Cuales-son-los-musculos-que-trabajan-en-la-bicicleta

What are the muscles that work on the bicycle?

Cycling is one of the most complete sports that exist. During cycling there are a large number of muscles involved in the process of generating the continuous pedaling motion. Knowing exactly which muscles are involved will help you plan your post-workout in order to improve efficiency, warming up and stretching correctly, as well as knowing how to provide your body with the necessary caloric intake. Here are the most important muscles that work on the bike, read on!

Exercise bike muscles: Which ones work the most?

As we have explained on occasion, indoor cycling has many advantages for the body. Both to improve cardiovascular capacity, and to release stress, lose weight, tone up and gain muscle mass. This is due to the large number of muscles that are worked on the bike, especially those of the lower body, although there are also other muscles of the upper body involved in the process. These are the following:

Quadriceps, the major leg muscles

The quadriceps are the muscles that work the most when using a bicycle, both on an indoor cycling bike and on a traditional outdoor bike. These are the main muscles of the legs, those that are designed to generate the movement of the knee -which is its insertion point- and the hip -which is where it originates-. The quadriceps muscles are composed of four portions corresponding to the vastus medialis, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius, vastus lateralis and rectus femoris. The reason why they are the muscle complex that works the most is because they are present in the pushing and lifting phases of each pedal stroke, and their effort corresponds to 40% of the total pushing force. In addition, apart from producing force, they have a very important function, which is to stabilize the knee and flex the hip.

Gluteus muscles, to stabilize the hip

Although the three gluteal muscles are worked, which are the lesser, middle and greater, the most involved of them is the gluteus maximus -the most voluminous of them all-. This has the main function of stabilizing the pelvis and helping us to stay upright so that the trunk does not move forward. The percentage of force to perform each pedal stroke, in this case, represents about 30%.

Hamstrings, for leg extension

The main function of the hamstrings is to facilitate straight backward leg extension and knee flexion. This group of muscles located at the back of the leg and next to the gluteus is composed of a total of three portions, which from the inside out are the following: biceps femoris, semitendinosus and semimembranosus. The work of the hamstrings is reflected, above all, in the phase known as the dead point of cycling -when the pedals are in the upper and vertical position and the force applied by the cyclist is almost parallel-, although their function is essential for the movement of the leg to take place.

Calf muscles, essential in the push-off part

Lastly, we come to the calf muscles, which play a very important part in the pushing movement. These are located on the posterior aspect of the leg and are composed of the medial and lateral calf. The calf is the muscle in charge of the plantar function, which allows us to stand on tiptoe and helps us to walk, as well as to jump or to perform short runs. When cycling, the calf muscles are directly involved in the pushing part, and the percentage of strength they provide when pedaling is about 20% of the total.

Other muscles that are worked when cycling

The quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings and calves are the most involved when cycling. However, they are not the only ones. Those of the upper body, although they go more unnoticed, also come into play, taking into account that the movement produced by the legs also works the lumbar area and even activates the dorsal vertebrae. Thus, when talking about cycling, muscles and upper body, we find that the following work (to a lesser extent, of course): abdomen, pectoralis major, deltoid, finger flexor muscle, elbow flexor muscle and triceps brachii.

How to increase leg muscle mass while cycling

Now that you know which muscles work the most when using an indoor cycling bike, you will also know that it will not be difficult to increase the muscle mass of your legs while cycling. However, to do this you need to have a suitable model of indoor cycling bike, such as the ZBike FREE or the ZBike 2.0, and do constant training, such as that which you can follow on the main cycling simulators. Keep in mind that the bigger the muscles, the stronger the legs will be, which will improve the performance of any athlete -and this is key for competitions-. As experts explain, it is advisable to train 15 to 20 hours a week to gain muscle mass. However, due to the effort made by the quadriceps -and to compensate with the rest of the muscles-, it is also recommended to perform specific exercises such as knee flexions and hamstring curls with TRX, among others. To increase the volume of the legs while cycling, it has been shown that it is very useful to perform exercises in series or intervals, combining several more intense and softer time lapses in successive repetitions. Of course, to all this must be added a correct diet for the training to be effective and to have enough energy to work throughout the week.

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