People ride for various reasons, but most cyclists would agree that pushing the pedals brings joy and freedom, as well as challenges and a sense of accomplishment like no other sport. That’s why you probably prefer spending hours in the saddle, rather than in the weight room or clocking miles in running shoes. However, if you want to keep riding strong and injury-free, cross training provides that armor.
What is cross training? Well, it basically means doing other forms of exercise to better support your primary sport—in this case, cycling. To help you figure out your favorite method to cross training, as well as encourage you to stick to a consistent routine to support your rides, Bicycling created a 28-day workout challenge. The challenge mixes strength training, new cardio workouts, high-intensity interval training (better known as HIIT), and mobility moves.
“Cycling by nature is a repetitive sport and it forces us to go in one direction,” Jen Kates, C.P.T., founder of Shift Human Performance tells Bicycling. “We need to be able to put the body through different ranges of motion, though, and to challenge us beyond what we’re doing in our sport. This helps make the body more resilient, reduces overuse injuries, and helps you get stronger on the bike.”
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A good cross-training plan and workout challenge will have you moving in multiple planes of motion (think: rotational work and side-to-side moves, as compared to the front-to-back work of cycling). It will also include strength workouts that incorporate major movement patterns like the squat, hinge, lunge, push, and pull. It will also target your core stability—a must-have for cyclists to maintain solid posture on the bike, Kates says. You’ll find all of these elements in this plan.
And don’t forget fun! This 28-day cross-training challenge also helps you can tap into the enjoyment factor every week. This is necessary to sidestep burnout on the bike and in our workouts in general, Kates adds.
A 28-Day Workout Challenge to Kick Up Your Cross Training
Below you’ll find your complete 28-day workout challenge. Download the PDF and you’ll find links to each workout, so all you have to do each day is follow the routine provided.
The format is similar each week: On Mondays, you’ll target your entire body with a strength workout. On Tuesdays, you’ll find suggestions for cardio workouts, but you also have the freedom to choose any heart-pumping activity you enjoy or have always wanted to try (that is, besides cycling). You’ll then train your lower body on Wednesdays, your upper body on Thursdays, and do a core-specific routine on Fridays. Saturdays are for a burst of HIIT. Finally, you have active recovery via yoga or mobility work on Sundays.
None of these workouts should take longer than 30 minutes, so you can easily pair them with an outdoor ride or some time on your trainer. By the end of the 28 days, you should feel stronger, more resilient, and confident—both on your bike and in the other cross-training activities in the challenge. To up that fun level, feel free to pump up the jams as you move, or grab a friend to join you in this 28-day workout challenge.
Mallory Creveling, an ACE-certified personal trainer and RRCA-certified run coach, joined the Runner's World and Bicycling team in August 2021. She has more than a decade of experience covering fitness, health, and nutrition. As a freelance writer, her work appeared in Women's Health, Self, Men's Journal, Reader's Digest, and more. She has also held staff editorial positions at Family Circle and Shape magazines, as well as DailyBurn.com. A former New Yorker/Brooklynite, she's now based in Easton, PA.
