Smallguy

so tonight I was on my trainer and I tried spinning with one leg

it was just sloppy lots of dead spots in my stroke and clunking as a result

I'm not butter smooth at all

is this sometihng that is normal ??

any tips to starting out so I can improve my pedaling

should I be in a very easy gear??

UmneyDurak

Yeah easy gear, try to maintain higher cadence. Only way to improve is to practice.

Smallguy

I'm gonna keep at it mainly during warm up and cool down even though it is very sloppy i think the benefits will outweigh them self eventually

I'm gonna try spinning in my small ring upfront and mid way on the back instead of middle ring se if I cna find the sweet spot for me

cons

Try the spinevral DVD recovery training-Good drills- single leg drills and high cadence spinning.

Smallguy

so eventually is it really possible to spin in a full clean circle??

StanSeven

It is possible. It doesn't take much practice and you're there

ericgu

I wrote this a while back - you might find it useful...

https://riderx.info/blogs/riderx/arch...8-cadence.aspx

I can hit 150 RPM on the road pretty easily now...

kyhokie

I will often unclip one foot and spin one-legged while on road rides and in safe locations.

It has helped me a LOT.

Smallguy

Thanks I'll actually practice that on my trainer I definitely need to improve my pedaling skills

merlinextraligh

scrape the dog poop off your shoe at the bottom.

biggsmoothe

+1

Coach Troy actually has you doing single leg drills in a big gear so you can really feel the whole pedal circle.

fietser_ivana

Excellent way to improve smooth cycling. Can't recommend it enough..

asgelle

Of course, what benefit there is to smooth pedaling is a whole other question.

Garfield Cat

One legged spinning seems to me to tell you just about one thing...spinning on one leg.

Will it tell you a whole lot about a smooth pedal stroke? Or will it tell you that keeping one leg dangling isn't really the dynamics of cycling? Now in riding, you normally use both legs. Yes? I think the one leg thing is over emphasized. It might teach you that you have spots in the stroke that you don't apply force, but that's about it. From there you have to move on and plant both feet on the pedals.

I read some posts about the O'clock positions and the arguments about where the real power in the stroke comes from and that the pull portion is not as influential, on and on and on.

I think what a rider needs to learn is the pedal stroke and how its used, the push and the pull, on and off the saddle.

I also read a lot about spinning and how that's the new montra and spinning is the thing to achieve, the faster the better, thus the lower the gears the better.

But I say in real cycling, it depends on the conditions of the ride as you ride. Its dynamic and changes. Sure spinning is important because its a tool, merely a tool, and part of what a rider needs to do to get up those long inclines without turning the quads into toast.

Carbonfiberboy 

So here's the story on pedaling correctly, as I understand it. Your muscles get tired when they're used. The simplest way to keep them from getting tired at the same output (wattage) is to have bigger muscles. But bigger muscles weigh more. So the most efficient way to keep your muscles from getting tired is to spread the workload out among the muscles you already have. In other words, pedal circles. Each muscle exerts much less force if you use them in sequence during the stroke.

Which is tricky, because you have to develop the neuromuscular coordination to get the different muscles to contract just the right amount at just the right time. That's what one-legged pedaling develops. You can also pay about $800 and get a set of Powercranks (https://www.powercranks.com/) for your training bike. Each crank of a set of Powercranks is on its own ratchet, so you have to keep power on both cranks all the way around the circle to be able to pedal at all. Or you can get close to duplicating this for free with one-legged pedaling drills (OLP).

This is what I do: warm up for 15 minutes with both legs, then 2 minutes of OLP in about a 42X15 with each leg at 50-55 cadence. Then 2 minutes legs together, same gear, at 90-95 cadence. Then 2 minutes of OLP in about a 42X23 with each leg at 80-85 cadence, then 2 minutes legs together, same gear and cadence as the first time. Repeat until legs are no longer operable or you get to the end of your planned session. Cool down for 15 minutes zone 1.

Don't try OLP at high cadence because you can mess up your legs doing that. You may need to start in lower gears than these or in higher, depending on strength. I don't think there's much point in trying it with gears lower than say 42X25 for the fast set and 42X17 for the slow set. When I'm in shape, I'll use a 42X12 for the slow set and a 42X17 for the fast set, but I'm a climbing wuss. You youngsters can probably big-ring it for both sets. You need the momentum of your rim to help you a bit, hence the need to not use too small a gear.

For the same reason, don't do this particular drill on the road. It's much too easy! Just use the trainer or rollers. Wedge the "lazy foot" in the frame triangle. Try to keep the "whirrr" noise constant. Try to maintain your normal balanced position on the bike. Hold the bar tops, like you would climbing. Keep your back straight. Keep a tight chain throughout the circle. Your hip flexor may hurt like the very devil the first few weeks. The first minute may seem easy, but the last 15 seconds of the 2 minutes may be absolute torture. It's not supposed to be easy.

When you can do the 2 minutes in a particular gear without stressing yourself, go to a harder gear. Start with 15 minutes of this drill and gradually work up to 45 minutes. Don't rest during the drill. Keep at it.

I start this drill once a week in about mid-January and do it until the season really starts going. I find it the best pedaling drill for improving seated climbing ability.

If you want to do OLP on the road, do much longer intervals with each leg.