Strenght Traning For Road Cycles

Today I want to continue the conversation from my last blog about strength training for runners, which got such a great response.

This time, let’s talk about cycling.

I started working with a cycling team through Doddie Aid Charity about a 3 year ago, helping with preparation, injury prevention and recovery. What fascinated me was how many cyclists had NEVER really included regular strength training in their programmes.

These weren’t professional cyclists. They had jobs, families and normal life commitments, while also preparing to cycle 100+ miles every day for 4–7 days.

They obviously didn’t need to spend five days a week in the gym. But adding two or three focused strength sessions, sometimes only 30–45 minutes, could make a big difference to their physical preparation.

And this is why I think strength training for cyclists deserves more attention.

Cycling is excellent for developing cardiovascular fitness and endurance, but every pedal stroke still requires your muscles to produce force.

Your quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves are working repeatedly, while your hips and trunk help you stay stable and maintain your position on the bike.
Now imagine doing that for several hours. Then doing it again the next day. And the next.

Your cardiovascular system might be capable of handling the distance, but your muscles and connective tissues also need the capacity to handle the workload.
And no, road cyclists don’t need to become Robert Förstemann or spend hours in the gym trying to build massive legs!
The goal of strength training for road cyclists is not bodybuilding. It is building a stronger, more resilient body that can handle the demands of cycling.

Research suggests that it can.
A meta-analysis published in the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance found that combining strength training with endurance training can improve qualities such as maximal force and power, with potential improvements in endurance performance.
More recently, a 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis specifically looking at endurance cyclists found that heavy strength training improved cycling performance, cycling efficiency and anaerobic power.

Interestingly, it DID NOT significantly improve VO₂max.

And this is important. Becoming a better cyclist isn’t only about increasing your cardiovascular fitness. It is also about how effectively you can use the fitness you already have.
If you can produce force more effectively and efficiently, that can become very valuable when you are spending hours on the bike.

Think about the end of a long ride.
You’ve already been cycling for three or four hours. Your legs are tired, but there is another climb ahead.
Can you still produce force?

Can you maintain your power?

Can you control your movement when fatigue starts taking over?

This is one area where strength training can help.

Research by Sunde and colleagues found that cyclists who completed strength training improved their ability to produce high levels of power after prolonged cycling.

Being strong when you’re fresh is one thing.
Being able to produce force when you’re tired is another.

Cycling is repetitive. You can spend hours in a relatively fixed position, performing the same movement thousands of times.
Strength training gives you an opportunity to develop qualities that cycling may not fully address, including overall lower-body strength, single-leg strength, trunk control and the ability to tolerate load.

Of course, strength training doesn’t make you injury-proof. Injuries are complex and can be influenced by training load, recovery, previous injuries, sleep, stress and many other factors.

But building strength can increase your physical capacity.
And for me, that is the real goal: Build a body that can handle the sport you love.

I know cyclists already spend a lot of time training. You might have long rides, intervals, hills and everything else to fit around work and family.
So I’m not telling you to train five days a week in the gym.

For many cyclists, two well-planned strength sessions per week can work very well alongside cycling.

The important part is making the programme fit your cycling rather than competing with it.

During periods of high cycling volume, strength training may need to be adjusted. Before a big event, you may reduce the amount of strength work while maintaining the strength you have built.

It’s about finding the right balance.

Just like with running, the answer isn’t necessarily to do more and more of the same activity.

Keep cycling. Build your endurance. Enjoy your long rides.
But give your body another tool.

And if you’re going to ask your body to cycle 100 miles a day for five days, don’t just prepare your lungs for the challenge.

Llanos-Lagos, C., Ramirez-Campillo, R., & Sáez de Villarreal, E. (2026). Heavy strength training effects on physiological determinants of endurance cyclist performance: A systematic review with meta-analysis. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 126, 193–222.

Berryman, N., et al. (2018). Strength Training for Middle- and Long-Distance Performance: A Meta-Analysis. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 13(1), 57–63.

Sunde, A., et al. (2010). Strength training improves 5-min all-out performance following 185 min of cycling. European Journal of Applied Physiology.

Rønnestad, B. R., & Mujika, I. (2014). Optimizing strength training for running and cycling endurance performance: A review. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 24(4), 603–612.