Best Exercises For Unicycle-Riding!

To strengthen your unicycle-riding muscles and skills. Whether you’re just starting out, are a die hard mountain unicycle rider, or appreciate the speed, handling and versatility of a model with 32-inch tires, getting stronger can benefit you, regardless.

Of course that might have you wondering, what muscles should I be strengthening to make me a better, stronger, more coordinated rider?

Naturally, most of those are lower-body oriented, which we will cover here. The following are some of the best exercises that will strengthen your primary unicycle riding muscles.

Squats

Squats are a powerhouse workout that benefits your entire body, not just your lower body.

First, just to be able to execute the movement properly, you will strengthen the muscles in your core and back needed to maintain stability and balance while riding.

Then, of course, your erector spinae, quadriceps, and especially your glutes will all benefit immensely from a squat session, and these are the primary muscles that drive the most power as you ride a unicycle (or a bike, for that matter).

Machine Glute Kickback

Machine glute kickbacks can also be a highly effective way to train your glutes, specifically. They may not be as holistically beneficial as squats, but they will isolate resistance training to your glutes, and it’s good to switch things up; you don’t need to do squats every day.

Machine glute kickbacks also offer many of the same benefits as squats, and in addition to training explosive strength, will improve posture and definition, especially if you take the time to execute a set with proper, refined form.

Calf Raises

Even though most of your raw cycling power comes from your glutes and quads, all the pressing power through your ankle and toes comes from your lower leg, primarily from muscles such as the gastrocnemius and soleus.

Strengthen both groups of these muscles and you will be able to press harder and leverage more force through your foot and toes for better, more precise control over the pedals.

Calf raises are one of the best exercises for this, and can be adapted to just your body weight, or augmented with a weighted vest, kettlebell, dumbbells or other strength training aids, like weights or resistance bands.

Hamstring Curls

Hamstring-strengthening exercises, notably hamstring curls, are a bit hard to do without the proper equipment, but this one is another exercise that can immensely benefit you as a unicycle rider.

In addition to providing you strength for riding a unicycle (or a bike), hamstring curls will provide you greater strength and flexibility when running or jumping, as well as better stabilization which can help prevent leg injuries, making them among the best workouts for cyclists.

Leg Lifts

Now let’s talk about your core muscles, mainly your abs and obliques, which provide a great deal of strength and even more importantly, stability, as you ride.

Leg lifts are one of the best exercises you can do to strengthen these muscles, primarily the groups in your lower abdominals.

Scissor leg lifts are a good variant on “standard leg lifts” which will not just build strength, but a good deal of endurance as well.

Twists

Twists, like leg raises will strengthen both your abs and your obliques, but they will focus more on the latter. Since your obliques are needed for lateral stability when you’re in the saddle, this is one of the best unicycling exercises out there. It also gives you the flexibility to change things up so you aren’t doing the same ab workouts day after day.

Sit Ups

Sit ups are the quintessential ab workout, and there are lots of ways to get creative with this basic exercise to vary it. You can do decline situps, to make the range of motion more difficult, as well as situps with a plate or a kettlebell. With a partner, you can also do a situp toss with a medicine ball or a weighted bag, like a beanbag or a small sandbag.

Situps, paired with a workout regimen that includes twists and leg lifts, will strengthen your core muscles so you will enjoy greater stability when riding, especially if you do a lot of trail riding in the saddle of a mountain unicycle.

Pull Ups

While unicycling mostly requires you to engage the muscles in your core and lower body, a strong upper body is far from something you should neglect. Pull-ups are a great workout that strengthen some of the most powerful muscles in your upper body, including your lats and delts. These muscles help with control, stability, and balance while riding.

One last workout you can do is dips, which will strengthen your chest and triceps, and which some consider “the squat of the upper body.”

Get Started Becoming a Stronger Unicyclist Today

Whether you’re here for a mountain unicycle, or want something larger and faster, with 32 inch tires or even 36 inch tires, we have you covered. Shop our collection and if you want a personalized recommendation, get in touch with us today.