Cycling

Cycling
By Jim Harmon

Please excuse hard-core cyclists for that cocky post-ride walk of theirs — they’re just a bit stiff from an exercise that arguably strengthens and tones the sum of your leg muscles more thoroughly than any other activity. The downstroke works the lateral and medial quadriceps, the upstroke works the hamstrings, and the stroke across the
bottom taxes the calves. The glutes benefit, too.

All this is to the good, obviously, but if you’re not interested in taking over where Miguel Indurain left off, don’t sweat the technique: Even a sloppy pedal stroke will do quite a lot for your legs, though mostly your quads. “The less skilled you are, the harder a workout you’ll actually get,” says Craig Griffin, endurance track coach for USA Cycling. Griffin would have us
all spinning elegantly round circles at a high cadence, but if you’re employing your bike strictly to beef up your gams, you can safely forget such purist stuff and grunt away in a too-big gear.

Jim Harmon, a longtime contributor to Outside, runs on the sand in Long Beach, New York.

Photograph by David Roth