Track Cycling: Velodrome Racing and Training Area - Anyone here doing Single leg press?

Hi guys,

I started a gym regimen a few months back, and quickly learned that I have uneven strength between legs (saw a spine specialist, I have some issues there :/ ). So after my regular squat work, i am doing single leg press. I have been liking them so far, but I read around the internet and am getting lots of mixed opinions. Does anyone here do them, or have any thoughts?

I used to do a ton of one legged squats off boxes as I was working on a "pistol" goat (one leg squat off the ground). My bodyweight at the time was high (250-260 range), so they were very hard.

Best I could do (big goal for me)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFU5USXIVok

All the single leg work really helped my leg and hip stability. If you dont have access to weights, single leg squats and plyo work will build strong legs. I'm pretty new to cycling and really dont know the carry over to the sport other than having stronger, more resilient knees (which cant hurt).

I personally don't do them, but as long as you keep the weight/rep/set the same, then I don't see any issues with doing them. Unless that is, you use different technique with one than the other, then there would be something that could make your legs even more 'uneven'. Unrelated but, I have severely uneven muscle tone in my upper body, chest and abdominals and have found one armed press-ups to have helped even those out.
Back to the one legged squats, sure, do them. Just lift the same weight with your preferred leg to your non-preferred leg. Some cyclists (sprinters) have some preferred legs, and if you watch Victoria Pendleton you will see she prefers one leg to the other, and that's even on the bike. What exactly are you looking to get out of these one legged squats? If it's to get your legs to equal strength, than I would consult someone such as an 'expert' or certified gym coach who could offer a better opinion and even maybe a plan on what you could do with your squat workout. If you do 'normal' squats with both legs, they should equal out as long as you don't put more strain on one leg than the other, you just may not see results as quick.
I apologize if you're doing it just for a variety of workout, but I thought you were implying you wanted equal strength legs :) Did you mention these to the spinal specialist? I would go with their opinion/experience over what anyone (myself included) says on these forums/the internet.

Many people do it. Here is Anna Meares leg pressing 225kg/500lbs...with one leg:

http://cdn2.media.cyclingnews.futurecdn.net/photos/2008/diaries/annameares/annameares0804/1_600.jpg

http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/photos/countdown-starts-in-the-pain-box/38692

Some guy named Paul Rogers seems to think they're worthwhile:

http://www.ridethetrack.com/pdf/train_paulrogers.pdf


Single-leg Press is our bread and butter. Different foot and hip positions for different phases of pedal stroke, standing, seated, etc. I use high speed video to match joint angles and velocities for each rider. We mainly do it ballistically for power - throw the sled as far as you can – at different percentages of max to match up to different muscle contraction velocities for different phases of the acceleration (different cadences). We do a lot of single-leg plyos on boxes, stairs, bunjee sleds, etc during speed phases. Strength and power gains are extremely specific and do not necessarily transfer well. When Ryan Bayley beat Sean Eadie in the Commonwealth Games sprint final in 2002, Sean was tripling 250kg for a parallel back squat and Ryan was tripling 120kg. On single-leg press, they were much closer (20kg) and so was the racing.

Hi guys,

I started a gym regimen a few months back, and quickly learned that I have uneven strength between legs (saw a spine specialist, I have some issues there :/ ). So after my regular squat work, i am doing single leg press. I have been liking them so far, but I read around the internet and am getting lots of mixed opinions. Does anyone here do them, or have any thoughts?

I've only raced track for one season (been on the road for 3) so take this with a grain of salt since my experience is much more limited than many other here. After reading this article http://www.ridethetrack.com/pdf/train_paulrogers.pdf that someone else responded with I decided to make the single leg press my bread and butter too. I'm doing all my leg exercises single leg this season (with the exception of deadlifts) because I think it helps strengthen the hips as well as force your body to fire the leg muscles independently. I've really noticed that my hips feel more stable through the range of motion now compared to when I started this routine back in September. Do you notice the same thing?

Does anyone else have issues with their Sartorius being aggravated by single-leg exercises?

I am fine doing normal squats, leg press or whatever, but as soon as I start pushing resonable weight single leg I have real issues with it.

JMR

Thanks for the replies guys!

I have a question. Is there a weight range that is considered good for a track cyclist, in terms of weight, for this type thing? Like a bodyweight x XYZ? I just want to know a reasonable goal for this off season to work toward.

Thanks for the replies guys!

I have a question. Is there a weight range that is considered good for a track cyclist, in terms of weight, for this type thing? Like a bodyweight x XYZ? I just want to know a reasonable goal for this off season to work toward.

Chris Hoy isn't the strongest track cyclist out there but at 6'1" and 200 pounds he can squat 500 and leg press 1,500. Assuming everyone is not built equally, you will need to determine yourself what a reasonable goal is.

Thanks for the replies guys!

I have a question. Is there a weight range that is considered good for a track cyclist, in terms of weight, for this type thing? Like a bodyweight x XYZ? I just want to know a reasonable goal for this off season to work toward.

Don't fixate on gym numbers. Seriously.

Don't fixate on gym numbers. Seriously.


even better then :)

There *is* a direct correlation of lean muscle mass in the thighs to top speed in one study that I read of world class track sprinters. But bear in mind that these guys had already come up through the system as racers to reach that level.

There are plenty of gym rats with huge legs that would be awfully slow.

There are so many more important factors.

Use the gym numbers to monitor personal progress NOT to compare yourself to other racers.

There are guys who can't squat their way out of a wet paper bag that would drag me all over the track :)

One thing I've started doing is single leg dead lifts. I am finding these really hard to do, even with a 60 lb weight, not because it's too heavy but because my working leg and core are struggling so hard to balance AND lift at the same time. If single leg press has a fault, it's that it doesn't work the core as much as other exercises (though if used in conjunction with other core strength exercises then this will be a moot point).

One thing I've started doing is single leg dead lifts. I am finding these really hard to do, even with a 60 lb weight, not because it's too heavy but because my working leg and core are struggling so hard to balance AND lift at the same time. If single leg press has a fault, it's that it doesn't work the core as much as other exercises (though if used in conjunction with other core strength exercises then this will be a moot point).

If you think that's hard, try overhead squat. That took me a week to learn to balance...using both legs.

One thing I've started doing is single leg dead lifts. I am finding these really hard to do, even with a 60 lb weight, not because it's too heavy but because my working leg and core are struggling so hard to balance AND lift at the same time. If single leg press has a fault, it's that it doesn't work the core as much as other exercises (though if used in conjunction with other core strength exercises then this will be a moot point).

Is there a video for this exercise anywhere? I had considered trying these too but wasn't sure how beneficial they would be.

If you think that's hard, try overhead squat. That took me a week to learn to balance...using both legs.

I'm trying to imagine how to do this, do you mean lying on the ground and balancing the bar on your feet?!

Is there a video for this exercise anywhere? I had considered trying these too but wasn't sure how beneficial they would be.

Here are a couple of images. The bloke is doing what I do, but the girl is a nicer image to look at.

http://img2.timeinc.net/health/images/gallery/living/ybb-dead-lift-400.jpg

http://awesomephysique.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/single-leg-dead-lift1.jpg

Here are a couple of images. The bloke is doing what I do, but the girl is a nicer image to look at.

http://img2.timeinc.net/health/images/gallery/living/ybb-dead-lift-400.jpg

http://awesomephysique.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/single-leg-dead-lift1.jpg

Wow that's interesting I've never thought of that. I'm going to work those in starting next week.

Here are a couple of images. The bloke is doing what I do, but the girl is a nicer image to look at.


Agreed ;) Thanks for that. I may try those at some point.

One thing I've started doing is single leg dead lifts. I am finding these really hard to do, even with a 60 lb weight, not because it's too heavy but because my working leg and core are struggling so hard to balance AND lift at the same time. If single leg press has a fault, it's that it doesn't work the core as much as other exercises (though if used in conjunction with other core strength exercises then this will be a moot point).

This single leg squat will work the core: http://www.exercise-ball-exercises.com/wall14-single-leg-squat.html