Tip Two Quad-Building Bike Workouts Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip Two Quad-Building Bike Workouts Some of the biggest quads in sport are built on bicycles Here' s are two leg blasting bike challenges you can do in the gym by Dr John Rusin January 26, 2017August 19, 2022 Tags Tips, Training Bike sprints are one of the most overlooked methods for building muscle on lifters and strength athletes. For many types of indoor bikes, the only variable that you need to account for on the setup is the height of the seat. To fit the bike to you, stand next to the bike and position the seat height in line with the big bony prominence on the side of your hip. From there you'll be ready to rock. Always use an Airdyne-style bike, which incorporates both the pedals for the lower body and the handles that you can grab and pump for the upper body as well. Due to the air resistance and ability to use both your lower and upper body in reciprocal fashion, this type of bike is brutally challenging and will skyrocket your heart rate and pump your quads quickly. No access to an Airdyne or Assault Air bike? Spin bikes are a nice alternative. These bikes usually have manual knobs that allow you to quickly change the resistance. If you're stuck with one of those electronic exercise bikes on the cardio deck, you'll be able to make do. Remember, it's more about your focused execution and effort than the tool you're using. You can punish your quads on any of these setups. The one advantage that the bike has over both the treadmill and rower in terms of building muscle is the ability to program extended duration work bouts. Since the bike places you in a more passive position and targets the lower body, cranking hard is both safe and highly recommended. Here are two challenges that will light up your quads and make your lungs feel like they're going to bleed: Bike Challenge 1 Rounds: 1 Speed:As Fast As Possible Distance: 10 Miles Rest Period: None Bike Challenge 2 Rounds: 15 Speed: As Fast As Possible Work Period: 30 seconds Rest Period: 30 seconds The first challenge works very well for a stand-alone cardio/metcon day, but the amount of total work and stress placed on the quads may be a little too much to tack onto a lower body training session as a finisher. Use this scheme on a recovery day after an extended dynamic warm-up, followed by 5-10 minutes of deep positional breathing to enhance the recovery process while getting in some meaningful work. The second challenge can be programmed as a lower body finisher. If you're on the Airdyne or spin bike, pedal as hard as you can for 30 seconds, and then take your feet off the pedals for the 30-second rest period. If you're stuck using a bike machine, increase your resistance to between 8-12 for work periods and then decrease it down to 2-4 on rest periods, pedaling slowly. You'll need to keep the bike going with slow pedaling so it won't shut off on you. It's less than ideal, but it gets the job done. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training Tip The 10 Minute Deadlift Tutorial Here's just about everything you need to know about deadlift variations. Exercise Coaching, Tips Christian Thibaudeau March 8 Training Tip Improve Your Squat Mobility Fix your ugly squat by squatting. Here's how. Exercise Coaching, Mobility, Squat, Tips Dean Somerset August 18 Training Tip Ditch the Decline Sit-Up The injury potential outweighs the benefits, plus there's a much better exercise for abs. Check it out. Tips, Training Dr John Rusin January 16 Training Tip 1RM Training – Risk vs Reward Why you should stop focusing so much on your one-rep max and what to do instead. Bodybuilding, Powerlifting & Strength, Tips, Training Dean Graddon April 2