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Old 02-28-08, 01:06 PM
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BSLeVan
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Originally Posted by SaiKaiTai
... I realized it's because my core is weak. And the 50+ belly just doesn't snap back into shape that easily. I'll need to focus more on that, it might be holding my progress back. And I wish I could learn to keep my shoulders relaxed. Any helpful hints for that? Or do I just need to stay aware and work on it until relaxing becomes a habit?....
... I tend to rely heavily on my right leg... it does a lot more work (or feels like it does, anyway) than my left. ...I try to push more with my left leg and the foot just feels more and more numb. Plus, I just have a fear that if I push too hard, it'll all come apart again. I'm not sure what to do about that... Help me Mr Wizard!
Here are my thoughts and reasoning behind them.

1. The abdominal muscles are always hard to keep in shape. I don't think age has as much to do with it as you are perhaps thinking it does. They tend to be the muscles that we use less frequently in everyday activities at almost any age. I do think you are correct in your assessment that a greater focus on your core would help.

2. Where do you shoulder hurt? By relaxed, do you mean you tense up and get pain between the shoulder blades? Do you mean you get discomfort or pain in the shoulder joints, or at the front of the shoulders? I've learned that these kind of shoulder things likely have very different causes. If you are getting tense between the shoulder blades, this could be more of a problem with neck muscles not being strong enough. If you have discomfort or pain in other places, then I think you need to look at the weight you are putting on your arms. Once again, core strength will help with this. You might also want to check the width of your handlebars. I know many people who ride too wide a bar. I also know quite a few will disagree with me on this, but I think the ideal position is with your arms directly under your shoulders. Try this. Sit in front of a table with back straight and a bit less than an arm's length away. Now place both hands on the table (palm down) in front of you. Keep the hands at just shoulder with. Now, while keeping one hand where it was, remove the other hand and place it on the front of your shoulder with palm on the front of the shoulders and fingers wrapping up over the top. Once in this position, slowly start to slide the hand that is still on the table out-wards - wider than shoulder width. You should be able to feel with the other hand just how much your joint and muscles move in the shoulder area. Putting pressure on the shoulder joint when the arms and hands are wider than shoulder width, is like having a lever prying up on the joint. Not a good thing. It takes VERY strong muscles to counter act this.

3. The bad foot/leg with nerve damage is a real bummer. My wife has nerve damage from two spinal operations that have left her one leg and foot unable to perform as well as the other. While you are correct to pay attention to the leg muscle instead of the foot, you might also want to consider deliberately thinking about pulling up with the foot on your pedal stroke. It is the combination of deliberate down and up muscle movement that works for my wife.

I don't know if any of this is helpful, but hope you find some solutions either here or from the sage advice of others on the forum.
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