Improve Your Cycling With Pilates?
Improve Your Cycling With Pilates?
There is no doubt that a good bike can make a huge difference but more importantly improving pelvic and core stability can have a far greater impact.
Next time you are riding behind someone, have a look at their hips and pelvis. Look very closely, you are likely to see some movement; they may dip, drop or twist ever so slightly or perhaps even a lot.
To eliminate this movement you must strengthen your core and more importantly your pelvic and glute stability.
To get better at cycling you need to be smart about your training. Investing some time in Pilates to eliminate the things we have just discussed can have a far greater improvement on performance than simply doing more training.
‘If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you’ve always got’
Not addressing these issues may have further detrimental effects that may result in prolonged time off the bike and that beautiful, expensive bike you bought to be sitting in the corner.
For example, poor pelvic and core stability on the bike leads to sore back, sore knees, tight ITB and so on.
Pilates can help stabilise your movements and target the correct muscles to improve your cycling
Cycling alone is not enough to get the core stronger. Your gluteus maximus (butt) may get stronger but the stabilizing muscles and core won’t. These need to be targeted specifically without using the larger dominant ones.
So what should I do?
Firstly, get a professional bike fit by someone that is trained in the area and specialises in bike fits. The second is to do Pilates so that we can target those stabilising movements. Going to the gym will not enable you to target these muscles because it will focus too much on the larger muscles and the problem will persist and may lead to further muscle imbalances.
Peter Ledwidge
Pilates Instructor
Strength and Fitness Coach
