- Having strong stable glutes, core, shoulders,
and arms can really help you to stay strong
on the bike.
Especially when you're sprinting, riding out of the saddle,
or time trialing.
Now, some cyclists seem to get that strength
just from riding a bike but I always had to work at it.
And since 2007, when I started cycling, I've been doing
a core session given to me by
the English Institute of Sport and I've shown you some
of those exercises in a previous video.
Now, you might like to know, that when I started
trying to do those exercises I literally could not.
I fell off the ball, I collapsed on the gym floor
and I basically just felt really weak and useless.
It took me ages to learn how to do them.
Once I did I got up to about 30 reps
and I did that same core session for years and years.
Eventually though I realized I had a bit of a problem
with specificity.
Basically, I could do those four exercises really well
but introduce a new exercise and I had no chance.
Now that's because when you learn a new exercise like this,
it's not just about strength.
It's also about balance, coordination,
and neuromuscular pathways.
Now, my balance and coordination are pretty poor
so I was quite shocked to learn to do any of them, really.
But I realized that I was gonna have to mix it up
if I wanted to stay strong and robust on the bike.
Basically, you have to keep challenging yourself.
So, in my quest to find new and challenging
core exercises, here are the five hardest ones
I've found over the years.
Now, I'm not saying that they're the hardest exercises ever.
And of course if you add free weights to your gym training,
well you can make things much harder in terms of
pure muscular strength.
I'm also not claiming that I can actually do them
properly yet.
So this should at least be entertaining.
Number one, this is what I call a Swiss ball burpee.
- [Narrator] The starting position is a plank
with your feet flexed on the ball, body in one straight line
from heels to shoulders.
Don't arch your back or sag in the middle.
The burpee is three separate movements.
First, a leg tug rolling the ball slowly towards you
keeping your backside nice and low.
Then, roll it back to plank position.
Second, hinge at the hips keeping your legs straight
to roll the ball towards you and slowly return to the plank.
Finally, a press up.
Returning to plank to start again.
Complete the whole sequence 10 times through
then rest for two minutes and try again.
- Number two is my nemesis.
It is a chin up combined with a windscreen wiper.
And as I really struggle to do just one chin up,
it's quite a challenge.
Here goes.
- [Narrator] Remain near the top
with your elbows at 90 degrees and lift your body
and your legs up so your body
is as close to horizontal as you can get it.
Knees together with 90 degree angles at your hips
and your knees like the position you might have
for sitting in a chair.
Then, twist around your upper body, sweeping your legs
through the air like they're windscreen wipers.
Five, done well is pretty good going.
Then, you can rest and try another set.
- Now, I haven't yet thought of a name for this exercise
but it's quite like a three legged dog in yoga
but once again, involving a Swiss ball.
So here goes.
- [Narrator] Start in the plank position with your feet
on the Swiss ball then raise one leg up high behind you.
Swing the leg underneath you, diagonally towards
the opposite elbow, bending at the knee.
Try to keep your hips and shoulders as steady as possible
and try to do two sets of five to 10 on each side.
- Number four is an explosive jump from seated.
Now, you want to find a bench or the edge of a sofa,
sit on the edge of it,
and your knees should not be past right angle.
So, maximum bend in your knee should be 90 degrees.
Start out with no weight at all, one leg only,
see if you can jump from seated, like this.
With both legs, because normally one leg
is stronger than the other.
This is my weak leg.
Once you're happy jumping with no weight,
you can start introducing dumbbells.
Now I would start small with one kilo or two kilos
in each hand.
Hold the dumbbells slightly in front of you
so they don't hit the bench
and try and do the same thing again.
And remember that your...
resting foot is not allowed to touch the floor.
And you want to try and complete the jump
in one smooth movement from seated, to jumping.
Number five is the Swiss ball hamstring curl
that you might have tried already.
But with the added complication of a slight wobble
to introduce the use of stabilizing muscles
at both ends of the movement, like this.
- [Narrator] Start in a bridge position with your heels
on top of the ball,
shoulders on the ground and with your body
in a straight line from shoulders to heels.
Raise one leg off the ball and keeping your knees next
to each other, with your hips stable,
slowly roll the ball towards you lifting your hips higher
and then slowly roll it away again.
Try two sets of five to 10 on each leg.
- Well, I hope this video has proved entertaining at least
and maybe it will also encourage you to mix up
your core stability training.
Now I've deliberately avoided presenting any exercises
that involve heavy weights.
Because although I do free weights training
and I know lots of others cyclists who also do
to help their riding, there is more of an injury risk,
so I think you're better off getting the advice
of a qualified coach before starting with heavy weights.
Now, if you think you've got a tougher self weight exercise,
please let me know down in the comments so I can try it.
Don't forget to give us a thumbs up.
Share with any friends who you think need a little bit
of toughening up and click right here if you'd like to see
a beginners core stability session.