Road bike strength training: The best exercises - Cycling strength training: parts 1 to 5

The December 2013 issue of TOUR launched the series on strength training, which ran until the April 2014 issue.

Parts 1 to 5 are now available as a PDF download with the following content:

- Part 1 (TOUR 12/2013): Mobility
Cycling is a forced sport - according to sports scientist Dr Pedro Gonzalez. This is because cycling is a cyclical movement in a forced posture. For this reason, mobility plays a major role in Gonzalez's strength training programme. For him, it forms the foundation for all other strengthening exercises.

- Part 2 (TOUR 1/2014): Hull
If you look at the upper body of Tour de France winner Christopher Froome, you ask yourself: how can he get up the mountain so quickly, as powerless as this skinny torso looks? Sports scientist Dr Pedro Gonzalez is thinking about the degenerative processes that occur with advancing age. He therefore recommends a strengthening programme for the torso.

- Part 3 (TOUR 2/2014): Legs
Pedro Gonzales always knows in advance what is going to happen: Whenever he has completed the first general athletics training session with cyclists, two days later he receives a flood of emails of complaint. The reason: sore muscles that make it hard for the athletes to get out of bed. "Many professionals don't think about their leg muscles and think they are strong, but this image is quickly shattered after light but targeted strength training."

- Part 4 (TOUR 3/2014): Sprint
The study came as a bit of a shock to many cyclists who train conventionally: in New Zealand, a group of cyclists completed a special training programme that at first glance looked rather counterproductive to the layman. The athletes had to complete 20 jumps on one leg and five short bike sprints three times a week. After four weeks, scientists and athletes were amazed: Compared to the control group, performance in the 1,000 metre time trial improved by an average of eight per cent; maximum power in watts increased by almost seven per cent on average.

- Part 5 (TOUR 4/2014): Time trial
The importance of a stable core for time trialists can be seen particularly well in the television images from the time trial world championships last September. The three-way battle between Tony Martin, Bradley Wiggins and Fabian Cancellara reveals just how different the core stability of even the best in this discipline is.

Hamburg-based sports scientist Dr Pedro Gonzalez has been coaching professional footballers and ice hockey players as a fitness trainer for many years. Five years ago, he added cycling to his portfolio, including the former Columbia-Highroad team. His clients also include Tony Martin, Bert Grabsch and André Greipel. A former competitive athlete, Gonzalez himself takes part in cycling races and triathlons as an amateur athlete.

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