For anyone who enjoys staying active and maintaining a strong, balanced fitness routine, combining resistance training and trail cycling can be an ideal approach to achieving peak performance. As a dad, fitness enthusiast, and lover of the great outdoors, I’ve come to appreciate the unique benefits of this combination—improving strength and endurance and promoting mental well-being.
From my perspective, longevity is the key to all fitness: finding a sustainable, enjoyable way to stay healthy while setting a great example for your children. A combination of resistance training and trail cycling is the key to this.
This article explores why I believe integrating resistance training with trail cycling can elevate your fitness routine to the next level while also bringing enjoyment and calm to your life. Combined with outdoor family adventures, I am confident you will feel and look much better, and this will be channelled to your children.
Enhancing Muscle Strength and Endurance
When it comes to building strength, nothing beats resistance training. Whether you’re working with weights, resistance bands, or simply your own body weight, resistance exercises help develop lean muscle mass, which is essential for overall fitness. Strengthening muscles not only supports everyday activities but also protects your body from injury.
I used to lift weights as part of my resistance training routine, but I found this led to more injuries, particularly in my shoulders. Some would say poor form caused this, and they may be right; however, I’ve had far fewer injuries since focusing primarily on bodyweight exercises.
Trail cycling, on the other hand, is a powerhouse workout for endurance. Tackling rugged, unpredictable terrain challenges your entire body—especially your legs and core. As you navigate varying gradients, you engage muscles in a way that road cycling simply doesn’t offer.
The combined effect of the two activities can lead to better overall muscle balance and functionality, with strength training filling in the gaps that cycling alone might leave behind.
For example, I tend to focus on key primary movements such as pull-ups, squats, lunges, and push-ups. These are great bodyweight exercises that complement the muscle demands of trail cycling. By building strength off the bike, you’ll be able to push harder and ride longer when you’re out on the trails.
Boosting Metabolic Rate and Fat Burning
Both resistance training and trail cycling are powerful tools for fat loss and improving metabolic health. Resistance training, particularly when done with intensity, causes your muscles to require more energy post-workout, a phenomenon known as the afterburn effect. This means your body continues to burn calories long after your resistance workout is done.
In contrast, trail cycling provides a high-calorie burn during the ride itself, especially on hilly or technical trails. The dynamic and unpredictable nature of the terrain demands more energy output, which in turn leads to higher calorie expenditure.
By combining these two forms of exercise, you can optimise your fat-burning potential, with trail cycling enhancing your cardiovascular endurance while resistance training boosts your metabolic rate.
Injury Prevention and Joint Health
Cycling is a low-impact activity, which makes it great for joint health. Unlike running or other high-impact sports, cycling reduces the strain on your knees, hips, and ankles. However, too much cycling, particularly without incorporating strength training, can sometimes lead to muscle imbalances or overuse injuries.
That’s where resistance training comes in. By strengthening the muscles around your joints—particularly the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and core—you can reduce the risk of injury on the bike. Exercises like lunges, planks, and squats are perfect for building the stabilising muscles that will protect your joints and enhance your performance on the trails.
I’ve also found that by utilising bodyweight exercises as my method of resistance training, I’ve encountered fewer injuries. Granted, you are likely to have less muscle mass than those who lift weights, but for 99% of people, this is more than enough if done consistently.
My primary aim in training is to feel good, stay healthy, stay happy, and be able to enjoy adventures every weekend with my family, injury-free. I had a spell playing five-a-side football, which I loved for the social side, but it was a nightmare for injuries! Being a contact sport, I’d always come home with strains, which impacted my overall health goals.
Improving Mental Health and Reducing Stress
Physical fitness is only one piece of the overall wellness puzzle. Mental health is just as important, especially for parents balancing busy family schedules. Both trail cycling and resistance training offer significant benefits for reducing stress and improving mental well-being.
The outdoor element of trail cycling is particularly beneficial. Studies have shown that spending time in nature can reduce stress levels, improve mood, and even enhance cognitive function. Cycling through the woods or across scenic trails allows you to connect with nature and disconnect from the stresses of daily life. It’s something many people don’t experience, particularly those with demanding jobs.
I cannot emphasise enough the joy and euphoria you feel after a cycle through the woods.
Resistance training, too, has been linked to improved mental health. Lifting weights or doing bodyweight exercises releases endorphins, the body’s natural mood enhancers, leading to an overall sense of well-being. Additionally, achieving new strength goals can give a huge confidence boost.
Combining the two allows for a holistic approach to mental health, where the tranquillity of outdoor cycling complements strength training to provide a killer combination of effectiveness.
Enhancing Core Stability and Posture
One of the often-overlooked benefits of resistance training is its ability to improve core stability and posture. This is where I particularly appreciate bodyweight exercises. They enable you to control your own body and develop core strength, which helps significantly during extended periods of cycling. A strong core ensures you maintain good posture on the bike—no slouching or hunching over the handlebars.
When you’re trail cycling, your core is vital in keeping you balanced, particularly on uneven terrain. By engaging in regular core-focused resistance training, you’ll notice improved stability, control, and endurance on the bike.
As someone who enjoys the physical demands of trail cycling, I’ve found that a strong core has significantly improved my performance. When I first started cycling, I would have aches and pains in my lower back. Now, after strengthening my core, I’ve noticed a significant improvement in how I feel post-cycle.
A Flexible and Sustainable Fitness Routine
Another great reason to combine resistance training and trail cycling is that they complement each other in terms of flexibility. Both can be easily adjusted to suit your lifestyle, fitness level, and available time. For instance, if you’re short on time, a quick 20-minute resistance workout at home using bodyweight exercises can still provide significant benefits.
On days when you have more time, you can enjoy longer trail rides and soak in the beauty of nature. I believe both are particularly useful while on the road too. We travel throughout the summer holidays, and I wanted to make sure my training wasn’t compromised. Taking our bikes with us and focusing on bodyweight exercises means I can maintain consistency even when away from home.
Consistency is key!
This flexible approach also makes it easier to sustain your fitness routine long-term. You won’t get bored because you’re not limited to one type of exercise, and you can scale both resistance training and trail cycling to fit your goals.
Setting a Healthy Example for the Family
As a dad, I want to be a role model for my children, which is why maintaining a healthy lifestyle is incredibly important.
By showing them the importance of staying active, I’m not only improving my own health but also instilling lifelong habits in them. For example, I have a pull-up bar in the doorframe of my office. I use this regularly as part of my bodyweight routine, but it’s also become something the family uses.
Matilda, my 8-year-old daughter, uses it weekly to practice her gymnastics, swinging upside down with her feet tucked into the pull-up bar. This is an amazing exercise for her core strength, but it’s come about by instilling a lifestyle belief within her. Your habits and attitude to life are mirrored by your children, and these healthy habits can have a fantastic knock-on effect!
This is equally true for cycling. We either walk or cycle every single day to school. This habit has been instilled in our daughter due to our own actions and enjoyment of cycling. It’s a brilliant way to start the day, building resilience, confidence, and strength in what for many is an idle activity of sitting in the car.
Summary
In conclusion, combining resistance training and trail cycling offers the perfect blend of strength, endurance, flexibility, and mental well-being. Whether you’re cycling solo for fitness or exploring the great outdoors with your family, this combination of exercises will keep you at your peak, both physically and mentally.
Resistance training is incredibly important for maintaining muscle mass and composition. It also assists your performance when cycling by improving core stability.
The key to all training is creating a schedule that is realistic, enjoyable, and consistent. Consistency is everything—multiple 7/10 workouts are better than the occasional 10/10. This consistency will rub off on your children too, and they will grow up with health and fitness as a core part of their everyday life.
This can only bode well for their future.
Last Updated on October 24, 2024 by Ryan
Hello. I am Ryan and along with my wife Beth and our two children Matilda and Barney, we love all things cycling and exploring. We spend our weekends exploring fun places to cycle and discover and wanted to help other people do the same too. There’s no better way to travel than via bike and it’s an amazing activity for the whole family to enjoy.