Upper-body conditioning is more important to cycling than you might think – it can make you fitter, and your rides easier.
Cyclists love cycling. What they don’t feel the love for is picking up a dumbbell… especially for upper-body conditioning. But the upper body is not just about looking good and lugging heavy things around: there are some serious benefits for your cycling, and they’ll make the difference between a good ride and a great one.
The Performance Advantage
If it were possible to temporarily paralyse all your upper-body muscles and then pedal, you wouldn’t produce very much power. The upper body plays an important role in turning the pedals; so the better it’s conditioned, the greater its contribution to performance.
Cyclists should pay attention to their abdominals, obliques, lats, and the muscles around the spine and back. These stabilise the lower body, especially the hips, thighs and knees, while helping to prevent lower-back pain.
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