"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - So THAT's why you isolate legs when you train...

Just had a fun workout pop up on my schedule today. Please turn your Bibles to workout s1d...

3 x 10 sec fast cadence, 10 sec faster, 10 sec max cadene, 60sec recovery,

followed by 3x 30sec right leg dominant, 30sec left leg dominant (other leg stays clipped in and limp).

Repeat 5 times, 5min recovery between sets.

By the 3rd set, my left leg was on fire. I had truly never realized that my right leg was that much stronger than my left. This will need some ILT...

The cadence drills were great too. The 1st set I did 105, 115, 125, and I was bouncing a little at 125-130. By the 5th set I reached 155 with no bouncing. By the end, 90 rpm for the cool-down felt downright slow.

Anyway, just thought I'd share--it made trainer time fun and really uncovered some areas that need work.

Yeah...I'm going to need some major leg isolation work. The atrophy following my left ACL tear was severe, my right leg is back to normalish size, veins in the quad the whole nine yards, but the left leg just hasn't come back in terms of hypertrophy.

Ol shrunken McLefty though, well, it's not pretty. It even fatigues more quickly than the other leg on long/hard rides.

Ol shrunken McLefty though, well, it's not pretty.

I took care of a soldier who lost his right leg to a roadside bomb, and he referred to his stump as "Junior." Must be an 82nd thing...

That same NCO finished the NYC marathon in a wheelchair less than a year later. He flatted at mile 20 and rode the rim the last 6 miles.

Airborne!

I took care of a soldier who lost his right leg to a roadside bomb, and he referred to his stump as "Junior." Must be an 82nd thing...

That same NCO finished the NYC marathon in a wheelchair less than a year later. He flatted at mile 20 and rode the rim the last 6 miles.

I think I know who you're talking about, if we're thinking of the same person, a picture of him racing in a hand cranked chair is up in the Physical Therapy clinic :)

Yeah...I'm going to need some major leg isolation work. The atrophy following my left ACL tear was severe, my right leg is back to normalish size, veins in the quad the whole nine yards, but the left leg just hasn't come back in terms of hypertrophy.

Ol shrunken McLefty though, well, it's not pretty. It even fatigues more quickly than the other leg on long/hard rides.


Eesh. My right leg is still smaller a year after my operations. I hit the gym pretty hard these days and can still notice a difference in strength.

(Still sqatting 385 though :D)

I think I know who you're talking about, if we're thinking of the same person, a picture of him racing in a hand cranked chair is up in the Physical Therapy clinic :)

Great guy. I actually miss talking to him every day.

Just had a fun workout pop up on my schedule today. Please turn your Bibles to workout s1d...

3 x 10 sec fast cadence, 10 sec faster, 10 sec max cadene, 60sec recovery,

followed by 3x 30sec right leg dominant, 30sec left leg dominant (other leg stays clipped in and limp).

Repeat 5 times, 5min recovery between sets.

By the 3rd set, my left leg was on fire. I had truly never realized that my right leg was that much stronger than my left. This will need some ILT...

The cadence drills were great too. The 1st set I did 105, 115, 125, and I was bouncing a little at 125-130. By the 5th set I reached 155 with no bouncing. By the end, 90 rpm for the cool-down felt downright slow.

Anyway, just thought I'd share--it made trainer time fun and really uncovered some areas that need work.


If you want a good training DVD for pedal cadence try Joel Friel's "Cycling Fitness Results: Pedal Technique"

Basically the same workout but in a DVD format to help pass the time and boredom. My Personal best is 165-172 no bounce with a max of 189.... which compared to some track studs isn's all that fast :eek:

Well, I'm on the online Friel program through www.trainingpeaks.com, so the schedule is pre-shuffled to keep it interesting...

I've also been doing some on the bike leg isolation drills. To good effect, I think. Despite only about a month layoff due to a knee injury, there was some noticeable atrophy in my left quadriceps. This has led to some severe strength imbalances, and my knee actually gets a little sore on long rides.

Through strength training and isolation drills, I'm making progress. It's a bit disheartening at the gym though, as I can only leg press about half the weight I could just 2 months ago. I basically need to reacquire leg strong, lost both through my knee injury, and a bout with the flu. By the beginning of December, I was down about 10 pounds from where I was at the beginning of November - mostly muscle weight.

For the single leg stuff, I don't like to unclip the other leg completely, it seems to throw off my balance. Rather, I do like DrPete, and just keep it there but limp. Seems to work alright, and I've induced some leg hypertrophy from that and the gym work.

Hopefully I'll be ready to go for my first race end of Feb.

For the single leg stuff, I don't like to unclip the other leg completely, it seems to throw off my balance. Rather, I do like DrPete, and just keep it there but limp.
.

Some people suggest to put a crate next to your bike to rest the unclipped leg to help with balance and hip postion.

I've found leaving one leg limp doesn't isolate the spinning leg as much as if I actually unclipped the opposite leg.

If you want a good training DVD for pedal cadence try Joel Friel's "Cycling Fitness Results: Pedal Technique"

Basically the same workout but in a DVD format to help pass the time and boredom. My Personal best is 165-172 no bounce with a max of 189.... which compared to some track studs isn's all that fast :eek:
I was going to say that the workout described sounds a heck of a lot like the stuff you do in Spinervals Competition #8.0 Recovery and Technique http://www.spinervals.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=53_54&products_id=120

I've also been doing some on the bike leg isolation drills. To good effect, I think. Despite only about a month layoff due to a knee injury, there was some noticeable atrophy in my left quadriceps. This has led to some severe strength imbalances, and my knee actually gets a little sore on long rides.

Through strength training and isolation drills, I'm making progress. It's a bit disheartening at the gym though, as I can only leg press about half the weight I could just 2 months ago. I basically need to reacquire leg strong, lost both through my knee injury, and a bout with the flu. By the beginning of December, I was down about 10 pounds from where I was at the beginning of November - mostly muscle weight.

For the single leg stuff, I don't like to unclip the other leg completely, it seems to throw off my balance. Rather, I do like DrPete, and just keep it there but limp. Seems to work alright, and I've induced some leg hypertrophy from that and the gym work.

Hopefully I'll be ready to go for my first race end of Feb.

Go to the gym and camp on the leg press. Use one leg at a time. You'll be right as rain in a few months.

i have a pretty large imbalance in strength between the two legs. right leg is much stronger. the left leg has all sorts of little problems - the knee is touchy, my foot wants to go outward, etc. i just can't ever get it aligned perfectly or something. things feels more balanced when i'm spinning. when i'm mashing the right leg is pushing\pulling a lot more.