Weight Work and Trainers:

Remember those dumbells we mentioned yesterday?  Here’s the first thing you can do with them.

Do not go with too heavy a set to start with.  Honest, you don’t want to.

Now, the idea is to combine some upper body strength and flexibility work with your trainer workouts.  You do this as part of your warm up, before you get into the interval and focused cycling part of your indoor (like in spin class) workout.

This works best if you have a high table, bar stool, or a willing assistant handy.

Mount your bike to begin your warm up.  Clip in, and pick up your dumbells.

May I suggest that you start this with the lightest dumbells you have?  You will find out why.

Clip in and begin spinning in a very easy gear to start warming your legs up.  Once you have established your spin (after about five minutes) take up the dumbells.  (It’s okay if you were just holding them up to this point.)

Exercise 1:  Extension

Bend your arms and bring the dumbells up to chest height.

Now slowly extend your arms to the sides, until arms are straight out, elbows down, palms up.

Spin in this position for one to two minutes.

Recover by retracting your arms, to the tucked by the chest position, and then lower them until they are hanging straight down.

Repeat once or twice.

Exercise 2: Extensions and raises

Similar to the extension.

Bring the dumbells up to a tucked position, chest high.  Extend your arms out fully, elbows and palms up.

Slowly, bend your elbows, keeping your upper arm parallel to the ground.

Bring the dumbells to your shoulders.

Then re-extend back to the full outstretched position.

One cycle should take about 10 seconds.

Repeat ten times and then recover.

Exercise 3:  Rotations

Start as in Extension.

When arms are fully extended, rotate the dumbells in a small (about 6 to eight inches diameter) circle.  Keep arm fully straight, and move with the shoulder muscles.

Keep rotations slow, about 3 seconds each.

Continue for 30 seconds to one minute.

Recover.

Rest your Dumbells, and spin your bike up.  Increase pedal speed and upshift one or two gears. 

Continue until you are breathing hard.

Recover.

Exercise 4:  Butterfly

Start with arms hanging straight down by your sides, palms and elbows out.

Raise your arms to the sides, keeping them straight, until they are parallel to the ground, elbows up, palms down.

Slowly bend your arm down, bending at the elbow only (wrist straight) Keep upper arm parallel to the ground.

Continue until the dumbbell is tucked under your armpit.

RE-extend by reversing the motion.

Each cycle should take about 6 seconds

Repeat 10 times.

Recover

Exercise 5:  Forward extension

Bring the dumbells up in a tucked positon, until they are at shoulder height.

Extend your arms slowly forward until they are parallel to the ground, elbows out, palms down.

Spread your wings! Slowly open your arms out until they are fully extended to the sides.

Recover to the bent arm, tucked position.

Each cycle should take about 6 seconds.

Repeat 10 times.

Recover.

Put the bumbells down, complete your spinning warm up.  Then do your workout.

It’s not a bad idea to do some upper body stretching after your workout.

Over the next three weeks, you can gradually increase the repetitions, in the second or third week, you might move from your lightest dumbells to ones that are a pound or two heavier.

This all helps to strengthen core, and your shoulder yoke and triceps.  The things that support your upper body on the bike.

More to come.