As this area is based around this, and weight/waist/stomach are all elements that come into this, I hope it would be beneficial to bring up the above as a topic.
I've been training in the gym on a Wattbike and riding for about 2.5 years now. Never really lost much weight although its not massively been my focus until more recently as I have been chasing power performance and overall speed etc.
Recently I had some sessions with a cycling-focussed PT at my gym. He wanted to put me through my paces off the bike to improve flexibility, increase functional strength and avoid injury (both long-term and short-term) on the bike. Lots of stretches and movement with a key mention of engaging muscles that we forget: the core, and the glutes. great way of thinking about the stomach is to imagine you're putting on an ever so slightly tight pair of jeans. No need to tense as hard as you can, just focus and pull them in.
I've been doing various stretches at home to practise but also had what turns out to have been a really useful aid; I have recently borrowed one of those contraptions that fits into the door frame and means you can do pull-ups. Its easy to press/push at home but pulling is something that we're very restricted. I can't really do many, but I've been working on supersets of 5/6 pull-ups, 12 push-ups, 20 unaided squats. Keeping strict form and carefully thinking about aligning mind with motion to engage all the muscles and I'm finding its really starting to work much better than I thought.
My waist is definitely feeling firmer and trimmer and I notice that I'm more keen to pull my core tight when doing activities - especially when riding. Its so easy to just let it hang as we don't feel we're using it, but I've noticed a real improvement and feel so much stronger overall that riding is less effort overall. Its hard to explain and I'm yet to do a long hard session to put me through my paces but its a real motivator.
I've been training in the gym on a Wattbike and riding for about 2.5 years now. Never really lost much weight although its not massively been my focus until more recently as I have been chasing power performance and overall speed etc.
Recently I had some sessions with a cycling-focussed PT at my gym. He wanted to put me through my paces off the bike to improve flexibility, increase functional strength and avoid injury (both long-term and short-term) on the bike. Lots of stretches and movement with a key mention of engaging muscles that we forget: the core, and the glutes. great way of thinking about the stomach is to imagine you're putting on an ever so slightly tight pair of jeans. No need to tense as hard as you can, just focus and pull them in.
I've been doing various stretches at home to practise but also had what turns out to have been a really useful aid; I have recently borrowed one of those contraptions that fits into the door frame and means you can do pull-ups. Its easy to press/push at home but pulling is something that we're very restricted. I can't really do many, but I've been working on supersets of 5/6 pull-ups, 12 push-ups, 20 unaided squats. Keeping strict form and carefully thinking about aligning mind with motion to engage all the muscles and I'm finding its really starting to work much better than I thought.
My waist is definitely feeling firmer and trimmer and I notice that I'm more keen to pull my core tight when doing activities - especially when riding. Its so easy to just let it hang as we don't feel we're using it, but I've noticed a real improvement and feel so much stronger overall that riding is less effort overall. Its hard to explain and I'm yet to do a long hard session to put me through my paces but its a real motivator.
