Urban cycling is different from regular cycling.

If you know, you know. If you don’t, think of all the sharp turns, sudden stops, quick acceleration, and constant alertness. Think about how stressful that is to your body. Think about all the strength, endurance, flexibility, and focus you need to cycle successfully in an urban environment without getting tired and/or injured.

This article is about how to create a fitness plan worthy of an urban cyclist. So if you are one (or you’re looking to become one), this article is for you.

Strength Training for Better Control and Injury Prevention

If you want a well-rounded fitness plan, your plan must include resistance training.

That’s a key part of supporting repeated motions of cycling:

• Leg strength – There are no strong legs without including squats, hamstrings, and glute exercises. You should do all of that to improve pedal power and reduce fatigue.
• Core stability – Your midsection needs to be strong and solid to protect your spine. Also, it helps to maintain balance when you go over uneven terrain.
• Upper-body control – For going through all that heavy traffic, you need strong shoulders and a strong back so that you can pull off those shifts in speed and sharp turns.

You don’t have to go to the gym five or seven times a week. Adding 2–3 gym sessions is more than enough. Do squats and deadlifts, and combine them with core work like planks and rotational presses.

A study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology has shown that cyclists who work on their strength and train regularly improve their time-trial performance by up to 5% in just 8 weeks.

Endurance and Explosiveness in a Balanced Cardio Approach

If you do only long, steady rides, you will miss the key aspects of fitness.

There’s a better approach if you follow a mixed strategy:

When you do different intensity workouts in cycling, it helps you adapt to situations you will experience in your daily life.

Flexibility, Mobility, and Balance for Urban Riders

Urban riders know that sudden stops, obstacles, and shifts in direction are common on a road.

Those are also the reasons why mobility training is important for them:

• Hip and hamstring stretches – for maintaining a comfortable posture and reducing lower-back strain.
• Upper-body flexibility work – makes reaching handlebars easier, and it improves reaction time.
• Balance drills – enhance bike handling in tight spots.

You don’t need more than 10 minutes for quick mobility sessions, and their benefits are huge.

Fuel, Recovery, and Injury Awareness

Just like cars need fuel to run, our body needs its fuel – nutrition.

The two key goals are:

• Protein intake – 0.54–0.84 grams of protein per pound of body weight (1.2–1.8 g per kg); a must for supporting muscle repair.
• Carb timing – Match carbohydrate intake to longer rides for an energy boost.

Even if you do everything right, no training or nutrition can guarantee you will avoid all hazards. Urban environments carry risks like potholes, sudden stops, traffic collisions, etc.

If an unfortunate scenario does happen, it’s important to know who to turn to. Riders should know which law firm specializes in cycling-related accidents. Since Chicago is a prime example of a metropolitan area with numerous urban cyclists on its busy streets, riders in the Windy City should visit chicagobikeinjurylawyers.com if an accident does occur. You want legal representation that specializes in bike-related accidents to maximize your chances of a favorable outcome.

Such help is important not only to protect your legal rights but also to keep your focus on your recovery and training.

Sample Weekly Schedule Plan

• MON – Strength training (lower body + core)
• TUE – Steady-state ride (60 min moderate pace)
• WED – Active recovery + mobility (yoga/stretching)
• THU – Strength training (upper body + balance work)
• FRI – HIIT ride (e.g. 5 × 2 min hard, 2 min easy)
• SAT – Long ride (endurance focus)
• SUN – Rest or light mobility session

This type of balanced training plan helps with performance and recovery, which is the best way to bring your body into top shape without having a high risk of training-related injury.

Prepare for Cycling the Right Way

If you’re already an urban cyclist, then this article will help make you a better one. However, if you’re only looking to get into this hobby (or lifestyle, as some would say), then you know how demanding it is, and how much determination and sacrifice you need to endure in order to get your body primed up for all that lies ahead of you.

This article is intended to boost your performance as an urban cyclist.

What you’ll need is to balance building strength, work on your flexibility, and not forget recovery — since your body will require a lot of it after those strenuous and demanding rides.