Sometimes life gets in the way and you do not have enough time to work and go out and ride for a long period of time. If you have decided that biking is for you and you want to get better than have off-bike training is just as important than having on-bike training. This is good news because it means that you can get better and faster at riding a bike without even being on one.

Here are 3 of my favorite exercises that you can do to get better at cycling without being on a bike.

Opposite Planks

Get in a push-up position and then raise one hand off of the ground. After gaining stability raise the opposite leg from the hand that is raised and hold. The concept behind this exercise is that it mimics what we do, as a cyclist, when we stand up and push. It applies pressure through our limbs and helps develop the core to push down on our legs.

Try it Out: Alternate between arms legs 10-20 times and hold them for about 5 seconds each. While doing this make sure that you are breathing smoothly. If you are not breathing smooth gown down to where you are on your hands and knees and try doing the opposite planks from there. While doing this make sure that you are visualizing yourself going through the motion of pedaling a bike.

Wrestler’s Squat

To perform this exercise begin in a lunge position like the picture above. Pull the leg that you are resting on the ground up and come into a squat position and then go back down into a lunge position. This is a simple exercise that works the quad and hamstrings.

Try it Out: Repeat this exercise for 60 seconds and if it seems too easy you can increase the difficulty but adding weight with dumbells.

One-Leg Bridge Changeover

Once again it is a simple yet hard exercise. Keep your hands flat on the floor and raise your hips up so that you back is straight while keeping your shoulder blades on the floor. Then raise one leg up so that it is straight in line with you back.

Try it Out: Do this exercise with one leg in the air for 30 secs and the switch to the other leg for 30 secs and do this several times. If it seems to easy then you can add ankle weights of a 10-pound plate to your core area.