Re-Evaluating the Off-Season: Pedal Stroke Efficiency

As the winter rolls in and the idea of taking time off to recover and recuperate from a long race season, athletes are already beginning to plan 2010 and beyond. Whether it shooting for your first sprint to your 10th Ironman, the off-season is the time to begin building the base for next year.

The problem with just focusing on those long slow miles, metabolic efficiency and core & strength work is there is one major hole that athletes ignore. That is taking the time to truly learn how to pedal the bike properly.

One of the great voices in Triathlon, Bob Babbitt, said “if you have ever had floaties, had a paper route, or played capture the flag, you have our skill set..” This is true to a point, but your wouldn’t see a pro cyclist ever having the choppy stroke that most triathletes ride a bike with.

There are several major muscle and tendon groups that push make up the pedal stroke. Glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, calves, hip flexors and even the core muscles. When one group fires at a certain point in the pedal stroke the other groups rest and recover. If you are engaging only one or two of these groups, they will fatigue faster and be fresher by the time the run comes along.

With the weather turning cold and wet, the bicycle trainer is the perfect time to smooth out the stroke. Here is a simple test to see how fluid your stroke is:

Pedal at a slow cadence attempting to keep the sound of the trainer exactly the same all the way around the stroke. If you hear a “woosh” at any point, then there isn’t equal pressure all the way around.

To help train yourself to pedal smoother, there are a couple of ways to do it. The first is to find a Pedal Stroke Efficiency class, similar to the one run by Harvard Cycling Coach, Ed Sassler at Belmont Wheelworks. This is by far the best and most effective way to learn to pedal your bike properly.

Doing a simple 30 minute trainer workout a couple days of week on a trainer for the duration of the winter will do wonders. You will be able to ride faster and farther with less energy if you learn pedal efficiency. For example:

5 minute warmup

4 x 5 minute intervals

(1 minute: single leg drill w/ left leg unclipped)

(1 minute: single leg drill w. right leg unclipped)

(1 minute: both legs high cadence spin until start bouncing on the saddle, then back off 5 rpms)

(2 minutes recovery)

5 minute cool down

The goal is to keep even pressure all the way around and prevent that “woosh” sound. The “single leg drill” should ideally be done at a very low cadence and you will be able to feel each muscle and tendon group firing at each point.

This should also be done at a very low tension. To high, to fast, can very quickly result in hip flexor issues. So be careful and start in slowly.

See you at the Races (being more efficient)!