waterfish_21

Hello all.

I started biking this year and my legs have become huge. But I'm wondering what other exercises I could do with weights to tone them out and build them more. It is winter here(soon) and I will be stuck on either a trainer or spin bike, but I have resistance machines in my apartment.

johnelliss

Get some walking exercise that is very preferable for you bike riding. I think you have to strong your feet as running and walking it gives very strong base to you.

wolfchild

Squats, deadlifts, weighted lunges, weighted step ups, kettlebell swings...And don't neglect to exercise your upper body, having huge legs and no upper body just isn't right.

TexMac

I prefer to start with jump rope for warmup. Lunges, single leg press, dead lifts, decline push-ups, shoulder, triceps, pull down, chin ups, bent over row, plank

sprince

Unilateral high step ups and straight legged deadlifts will help translate that added strength to increased power to your bike's drive train.

berner

Don't forget to throw in lots of core exercises into the mix. Your core muscles are what supports everything else you do on and off the bike. Core Exercises: The 21 Best Bodyweight Moves | Greatist

highrpm

Twice a day, I climb the stairs up and down from my basement, 10 times. Holding a 35# dumbbell. I think that this made a bigger difference to my leg strength than running did.

JoeMan

Why Every Athlete Should Do Farmer's Walks | STACK

This an excellent exercise for overall strength and endurance.

sprince

More old school ideas...

https://www.t-nation.com/training/old-school-training

My legs and core were never stronger than when I used to do heavy squats 3 times a week and then push my truck 100 yards back and forth across a parking lot on the "rest/recovery" days.

Carbonfiberboy 

I do weights at the gym twice a week until the high season, then once a week.
From October to the end of December, I've been doing 9 pulling exercises on Tuesday and 9 pushing on Thursday, so squats only once a week, and doing 3 sets of 12, then 4 sets of 10. Last set to failure.
From January 1 to the end of March, twice a week I do: half squats, horizontal rows, back machine, one-legged presses, benches, hip flexion, and standing calf raises. 1 set of 12, then one set of 4 or to failure, max 6 reps.
From April 1 until the end of the season, once a week I do the same as above, but only once a week.

This is all that's necessary for optimum cycling performance.

Carbonfiberboy 

However if it's a good pure leg workout you want, try this one:
Legs Like Jessie's: Hilgenberg's 7-Move Workout

That would be a well-rounded workout for a cyclist.

sprince

Note that "a cyclist" is not everyone. That would be a well rounded workout for a particular type of cyclist, long rides, lots of miles and little interest in anaerobic pursuits. As an old guy I can certainly appreciate the wisdom of 4 warm up sets for 3 working sets. But for others, that might be considered a warm up before the actual workout, or even a waste of precious calories.

If you have just starting riding and feel that you lack leg strength, you'll benefit more from traditional (and heavier) lifts. This might also apply to a climbing type with years of experience who lacks the leg strength to realize their full potential, or those with very limited time who rarely ride more than 20 miles at a time. This definitely applies if you are like the OP and your "legs have become huge", but you will not be satisfied with anything less than ginormously humongous