Strength is Showing Up with Erin Huck

If there’s one thing that Erin Huck can teach us all, it’s how to show up. Huck may be a professional cyclist at the top of the sport, but she's also a professional product manager at a medical device company. She's in a special place among her peers in both careers to lead by example. She’s packing two high-level careers into the same 24 hours, 7 days and 52 weeks that we all have.

She’s the working woman’s (and man's) champion. She found her success in both arenas by showing up. And when Huck shows up, she succeeds, no matter the result, and that’s an example to us all.

A key process that helps Huck show up is her goal setting. One of her main goals for her lead up to the 2020 season was to work on her strength in the gym. This goal was partially forced by her ankle injury and the need to rehab, but it quickly went beyond just 'getting back'. This goal will help her to further ward off similar injuries by simply being stronger, more stable and more balanced on her bike.

Huck leads by example, and while these may be universal gym goals for any cyclist, they're perfect for anyone who's time-crunched or spends long hours at a desk and in front of a computer.

So, what does showing up look like?

Erin's Early Winter Strength Workout

• A1-Barbell hip thrust (4x8) heavyweight
• A2-Single leg Romanian Deadlift to Overhead Press with Kettlebell (4x8 each side) (0:27 in episode)
• B1-Push up/V-up with feet on slider (4x12) (2:08 in episode)
• B2-Strict slow pull-ups (4x5)
• C1-Single leg kettlebell pass on BOSU (3x8 each side)
• C2-Side plank dips (3x12 each side)

You can find other components to this workout in Episode 2 (watch it at the top of this post).

“Balancing strength work with on the bike performance does get really tough, especially when you’re at the level of athletics that Erin is. We’re not trying to overload her…. We’re not trying to get her bigger. What we’re trying to do is make sure that she maintains her ideal strength to weight ratio. Meaning, that she’s as efficient as possible [on the bike], so we really try to choose exercises that mimic her bike position.” – Dr. Smith