Bike Forums - learning to pedal circles without thinking about it....

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- - learning to pedal circles without thinking about it.... (https://www.bikeforums.net/fifty-plus-50/744310-learning-pedal-circles-without-thinking-about.html)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MinnMan (Post 12830645)

Actually, yes, my ass gets tired. As I work to pedal circles through more of my ride, I'm using my glutes more than I used to and those muscles just fatigue easier because they aren't as toned. I figure that with time they'll get in better shape and it will be a net gain, but for now this is actually something of a challenge.

If your glutes are fatiguing, what do your quads feel like and what is the position on the bike. By that I mean some seat to bar drop, level seat and bar or bar higher than seat. The other thing that may help is doing bridges. Lay on your back with your feet on the floor and bridge to your shoulders. This works the glutes and hams.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hermes (Post 12831090)

Yeah, I recently had a bike fitting and they put me in a considerably more aggressive position - bars even lower beneath my seat than they were, and seat a few mm higher. After that my glutes started hurting, which I chalked up to beginning to use them more than I used to. Working on pedaling circles makes that more noticeable. Bridges might be a good idea....

Quote:

Originally Posted by MinnMan (Post 12831343)

Be careful with the glute pain. As I said, glute fatigue is generally not a problem and by that I mean the same burning feeling that one experiences in the quads. Pain in the glutes can come from many sources including tight hamstrings, back soft tissue compression and etc. If I make a change to the fit of my bike I do it a couple of millimeters per week or per month. Raising your seat and lowering the bars will certainly engage the glutes. The impact to your body i.e. neck, back and hamstrings may be significant. If they told me to lower my bars and raise my saddle, i would do it slowly so that the muscles have time to adapt to the new position. This is one of the few areas that I play the age card. It took my body 50 years to get the way I am today and therefore, if I want to change something. I should do it slowly over time. YMMV.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hermes (Post 12829628)

...... de-emphasizing the use of the quads and emphasizing the use of the glutes (which get great blood flow) and contribution from the hams and hip flexors.

.....the more you can use your glutes (ass) and the quads less, for the same power there is less fatigue because the glutes get better blood flow.

This makes a whole lotta sense to me. When I started to stay in a lower body position for longer periods I felt fatigue that I assumed was in my legs (quads), only because it was somewhere below my waist and I didn't pinpoint where the muscle fatigue specifically was. I'm now realizing that my butt (gluts, et al), are getting stronger and I can stay down in the drops longer each time I ride.

When I first got the road bike last year I had been riding a comfort bike (upright postion) exclusively. The new body position was exhausting at first, but as I'm getting in better shape it's getting easier all the time.

My crankarms have a constant radius of 172.5 mm, so I always pedal in circles.