Outdoor cycling is an excellent sport which requires a high degree of aerobic and anaerobic conditioning. Strong attention paid to muscular endurance as well as strength is vital to effective road cycling.

Correct Form while on a level surface:
You need to set your bike seat at the proper height. If it is too high, you will be forcing your hips and knees beyond their normal range of motion and will therefore end up stressing your lower back. When the pedal is at its lowest point, your leg should be almost but not quite straight. If the seat is too low, your knees will not straighten sufficiently, creating strain from having to work at greater angles. Sit up as straight as possible. Hunching over will place your lower back at risk for disc injury. Make sure the middle of your feet (not your toes) are on the pedals as you ride.

Beginning Training Program
This is assuming you will be using outdoor cycling as a primary means of aerobic exercise. If you have aspirations of becoming a competitive cyclist, the approach is much different.

Begin with a 5 to 10 minute warm-up with a slow pace on a level surface. Then begin with a 12-15 minute ride at a more moderate pace. Your target heart rate should generally be around 60-65% of your predicted maximal heart rate. Follow this with a 5 minute cool down.

At this point, you can add time to your program every other week. An increase of around 10% every week will add about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes onto your overall time.

It is dangerous to try to monitor your heart rate while cycling. You need to keep your hands on the handlebars and your eyes on the road. Click here to look at heart rate monitors that can allow you to make sure you are staying within your target heart rate.

Advanced Training Program
This area is specifically for those who are at an advanced level and consider themselves to be competitive road cyclists.

Before you begin a rigorous in-season outdoor training program, it is important to have had a base of at least 500 miles of easy rides. If you had a good winter or off season training program, you can cut this back at your discretion.

Once you feel comfortable that you have put in enough long easy miles and have a good base, you can begin a training program that increases total weekly miles by 10 - 15% per week. The 10 to 15% figure has been used for years by marathons runners to minimizes musculoskeletal injuries with training. As bicycling is much easier on the joints and muscles, this figure could be increased to 20 or 25% with minimal risk of injury.

It is important to ride at least 5 days a week, then take at least one day off. Depending on your level of training the seventh day is either an additional intermediate mileage day or an additional rest day. A typical weekly training program would look like this:

• One long mileage day
• One short mileage day
• 3 or 4 intermediate mileage days
• 1 or 2 rest days off the bike

Your short mileage day should always follow the high mileage day and should be about 1/4 of the length of the long ride and ridden at a leisurely pace to loosen up your muscles after the long ride of the week. The intermediate mileage days are midway between the short ride and the long ride in distance. At least one of these should be an interval training ride. The ride which is your goal is the basis for planning your weekly long mileage days.

When you are training for an event, some coaches suggest you work up to a ride equal to the length (or even 125% of the length) of that event while others feel that reaching a distance equal to 75% of the event distance is adequate. This is usually done on a Saturday ride (with Sunday as a backup for bad weather or other unexpected circumstance that could derail your training program).

It is very important to remember to be flexible! Adjust your program to your lifestyle. Rigid programs will generally fail because your lifestyle may not always be conducive to your training program.

Pace of Your Rides: Your long ride should match your own planned century speed. The short "recovery" ride should be a leisurely pace at no more than 50-60% of your maximum heart rate. Two of the intermediate rides should be at the planned century pace. One of the intermediate rides, preferably prior to your day off the bike, should be at a brisk pace 2 to 3 mph faster than your planned century speed.

Nutrition is a crucial part of your preseason training program Carbohydrates are the key to optimizing your performance, and the more the better. This is no time for a low-carb diet, since you will need stored fuel in the form of glycogen (stored carbohydrate) as a major energy source). .

Weight training for cycling
Although cycling is primarily an endurance event, there are moments where good anaerobic strength is needed. Strong leg strength can mean the difference between walking and riding up a short hill (10 to 15 pedal stroke) hill. So, we are talking about strength training, not bulking up. Muscle strength and endurance help prevent the fatigue of the constant jarring and correction that are part of a long descent - and in turn this freshness helps to maintain sharp reflexes and technical

Besides the legs, there are a couple of other areas that are important. Strong torso/abdominal muscles will give you a stable base to deliver maximum power from the legs to the pedals. During a cycle sprint, the pulling and rocking of the shoulders and handlebars actually levers the bike, adding to the power of the legs on the pedals. This requires good, strong abdominals. A strong upper body gives additional protection for those falls that are part of the sport.

The important exercises for cycling

Shoulder Presses and Push-Ups	Strengthen the shoulder and chest area for extra protection in case of a fall.
Squats or Leg Press	Helpful for quadricep and hamstring strengthening for steep hill climbs. These exercises simulate the upper thigh being parallel to the ground.
Step Ups	Simulates push down on a pedal with your body weight.
Rows	Builds strength to stabilize your body on the handlebars when pedaling hard.
Abdominal Crunches and Side Twists	Helpful to control the bike during full sprints

You should perform an weight training program 2-3 times per week. This is less than many other athletes, primarily because a cycling schedule can be very demanding. Still, you should derive good benefits from this frequency.

Most cycling coaches recommend a program of strength building (higher weights, fewer reps) in the winter/offseason. You would then shift to a lower weight program with more reps (3 sets, 50% max.weight - 25 reps OR 2 sets, 25% max.weight - 50 reps) during the cycling season. This way, your exercise programe will mimic the ways you use your muscles on the bike and to decrease the possibility of injuries.