How important is upper body strength for cycling?

The author of this article is Mattia Michelusi. Decisions concerning use of the work, such as distribution, access, updates, and any use restrictions belong to the author.

Versione in italiano - link: L'importanza della muscolatura della parte superiore nel ciclismo?

How important is upper body strength for cycling?

Good question!

To reply it I always say: have you ever tried to do a maximal sprint without pulling with your arms?

A strong upper body is a fundamental part of bike riding. When you cycle you need to be able to create force from your legs, and transfer it to the pedals through your upper body. It means while the legs do the most work, you need lower back muscles for maintaining posture and stability, upper back muscles for fixing the arms, abdominal muscles for keeping the trunk stable and for diaphragmatic breathing, arms's muscles for transferring the force from the hands on the handlebar.

In order to demonstrate this thesis I tried to do on the field nine maximal standing starts:

• 3 sprints sit on the saddle without pulling with my arms (SWP);
• 3 sprints sit on the saddle pulling with my arms (SP) ;
• 3 sprints out of the saddle pulling with my arms (OP).

I performed these sprints on the same false flat segment road, with always the same gear combination and recording all data with a mobile power meter BePro mounted on my bike (website: www.bepro-favero.com/en/).

In the chart above it's easy to see how I definitely pushed an higher power in the sprints out of the saddle pulling with my arms (OP), whereas the lowest power was during the sprints sit on the saddle without pulling with my arms (SWP).

• Average maximal power for the sprints SWP: 717 Watt (lowest 664 W / highest 744 W)
• Average maximal power for the sprints SP: 806 Watt (lowest 797 W / highest 811 W)
• Average maximal power for the sprints OP: 1076 Watt (lowest 1029 W / highest 1114 W)

Moreover in the sprints out of the saddle pulling with my arms (OP) I was able to reach my maximal power faster than both the sprints sit on the saddle pulling with my arms (SP) and  the sprints sit on the saddle without pulling with my arms (SWP).

Anyway it doesn't mean you can increase your maximal power doing many reps of "Pull-ups" in the gym, and it's not enough to ride out of the saddle for reaching your maximal power, but you need to be able to coordinate three different movements:

• Pushing with your legs;
• Pulling with your arms;
• Maintaining posture and stability with your trunk.

All together it's not so easy! So, for sure it's important core and strength training for your upper body in the gym, but just with practice on your bike you can get it more efficient.

For sure this examination has not a scientific value, because the sprints were just nine and the cyclist just me, but I thing it's a good way to demonstrate on the field that:

STRONGER UPPER BODY IS BETTER..WITH A GOOD COORDINATION!

The author of this article is Mattia Michelusi. Decisions concerning use of the work, such as distribution, access, updates, and any use restrictions belong to the author.

Strava's file training:

Dott. Mattia Michelusi

Email: mattia.michelusi@gmail.com

Web: www.coachmichelusi.blogspot.it