable tasks; no core exercise is a guaranteed power fix. |
What the evidence supports
A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis pooled 17 controlled studies with 262 adult endurance cyclists, including 60 women. Programmes lasted 5–25 weeks, used one to three sessions per week and included heavy strength work at 80% of one-repetition maximum or above (PMID 40632222).
Compared with cycling-only controls, the pooled analysis found significant effects for cycling efficiency, anaerobic power and cycling performance. It did not find significant pooled effects for VO2max, power at VO2max, maximal metabolic steady state or anaerobic capacity.
The authors graded the evidence as low certainty. Frequency, programme duration and total sessions did not significantly moderate the outcomes, and the review did not establish the best named exercise, session template or periodisation method.
That gives Roadman a clear boundary: provide a practical starting framework, label it as such and stop pretending the exercise list itself came from the meta-analysis.
How to choose a knee-dominant exercise
The goal is to develop force through knee and hip extension using a movement the rider can control and progress.
Valid choices include:
- a goblet, front or back squat;
- a split squat or reverse lunge;
- a step-up; and
- a bilateral or single-leg press.
A free-weight squat requires more balance and technical control. A leg press can let a rider load the legs while reducing those demands. A split squat introduces unilateral control but can be limited by balance before the target muscles are meaningfully loaded.
None of those facts creates a universal winner. Select the variant whose limiting factor matches the goal.
How to choose a hip-dominant exercise
Useful options include:
- Romanian deadlift;
- trap-bar deadlift;
- hip thrust or bridge;
- supported single-leg hinge; and
- an appropriate machine hinge or extension.
Do not choose a hinge because someone says it mirrors the bottom of the pedal stroke. Choose it because the programme needs hip-dominant strength and the rider can perform and progress that version safely.
Electromyography from one exercise comparison does not prove superior cycling performance. Muscle activation is a mechanism clue, not a race result.
Is single-leg work better for cyclists?
It can be useful. It is not automatically superior.
Cycling alternates legs, but visual similarity does not prove transfer. Unilateral movements can expose side-to-side control, reduce the total external load needed for a hard set and provide useful variety. Bilateral or machine movements can allow more stable force production and easier progression.
The correct question is not “which looks most like pedalling?” It is “which develops the intended quality without another constraint ending the set first?”
Use the leg-day guide for the wider question of whether cycling already supplies the stimulus and how to schedule lifting around rides.
Adaptable A/B gym routine
This is a Roadman starting framework. It is not a package tested by the meta-analysis.
Session A
| Slot | Choose one | Starting approach |
|---|---|---|
| Knee-dominant | Squat, split squat or leg press | 2–3 controlled work sets |
| Hip-dominant | Romanian deadlift, trap-bar or machine hinge | 2–3 controlled work sets |
| Upper-body pull | Row or pull-down | 2 work sets |
| Trunk | Carry, side plank or Pallof press | 2 work sets |
Session B
| Slot | Choose one | Starting approach |
|---|---|---|
| Knee-dominant | Step-up, reverse lunge or another squat/press variant | 2–3 controlled work sets |
| Hip-dominant | Hip thrust, bridge or supported hinge | 2–3 controlled work sets |
| Upper-body push | Push-up or press | 2 work sets |
| Calf or trunk | Calf raise, dead bug or carry | 2 work sets |
Beginners should first earn the movement and finish with several technically sound repetitions available. Experienced lifters can progress toward the heavy loading represented in the cyclist research when it fits the goal and can be supervised or executed competently.
Add load, repetitions or a set gradually. Do not increase all three at the same time. Record what happens to the next priority ride.
Sets, repetitions and training to failure
The cycling review's heavy-strength definition does not mean every exercise must use the same repetition bracket. Nor does it mean a new lifter should test a one-repetition maximum.
The old version of this page promised that 6–10 repetitions build strength without hypertrophy. That boundary does not exist. Strength and muscle-size responses overlap, and training volume, proximity to failure, nutrition, experience and individual biology all contribute.
A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis of 20 studies and 556 healthy adults found non-failure resistance training as effective for most measured adaptations and slightly superior for dynamic strength (PMID 42410632). It was not cyclist-specific, but it shows that exhausting every set is unnecessary.
Use sound technique and repeatable progression as the set endpoint. When a cyclist must choose between one more ugly repetition and tomorrow's key ride, the extra repetition has to justify its cost.
Will these exercises add bulk?
Not necessarily. Zero mass gain cannot be promised either.
In a small controlled study, nine elite cyclists who combined endurance and heavy strength training for 25 weeks increased lower-body lean mass alongside several strength, power and cycling-performance measures. The cycling-only control group did not; neither group changed VO2max (PMID 24862305).
That study cannot predict an individual's response. Monitor body mass if power-to-weight matters and judge the block by both gym and cycling outcomes.
Where the gym sessions fit
Protect races, key intervals and long rides first. Avoid unfamiliar or high-fatigue lifting immediately before them.
A 2026 umbrella review of 17 concurrent-training meta-analyses found that combined endurance and resistance training can improve both qualities in recreationally trained participants. It did not establish a decisive universal sequence rule, and data from highly trained and elite athletes remained scarce (PMID 41762427).
The practical choices are:
- separate demanding sessions when strength quality or cycling quality falls;
- put the priority session first when both share a day;
- keep the following recovery genuinely easy; and
- adjust the arrangement from completed quality, soreness, symptoms and recovery.
No fixed six-, 24-, 48- or 72-hour rule fits every exercise dose and every cyclist.
Exercises that do not need banning
Leg extensions and hamstring curls. They may be useful when a programme needs accessible local loading or when a clinician uses them in rehabilitation. They are not automatically “junk.”
Machines. They can reduce technical and balance demands. That can be an advantage, not a weakness.
Bilateral lifts. They can develop force efficiently. Cycling's alternating action does not invalidate them.
Upper-body work. It serves general strength and riding-position demands, even when no direct watt gain is claimed.
Core flexion. No movement category is morally wrong. Select trunk work for the actual task and the rider rather than repeating a social-media hierarchy.
How to judge whether the routine transfers
Track:
- one or two repeatable strength outcomes;
- a cycling performance measure linked to the rider's goal;
- completion and quality of priority rides;
- body mass if power-to-weight matters; and
- fatigue, soreness, pain and other recovery signals.
A stronger split squat proves a stronger split squat. Claim cycling transfer only when a cycling outcome changes too.
If pain, injury rehabilitation, osteoporosis risk or another medical condition affects exercise selection, use an appropriately qualified clinician or strength professional. This guide does not diagnose or prescribe rehabilitation.
Which Roadman page should you use?
- Use this guide for gym exercise selection and a routine framework.
- Use leg day for cyclists for whether cycling counts and when to ride after lifting.
- Use the strength training guide for the broad evidence, effect sizes and periodisation boundaries.
- Use the free cycling strength session planner for placing one or two available gym windows around key and long rides.
- Use Derek Teel's exercise interview guide for a named coach's approach, not a universal research ranking.
- Use the 12-week beginner plan for progressive implementation.
- Use the paid 12-week cycling strength training course for a fixed, self-guided programme with demonstrations and workout tracking.
Need the routine placed around your real rides? Roadman's upcoming iPhone app will choose a 30, 45 or 60-minute cyclist-specific strength session, protect the important bike days and show why progression changed. Explore the Roadman strength and recovery app and join early access.
Sources and review notes
- Heavy strength training in endurance cyclists: systematic review and meta-analysis (PMID 40632222)
- Failure versus non-failure resistance training: systematic review and meta-analysis (PMID 42410632)
- Concurrent training: umbrella review of meta-analyses (PMID 41762427)
- Heavy strength training in elite cyclists: 25-week controlled study (PMID 24862305)
This page was reviewed on 26 August 2026. The review covered the cycling-performance evidence, certainty rating, exercise-selection boundary, set-endpoint claim, body-mass claim, scheduling claim and the difference between a practical routine and a research-proven protocol.
