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Post by roel on May 30, 2006 15:02:04 GMT 8
We all know this, turning those cranks to transfer power to chain/drives then to wheels so the bike moves. Pedalling is as old as the first bike. But is there really the most efficient / effective way of pedalling?
1. On flats
2. On hills
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Post by Dragunov on May 30, 2006 17:20:04 GMT 8
We all know this, turning those cranks to transfer power to chain/drives then to wheels so the bike moves. Pedalling is as old as the first bike. But is there really the most efficient / effective way of pedalling? 1. On flats 2. On hills the most effecient way to pedal is not to pedal  why search for an effecient way to pedal?, just make yourself a stronger rider by pedalling more then u wont have to worry about pedaling effeciency  |
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Post by pjax on May 30, 2006 18:32:55 GMT 8
on flats and hills, people are always talking about making your pedals "bilog" (round). this traces way back during the roadie days.
the thing is that when your foot is nearing the 6 o'clock position, make like you are scraping the floor, with a backward movement.
when your foot is in the 12 o'clock position, make like you are stepping forward, with a forward movement
in other words, don't just push down on the pedals. make your force circular
this technique is more evident during climbs because there is more tension on the pedals. this will also work best (if not only) with clipless or foot-cage type pedals.
i don't think i am really able to use this technique during flats. can anyone do this? or am i just not conscious enough to apply the technique?
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Post by Dragunov on May 30, 2006 19:34:47 GMT 8
i do, i spin on climbs, i spin on flat, i just use a bigger gear on flats, i used to train on a roller, this type of trainer require u to spin in a circular motion so that u can balance ur bike on it. its hard to learn how to but its just a matter of "tiaga". its an advantage if u know how to spin especially on sprints. |
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Post by allegra on May 30, 2006 22:34:21 GMT 8
on flats and hills, people are always talking about making your pedals "bilog" (round). this traces way back during the roadie days. the thing is that when your foot is nearing the 6 o'clock position, make like you are scraping the floor, with a backward movement. when your foot is in the 12 o'clock position, make like you are stepping forward, with a forward movement in other words, don't just push down on the pedals. make your force circular this technique is more evident during climbs because there is more tension on the pedals. this will also work best (if not only) with clipless or foot-cage type pedals. i don't think i am really able to use this technique during flats. can anyone do this? or am i just not conscious enough to apply the technique? you start scraping the "floor" when you reach the 3oclock position efficient spin at 90 rpm bike must fit and correct position is important That's as far as I remember |
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Post by bongjumper on May 30, 2006 22:53:18 GMT 8
This how you learn the proper spinning (smooth groove technique). The smooth groove technique is easy to learn, simple to adapt and a little on the cosmic side. You don't have to lose by trying it and you can gain a lot. Put the hammer away: leave dropping the hammer to racer. The Smooth groove technique is all about laying the power down, not hammering it.
Remember seeing an impressive photo of a racer out of the saddle, pushing a giant gear with his leg muscles bulging? Erase from your memory banks. The smooth groove techniques is the exact opposite of what gear mashers do on the race course. We are not going to pound our pedals, we are going to finese them.
Positioning Your Feet
First, positioned your saddle properly and get the correct height.
1. Your Hips should not rock back and forth when you pedal.
2. Position your foot in the six o'clock of the crank rotation, there should be no more (nor less) than 25 to 30 degree bend behind your knee.
3. Position your foot three o'clock of the crank rotation, A plum line dropped in front of your knee should fall through the middle of your pedal Axle.
4. The ball of your foot (Bulge behind your big toe) should be positioned directly over the axle of your pedal when your foot is clipped or strapped to the pedal.
5. The rotational cleat position (Judge by how close your heels come to the crank arms during rotation) must offer a good amount of float so your feet, knees and heels find the most comfortable position.
Practicing the Smooth groove technique
Find a flat or slightly rolling trail.
1. Pedal your bike up to a comfortable cruising speed
2. Play with your shifters. Find a gear that you can spin steadily. Being not so easy to spin and not so hard to push down to turn the crank.
3. Next step is be a little cosmic. Imagine that your feet is not touching the pedals but are floating above them. The objective is to spin fluid, calm circle, even pressure throughout the entire pedal rotation.
4. Begin to accelerate, but don't do it with a sudden jump. Concentrate on slowly increasing the rotation of your pedals. Don't use excessive muscle force on either the down and up strokes.
5. Continue to accelerate until your breathing is labored enough so you can talk without becoming winded. Concentrate on your feet floating above the pedals.
6. Hold this pace as long as you can. Concentrate on relaxing your leg muscles while you are spinning.
7. The smooth groove technique is a mind game. Your legs will want to pound the pedals, so your mind has to tell them to chill.
Next level of Training
Follow all the steps of the first exercise, gradually increasing your RPM until you are in the same training zone level as in exercise one.
Now, imagine that as you are spinning beautiful, flowing circles, the circles are getting smaller. Resist the tendency to flex your leg muscles. Keep your legs loose and let the circles get smaller in your mind.
Don't tense up, find a nice steady pace, hold it for as long as possible, back off, get your breathing back in control and spin your way back up. Do this five times and it will start coming naturally.
Once you've got the flow down and you are spinning smaller circles. There is one more technique. At the bottom of the pedal rotation, imagine you are scraping something off the bottom of your shoe. Your toes will point slightly down as your foot lifts the pedal.
Smooth it out
Making a conscious effort to use the technique may seems like work at first, but once you've conditioned your mind and legs to work together, you will be using less energy and going faster. The technique works as well climbing as on the flats.
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Post by pjax on May 31, 2006 5:22:54 GMT 8
bongjumper: that's a good article. did you make it? @fr707: what's a roller? thaaat's the ticket. cosmic cycling. i just wan't to add that when your foot is in the upstroke, pull up. you won't be able to do this with platform pedals ...i just need to be conscious enough when i pedal...
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Post by Ben Dover on May 31, 2006 9:41:58 GMT 8
truth be told...i find the scraping and pushing motion hard to follow...di ko sya matutunan.  ...its very unnatural for me...i need to be always conscious about it para magawa ko...so what should i do then? but after all i think the bottom line here is getting from point A to point B the fastest and with the least amount of energy..tama ba? so i concentrate more on proper shifting and cadence...yung mga tadyak na biglang lulusot (gear too low) ...and too heavy etc (ubos ka dyan) by doing that i find my pedalling more in the way i felt it should be..medyo bilog and i dont feel any dead spots sa ikot...sa akin lang ito..am not saying it can work for everybody. |
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Post by allegra on May 31, 2006 9:53:36 GMT 8
just pedal single leg at a time , bibilog din yan |
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Post by grnhrnt on May 31, 2006 16:18:57 GMT 8
spot on! allegra. single legged pedalling will naturally teach you how to pedal "round"
(tumpak! allegra, bibilog din ang padyak niyo)
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Post by pjax on May 31, 2006 16:48:17 GMT 8
single leg pedalling... that's a nice tip
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Post by Dragunov on May 31, 2006 16:58:25 GMT 8
bongjumper: that's a good article. did you make it? @fr707: what's a roller? thaaat's the ticket. cosmic cycling. i just wan't to add that when your foot is in the upstroke, pull up. you won't be able to do this with platform pedals ...i just need to be conscious enough when i pedal...  this is what im reffring to, i trained on this roller for about 2 yrs and it makes u spin smoothly coz if u dont , chances are you'll lose your balance and fall, i think u can only use road bikes for this kind of trainer/ roller |
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Post by Ben Dover on May 31, 2006 17:10:49 GMT 8
wow, kaya pala ang lalakas nyo...i have seen some guys doing it but i honestly never tried that training technique before..flats lang ba ito ginagawa? i was refering to the single legged pedalling tecnique. |
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Post by Dragunov on May 31, 2006 20:14:06 GMT 8
wow, kaya pala ang lalakas nyo...i have seen some guys doing it but i honestly never tried that training technique before..flats lang ba ito ginagawa? i was refering to the single legged pedalling tecnique. no one is stronger than u are superman! hmmmmm, maybe i'll put some kryptonite drink in your hydrapac to make u slower hehehe. ;D |
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Post by xctofi on May 31, 2006 21:15:28 GMT 8
what hydrapack are u talking about pete?!?! he's superman remember.he doesnt need one!!! better put it in his yosi ;D wow, kaya pala ang lalakas nyo...i have seen some guys doing it but i honestly never tried that training technique before..flats lang ba ito ginagawa? i was refering to the single legged pedalling tecnique. no one is stronger than u are superman! hmmmmm, maybe i'll put some kryptonite drink in your hydrapac to make u slower hehehe. ;D |
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Post by ronaldarca on May 31, 2006 21:41:07 GMT 8
great tips sirs! ;D though ive been practicing the scraping technique on my platforms-- at 6 to 2 o'clock position, toe is pointing downward, at 12 to 8, toe is pointing upward. havent invested on clipless yet, but heard LOTS of improvement on this techinque using it  |
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Post by greywall on May 31, 2006 22:06:41 GMT 8
nice tip!!! (single leg pedalling)
i'll try this one as soon as possible!!!
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Post by Dragunov on May 31, 2006 22:36:08 GMT 8
what hydrapack are u talking about pete?!?! he's superman remember.he doesnt need one!!! better put it in his yosi ;D no one is stronger than u are superman! hmmmmm, maybe i'll put some kryptonite drink in your hydrapac to make u slower hehehe. ;D i'll put it in his inside out briefs! nyahahahahahah ;D ;D ;D |
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Post by Dragunov on May 31, 2006 22:38:13 GMT 8
nice tip!!! (single leg pedalling) i'll try this one as soon as possible!!! try my no leg pedalling! ;D ;D ;D |
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Post by greywall on May 31, 2006 22:58:36 GMT 8
nice tip!!! (single leg pedalling) i'll try this one as soon as possible!!! try my no leg pedalling! ;D ;D ;D i can do that!!!! its called walking!!! ;D ;D ;D |
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Post by bongjumper on Jun 4, 2006 21:30:24 GMT 8
"Pushing" , a high gear at a slow cadence is like power lifting. It is good for building up muscle mass and bulking up your legs, but it does little for your heart or lungs, and you can hurt yourself if you overdo it.
"Spinning" a lower gear at a rapid cadence is more like swimming. The rapid motion, with many repetitions makes the legs supple and flexible, it is highly aerobic, and the light pressure that goes with this style reduces wear and tear on the joints. With practice "spinning" becomes easier and more comfortable.
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Post by Julio on Jun 4, 2006 22:12:38 GMT 8
just pedal single leg at a time , bibilog din yan Single leg training not only has the capacity to make your pedalling technique more efficient but can also make your endurance last longer. Here's why... Let's say you have a VO2max (that's the maximum amount of oxygen you can use) of 100 ml/kg/min. That amounts to 50 ml/kg/min per leg in normal cycling. 100/2=50. But if you train with one leg, you can do about a power output which corresponds to a VO2 of about 80 ml/kg/min. So technically you're pushing the limits of your leg muscles higher than you could so with normal cycling. The effect would not be to raise your VO2max further (because you're working less than maximal) but to increase the number of mitochondria, improve fat oxidation, improve lactate transport and other peripheral adaptations which will help in endurance performance. |
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Post by ultimate_carlo on Jun 5, 2006 14:22:54 GMT 8
just pedal single leg at a time , bibilog din yan Single leg training not only has the capacity to make your pedalling technique more efficient but can also make your endurance last longer. Here's why... Let's say you have a VO2max (that's the maximum amount of oxygen you can use) of 100 ml/kg/min. That amounts to 50 ml/kg/min per leg in normal cycling. 100/2=50. But if you train with one leg, you can do about a power output which corresponds to a VO2 of about 80 ml/kg/min. So technically you're pushing the limits of your leg muscles higher than you could so with normal cycling. The effect would not be to raise your VO2max further (because you're working less than maximal) but to increase the number of mitochondria, improve fat oxidation, improve lactate transport and other peripheral adaptations which will help in endurance performance. Wow! Just like what we studied at exercise physio! But...how do you do this SINGLE-LEG Technique? You take one leg off a pedal and let the other leg pedal alone? So where does that leave the former leg? I mean, where do i place it? (sa handlebar? Hehe)  |
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Post by Julio on Jun 5, 2006 19:59:12 GMT 8
Obviously you'll need a trainer or stationary bike to be able to pull off this kind of training. You could actually do it on a flat road or maybe in the UP academic oval on carless Sundays but the other cyclists there will be looking at you and think you're retarded or something. I'm not sure where to place the other leg while doing this... You just have to find a comfortable spot or leave it on the pedal but don't put any effort on it? Just make sure to do train the other leg after you;re done with the first though! Or you'll end up with one strong leg and one weak leg By the way, where'd you study ex phys? |
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Post by pjax on Jun 6, 2006 11:20:25 GMT 8
that's what i think too. leave the non-exerting leg on the pedal. this way you could still practice one-leg pedalling en-route to the trail during the usual 6am ride
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Post by bongjumper on Jun 6, 2006 19:45:04 GMT 8
Never try single leg technique  But, Why need to train single leg technique if you can use two legs power in pedalling... I can not figure out what is the advantage... please explain further... ;D |
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Post by mgtimothy on Jun 7, 2006 7:28:10 GMT 8
By the way, where'd you study ex phys? will answer for carlo, as he doesn't go online often: he's a sports sci. student at UP. btw, an observation re spinning and mashing. cyclists who spin look better. hehe, it's obvious when you're watching cyclists who're spinning vs. those who just pump them pedals, it's nicer to look at the spinners. kaya yun, added bonus. |
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Post by Dragunov on Jun 7, 2006 8:31:51 GMT 8
Never try single leg technique But, Why need to train single leg technique if you can use two legs power in pedalling... I can not figure out what is the advantage... please explain further... ;D maybe they are preparing for a one leg event hehehehe ;D ;D ;D |
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Post by Dragunov on Jun 7, 2006 8:33:24 GMT 8
By the way, where'd you study ex phys? will answer for carlo, as he doesn't go online often: he's a sports sci. student at UP. btw, an observation re spinning and mashing. cyclists who spin look better. hehe, it's obvious when you're watching cyclists who're spinning vs. those who just pump them pedals, it's nicer to look at the spinners. kaya yun, added bonus. so i guess i really look better than most of u kasi spinner ako hehehe ;D ;D ;D  |
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Post by Dragunov on Jun 7, 2006 8:36:00 GMT 8
Single leg training not only has the capacity to make your pedalling technique more efficient but can also make your endurance last longer. Here's why... Let's say you have a VO2max (that's the maximum amount of oxygen you can use) of 100 ml/kg/min. That amounts to 50 ml/kg/min per leg in normal cycling. 100/2=50. But if you train with one leg, you can do about a power output which corresponds to a VO2 of about 80 ml/kg/min. So technically you're pushing the limits of your leg muscles higher than you could so with normal cycling. The effect would not be to raise your VO2max further (because you're working less than maximal) but to increase the number of mitochondria, improve fat oxidation, improve lactate transport and other peripheral adaptations which will help in endurance performance. Wow! Just like what we studied at exercise physio! But...how do you do this SINGLE-LEG Technique? You take one leg off a pedal and let the other leg pedal alone? So where does that leave the former leg? I mean, where do i place it? (sa handlebar? Hehe) u can tie it behind your back ;D ;D |
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why search for an effecient way to pedal?, just make yourself a stronger rider by pedalling more then u wont have to worry about pedaling effeciency 
...its very unnatural for me...i need to be always conscious about it para magawa ko...so what should i do then? 
