Strength & Conditioning

FIND THE RIGHT STRENGTH ANSWER

Roadman's evidence and practical library for cyclist strength training: the broad research answer, beginner progression, exercises, masters, in-season work, mobility and safe pain guidance.

50 articles · 12 podcast episodes

THE SHORT ANSWER

Roadman's evidence and practical library for cyclist strength training: the broad research answer, beginner progression, exercises, masters, in-season work, mobility and safe pain guidance.

This is Roadman's strength and conditioning research library for cyclists. Use the canonical strength-training guide for the broad answer. Use this hub to move into a narrower question: beginner progression, exercise selection, masters training, in-season maintenance, mobility or a specific body area.

The evidence supports a measured position. The latest cyclist-only meta-analysis found statistically significant pooled effects for cycling performance, efficiency and anaerobic power, but rated the certainty of evidence as low. It found no significant pooled change in VO2max, power at VO2max, maximal metabolic steady state or anaerobic capacity, and it did not establish one optimal frequency or exercise list (Llanos-Lagos and colleagues).

Start with the broad answer

→ Canonical guide: Strength Training for Cyclists: What Works and How Often

It covers:

what the 17-study, 262-participant meta-analysis found;
what “heavy” meant in the review;
why two sessions is a practical starting point rather than a proven minimum;
adaptable squat, hinge, single-leg, upper-body and trunk patterns;
scheduling around priority rides; and
the limits of masters, injury-prevention and body-composition claims.

Choose your next question

Your question	Best Roadman resource	Intent boundary
I have never lifted	12-week beginner strength plan	Technique and progressive introduction
Which exercises should I consider?	Gym exercises for cyclists	Movement selection and substitutions
What transfers to the bike?	Gym-to-bike transfer guide	Transfer evidence and measurement
How little can I do?	Minimum effective dose	Time-constrained dose decisions
How should I lift during the season?	In-season strength guide	Volume and scheduling when racing load rises
I am over 50	Strength training for cyclists over 50	Masters-specific progression and recovery
I want a deadlift deep dive	Deadlift guide for cyclists	One exercise family, benefits and limits
I need trunk work	Core training for cyclists	Trunk capacity, not a promise of free watts
I have pain	Cycling knee-pain guide	Safe checks and referral boundaries, not diagnosis

What is supported—and what is not

Supported with low-certainty cyclist-specific evidence: heavy strength training can improve group-level cycling performance, cycling efficiency and anaerobic power.

Not established by that review: exactly two sessions per week; one mandatory list of exercises; automatic FTP or VO2max gains; no change in body mass; injury prevention; or a special effect in a masters-only subgroup.

Broader health guidance: WHO recommends adults, including older adults, perform muscle-strengthening activity involving major muscle groups on two or more days per week. This is a public-health recommendation, not proof of the best cycling-performance protocol (WHO guidelines).

Bone health: road cycling does not appear to provide a meaningful osteogenic stimulus on its own. Resistance and impact activity may be relevant, but individual bone-health risk belongs with appropriate clinical assessment (cycling and bone-health review).

A simple decision framework

Name the goal. General health, maximal strength, short-power support, rehab and pain management are different jobs.
Protect the bike priority. A gym plan that repeatedly ruins the event-specific sessions is overdosed or badly placed.
Choose trainable movements. Prefer versions you can perform through a controlled range and progress without pain or form failure.
Start below your recovery ceiling. Add load or volume only when both gym and bike quality remain stable.
Measure transfer. A stronger lift proves the lift improved. Use a repeatable cycling measure to test whether it helped the bike.

Masters cyclists

Strength work becomes important in the broader training picture as riders age, but “older” does not prescribe one rep range. Training history, health, bone risk, recovery and current cycling load matter more than a birthday alone.

Start at the masters cycling knowledge hub for training, recovery and testing after 40. Use the over-50 strength guide for the narrower gym question.

Podcast expertise and coaching context

Derek Teel's Roadman episode gives a cycling strength coach's practical view on finding time, changing the dose through the season and monitoring recovery. Treat coach experience as useful practice evidence, distinct from a controlled trial.

If you want the strength and cycling loads managed as one programme, Roadman online cycling coaching integrates both around the rider's event, available time and response.

Editorial standard

Roadman separates pooled research, individual studies, expert opinion and its own coaching framework. Pages in this library should link claims to the strongest available source, state when evidence is indirect, and avoid presenting a single template as settled science.

ARTICLES

Strength & Conditioning12 min read

Ankle Mobility and Calf Strength for Cyclists: Tests and Exercises

A measured guide to ankle range and calf capacity for cyclists—without treating one test number as a diagnosis or promising one exercise will prevent injury.

Strength & Conditioning21 min read

Anti-Rotation Training for Cyclists: The Core Work Your Plank Is Missing

You do your planks. You do your crunches. And your hips still rock side to side during every hard effort. The problem is not core weakness — it is that you are training the wrong plane of stability entirely.

Strength & Conditioning17 min read

Blood Flow Restriction Training for Cyclists: The Research, the Protocols, and When It Actually Makes Sense

A training method that builds muscle with loads your joints will barely notice. Here's what the research says about BFR for cyclists — and the specific protocols worth trying.

Strength & Conditioning22 min read

Core Training for Cyclists: The Complete Guide to What Actually Transfers

You can hold a plank for three minutes and still fall apart on the last climb of every ride. Core training for cyclists is not about six-pack aesthetics — it is about the twenty muscles between your ribs and your pelvis doing their job when your legs are screaming at you to stop.

Strength & Conditioning16 min read

Eccentric Training for Cyclists: Building the Muscle Resilience the Pedal Stroke Misses

The pedal stroke is almost entirely concentric — your muscles shorten under load on the downstroke, and the upstroke is largely passive. That means every ride you do builds a body that is strong in one direction and fragile in the other.

Strength & Conditioning16 min read

Foam Rolling for Cyclists: What Actually Works (And What You Can Skip)

You have seen the foam roller in the corner of the gym. You have probably used it a few times after a long ride, rolling around on the floor without much conviction. Here is what the research says about whether any of that is worth your time.

Strength & Conditioning20 min read

Functional Movement Screening for Cyclists: Find Your Weak Links Before They Find You

You can hold 4 watts per kilogram for an hour but you cannot touch your toes. You can ride a century but you cannot stand on one leg for fifteen seconds. The bike hides your weaknesses — until something breaks.

Strength & Conditioning21 min read

Glute Activation for Cycling Power: The Routine That Changes How You Climb

You have the biggest muscle group in the human body attached to the most powerful joint in the pedal stroke. And for most cyclists, it is barely showing up to work. Here is how to fix that.

Strength & Conditioning16 min read

Grip Strength and Forearm Endurance for Cyclists: The Overlooked Link to Control, Comfort, and Health

Your legs can sustain 250 watts for an hour. Your forearms cannot sustain a firm brake grip for ten minutes of Alpine descent. That mismatch is why grip strength and forearm endurance deserve a place in your training — and why most cyclists never give them one.

Strength & Conditioning17 min read

Hamstring Care for Cyclists: Why Yours Are Tight, Weak, or Both

Your hamstrings do more work on the bike than you think — and less work off it than they need. Here is why cycling creates a specific kind of imbalance, and how to fix it before it becomes a problem.

Recovery24 min read

Hip Mobility for Cyclists: Why Tight Hips Cost You Power and How to Fix Them in 15 Minutes a Day

Your hips are in flexion for eight hours at a desk. Then they go into flexion for two hours on the bike. Then you sit on the sofa. At no point in the day did they move through their full range. And you wonder why your pedal stroke feels like pushing through treacle.

Recovery23 min read

Hip Pain in Cyclists: Five Conditions, Five Self-Assessments, and What Actually Fixes Each One

Your hip hurts. It might be a dull ache after two hours in the saddle, a sharp catch when you clip in, or a stiffness that takes twenty minutes of walking to shift after every ride. The problem is that 'hip pain' is not one thing — it is at least five different conditions, each with different causes and different fixes.

Strength & Conditioning15 min read

Isometric Strength Training for Cyclists: Tendon Health, Blood Pressure, and Protocols That Fit Your Week

You do not need to move a weight to get stronger. Isometric training builds tendon resilience, lowers blood pressure, and slots into a cycling week without creating the fatigue that heavy lifting does.

Strength & Conditioning14 min read

Kettlebell Training for Cyclists: Five Movements, Twenty Minutes, No Gym Required

You know you need to do strength work. You own a gym membership you barely use. One kettlebell, five movements, and twenty minutes twice a week solves the problem most cyclists have been avoiding.

Strength & Conditioning19 min read

Cycling Leg Strength Without a Gym: Bodyweight and Band Exercises That Actually Transfer to the Pedals

You do not need a gym membership to build the leg strength that makes you faster on the bike. A set of resistance bands, a step, and 20 minutes twice a week will do more for your pedal stroke than most riders get from a full gym programme they never stick with.

Strength & Conditioning13 min read

Pilates for Cyclists: Core Stability, Hip Mobility, and the Exercises That Actually Transfer to the Bike

Cycling gives you an engine but robs you of the chassis to support it. Pilates is the most efficient way to rebuild what the bike breaks down — and it takes less time than you think.

Strength & Conditioning18 min read

Plyometric Training for Cyclists: Low-Impact Power Work That Transfers to the Pedals

Heavy lifting builds strength. Plyometrics build the speed at which you can use it. For cyclists chasing sprint finishes and short power bursts, rate of force development matters as much as the force itself.

Recovery16 min read

The 10-Minute Post-Ride Stretching Routine That Keeps You Riding Pain-Free

You cool down, you refuel, you shower. But somewhere between the bike and the sofa, you skip the stretching. And six months later, your hip flexors are so tight you cannot stand up straight after two hours in the saddle.

Strength & Conditioning16 min read

The 10-Minute Pre-Ride Activation Routine That Fixes Your First 20 Minutes

You clip in, roll out, and spend the first twenty minutes wondering why your legs feel like they belong to someone else. The fix is ten minutes of activation before you touch the bike.

Strength & Conditioning16 min read

Proprioception and Balance Training for Cyclists: The Skill You Are Losing Without Knowing It

You can hold 250 watts for an hour. You can clip in and out without thinking. You can descend at 70 km/h with your hands in the drops and your heart rate barely rising. But ask you to stand on one leg with your eyes closed for thirty seconds and there is a decent chance you will wobble, grab a wall, or fall over entirely. That gap is proprioception — and cycling is quietly making it worse.

Strength & Conditioning24 min read

Resistance Band Training for Cyclists: The Strength Programme That Travels With You

A set of resistance bands weighs less than your bidon, fits in a jersey pocket, and delivers a strength stimulus that transfers directly to the pedal stroke. Here is how to use them properly.

Recovery19 min read

Shoulder and Neck Stretches for Cyclist Desk Workers: Breaking the Double-Posture Trap

Eight hours hunched over a keyboard. Two hours hunched over handlebars. Same muscles shortening, same joints compressing, same postural pattern running on repeat. Your neck and shoulders are not tight because you are getting old. They are tight because nothing in your day asks them to do anything else.

Strength & Conditioning20 min read

Shoulder Stability for Cyclists: The Desk-to-Bike Problem and How to Fix It

You sit at a desk for eight hours with your shoulders rounded forward. Then you get on a bike for two hours with your shoulders rounded forward. Two environments, same postural pattern, same muscles shortening and weakening. And then you wonder why your neck locks up at hour three and your shoulders ache for days after a long ride.

Strength & Conditioning20 min read

Single-Leg Exercises for Cyclists: Why Unilateral Training Wins

Cycling is a single-leg sport. Every pedal stroke is a single-leg push. So why do most cyclists who bother with strength work spend their time on two-legged exercises that train a movement pattern they never use on the bike?

Strength & Conditioning16 min read

Year-Round Strength Training for Cyclists: The Seasonal Plan

Most cyclists lift weights for six weeks in November, feel guilty about it by February, and abandon the gym entirely by March. The riders who actually get stronger do the opposite — they never stop, they just change what they do.

Strength & Conditioning17 min read

Upper Body Training for Cyclists: Not About Mass, About Miles

Nobody ever won a race because of their biceps. But plenty of riders have lost time because their shoulders gave out at hour four, their neck locked up on a descent, or their arms were too fatigued to control the bike on rough roads.

Strength & Conditioning18 min read

In-Season Weight Training for Cyclists: Maintaining Strength Without Hurting Bike Performance

You spent the winter building strength. Now the season is here and you are terrified of losing it. Good news — you can maintain those gains on two sessions a week if you programme them correctly.

Recovery17 min read

Yoga for Cyclists: The Complete Guide to Flexibility, Breathing, and Staying on the Bike Longer

You have spent years building an engine. But that engine is housed in a body that can barely touch its toes, cannot rotate its thoracic spine without cracking, and has hip flexors shorter than your stem. Yoga is not the answer to everything. But it is the answer to this.

Strength & Conditioning18 min read

Cycling Strength Training: What Actually Transfers to the Bike (and What Doesn't)

The gym is full of cyclists doing work that never reaches the pedals. Three sets of fifteen on the leg press. Calf raises. Lat pull-downs. Effort spent, adaptation earned, transfer to the bike close to zero. The science of what actually crosses from the weight room to the road is specific, measurable, and largely ignored.

Strength & Conditioning22 min read

The Over-40 Cyclist's Guide to Staying Injury-Free All Season

After 40, injury prevention stops being something you think about after the damage is done. The riders who stay healthy all season aren't lucky — they've built a handful of small habits into their week that take less time than a coffee stop. This is the complete guide to what those habits are and why they work.

Coaching20 min read

Cycling Over 40: The Complete Guide

Forty is not a downhill from here. The science says the rider who trains for the body he has — not the one he had at 28 — gets faster well into his fifties. This is the complete playbook: physiology, training, fuelling, strength, recovery, injury, bike fit, and the mental game. Not done yet.

Strength & Conditioning7 min read

12-Week Strength Training Plan for Cyclists Who Have Never Touched a Gym

You don't need a powerlifting programme. You need stability, then strength, then power — in that order. Here's the 12-week plan built for cyclists who've never set foot in a gym.

Strength & Conditioning12 min read

Glute Activation for Cyclists: Why Your Biggest Muscle Is the One Doing the Least Work

Your glutes should be the engine of every pedal stroke. For most cyclists they're a passenger — overridden by quads and hip flexors that have spent the day at a desk. The fix takes ten minutes a day and changes how every climb feels.

Strength & Conditioning9 min read

Strength Training for Cyclists: The Minimum Effective Dose

Most cycling-specific strength advice fails because it asks too much. The minimum effective dose is two short sessions per week, four cycling-specific patterns, loaded with intent — and the published evidence is clear that this is enough to move the watts.

Strength & Conditioning11 min read

Gym Versus Bike: What 30 Days Of Concurrent Training Actually Did

Two cyclists. One grinds a monster gear at 50 RPM. The other squats heavy at 80% of one-rep max. They both think their method builds power. The research is cleaner than the argument suggests, and the answer is not the one most amateurs assume.

Strength & Conditioning13 min read

Strength Training for Cyclists Over 50

After 50, the riders who keep getting faster are the ones doing structured, cycling-specific strength work. Not bands-only. Not circuits. Meaningful, controlled load through patterns built for cyclists. Here is the protocol that preserves power.

Strength & Conditioning10 min read

Should Cyclists Deadlift? A Roadman Perspective

The deadlift is the most debated exercise in cycling S&C. Here's the honest read — and the cycling-specific posterior-chain work we recommend instead.

Strength & Conditioning10 min read

The 15-Minute Mobility Routine Every Cyclist Needs

Cycling locks you into one position for hours. This 15-minute routine fixes the 4 areas it tightens most.

Strength & Conditioning11 min read

What S&C Coaches Say About Strength Training for Cyclists

The strength training debate in cycling is over. Here's what every S&C expert who's been on the podcast actually recommends.

Strength & Conditioning11 min read

The Best Strength Exercises for Cyclists — Derek Teel

Derek Teel trains endurance athletes for a living. These are the exercises he programmes for cyclists — and the ones he leaves out.

Coaching10 min read

New Study Confirms Strength Training Beats More Miles After 40

A 2025 meta-analysis just reviewed 17 studies covering 262 trained cyclists and found strength training significantly improves cycling performance with zero negative effect on VO2 max. If you're over 40 and only training on the bike, here's what you're missing — and the cycling-specific approach we recommend instead of max-effort barbell work.

Strength & Conditioning9 min read

Strength Training for Triathletes: Bike-Specific Exercises

Triathlon-specific strength isn't bodybuilding. It's resilience training for the aero position, durability for the late-race bike, and force production that transfers to watts.

Strength & Conditioning6 min read

Cycling Core Workout: The 15-Minute Routine That Actually Transfers to the Bike

Crunches don't help you ride faster. Your core's job on the bike is to stabilise, not flex. Here's a 15-minute routine built around the movements that actually transfer to cycling performance.

Strength & Conditioning6 min read

Best Gym Exercises for Cyclists: The Only 8 That Actually Matter

You don't need a 20-exercise gym routine. You need 8 movements done well, programmed correctly, and progressed over time. Here are the only gym exercises that actually matter for cyclists.

Strength & Conditioning6 min read

Should Cyclists Do Leg Day? Yes — But Not the Way You Think

The myth that leg day ruins cycling performance has kept thousands of riders out of the squat rack. The real problem isn't leg training — it's bad programming. Here's how to get it right.

Strength & Conditioning5 min read

Yoga for Cyclists: Does It Actually Help? An Honest Look

Yoga is marketed as a cure-all for cyclists. It does some things brilliantly and fails at others. Here's an honest look at what yoga can and can't do for your cycling.

Recovery11 min read

Cycling Knee Pain: Causes, Safe Checks, and When to Get Help

Cycling knee pain is not a bolt-by-bolt diagnosis. This guide separates what the evidence supports from common fit myths, then gives you a safe order of checks.

Strength & Conditioning11 min read

Stretching for Cyclists: A 10-Minute Evidence-Based Routine

Stretching can improve range of motion, but it does not automatically fix pain, prevent injury or speed recovery. Use this practical routine for the job the evidence supports, then address strength, training load and bike fit when they are the real limiter.

Strength & Conditioning10 min read

Strength Training for Cyclists: What Works and How Often

What the latest cyclist-only meta-analysis actually found, what it did not prove, and how to build a strength plan around your riding.

Coaching8 min read

Cycling Over 50: Evidence-Based Training and Recovery Guide

The ageing cyclist still adapts to training, but the margin for poor recovery gets smaller. This is the evidence-led framework for staying fast after 50.

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MAKING A DECISION?

COMPARISONS

Strength Training vs More Riding Volume

For riders over 35 or those training under 10 hours/week, strength training produces better returns per hour than adding more riding volume. For high-volume riders under 35 with no injury history, more riding still wins.

KEY TERMS

GLOSSARY

Neuromuscular Efficiency Hip Hinge & Posterior Chain (for Cyclists)Squat (for Cyclists)Mobility for Cycling

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COMMON PROBLEMS

Lower Back Pain From Cycling — How to Fix It

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