Your triceps are tiny muscles that are responsible for a major movement. While your biceps help your elbow bend, your triceps, those horseshoe-shaped muscles towards the top of your arm, . Though we tend to think of training these muscles primarily for aesthetic purposes, we also need them to be strong to perform basic daily functions like pushing a grocery cart or stroller, reaching for an item on a high shelf, or pulling on a pair of pants.

The triceps have three heads: long, lateral, and medial. All three work together for elbow extension and shoulder stability, but the long head, the strongest of the three, is also responsible for extending the arm at the shoulder. When your shoulder is elevated, the medial head .

You can train your triceps muscles as part of a compound movement, which challenges multiple muscle groups and joints at once (think: pushups, overhead presses), or in isolation as outlined below.

To make these exercises more challenging as you progress, you can add weight, slow down the lowering phase (the eccentric portion) of the movement, or add a pause at the end range.

3 Dumbbell Triceps Exercises

Triceps exercises tend to be done with lighter weights, so you can do a few more reps before hitting failure. Aim for three sets of eight to 12 reps with about 60 seconds rest in between.

To determine your working weight, use the . Start with the lightest dumbbells and aim for a set of eight reps. At the end of your set, if you feel like you could do three or more additional reps without compromising your form, add a bit more weight. When you reach the end of a set and feel like you can only do one or two more repetitions, that鈥檚 a good working weight.

If you are doing these exercises as a finisher to a routine of compound movements, you can also take the last set of each exercise to full failure, as long as you don鈥檛 feel any pain during the final reps.

1. Pulsing-Arm Kickbacks

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a light weight in each hand.
• Hold your arms straight by your sides with your palms facing behind you.
• Hinge at the hips and allow your knees to bend slightly.
• Press your arms behind you as far as you can without bending or locking your elbows.
• Pause at your end range, then slowly return to your starting position.

2. Skull Crushers

• Begin by lying on your back on a flat bench with the top of your head in line with the edge of the bench. (If you don鈥檛 have a bench, you can do this on the floor.)
• Hold a light weight in each hand.
• Raise both arms up so they are fully extended and in line with your shoulders.
• Bend your elbows and slowly lower the weights down so the top of the dumbbell is in line with your ears.
• Pause, then slowly return to your starting position.
• Move as slowly as possible through the lifting and lowering phase of this exercise.

3. Alligator Mouth Flies

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart and a light dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing towards your body.
• Hinge at the hips and bend your knees slightly.
• Let your arms hang down by your sides.
• Keeping your arms straight, bring your left arm forward and swing your right arm back at the same time.
• Pause at the top, then slowly return to your starting position with control.
• Switch sides so your right arm goes forward and your left arm goes behind you, then continue alternating.

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If you鈥檝e been in a park or on a trail any time in the last few months, you鈥檙e likely to have spotted them: the weighted vest walkers. Like rucking, exercising with a weighted vest is a simple way to add a challenge to even the most basic of activities. Unlike rucking, where you鈥檙e carrying the weight on your back in a backpack (aka a rucksack), weighted vests tend to distribute the load evenly across your chest and back or across your shoulders and back.

Adding resistance to your movements can bring an additional degree of difficulty that may help build cardiovascular and muscle strength.

In addition to walking, hiking, or running with a weighted vest, you can also use it for strength exercises, either by wearing the vest or holding it in your hands, making it easy to incorporate into your home workouts. The latter provides an additional challenge by introducing instability to your movements, forcing your core as well as your smaller stabilizer muscles to engage.

How to Choose a Weighted Vest

Look for a vest that is five to ten percent of your body weight. The weight (usually sand) inside should be evenly distributed across the vest. In some vests, the weight is distributed across two panels: one on the chest and the other on the back. Others might include a pair of shoulder loops that cross over your back; when worn, the weight should be centered on your shoulders and chest.

Safety Tips

If you suffer from neck, back, or shoulder pain, a weighted vest may exacerbate those concerns. Speak to your doctor before buying or wearing a weighted vest.

To avoid injury, start slow. Wear your vest for a loop around your block or on a walk that鈥檚 no longer than five minutes. You may feel that the vest is pulling your shoulders down, and your legs may feel tired after an otherwise easy walk, but you shouldn鈥檛 feel pain anywhere. If you do, try adjusting the height of your vest buckle and ensure the straps sit evenly across both shoulders. If you still feel pain, remove your vest and ask your doctor if working out with a weighted vest is right for you.

If that first walk feels fine, you can begin to slowly increase your time or distance. If you feel pain or discomfort, scale back. The same applies to the strength movements listed below: add reps or sets as the lifts start to feel easier, but stop before your form begins to falter.

5 Weighted Vest Exercises You Can Do at Home

Because your vest will likely be fairly light, you can do more reps than you could if you were using dumbbells or a barbell. Try doing three sets of eight to 12 reps with one minute of rest between sets to start.

As you progress, you can add a fourth set. If that still feels easy, slow down the lowering portion (the eccentric part of a movement) of each lift or add a pause for one to three seconds at the bottom.

1. Reverse Lunges

• Put on your weighted vest.
• Stand tall with your shoulders pulled back and feet hip-width apart.
• Take a big step back with your right leg.
• Bend both legs to 90-degree angles with your rear knee hovering just above the floor. (Most of your weight should be in your front leg, with your back leg largely there for support.)
• Pause at the bottom, then press through your front leg to bring your back leg up, and bring both feet back together.
• Repeat all reps on one side before switching sides.

2. Squats

• Put on your weighted vest.
• Stand with your feet between hip- and shoulder-width apart
• Hinge at your hips and bend your knees simultaneously, lowering your hips until they are parallel or just below parallel to the ground.
• Press through your feet to stand back up.

3. Ground to Overhead

• To do this move, remove your vest and hold it in both hands.
• Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Your vest should be laid flat between your feet.
• Hinge at your hips, bend your knees, and reach your hands down to grab the vest from the floor.
• In one quick movement, stand up explosively with the weight in your hands and bring it all the way overhead with your arms extended.
• Return the bag to the floor by reversing the movements, but keep your hands on the vest to begin the next rep immediately. These should be fast, explosive movements.

4. Upright Row

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Hold your vest with both hands by the tops of the shoulder straps.
• Standing straight with your torso upright, draw your elbows up towards your ears, bringing the vest with you.
• Pause at the top, then slowly lower back to the starting position.

5. Bicep Curls

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
• Hold your vest with both hands by the tops of the shoulder straps.
• Keeping your elbows tight to your sides, bend at the elbows to curl the vest towards your shoulders.
• Pause at the top, then slowly lower back to the starting position.

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Building strong biceps doesn鈥檛 have to exclusively involve curling a set of dumbbells until you鈥檙e utterly exhausted. You can build upper body strength using just your bodyweight from the comfort of your own home with just three biceps exercises.

Part of progressive overload鈥攖he principle that illustrates how to increase muscle strength, size, and endurance with more than just heavier weights鈥攊ncludes changing the speed at which you move. Slowing down the of an exercise (when your muscle fibers stretch and lengthen during a movement) has been shown to lead to because muscle fibers tear more during the eccentric phase of an exercise than the concentric (shortening) phase. It also makes any movement significantly more challenging. If you focus on this part of an exercise, you鈥檒l feel the results of your efforts when delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) kicks in within 12 to 24 hours post-workout.

Adding a pause, otherwise known as an isometric hold, at the end range of an exercise (say, the top of a biceps curl), will increase the difficulty level of the move. Doing this has been shown to and improve the muscle鈥檚 ability to produce against resistance.

Bodyweight biceps moves can be great for when you鈥檙e traveling without access to a gym, are looking to familiarize yourself with proper form before adding weight, or want to add a brutal finisher after a lifting session at the gym to really push your muscles to their limit before letting them build and repair during recovery.

3 Bodyweight Biceps Moves

Try doing four sets of 8 to 12 reps with around 30 to 60 seconds of rest between sets. You can make any of these more challenging by changing the tempo, adding a pause during the exercise, or shortening your rest periods between sets.

1. Inchworm

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
• Hinge at your hips, allowing your knees to bend slightly, and reach down to place the palms of your hands on the floor. (Depending on your flexibility, you may have to bend your knees a bit more until your hands touch the floor.)
• Keep your core engaged and squeeze your glutes as you walk your hands forward until your body is in a plank position.
• Hold the plank for a few seconds.
• Begin to walk your feet towards your hands.
• When you reach your starting position, stand up. That鈥檚 one rep.

2. Isometric Towel Curl

• Lay out a towel on the floor.
• Stand on the short edge of a bath towel. Reach down and grab the opposite short edge, holding it in your hands. Your arms should be down by your sides, and the towel should be slack and without tension.
• Hold the top end with both hands in an underhand grip. Keep your elbows close to your sides.
• Pull up on the towel until both of your arms form 90-degree angles; the towel should now feel taut.
• Squeeze your biceps as if you鈥檙e holding in the midpoint of a dumbbell curl.
• Try to hold this position at this angle for at least 20 seconds, working up to 60 or more.

FYI: You can also do this as a single-arm movement with one end of the towel under one foot and the opposite end in the hand on the same side (so, left foot and left hand, for example).

3. Pseudo Planche Push-ups

• Begin in a plank position with your hands under your shoulders. Instead of keeping your wrists straight with your fingers out in front of you, externally rotate your wrists so that your hands and fingers point out to the sides, ideally at 90 degrees (if you can manage doing so without pain).
• Keep your body in a straight line with a neutral pelvis and your core and glutes engaged. Do not allow your hips to drop.
• Press your hands hard into the floor.
• Shift your bodyweight forward, coming up higher on your toes, so your shoulders are in front of your hands instead of directly over your wrists.
• Lower your body towards the floor, keeping your elbows close to your body and your head and neck in a neutral position. To increase the intensity, you can slow the pace at which you lower yourself toward the floor, keeping tension on your biceps for a longer period.
• Before your chest touches the ground, press your palms into the floor and push back up to your starting position. That鈥檚 one rep.

To make this move more challenging: hold your lowered position for a few seconds before pushing back up to your plank.

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If your typical gym session warm-up begins and ends with a casual five-minute jog on the treadmill, you may be short-changing the impact of your workout. To enhance your performance and prepare your body for the movements ahead, add dynamic upper body stretching to your warm-up routine.

Dynamic Stretching Primes Your Muscles Before a Workout

During dynamic stretching, you take a muscle and joint through its full range of motion, mimicking the exercises you鈥檙e about to do, explained , a physical therapist and spokesperson for the American Physical Therapy Association, based in San Francisco. So if your strength session is going to include barbell or dumbbell rows, for example, you might warm up with a set of rows using a light elastic band, moving the same muscles and joints but at a lower level of intensity. To prepare for a day of kayaking, you might include some wrist rotations and shoulder rolls. Scapular protractions and retractions鈥攚hen you bring your shoulder blades forward and away from the spine and pull your shoulder blades backward and toward the spine, respectively鈥攜ou can get your shoulders ready for reaching, grabbing, and pulling on climbing holds.

鈥淵ou’re priming all those muscles and joints that are about to play a role in your workout,鈥� Malek says.

Unlike static stretching (when you get into a stretch and hold it for 30 to 60 seconds), dynamic stretching gets your muscles and joints warmed up by revving your heart rate and increasing blood flow to the area, says Malek. There鈥檚 a neuromuscular element too, she says, in which you鈥檙e also improving your coordination, proprioception (your body鈥檚 ability to sense its place and movement in space), and control.

The key is to keep moving throughout the stretch rather than holding in place. Fluid motions have been shown to improve performance in your main workout by . Doing dynamic stretching prior to a workout has been shown to during that activity and decrease the risk of exercise-related injury.

Before your next workout, try spending a few minutes priming your muscles for movement with dynamic stretches specific to your sport. 鈥淭hat would get you the most bang for your buck,鈥� says Malek.

Here are seven stretches that, done together, will work all the joints and most of the upper body muscles..

7 Dynamic Stretches to Prepare for Your Upper Body Workout

Before any upper-body-focused workout, Malek suggests doing dynamic stretches that target the arms and shoulders, the thoracic, cervical, and lumbar spine, and your core.

If you do two sets and ten reps for each movement, this routine should take you about 15 minutes to complete.

1. Arm Circles

Muscles and joints worked: shoulders (anterior and posterior deltoids), traps, rotator cuff, shoulder joint

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart
• Open your arms out to your sides and begin to rotate them in small circles forward, keeping your arms relatively straight (you can have a soft bend in your elbows)
• Continue to make your circles larger until you鈥檝e reached your end range of motion
• Reverse the circles, starting small and getting bigger as you go

2. Banded Upright Row

Muscles and joints worked: shoulders (anterior and posterior deltoids), traps, rhomboids, biceps, shoulder, and elbow joints

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart
• Loop a in a light weight under both feet and hold the opposite end in your hands (your hands should be slightly narrower than shoulder-width apart, and your knuckles should be facing forward)
• Keeping your torso upright, pull up on the band, drawing your elbows high up towards your ears. Pause when the band meets your chin.
• Slowly lower your arms down. Repeat.

3. Plank Scapular Protraction/Retraction

Muscles and joints worked: core muscles, pecs, lats, traps, rhomboids, serratus anterior, shoulder joints

• Begin in a straight-arm plank position with your hands directly under your shoulders (avoid raising your hips or allowing them to dip down, causing an arch in your back)
• While pressing your hands into the floor, squeeze your shoulder blades together, then push them away (the only part of your body that should be in motion is your shoulder blades)

FYI: If a full plank is too challenging, you can drop your knees to the floor .

4. Standing Open-Book Wall Rotations

Muscles and joints worked: shoulders (anterior and posterior deltoids), shoulder joint; cervical, lumbar, and thoracic spine

• Begin by standing sideways to a wall
• Take a small step back with the foot closest to the wall
• Raise both arms up in front of you and bring your palms together at chest height (the back of your hand closest to the wall should be in contact with the wall)
• Begin to reach your outside arm away from your opposite hand, opening up as wide as you can, rotating your torso as you open up
• Follow your moving hand with your head and your gaze

5. Thread the Needle

Muscles and joints worked: core muscles, thoracic spine, shoulder joint, and elbow joints

• Begin on all fours with your hands directly under your shoulders
• Lift your left hand from the floor and reach your left arm underneath your right, with the back of your left hand gliding along the floor
• Your left elbow will bend as you reach, and your right elbow will bend as well as you continue to reach across the floor. Allow your head to twist to the right.
• Try to keep your hips still throughout the movement, keeping the motion contained to your torso and arms
• Slowly slide your left arm back to the starting position
• You can repeat all repetitions on one side before stretching the other side, or you can switch sides with each repetition

6. Dynamic Chest Opener

Muscles and joints worked: pectorals, shoulders (anterior and posterior deltoids), shoulder joint

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart
• Bring your palms together with your arms straight at chest height
• Open your arms as wide as possible out to the sides, then bring them back together in the center

7. Wrist Rotations

Muscles and joints worked: wrists

• Sit or stand in a comfortable position
• You can extend your arms or keep your elbows bent at your sides
• Rotate your wrists outwards in slow circles
• Then rotate them inwards in slow circles

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Though they power most upright movements, the calf muscles are often overlooked in stretching routines. But tight or stiff calves can cause issues across the lower body, from your ankles to your lower back, making even basic daily movements like walking and climbing stairs uncomfortable.

The good news is that even a few minutes a day of moving and stretching your calf muscles can help you stay pain- and injury-free.

The Anatomy of Your Calf

Your muscle runs along the back of your lower leg, from behind your knee to the back of your ankle. It鈥檚 made up of two main muscles: the gastrocnemius and the soleus. A smaller muscle, called the plantaris, runs between the gastrocnemius and soleus and connects to your Achilles tendon. (FYI: Around ten percent of people do not have a plantaris muscle.)

The Achilles tendon, which connects your heel bone to the gastrocnemius and soleus, runs from the heel to the middle of your calf.

Working together, the Achilles and the muscles of your calf are responsible for 鈥攚hen the toes point down and away from the leg (as if you鈥檙e pushing your foot down on a gas pedal). 鈥淲e activate our calves with nearly every movement our lower body does, whether that鈥檚 running, jumping, or walking,鈥� says Marco Capizzano, a chiropractor and the founder of , a chain of stretch therapy clinics.

What Causes Tight Calf Muscles?

鈥淧rolonged periods of sitting or general inactivity can shorten the calf muscles and decrease their strength and flexibility,鈥� says Capizzano. Other culprits include wearing uncomfortable shoes like high heels, which put the calves in a , and repetitive motion that initiates in the calves, like running or jumping, Capizzano adds.

When your calves are tight, they can limit mobility in your ankles and cause you to compensate with your knees, hips, and lower back, he says.

Common Calf Injuries

Injuries associated with tight calves don鈥檛 just happen in the calf muscles themselves. Overuse injuries, caused by repetitive activity without proper recovery, include (inflammation of the tissue in the foot), (inflammation of the tissue around your shin bone), and (inflammation of the tendon that connects the calf muscle to the heel), all of which are听associated with calf stiffness.

鈥�When the calf muscles are too tight, any kind of sudden stretching or explosive movement puts them at risk of injury, limiting your athletic performance and even activities of daily life,鈥� says Capizzano.

7 Moves to Loosen Tight Calves

To keep your calves feeling good, Capizzano suggests a mix of dynamic and static stretches.

鈥淎ctive or dynamic calf stretches promote blood flow, flexibility, and mobility in the muscles, preparing them for the stress of activity,鈥� he says. These exercises also increase joint mobility and prevent strain or injury when doing high-impact activities like running and jumping, he adds.

Perform the dynamic/active calf stretches in the morning before starting your day or before you engage in any physical activity. Use the static stretches to help you recover from a workout or before bed.

When performing any of these stretches, listen to your body. 鈥淚f you feel pain or sharp discomfort, ease off the stretch and try again with less intensity,鈥� says Capizzano.

1. Calf Raises

Move Type: Dynamic/Active

:

• Stand with feet hip-width apart
• Slowly raise up onto your toes
• Slowly lower back down
• Perform two or three sets of 15 to 20 reps

2. Dynamic Calf Stretch

Move Type: Dynamic/Active

:

• Stand with the balls of your feet on a step (a box, bench, or even the bottom step of a staircase) with your heels off the edge
• Allow your heels to drop below the step
• Rise up on your toes as high as possible. Pause.
• Lower back down
• Perform two or three sets of ten to 15 reps

3. Inchworm

Move Type: Dynamic/Active

:

• Stand with feet hip-width apart
• Hinge at the hips, fold forward, and place your hands on the floor
• Walk your hands forward until you鈥檙e in a high plank
• Pause, then walk your hands back towards your feet and stand upright
• Perform two sets of ten to 12 reps

4. Banded Single-Leg Calf Stretch

Move Type: Static

:

• In a seated position, extend both legs in front of you
• Loop one end of a long resistance band (like ) across the arch of one foot and hold the other ends in each hand
• Gently pull on the ends of the band, drawing your foot towards your body
• After holding, release and repeat on the other side
• Hold each side for 30 to 45 seconds, then switch sides
• Perform the stretch twice on each foot

5. Standing Calf Stretch/Gastrocnemius Stretch

Move Type: Static

:

• Stand facing a wall with your toes about two feet away from the wall
• Place your hands on the wall at about shoulder height
• Step your right foot forward so your toes are about six inches away from the wall, allowing your leg to bend into a lunge, keeping your foot flat on the floor
• Keeping your left leg straight, push your heel into the ground while leaning your torso towards the wall to deepen the stretch
• Hold for 30 to 60 seconds on one side, then switch. Repeat twice.

6. Soleus Stretch

Move Type: Static

:

• Begin by standing with feet hip-width apart, with your hands on a wall or the back of a chair
• Step your left foot forward
• Bend both knees, keeping your heels on the ground until you feel a stretch along the calf muscle of the rear leg
• Hold for 30 to 60 seconds on one side, then switch. Repeat twice.

7. Downward Dog

Move Type: Static or Dynamic

:

• Begin in a high plank position with arms straight
• Push your hips back and upwards and press your heels towards the ground so your body forms an inverted “V”
• You can hold here for a static stretch
• For a more dynamic move, alternate bending your knees, pressing each heel down towards the floor as you go
• Hold, or alternate knee bends for two or three sets of 30 to 45 seconds

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For classes, camaraderie, and the latest equipment, you can鈥檛 beat the gym. But for those times when you don鈥檛 want to make the commute, have a packed schedule, or just want to get your session in without having to jockey for space by the dumbbell rack, you can get a full-body workout at home with just a few pieces of well-chosen strength training gear.

With a set of adjustable weights, resistance bands, and a raised platform, you can reap all the same benefits of a gym workout鈥攊mproved cardiovascular health, increased muscle mass, and greater mobility鈥攚hile enjoying a cleaner environment and zero wait times for your favorite piece of equipment.

How to Build a Strength Training Set-Up at Home

One key to building an effective home gym is determining how much space you have to work with. A jump rope, for example, will only be effective for building cardiovascular fitness if you have enough space to spin the rope without hitting the ceiling, walls, or a piece of furniture. You can get most of the benefits by doing the same jumping exercise without the rope itself.

A barbell and plates are fantastic for building strength, but if you live in a small apartment, that takes up a lot of precious space (and deadlifting might bug your downstairs neighbors). A dumbbell or kettlebell can be a worthy substitute.

Anything that provides resistance, from weights to elastic bands, can be an effective tool for muscle building, strength, and endurance training. With a set of bands in varying weights, you can mimic weighted exercises, including squats, push-ups, planks, and rows. To make a move more challenging, you can add reps, change the tempo of your movement (slowing down the lowering phase or adding a pause at your end range), or decrease your rest time between sets.

Strength Training Tips

If any of these exercises are new to you, start light and slow. Here are some tips to make sure you get the most out of your at-home training.

Don’t Automatically Go for the Heaviest Weight

To avoid injury and maximize the impact of your workout, ensure you鈥檙e moving with proper form, using a weight you can handle. Reach for the lightest option and try to perform six to eight reps. On a scale of one to ten, your perceived level of difficulty should be about around a seven. If it鈥檚 lower, try a heavier weight; if it鈥檚 higher, scale down.

For the kettlebell moves, instead of buying a set of kettlebells, go for one that’s a little heavier than your usual working weight and start with lower reps and longer rest times. To get the most out of your kettlebell, consider purchasing an so that you can increase or lower the weight as needed.

Create a Goal and Stick to It

Focusing on a goal will help you determine the structure of your reps, sets, and rest time. For building strength, aim for three to six sets of one to five reps, with two to five minutes of rest to recover between each set. Your working weight should be 80 to 100 percent of your one-rep max, or the most you can lift for a single rep.

If your goal is to build more muscle mass, try three to six sets of eight to 12 reps, with one to two minutes of rest between sets. Your working weight should be 60 to 85 percent of your one-rep max.

Looking to increase your time-to-fatigue on your runs, rides, or swim sessions? You鈥檒l want to work on building muscular endurance. To do that, aim for three or four sets of twelve or more reps, with 30 seconds of rest in between sets. Your working weight should be 60 to 75 percent of your one rep max.

4 Essential Pieces of Strength Training Equipment (And How to Use Them at Home)

If you鈥檙e just starting out with at-home workouts, you don鈥檛 need to purchase a lot of equipment. Here are a few of our favorite space-saving items and some of the movements you can try with each of them.

1. Adjustable Dumbbells

At the start of the pandemic, were among the most difficult pieces of equipment to find, and with good reason: they鈥檙e the most versatile resistance training equipment. You can train bilaterally or unilaterally, effectively training both the upper and lower body. You can change the level of difficulty as you increase your strength and skill.

Goblet Squat听

To , turn a single dumbbell so it鈥檚 vertical and grasp it with two hands under one end. Separate your feet so they鈥檙e shoulder-width apart. Keeping your torso upright, bend your knees and lower your hips towards the floor at the same time. Pause for a moment at the bottom. Brace through your core, press your knees out to the sides, and stand up, keeping your torso upright. That鈥檚 one rep.

Floor Press

For a floor press, begin seated on the floor, knees bent and feet flat on the ground, holding one dumbbell in each hand. Roll back so your torso is now on the ground, with your arms straight, directly over your chest. Slowly lower the weights towards your chest, stopping when your bent arms touch the floor. Press your arms back up over your chest. That鈥檚 one rep.

You can perform these with elbows bent away from your body to focus on your pecs or with elbows tucked into your torso to focus on your triceps.

2. Kettlebells

If you鈥檙e looking for one tool to improve your total-body strength, power, and force production, reach for a . It can be used in place of a dumbbell for any strength exercise (squats, overhead press), but because of the uneven weight distribution, it can also be used to blend strength and cardio into a single movement. The kettlebell swing, in particular,听 to increase maximum and explosive strength as well as cardiorespiratory fitness.

Swing

Start by placing a kettlebell on the floor. Stand about two steps away, facing the kettlebell, with feet shoulder-width apart. Bend at the knees and hinge at the hips, reaching forward to grab the handle of the kettlebell with both hands. Look straight ahead, maintain a flat back, and swing the kettlebell through your legs and behind you with arms straight. As soon as the weight is behind your legs, thrust your hips forward, swinging the weight to chest height. Hinge at the hips as you swing the bell back behind your legs again. That鈥檚 one rep.

Half-Kneeling Single-Arm Press

A starts with a low lunge. Begin on the floor with one leg bent in front of you with your foot flat on the floor and the other behind you with your shin and the top of your foot on the floor. Your kettlebell should be on the same side of your body as your back leg. Reach down, grab the handle with one hand, and bring it to your shoulder. Brace your core and press the weight overhead. That鈥檚 one rep. (If you鈥檙e sinking into the hip of the back leg or if your torso is twisting to one side, the weight is too heavy.)

3. Resistance Bands

You can get an effective strength workout even without weights. Resistance bands, which often come in a pack of various levels of thickness and in or versions, are inexpensive and easily transported or stored. Because the bands themselves are light, the risk of injury from doing a move incorrectly听is lower, making them beginner-friendly.

Banded Clam Shells

To execute a , pull a small elastic over both legs, placing it just above your knees. If you鈥檙e using longer bands, double-loop the lightest band and place it on the same spot. Lie on one side of your body, knees bent and the inside of your feet touching. Keeping the insides of your feet in contact the entire time, slowly open your top knee towards the ceiling, then slowly lower it back down. That鈥檚 one rep.

Upright Rows

For , stand on the open loop of a long resistance band with your feet hip-width apart. Hold the opposite end with your hands, palms facing down. Pull up on the band, bending your elbows out to the sides. Draw the band all the way up to your chin, pause, then lower back to the start. That鈥檚 one rep.

4. A Box or Bench

A or a bench can help you regress or progress a challenging movement. For example, a pushup on the floor, even on your knees, can be too much for someone new to strength work. You can work up to that exercise by elevating your torso with your hands on a platform.

When you need a bigger challenge, you can increase the difficulty by having your toes on the platform and your hands on the floor. Benches usually come in two options: or adjustable ( folds up to save space). Adjustable is a bit more versatile for dumbbell movements.

Step-Ups and Step-Downs

You can do a with or without weights. If you鈥檙e using weights, hold a light dumbbell in each hand. Engage your core and step onto the box or bench with one leg, allowing the other leg to hover just behind the edge of the platform. Pause, re-engage your core, and slowly lower your hovering leg to the floor. That鈥檚 one rep. Keep the other foot on the platform, press your foot into the platform, and raise the back foot again to keep moving through the reps.

Push-Ups

To do a push-up, place your hands on the box or bench, about shoulder-width apart. Step back with both feet until your body is in a plank position. Bending your elbows out to the sides, slowly lower your torso towards the platform. Pause with your torso just above the platform, then press through your hands to return to the top. That鈥檚 one rep.

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Rest days are crucial for healing, muscle growth, and injury prevention, but when you鈥檙e craving the endorphin rush of a good workout, sitting still can feel pretty uninspiring. You don鈥檛 have to stay glued to the couch to reap the benefits of a day off, though. A little movement鈥攕pecifically active recovery鈥攃an go a long way, both physically and mentally. Light movement can speed up recovery and bring movement into your day without adding too much additional stress to your body.

Active recovery, which should be scheduled in between your regular workouts or big races or competitions, can include walking, steady-state running or cycling, swimming, mobility exercises, stretching, and even low-intensity strength training. These moves increase blood flow to your muscles, which speeds up the muscle repair process and can (DOMS).

When Should You Schedule an Active Recovery Day?

In general, after a challenging or high-intensity workout or a big race/competition, you should take 48 or even 72 hours of rest. The amount of rest time you take should be long enough that you can execute your next workout or competition without compromising form or intensity, says , an ACE-certified trainer.

On a day off, you can choose between total rest or active recovery. 鈥淭he intensity of the workout or event you are recovering from can help you determine the type of recovery that is needed,鈥� says Gagliardi. The most important considerations are which type of recovery will help you get ready for your next workout and how much time you have between training sessions or competitions. If you鈥檙e injured or feeling extreme levels of fatigue, total rest may be necessary.

鈥淩ecovery is about the body returning to a point of homeostasis,鈥� says Gagliardi.

With active recovery, Gagliardi cautions that it鈥檚 important to keep the intensity low enough that you鈥檙e not veering into overtraining. 鈥淭he idea would be to increase blood flow to a recovering part of the body through low-intensity movement and with less impact so that you optimize recovery without further stress to the part of the body in need of recovery,鈥� he says.

To recover from a run, Gagliardi suggests swimming or heading to the gym and hopping on the elliptical. To ease aching muscles from a strength session, try walking or steady-state cycling.

A 10-Move Mobility Routine for Active Recovery

While a casual walk is a great go-to active recovery practice for your lower body, mobility exercises promote recovery across the entire body.

When your muscles are stiff or achy, they can鈥檛 move or control your joints as well, making even basic movements challenging (think about how stiff you feel trying to pick something up from the floor when your quads are sore after a long run). When one joint is limited, it has a ripple effect throughout the body and can cause further aches and pains. Mobility exercises take your joints through their full range of motion while increasing blood flow to the surrounding muscles.

Gagliardi recommends running through all the movements listed below if you have time or picking a few and doing them throughout the day as 鈥渕ovement snacks.鈥�

Repeat each movement for six to twelve repetitions and, if you鈥檙e doing the full list, run through the entire routine one to three times, depending on the intensity of the workout you鈥檙e recovering from. 鈥淭his should feel relaxing and productive but not intense,鈥� he says.

1. Bodyweight Squat

Muscles Worked: Abs, glutes, hips, calves, and thighs

:

• Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart, toes turned slightly outwards, and your hands clasped at your chest or by your sides.
• Engage your core and hinge slightly at the hips while bending at the knees, keeping your torso upright.
• Slowly lower down as if you鈥檙e sitting back in a chair, trying to bring your thighs parallel to the floor. Hold for a second or two at the bottom, re-engage your core, and push through your feet to stand up.

2. Standing Ankle Mobilization

Muscles Worked: The calves

• Stand facing a wall with your feet close together.
• Place your hands on the wall and step back until your arms are straight and your toes are about three feet away from the wall, with your heels flat on the floor.
• Slowly lift your right foot off the floor and bend your knee to 90 degrees.
• Without shifting your weight into your left hip and keeping your left heel on the ground, swing your right knee across the body towards your left side and turn your head to the left at the same time.
• Hold your knee there for one to two seconds, then swing to the right side and hold for one to two seconds.

3. Inverted Flyers

Muscles Worked: Abs, glutes, hips, core, and quads

• Stand with feet hip-width apart, arms hanging by your sides.
• Engage your core and pull your shoulders back and down.
• Squeeze the glute and thigh muscles of your right leg and lift your left knee up to hip height at a 90-degree angle.
• Hinge at the hips as you extend your left leg behind you and your right arm in front of you, pointing the toes of your left foot.
• Hold for three to five seconds, making sure you keep your trunk from twisting and avoid collapsing into the hip of your standing leg.
• Slowly return to standing.

4. Gate Openers

Muscles Worked: Abs, glutes, hips, and thighs

• Begin by standing with feet hip-width apart, arms by your sides.
• Engage your core, shift your weight to your left leg, and lift your right foot from the floor, bending the knee up towards your chest.
• Draw your right leg across your body towards the left side, keeping your knee at about hip height.
• Keep the left hip stable and pointed forward.
• Draw your right leg back to center and then over the right side of your body, opening your hip.
• Return to the starting position.

5. Downward-Facing Dog

Muscles Worked: Arms, back, glutes, hips, calves, and thighs

• Begin in a straight-arm plank position.
• Engage your core and draw your hips back and up high until your body forms an upside-down 鈥淰.鈥�
• Try to push your heels back and down towards the floor.
• From here, you can hold the position or pedal your feet.
• Slowly lower to the plank position and begin the next rep from there.

6. Cat-Cow

Muscles Worked: Back and chest

• Begin on all fours with your toes pressed into the floor and your heels pointed towards the ceiling.
• Engage your core to keep your spine in a neutral position (aka tabletop position).
• For the 鈥渃at鈥� pose, exhale and pull your spine upwards towards the ceiling.
• Hold for ten to 15 seconds, allowing your head to fall towards your chest; your back will make a letter “C” shape.
• Slowly return to the starting position.
• For the 鈥渃ow鈥� part of this move, arch your lower back and draw your shoulder blades together; your back will be shaped like the letter “U.”
• Hold this position for 10-15 seconds, then return to a neutral spine.

7. Cobra

Muscles Worked: Abs and back

• Lie on your stomach with your hands flat on the floor under your shoulders, fingers pointing forward.
• Extend your legs and press the tops of your feet into the floor.
• Exhale and press your hips and hands into the floor as you pull your chest away from the ground until you feel a stretch in your chest and abdominals.
• Hold for 15 to 30 seconds, then slowly lower back down until you鈥檙e lying flat on the floor. Repeat.

8. Fire Hydrant

Muscles Worked: Abs, glutes, and hips

• Begin on all fours with your knees directly under your hips and your toes pressed into the floor with heels pointed towards the ceiling.
• Keep your spine in a neutral position.
• Engage your core and raise one bent leg off the floor; try to avoid sinking into the opposite hip or rotating your trunk.
• Pause, then lower the lifted leg back down.

9. Glute Bridge

Muscles Worked: Abs, glutes, and hips

• Begin by lying on your back with your knees bent and feet hip-width apart and flat on the floor.
• Engage your core, press your feet into the floor, and lift your hips up, contracting your glutes as you press upwards.
• Press up only as high as you can before your back begins to arch.
• Pause, then lower your back slowly until it鈥檚 flat on the floor.

10. High Plank T-Spine Rotation

Muscles Worked: Abs and shoulders

• Begin in a position.
• Press your right hand into the floor and lift the left hand up.
• Keeping your left arm straight, twist the hips and shoulders to the left, raising the left arm towards the ceiling.
• Pause, then bring your left arm back to the floor and switch sides.

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An ankle injury can stop you in your tracks, making running painful or even impossible. Injuries at and below the knee make up approximately of all running-related injuries in athletes of all genders, and the ankle is the second most likely spot (after the knee) to get hurt. But most of the common ankle injuries, like 鈥攚hich is caused by repetitive stress to the tendon that connects the heel to the calf鈥攃an be prevented.

By spending just a few minutes a week building mobility and strength, you can stop most overuse injuries from interfering with your running goals.

鈥淚 always ask my clients if they鈥檙e warming up before a run because that鈥檚 the most modifiable thing we can do to prevent injury,鈥� says ,听a physical therapist based in Toronto, Canada.

Your ankles are made to flex and extend as you run and absorb the shock of repeated foot strikes on the pavement. But if the ankle joint鈥檚 range of motion is limited or the surrounding muscles aren鈥檛 strong enough to withstand the impact, they can鈥檛 do their job properly.

鈥淎 lot of runners wait too late to start doing this preventative work,鈥� says London. Even if you have never had ankle pain or injuries, focusing on maintaining the health of your joints can keep you moving well through your weekly 5K or to the finish line of your next marathon.

The Anatomy of Your Ankle

Your is a hinge joint, which means it can move forward and back in one plane of motion鈥攗nlike the ball-and-socket joints of the hip and shoulder, which can do that and move side to side or rotationally.

Surrounding the ankle joint are muscles, including the calf, tibialis (anterior and posterior), and peroneals, which flex and extend to move your foot. The soft tissue of the ankle鈥檚 ligaments connects the ankle bones (like the tibia, fibula, and talus) to one another and stabilizes the joint. Tendons, such as the Achilles, connect the ankle muscles to the bones. Finally, cartilage, which covers the ends of your bones, acts as a shock absorber.

When your foot strikes the ground, the ankle flexes (dorsiflexion, when your toes are pointed upwards) and absorbs the impact, explains London. The ankle extends (plantarflexion, when your toes are pointed downwards) when you push off from the ground to push forward.

Common Ankle-Related Injuries

Your body is a kinetic chain, which means all the muscles, tendons, and bones are connected and work together. Weak or limited ankles don鈥檛 just impact a single joint; they can cause issues across your body. Because your ankles help you maintain balance, weakness or tightness can lead to instability when standing or moving. Added wobbliness will make you more prone to acute injuries from tripping or falling or cause knee pain and muscular imbalances from placing more weight on one limb.

Sprains

Sprains are among the most common acute ankle injuries in runners. Low ankle sprains usually occur when a runner rolls or twists their ankle inward or outward while moving.听Sprains can be relatively minor (a pull or strain in a ligament) or more significant (a partial or full tear of the ligament).

High Ankle Sprains

are less common and occur when the ankle is dorsiflexed (toes pointed up) and turns inward or outward at the same time, often caused by a quick change in direction while running or jumping. Though this is more likely in sports like football and soccer, it can also happen to runners, especially in activities with uneven terrain听or where quick pivots are necessary, like obstacle course racing.

Stress Fractures and Shin Splints

Overuse can also lead to ankle injuries like stress fractures, which are small cracks in the bone, and Achilles tendinopathy. London says shin splints, characterized by pain along the inside of the shin bone that tends to feel worse with dorsiflexion, are one of the biggest complaints from the runners he treats. Caused by repetitive activity like running, shin splints are an inflammation of the muscles and tendons around the tibia.

Signs of Limited Mobility and Poor Ankle Strength

While noticeable stiffness and discomfort can signal mobility issues, there are other less obvious ways to spot concerns.

Tight Calves

Feeling tenseness or strain in your calves indicates a limited range of motion in your ankles. To check the flexibility of your calves, try standing on the edge of a stair and seeing how low you can drop one heel. 鈥淚f you can only slightly drop below the edge, you鈥檙e really tight through that foot,鈥� London says.

Losing Balance Easily

When assessing a client鈥檚 ankle mobility and strength, London first asks them to stand on one foot. If they can do that without losing balance, he hands them a weight and asks them to move it from hand to hand so their center of mass shifts as they balance, forcing them to work harder to stabilize the foot of the standing leg. London isn鈥檛 just looking for whether the ankle moves inward or outward but whether the client has enough control to bring it back to center.

If the knee of the standing leg caves inward along with the ankle, that鈥檚 also a sign that there may be some ankle weakness and that the knee may be in danger of sustaining an injury when you run.

Stiff Ankles

For another at-home mobility test, you can also try squatting with your toes pointed forward; if you have to spin your feet out to the sides, that鈥檚 a sign of ankle stiffness.

7 Moves to Build Ankle Strength and Improve Mobility

You can prevent and rehab from a lot of ankle injuries by improving your ankles鈥� range of motion and ability to absorb impact.

鈥淢ost running injuries are caused by overuse,鈥� says London. By building the strength of your muscles, you also improve the strength of your tendons and ligaments, allowing them to take more impact before sustaining injury. That makes it more likely you can run longer and, more often, pain-free.听鈥淪trength training allows you to do more,鈥� London adds. 鈥淚t’s really about having a foot that’s mobile but also strong.鈥�

Mobility work primes your muscles for movement, increasing blood flow to the area and warming up the muscles. Performed before a run, they help increase your range of motion and can help prevent injury. Many ankle mobility exercises can be modified to strength exercises by slowing them down, doing additional reps, or adding weight.

Five to ten minutes of mobility work (including ankles, hips, and shoulders) before your run is a great starting point to ensure 鈥測ou’re not over-fatiguing, you’re just priming the system,鈥� says London. You can do the strength exercises twice a week as part of any other strength routine.

Perform the two dedicated mobility moves first, then do one set of each of the moves labeled 鈥淢obility or Strength鈥� as mobility exercises before adding weight or time. Try to do sets of around 12-15 reps, which will fatigue the muscles and help build endurance.

Watch this video to see a compilation of all the ankle strength and mobility moves explained in this article. (Video by Brad Kaminski)

1. Banded Ankle Mobilization

Move Type: Mobility

:

• Place a step or a low box about two feet away from an anchor point (the leg of a couch, a stair railing, or a squat rack).
• Loop a long resistance band around the anchor point.
• Place your right foot on the step and your left knee on the ground so your legs are both forming 90-degree angles, as in a deep lunge.
• Grab the end of the resistance band and loop it over the top of your right foot, right below the hinge point of your ankle joint. Deeply bend your right knee forward, bringing your knee over your toes.
• Pause for three to five seconds at the endpoint, then return to the start.
• Do 30 seconds of deep bends on one side before switching sides.

2. Pogo Hops

Move Type: Mobility

:

• Begin standing with your feet hip-width apart.
• Push off the balls of your feet and begin doing quick, short jumps, keeping your knees straight but not fully locked throughout the movement. Continue for 30 seconds.

You can jump forward, backward, and side to side as you get comfortable. You can also do this on one leg, jumping on one side for 30 seconds and immediately switching to the other.

3. Heel Walks

Move Type: Mobility or Strength

Heel walks warm up the tibialis anterior, which runs along the front of the shin and is primarily responsible for ankle dorsiflexion.

:

• Walk for 30 seconds with only the heels of your feet touching the ground, taking short steps. Draw your toes up as high as possible as you walk.

4. Toe Walks

Move Type: Mobility or Strength

Toe walks help warm up your muscles in the calf and those through your feet and prime your ankles for plantar flexion.

:

• After 30 seconds on your heels (from your heel walk), switch to walking on your toes for 30 seconds.

Make it a Strength Move: Hold a dumbbell in each hand as you walk

5. Single-Leg Calf Raises

Move Type: Mobility or Strength

:

• Stand on a step allowing only the balls of your feet to be planted on the step (your heels will be hovering behind the step).
• Lift your right foot slightly.
• Holding onto a wall or railing for balance, slowly lower the heel of the left foot until you feel a stretch in your left calf. Press through the ball of your left foot to bring the heel back up and rise up onto the toes of your left foot.
• Slowly lower and repeat.
• Do 30 seconds of raises on one leg before switching legs.

Make it a Strength Move: To improve calf strength and help protect the Achilles tendon, slow down the heel drop, lowering for five seconds before coming back to neutral and onto the toes.

6. Tibialis Raises

Move Type: Strength

:

• Stand with your back against a wall, feet flat on the floor, and hip-width distance apart. The first time you try this, bring your feet just about a foot away from the wall.
• Keeping your legs straight, slowly pull your toes off the floor, continuing to pull and engage the shin muscles until only your heels are in contact with the floor.
• Pause, then slowly lower down.
• Do one or two sets of 12-15 reps on days when you are not running, with 30 seconds of rest in between sets.

To increase the difficulty: You can make this move more challenging by bringing your feet further from the wall.

7. Single-Leg Deadlift

Move Type: Strength

:

• Stand with feet hip-width apart; keep a soft bend in both knees.
• Shift your weight to your left leg and lift your right foot off the ground.
• Tighten your core, hinge at the hips, and kick your right leg behind you.
• With your hands crossed over your chest, lower your torso down towards the floor until both your torso and right leg are in a straight line and parallel to the floor.
• Do two sets of 12-15 reps on each side with 30 seconds rest between sets.

To increase the difficulty: Grab some free weights and hold one in each hand. Another option: hold one free weight in the hand opposite your lifted leg鈥攊f you put a weight in your right hand, your left leg would be raised鈥攖hen switch sides.

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Moving your bike indoors for the winter can feel uninspiring. There鈥檚 no scenery to gaze at, no cycling crew to keep you company, and no changes in terrain to keep things interesting. But there鈥檚 also less time spent layering up, fewer frozen fingers, and no junk miles commuting from home to your starting point.

Instead of thinking of as a necessary evil during the winter months, consider the benefits: You don鈥檛 have to worry about slipping on ice or navigating around cars, pedestrians, and pets. You can adjust the temperature indoors, making it warmer to mimic summer races or turning on a fan if you need to cool off. With fewer distractions and more control over your environment, you can get really dialed in with your training.

While outdoor cycling allows you to practice bike handling and climbing and descending hills, indoor training is great for honing your pedaling efficiency and cadence.

How to Choose Indoor Cycling Equipment

There鈥檚 no match for your own bike, especially if it鈥檚 been fitted to your body and has a seat you can comfortably sit on for hours. If you want to keep riding the same bike indoors, you can mount it on a bike trainer or rollers.

Bike trainers fall into two main categories: and . A wheel-on trainer attaches to your bike鈥檚 rear wheel and uses a metal roller pressed against the tire to add resistance. With a direct-drive trainer, you remove your rear wheel and set your bike on the trainer鈥檚 cassette. Wheel-on trainers can quickly wear out your back tire, but they also tend to be more affordable; direct-drive trainers, which are larger and heavier, provide a smoother ride.

Rollers sit flat on the floor and include three long cylinders attached to a metal frame. While you ride, your wheels spin the cylinders, offering a realistic road-feel. This apparatus requires more balance and skill to stay upright than other indoor cycling options.

While it won’t replicate your outdoor riding experience as closely, , a coach and training specialist with Peloton, says a stationary bike can also help you build your overall endurance. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e focusing on general fitness, just getting on a bike and pedaling is like 90 percent of the battle,鈥� he says.

Unlike devices that attach to your normal bike, a stationary bike is a separate piece of equipment specifically meant for cycling indoors. Your pedal strokes spin a flywheel at the front of the machine. Depending on the model you鈥檙e using, you can turn a knob or pull a lever to adjust your level of resistance. There are a few different types of stationary bikes, including upright (which most closely resembles a regular bike), recumbent (with a reclined seat), and dual-action (the handlebars move back and forth, offering an additional upper body workout). Upright and dual-action bikes will feel most similar to your outdoor bike, but if you have back pain, the reclined seat of a recumbent bike offers more comfort and support.

Set a Goal

When your outdoor cycling season ends, Wilpers says that鈥檚 the time to set your goals for the coming year. 鈥淚t puts a flag in the ground to say, 鈥極K I need to be ready for this,鈥欌�� he says. 鈥淚t gives purpose to your workouts.鈥�

If there鈥檚 a bike race on your calendar, plan your training program around your main race (your 鈥淎鈥� race). Think about where you want your fitness to be by that race, and work backwards to where you are now. You鈥檒l want to start your first phase of training about six months before race day. If your aim is to simply ride more, or be able to ride a certain distance, there鈥檚 still value in sticking to a structured training program to stay motivated.

鈥淭he difference between training and exercising is simply having a goal, and I think you need to have your goal in mind to really start getting the most out of your training,鈥� says Wilpers. 鈥淭hat makes you less likely to miss a training day and more likely to have a higher quality session.”

Focus on Technique

While training indoors, pay attention to where you鈥檙e feeling the work of pedaling. You should primarily be using the big muscles of your glutes, quads, and hamstrings, rather than smaller muscles like your calves. If you鈥檙e feeling it in your knees, that could be a sign that you鈥檙e 鈥渏ust mashing the pedals,鈥� Wilpers says.

While your legs power your pedals, your core is responsible for keeping the other half of your body upright and balanced on two wheels. Activate your core to control your hips in the saddle and avoid bouncing or rocking when you鈥檙e riding at a higher speed, Wilpers says. You should also be drawing on your core strength and stability to initiate your pedal stroke and take some of your upper body weight off of your handlebars.

Warm Up

Regardless of your training phase, Wilpers recommends a five-minute warmup that starts with an easy pedal for about a minute. Follow that with three to four minutes of spin-ups for 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off of building to a higher and higher cadence, then slowly backing down. 鈥淏eing able to quickly turn over the pedals and apply force to the pedals is what makes a cyclist fast,鈥� says Wilpers.

You can also add in some single-leg pedaling drills, which can help identify and correct power imbalances. Unclip one foot from your pedal and pedal with one leg, paying attention to any spots where you lose power. Start with one minute on each leg.

Indoor Training Phases

To best prepare for spring and summer rides, your training cycle should have two phases: base (which begins about six months before a goal race) and build (which starts about 12 to 16 weeks before your goal race). During base training, your focus will be on increasing your aerobic fitness and endurance as well as pedal stroke efficiency. The build phase 鈥渞elies on a strong aerobic engine and foundation built in the base phase,鈥� says Wilpers. In this phase, the volume and intensity will increase.

Base Training

During base training, which should last about six to 12 weeks, you鈥檒l focus on upping your fitness and overall cardiovascular capacity. Wilpers suggests aiming for three听workouts a week. You can sub out one ride a week with other endurance exercises, like running or swimming.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e in base training, everything needs to be endurance,鈥� says Wilpers. That doesn鈥檛 mean purely long, slow distance rides though. While one ride a week should be your long ride, the others should include high-intensity interval training. Those rides, which can be kept to about an hour, should include several intervals around eight minutes long (you can build up to 15-minute intervals) which feel like a seven on the one-to-ten scale of rate of perceived exertion (RPE).

You can throw in some sweet-spot training as well, which helps increase your aerobic capacity. This entails riding at about 88 to 94 percent of your functional threshold power (FTP), or the maximum amount of power you can sustain for an hour at a time. Start with four eight-minute intervals or two 15-minute intervals, resting four minutes or seven minutes between each interval. These intervals should also feel like about a seven in terms of your rate of perceived exertion.

鈥淪weet-spot training is considered one of the most beneficial intensities to train at to start bumping up your FTP,鈥� says Wilpers. 鈥淚 like using sweet-spot training at the tail end of base training because you are starting to get hungry for more intensity…but it’s not yet time to make that jump into the build phase.鈥�

During the base phase, recovery is particularly important to ensure you don鈥檛 get injured or burn out before your training can really begin. As you get older, Wilpers says, it becomes more challenging for your body to absorb the work you鈥檙e doing and adapt to training intensity.

Build Training

Your build phase should start about 12 to 16 weeks before your goal race and last around six to eight weeks. Aim for two to three 60- to 90-minute long high-intensity workouts per week, in addition to your longer endurance ride. During this phase, you鈥檙e bumping up the volume and intensity. VO2 Max intervals鈥攔iding in a zone five level of intensity, where your heart rate is at about 90 to 100 percent of your max鈥攕hould be around five minutes. Threshold intervals鈥攊n which you鈥檙e riding at the highest level of power you can sustain on an hour-long ride鈥攕hould be about eight to ten minutes with recovery between intervals at about half the time spent working. Aim for an RPE between seven and eight.

Training should start getting more race-specific as well. Consider the elevation of the course and add hills accordingly, and increase long rides to get closer to the amount of time you anticipate riding during your peak race.

The Pillars of Off-Season Training

Frequency: Find a schedule you can stick to. How much time can you realistically devote to training? 鈥淚f you over-schedule yourself and you can鈥檛 stay consistent, nothing is going to happen,鈥� Wilpers says. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e just going to get frustrated.鈥� Three sessions a week is ideal, but during your base phase, you can swap one of those for another kind of cardio you enjoy.

Duration: Start with easy endurance work and gradually increase the length of your workouts as you progress. Even if your goal race will have you in the saddle for several hours, don鈥檛 spend your entire off-season just pedaling slowly for hours at a time. 鈥淵ou want to show up on race day ready to race and excited,鈥� says Wilpers. 鈥淏ut if you鈥檙e just doing endurance rides for 24 weeks, you鈥檙e going to get to the race and be like 鈥業鈥檓 already over it.鈥欌�� Instead, schedule two of your weekly sessions to be around an hour long and use that time to work on interval training, which will increase your pedaling power and endurance.

Intensity: Unlike frequency and duration, intensity is a bit subjective. How hard does your workout feel? If you plan for one ride per week to be low intensity, the other two (or three) should incorporate intervals at a higher intensity, which can include increasing your speed, shifting your cadence, and adding hill work.

Strength Training

You can build strength both on and off the bike.

On the bike, you can build strength with muscle tension or high-force intervals. Add an incline on the bike (or get into a higher gear) and take your cadence into the 50s or 60s, pedaling slowly 鈥渟o you鈥檙e getting lots of muscle fiber activation,鈥� says Wilpers. Try to hold that cadence and power for five to six minutes, building up to about 20 minutes. Muscle tension riding is great for building glute strength, something cyclists often neglect in favor of their quads and hamstrings. When you head back to higher cadence rides and sprints, this should make your pedal stroke even more efficient.

Off the bike, Wilpers suggests focusing on the 鈥渕ain movers鈥濃�攖he glutes, quads, and hamstrings鈥攖o increase force production on your pedals. Think: squats and deadlifts and cleans. Unilateral (single-leg) work will help ensure you鈥檙e building strength in both legs, rather than allowing one side to handle the bulk of the work. It can also help correct any muscular imbalances you may have developed during the racing season. For upper body work, add in bench presses, overhead presses, lat pull-downs, and rows.

Wilpers recommends at least two or three total-body strength sessions per week, depending on your training phase. During early base training, the addition of a third session can 鈥渉elp enhance strength improvements while your cycling training is just getting started,鈥� he says. As your cycling training gets more demanding, decrease the volume and intensity of your strength workouts and switch to just two sessions per week to maintain the muscle you鈥檝e built.

鈥淎 good indication that it’s time to dial back the strength training to strength maintenance is when you feel that residual fatigue and/or soreness from strength sessions is starting to interfere with your cycling training,鈥� Wilpers says.

Rest and Recovery

Wilpers recommends at least one rest day a week, adding more based on how hard you鈥檝e pushed yourself and your overall health and stress levels.

鈥淓very athlete has a different rate of adaptation or absorption, and that will change as your life changes,鈥� says Wilpers.

Rest doesn鈥檛 have to mean melting into the couch, though. You can use that time to focus on mobility work or do a low-impact workout you enjoy like yoga.

It鈥檚 tempting to assume that only professional athletes need dedicated rest days. But shifting your thinking about why and how you train may be the key to getting the most from your time on the bike and avoiding burnout.

鈥淧eople say 鈥業鈥檓 not an athlete.鈥� Well if you鈥檙e training, you鈥檙e an athlete,鈥� says Wilpers.

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If your lower back or knees ache at the end of a long day on the slopes, you may have limited hip mobility.

Compromised range of motion in the hips can be 鈥渁 silent culprit鈥� for pain elsewhere in the body, says Mandie Majerus, a physical therapist with in Kirkland, Washington, and co-founder of the , an online ski and snowboard training program designed by physical therapists to improve performance and reduce injuries. If you lack mobility in your hips, 鈥測our body is going to find it somewhere else,鈥� Majerus says.

Majerus has been working on the medical team for World Cup ski races and training camps for 14 years. During that time, she has noticed a consistent trait in the athletes who top the podiums: 鈥淭hey wake up, do their hip mobility work, go ski, and then come right back to the gym to do their cooldown.鈥�

For the rest of us, dedicating even a few minutes a week to improving our hips鈥� range of motion and stability can have a meaningful impact on ski performance, longevity in the sport, and overall health.

How Do Your Hips Move When You Ski?

Think of your hips as 鈥渢he steering wheel of your lower body,鈥� says Majerus. Each turn is initiated from the hips. As you carve, your hips alternate between abduction (the movement of the leg away from the body) and adduction (the movement of the leg towards the body), or external and internal rotation.

If your hip mobility is compromised and you can鈥檛 rotate well, you鈥檒l be less effective at turning your skis, Majerus says. As a result, you鈥檒l start relying on your back to power these movements, which can lead to aches and pains.

Similarly, if you鈥檙e lacking mobility and stability in your hip muscles (including the glutes, adductors, hamstrings, and hip flexors), 鈥渢hat load all goes into your quads and therefore your knees,鈥� explains Majerus.

About one third of all alpine ski injuries occur in the knee, with the majority impacting the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), according to published in Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy. These injuries often occur when we catch or lose an edge in a turn, or fall backwards. But there鈥檚 evidence that strong hip muscles can lower your risk of knee injury. A 2015 study published in the found that lower preseason hip abduction and external rotation strength increased the risk of suffering a non-contact ACL injury during the competitive season.

Even if you stick to groomers, you鈥檙e likely to encounter some uneven terrain. Your hips are responsible for absorbing the shock of those bumps, maintaining your center of gravity, and helping you adjust quickly to ice and bare patches.

When Can You Work Through Discomfort and When Should You Seek Help?

If you experience a nagging ache while skiing or develop a new acute pain when you stand up at the end of apr猫s, you may need professional help, Majerus says.

She suggests following a traffic light scale to determine if you can keep skiing or if it鈥檚 better to take a break. Green would be 鈥渘o pain.鈥� Yellow should register at about a four out of ten on the pain scale, when you can ski through a small amount of discomfort that doesn鈥檛 seem to be increasing. Red is when your gut tells you not to keep pushing, or when there is localized swelling, pain, or warmth; that鈥檚 when it鈥檚 time to rest and seek care from an orthopedist or physical therapist.

The Moves

Majerus suggests starting to work on hip mobility and stability at least two to four weeks before your ski season begins with two to three sessions a week, then repeating your exercises two to three times a week throughout the season. (The couch stretch can be done daily). You can do this routine鈥攚hich promotes mobility, flexibility, and stability鈥攊n the morning or evening. Just be sure to do it at a time of day when you鈥檙e able to pay close attention to how your body feels as you move.

Before you head out for a powder day, be sure to do a dynamic warmup. Once you鈥檙e off the slopes, give your hips some extra care and attention.

鈥淚nstead of coming home from a day of skiing and then just grabbing a beer and sitting on the couch, do a couple of hip stretches and maybe some foam rolling,鈥� says Majerus.

Hip Hinge

How it helps: Ensures your hips are hinging correctly before you load them with your body-weight while skiing

Begin by standing with your back to a wall or other vertical surface, like the side of a box. Step a few inches away from the wall (about the length of one of your feet). Your feet should be hip-width apart and your arms can be crossed over your chest or held straight out in front of you. Maintaining a straight back, bend slightly at your knees and hinge at your hips to push your rear back until it taps the wall, then return to standing. You should feel a stretch in your hamstrings throughout the movement. If you are unable to tap the wall, try moving a little closer. Perform two sets of ten reps.

You can progress this movement by stepping farther away from the wall, or by holding a kettlebell at your chest.

Supine Hip Internal Rotation Stretch

How it helps: Improves internal hip rotation

Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Your feet should be about two feet apart (if you鈥檙e on a yoga mat, they should be just outside the edges of your mat). Let both knees drop towards the same side until you feel a stretch on the outside of your hip. Repeat on the other side. Hold about five seconds for each rep, repeating ten times on each side.

Side Lying Hip Abduction with Wall Support

How it helps: Strengthens hip abductors

Lie on your side with your back pressed against a wall. You can either rest your head on your bottom arm or cradle it in your hand to support your neck. Straighten your top leg and allow a slight bend in your bottom leg. Raise your top leg up, sliding your heel along the wall, and stop before your upper leg rotates or pulls away from the wall. Then, lower it back down. You should feel this movement primarily in your glutes. Complete ten reps on one side before switching sides. Perform two or three sets.

To make this exercise more challenging, move your upper body slightly away from the wall but keep the heel of the top leg in contact with the wall as you raise and lower. When you鈥檙e ready to progress from there, you can try this move without wall support.

Airplane听

How it helps: Improves hip rotation

Stand on one leg with a slight bend in your knee, hinge forward at your hips, and raise your opposite leg slightly so your foot hovers over the floor. Maintain tension through the raised leg. With your arms outstretched to the sides like airplane wings, twist your torso towards the standing leg, aiming for about a 45-degree angle, allowing the opposite hip to drop slightly. (If balancing in this position is challenging, try performing it next to a couch, chair, or countertop and holding on for added stability). Return to center, then twist and open your torso towards the opposite side, aiming for about a 10-degree angle only. You should feel this movement primarily in the glute, hamstring, and quad of the standing leg. Perform one set of ten reps, completing all reps on one side before switching sides.

Bulgarian Split Squat听听

How it helps: Teaches you to properly engage your glute muscles during movement

Stand about two feet in front of a bench or a chair, facing away from it, with your feet hip-width apart. Lift one leg, bend at the knee, and place the top of that foot on the flat surface behind you. You can cross your arms at your chest or extend them in front of you. Engage your core and begin to lower your butt towards the ground, bending the knee of your standing leg,听and allowing a slight hinge at your hips. Your opposite leg should bend as well, but most of your weight should be in your front leg as you lower into the squat. Continue to lower, making sure the knee of your front leg stays in line with your ankle, until your front thigh is parallel with the floor. Press the foot of your standing leg into the floor to return to standing. Keep your back leg elevated on the bench throughout the entire set. You should feel this movement primarily in the quads, hamstrings, and glutes of your front leg. Complete ten reps on one side before switching sides. Perform two sets on each side.

You can make this movement more challenging by adding an isometric hold at the bottom of the last rep of each set for about 20 seconds.

Couch Stretch

How it helps: Opens up the hips and helps relieve tight hip flexors

Begin in a kneeling position facing away from a couch or chair. Bend one leg and rest the top of that foot on the couch or chair. Step your opposite leg forward to form a 90-degree angle, with your foot flat on the floor. Engage your core and glutes, keep an upright torso with your shoulders over your hips, and push your hips forward until you feel a stretch in the front of your hip and thigh. Hold for 30 to 60 seconds for two sets on each side. You can do this movement daily to maintain flexibility in your hip flexors.

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