Bicycling

Muscles worked

The repetitive work falls on the quadriceps across the front of the thigh, which straighten the knee and, just as importantly, control it on the way back down.

Holding a sustainable output for minutes at a time is a different demand from a heavy set, which is why fatigue here shows up as a gradual fade rather than a rep you suddenly cannot finish.

Other muscle groups are involved too: the calves control the ankle and hold the heel position; the glutes finish hip extension; the hamstrings assist hip extension and slow the knee down.

Every exercise for:QuadricepsCalvesGlutesHamstrings

How this movement works

It is filed under cardio. The work is continuous and paced rather than counted in sets, so progress shows up as duration, distance or a lower heart rate at the same effort.

What you need

These train the quadriceps too, using equipment this one does not:

• Bicycling, Stationarymachine
• Bodyweight Squatbody only
• Box Squatbarbell
• Cable Deadliftscable
• Dumbbell Lungesdumbbell

Difficulty

Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.

Of the 173 quadriceps exercises in this database, 70 are listed at beginner level.