FRESH LEGS
Expert advice to help you achieve perfect pins for cycling.
Conventional wisdom says that the glutes and the quads are the workhorses within the legs, the knees and ankles are our weakest links and we shave our legs solely for marginal gains. But as the specialists who give the pro riders a leg-up reveal, there’s a whole lot more to perfecting performance than simply having a nice pair of pins.
“It’s true that over 65 per cent of the total power applied to the pedals is generated from the bigger muscles,” says Rob Brown, specialist cycling physiotherapist with the Centre for Health & Human Performance ( chhp.com). But it’s not just the ones we think. “Sure the glutes are key drivers, but there are also the adductor magnus (the largest groin muscle), the quadriceps and the soleus (one of the calf muscles) contributing to every turn.”
The leg muscles aren’t simply there to spin those cranks as fast as possible either. The hamstrings, groin muscles and the gastrocnemius (the calf muscle’s other half) have a key role in keeping leg action smooth, controlling the direction of the force that’s being applied to the pedal by the power makers.
How you engage these leg muscles will vary according to the type of rider you are and the rides you do. Long-haul efforts, short sprints, ascents and descents all call upon different leg muscles and varying degrees of input.
“Sprinters will produce more force for a shorter period of time, whereas climbers will have a lower force over a sustained period,” says Brown. During a short, powerful sprint effort the glutes and quads activate a little earlier in the pedal cycle, see Phase one panel.
“It’s in sprint cycling and mountain biking where we see major switches in pedalling technique and a change in muscle engagement,” adds Phil Burt, former Team Sky physiotherapist who now runs performance clinics for all riders ( philburtinnovation.co.uk). “Climbing on steep gradients will call for a greater contribution from the glutes because it’s the muscle in the position to have the greatest impact.”
On the other hand, low power, fast pedalling speed (100rpm-plus) will demand more effort from the calf muscles and hamstrings than quads or glutes. “It’s that control element again,” says Brown. “There’s a greater need to control joint movement and forces at higher pedalling speeds, and lesser need to
generate power.” Preparationandrecovery Knowing that certain leg muscles play specific roles in power and control is one thing, acting upon that knowledge and training your legs to perform better is something else. Incorporating leg-strengthening drills into your training sessions – with as much focus as you would a VO max session or an assault on a local KOM – can help build bigger, better ‘power’ muscles and more stable controlling ones too. “The following strength efforts are the equivalent of performing weighted step-ups or lunges in the gym,” says Brown. But by doing them on the bike you’re
Top tip Add specific leg-strengthening exercises to your training