THE SHORT ANSWER
Courtney Conley, foot health specialist, founder of gait happens, has appeared on the Roadman Cycling Podcast. Here's where Conley lands on strength training for cyclists. The positions below are drawn from those conversations, quoted directly.
WHO IS COURTNEY CONLEY?
Dr Courtney Conley is the chiropractor and foot health specialist behind Gait Happens — the most-cited modern resource on the connection between footwear, foot dexterity and performance. Cycling is brutal on feet (narrow toe-box race shoes, rigid soles, fixed cleat positions) and most riders dismiss the resulting forefoot pain as a fit issue rather than a foot-mechanics issue. Her work matters because it gives amateurs a low-cost, off-the-bike intervention that produces measurable strength and sensory gains without changing a single watt of training.
CONLEY ON STRENGTH TRAINING
Conley’s key positions on strength training for cyclists.
- Wearing minimalist wide-toe shoes daily produced strength gains nearly equivalent to dedicated foot-strength exercises in research — footwear is the underrated intervention.
IN CONLEY’S OWN WORDS
Verbatim from Courtney Conley’s appearances on the podcast.
“if you put a very strong foot into a shoe like a super shoe right it's going to give me 2 to 4% running economy now I'm stacking I got a strong foot I got a strong C and I'm putting it on top of a shoe that's going to cheat the system a little bit that's how I like to view that rather than saying I'm going to strictly rely on extrinsic modifications to improve my performance”
“you can't build a jet engine on a paper airplane so if you're getting bigger and stronger and bigger and stronger but you're not paying attention to the foundation of where all that weight and load is going you're going to run into problems”
“if you can't do things like that it's toe dexterity it lights up part of our homunculus a part of our brain so I always explain it to my patients it's like having static on a phone like there's no clear message going from your foot to your brain which means that the motor output is going to be affected”
HEAR IT ON THE PODCAST
Episodes where Courtney Conley covers strength training for cyclists and related ground.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
What does Courtney Conley say about strength training for cyclists?
Courtney Conley, foot health specialist, founder of gait happens, has appeared on the Roadman Cycling Podcast. Here's where Conley lands on strength training for cyclists. The positions below are drawn from those conversations, quoted directly.
What is Conley's main point on strength training?
Wearing minimalist wide-toe shoes daily produced strength gains nearly equivalent to dedicated foot-strength exercises in research — footwear is the underrated intervention.
Which Roadman Cycling Podcast episodes cover Courtney Conley on strength training?
Conley discusses strength training for cyclists in this episode: "The Surprising Downside of Incorrect Cycling Shoes | Courtney Conley".
MORE FROM CONLEY
EXPLORE THE TOPIC
Strength & Conditioning— The Complete Guide →OTHER EXPERTS ON STRENGTH TRAINING