Like all pro riders, there's a lot more to Sam Bennett's preparation than getting the miles in and topping up with intervals. These days the vast majority of pro riders have strength, conditioning and stretching routines, with core exercises almost always featuring.
Hansi Friedl is founder of the Corox athletics and therapy centre - and in this video below Bennett is brought through one of Friedl's routines with sets of exercises aimed at strengthening:
- Core stability and hip extension, or gluteus maximus – the muscles in the buttock the move the thigh
- Side flank (of upper body), the core and mobility of the hips
- Balance and core
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A physio by profession, Friedl says cyclists - indeed any endurance athlete - can have all the strength they can muster, but it won't amount to much unless they have stability, which is what these exercises aim to improve.
He also says exercises like this will not only work on weakness that limit an athlete's ability to get the most out of their power, they also help to prevent injury by creating a strong and stable body axis off which muscles and joints work most effectively.
