Workout tips for aero

[Hw44]

Hi
I was searching for some tips about workouts and excercises for cyclists to be more comfortable in aero position (i mean bent arms on hoods aka Remco)
My problem is that I feel a pain in my arms not my back or neck either.
Can the problem be that I have my arms too weak ? I could not find any PRO cyclists off-bike workouts like aero specific
Truth is that I was overweight and then lost lot of weight (about 15kgs) but now I feel weak on a bike in terms of position or sprints.
I have no arms but to be honest I feel great about being lean for the first time in my life and I do not want to gain tons of muscles.
All I want is some tips about being more comfortable or stronger without spending time in gym with different types of fitness fellas.
I own a kettlebell that I do some swings with so If there is anything including this tool I would be glad.
Thanks for any tips

[Andrew69]

Getting and staying aero is not about arm strength, its all about core strength and flexiblity
The ability to stay in position comes from core strength, the arms are there to simply steer the bike

[TobinHatesYou]

Getting and staying aero is not about arm strength, its all about core strength and flexiblity
The ability to stay in position comes from core strength, the arms are there to simply steer the bike

Er…

Aero hoods / Sphinx is definitely more tiring on the triceps than being in the drops at the same back angle.

Anyway I don’t do specific upper body workouts for this purpose, but if I did, then it would be planks.

[Hw44]

Getting and staying aero is not about arm strength, its all about core strength and flexiblity
The ability to stay in position comes from core strength, the arms are there to simply steer the bike

Er…

Aero hoods / Sphinx is definitely more tiring on the triceps than being in the drops at the same back angle.

Anyway I don’t do specific upper body workouts for this purpose, but if I did, then it would be planks.

I also think that the problem is not about flexibility. I am flexible but I feel pain on triceps not having a back or neck pain. Thanks for advice

[Singular]

Core, stretching, core, stretching, core, stretching.

As mentioned, pilates and/or yoga would be great for most cyclists (competitive or recreational), bringing a ton of real-world speed that just riding is not able to develop.

[stoney]

start doing some pushups placing your hands in a narrow position 3 days per week. That will strengthen your core and triceps. Do them first thing in the morning...say Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

[Andrew69]

Getting and staying aero is not about arm strength, its all about core strength and flexiblity
The ability to stay in position comes from core strength, the arms are there to simply steer the bike

Er…

Aero hoods / Sphinx is definitely more tiring on the triceps than being in the drops at the same back angle.

Anyway I don’t do specific upper body workouts for this purpose, but if I did, then it would be planks.

Yeah, OK, I could see that issue for some people.

Always either worked a physical job or lifted weights, so upper body strength has never been an issue for me.

Having said that, I still think the reason its tiring on the triceps is lack of core strength.

[Weber]

Depending on your height and the size of the bike, the front may be low, which requires a lot of effort to stay in the position. Raising the front should make it easier to distribute the weight.

[maxim809]

Deadlift and Squats help a lot. Having the right fit is a huge chunk of the battle.

[robeambro]

Hi
I was searching for some tips about workouts and excercises for cyclists to be more comfortable in aero position (i mean bent arms on hoods aka Remco)
My problem is that I feel a pain in my arms not my back or neck either.
Can the problem be that I have my arms too weak ? I could not find any PRO cyclists off-bike workouts like aero specific
Truth is that I was overweight and then lost lot of weight (about 15kgs) but now I feel weak on a bike in terms of position or sprints.
I have no arms but to be honest I feel great about being lean for the first time in my life and I do not want to gain tons of muscles.
All I want is some tips about being more comfortable or stronger without spending time in gym with different types of fitness fellas.
I own a kettlebell that I do some swings with so If there is anything including this tool I would be glad.
Thanks for any tips

this is my previous thread where I got a few helpful tips.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=168835

generally speaking I would say that you shouldn't necessarily try and find a magic formula of additional exercises, you mostly need to:

- ensure the bike fit is appropriate (most often the front end is too low which ends up increasing the strain on your core / upper body AND is less aero as you're not fully hiding your forearms)

- ride in the position as long as you can. ride it on the hills, ride it on the flats, ride it on the turbo.

[Kurt1980]

I have a question about aero positioning.

My background is mtb, so I'm very used to sitting upright, and getting aero has always been a struggle for me.

One area in particular is the concept of rolling the pelvis forward. My understanding is this means to shift weight from the ischial tuberosity (sitbones) to the inferior pubic rami. While I find that easy to do, I only have a few degrees of rotation until I start to compress soft tissue.

As a consequence I end up sitting more on my sitbones with an upright pelvis, and bending more from my lower back. My flexibility has improved quite a bit, so I can get kinda aero and there's no back pain associated with this position, but I would like to get to a flat back if possible.

Long story to get to this point... is it possible to keep the pelvis relatively upright (I.e. not rolled forward that much) while getting the spine/back more aero AND flat? I suppose another way of describing this.... can the back be leaned forward somewhat independent of the pelvis?

Perhaps I'm doomed to be forever arched haha!

I've been super inflexible for most of my life, so I don't know how far my body can go.

Cheers for any insights!
Kurt

[TobinHatesYou]

I have a question about aero positioning.

My background is mtb, so I'm very used to sitting upright, and getting aero has always been a struggle for me.

One area in particular is the concept of rolling the pelvis forward. My understanding is this means to shift weight from the ischial tuberosity (sitbones) to the inferior pubic rami. While I find that easy to do, I only have a few degrees of rotation until I start to compress soft tissue.

As a consequence I end up sitting more on my sitbones with an upright pelvis, and bending more from my lower back. My flexibility has improved quite a bit, so I can get kinda aero and there's no back pain associated with this position, but I would like to get to a flat back if possible.

Long story to get to this point... is it possible to keep the pelvis relatively upright (I.e. not rolled forward that much) while getting the spine/back more aero AND flat? I suppose another way of describing this.... can the back be leaned forward somewhat independent of the pelvis?

Perhaps I'm doomed to be forever arched haha!

I've been super inflexible for most of my life, so I don't know how far my body can go.

Cheers for any insights!
Kurt

Choose a different saddle or tilt your current one down several degrees. People always talk about how a nose down saddle outs too much pressure on the hands or makes people slide forward, but I’ve never had a problem with it…

[ico]

I would say: chceck your bike posture and weight distribution on bike. Sometimes, paradoxically longer stem could help (from my experience).

[robeambro]

I have a question about aero positioning.

My background is mtb, so I'm very used to sitting upright, and getting aero has always been a struggle for me.

One area in particular is the concept of rolling the pelvis forward. My understanding is this means to shift weight from the ischial tuberosity (sitbones) to the inferior pubic rami. While I find that easy to do, I only have a few degrees of rotation until I start to compress soft tissue.

As a consequence I end up sitting more on my sitbones with an upright pelvis, and bending more from my lower back. My flexibility has improved quite a bit, so I can get kinda aero and there's no back pain associated with this position, but I would like to get to a flat back if possible.

Long story to get to this point... is it possible to keep the pelvis relatively upright (I.e. not rolled forward that much) while getting the spine/back more aero AND flat? I suppose another way of describing this.... can the back be leaned forward somewhat independent of the pelvis?

Perhaps I'm doomed to be forever arched haha!

I've been super inflexible for most of my life, so I don't know how far my body can go.

Cheers for any insights!
Kurt

Choose a different saddle or tilt your current one down several degrees. People always talk about how a nose down saddle outs too much pressure on the hands or makes people slide forward, but I’ve never had a problem with it…

I would say it can be somewhat less "stable" depending on one's position and equipment. To me, position-wise, I've found that I'm somewhat more stable by reducing saddle setback and moving the front end higher / further (rather than going lower and shorter and sitting further back); equipment-wise the issue is much less pronounced on some saddles - on my current 3D printed Power there's definitely less sliding than on a Power Mimic I had.