How Building Muscle can Improve your Cycling Performance At this year’s Paralympic Games, Steve Bate MBE not only set a world record in qualifying for the 4000m Individual Pursuit-an event in which two cyclists (or teams) begin at opposite sides of the track and attempt to catch their opponent or record the fastest time-but he also took the silver medal in the final. Bate and his pilot, Chris Latham, were one of just a few teams to go sub-4 in the Pursuit this year. Bate’s coach Pav Byran, a top cycling coach with the app Humango, credits this success largely to the strength training protocol implemented by Bate’s strength and conditioning coach, Luca Malvassori. "While a holistic approach to Steve’s training was needed to get these results, a periodized program was constructed by his strength and conditioning coach to ensure that Steve, and his pilot Chris, had the muscular strength required to turn such a big gear," Bryan tells Bicycling. Bate’s 2024 Paralympics accomplishment is just one example of how prioritizing strength and muscle gains can improve cycling performance, despite the fact that gaining muscle from strength workouts can sometimes also mean weight gain. Another convincing example: Norwegian pro road racer Jonas Abrahamsen gained 20 kilograms (taking his weight from about 132 pounds to about 172 pounds) and increased his peak power output from 900 watts to nearly 1,500 watts ahead of this year’s Tour de France where he became a stand-out rider.