Hi everyone,
I am trying to find ways to engage my hamstrings and gluteus muscles when I pedal. When I am pedaling through the 6:00 position only my quadricep muscles seem to be activating. If I try to force my hamstrings to fire by pulling my ankles from 4:00 through to 8:00, I end up with a sore lower back. My physical therapist says my hamstrings have normal flexibility. I use Frog pedals and drop handlebars. How can I fix this?

Do you have a trainer or rollers? Do you go to the gym or if not, are you willing to get a gym membership?

Hi,
I don't have a trainer. If I did have one, what I would I be attempting to do for my form on it? I have access to a gym.

Cycling works mostly your quadriceps, it's best to exercise and strengthen your hamstrings by working them off the bike. There are plenty of good exercises for strengthening your hams. If you have access to gym then use it, if you don't have gym membership, then you can train at home.

First, make sure you and the bike are properly fitted, starting with the saddle position. If it is too low, you might be forced to engage your quads more than ideal.

After you have ensured the saddle is at the proper height, you could try a heel-first pedal stroke (driving down with the heel) to engage more glute and hamstring in the stroke. This may not work though if the saddle is too low.

I disagree with wolfchild. I have very strong hammies and can pedal using them alone, no quads. I got a little weak a few years ago and hurt my back alpine skiing. After that I got religion and started working on my core. I've always worked my legs, full leg workouts if you will.

Anyway, IMO you have 3 issues which are combining to cause you problems. Your hams and glutes are weak, but this is probably because your pedal stroke doesn't fire them, which is problem 2, called neuromuscular coordination, getting your nerves to fire your muscles automatically at exactly the right millisecond.

The 3rd problem is in a way separate from the first two and is a weak core. When one hears "work your core," too many people think work your abs. However, your back muscles need a lot more work than your abs. Your back muscles are only an inch from your spine, while your abs are maybe 5" away. So I do about 5 times as much back work as I do ab work.

In a way though, your back problem is connected to your leg problem in that it's all part of what's called your posterior chain. All the muscles in that chain work together.

Neuromuscular coordination:
IMO, every cyclist should have a set of rollers or a trainer. I much, much prefer a set of rollers with resistance, like SportsCrafters or similar. Most people use a trainer though, just because it's easier. The other thing you'd need is a cyclocomputer with cadence. For a cheapie, you can't beat a Cateye Astrale. In any case, what'd you do indoors is called FastPedal. One pedals a very high cadence continuously in a very low gear for long periods of time. "High cadence" means 115-120. "Very low gear" means a gear in which one is in zone 2 even though pedaling that fast. "Long periods of time" means holding that cadence for 15 - 45 minutes. The fly in the ointment is that cyclists without smooth pedal strokes bounce in the saddle at high cadences. But no matter, they simply pedal just a hair below the cadence where they start bouncing. Over time, that cadence goes up. "Over time" means it takes months.

The reason this works to improve neuromuscular coordination is that when doing it, the cyclist pedals using their shoe uppers, maintaining what feels like a cushion of air between the bottom of the foot and the shoe's insole. This is not easy. Keep your feet flat, relax them, and wiggle your toes. The reason that cyclists bounce in the saddle at high cadence is that they don't slow their leg at the bottom of the stroke. High cadence, low effort pedaling automatically teaches your legs to do this. All you have to do is pedal. You pull back at the bottom of the stroke, lift your leg on the backstroke and kick forward a little at the top of the stroke, then don't push down on the downstroke. Thus you maintain that cushion of air while pedaling. BTW, you can do the above cadence drill on a gym spin bike, but it's much less effective because the flywheel pushes your legs around instead of your doing it.

Posterior chain:
This is the gym work. The most effective single exercise for your hams is the Straight-back Stiff-legged deadlift or the Romanian deadlift:
Barbell Straight-back Stiff-leg Deadlift
Romanian Deadlift
Note that even though the title says "Stiff-legged," the model's legs are slightly bent. Do not do these lifts with locked knees - you'll tear a meniscus like I did. However you must feel a hamstring stretch. Also note that the back is kept straight and the barbell is kept close to the shins. This is very important.

The most effective exercise for the glutes is the Glute Bridge:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU-rB_cVtLU
Work your way up through them. The strong folks at my gym all use the two-legged barbell-bench bridge.

Or, and probably better, is to do whole leg exercises, like these:
Legs Like Jessie's: Hilgenberg's 7-Move Workout

Squats are super for both back and legs, including glutes and hams. Lying one-legged presses are also very good. Because I'm a cyclist, I only do squats and leg presses down to a 90° knee angle, also known as half-squats. Ordinary dumbbell or barbell deadlifts are also very good for both legs and back. Also good for the back: seated dumbbell presses, bent-over dumbell rows, lat pull-downs, horizontal machine rows.

Also good for the back: Core Advantage. I used this book to start strengthening my core, before I transitioned to lifting at the gym.

All I am trying to say is that there are more effective ways to train hamstrings then through cycling... In my opinion it's better to just do a few specific exercises which will work your core and entire posterior chain and that way your hams, glutes , core and lower back all get worked at the same time...How did you get your hammies so strong ??.. Was it only through cycling or did you include gym work, cross training and other specific exercises ??

Most of it was cycling - pulling back at the bottom like "scraping mud off your shoe" (Greg LeMond). Also doing hours and hours for years and years of roller drills like the above and one-legged pedaling. The drills gradually reformed my pedal stroke. I had to start doing more weight work at the gym when I got over 63 and started to lose muscle, cycling not being enough to keep it. Age makes a big difference in protein and strength training requirements.

You are correct that there are better ways, but train them for what? There's still the matter of firing them. Otherwise one gets size and higher weights but not so much cycling performance.

My quads are what I feel get worked most on the bike. Sprinting takes a bit more of the rear muscles. I lift (heavy at times) including straight leg deadlifts and leg curls to help balance out the muscles. The deads really help prevent a sore lower back. Long road races used to leave my lowerback very sore; now just a little sore. I ride rollers but find they hit my quads even more than outdoor riding.

Hi everyone,
Thanks for offering your advice. BTW, if you have additional ideas, please sound off and share!

I miss you and love you.

;-)

koffee

There's a book that dissects the perfect pedal stroke. I am too old to remember the name. Alas!

However- if you get Ed Burke's Hi Tech Cycling, I'm positive he talks about developing pedal stroke in that book.

I miss Ed Burke. We used to email (translation= argue) back and forth in emails back when I had my compuserve email account. I was sitting at a conference next to Joel Friel talking with him about Ed Burke when we heard Ed Burke died. It was a sad day. RIP.

koffee

Maybe try putting the saddle back a bit. I moved mine back 2-3mm and found that I really felt the hamstrings and glutes had been working. Prior to that I'd only feel my quads had been working. I also climbed faster.

You need to work on pelvic floor and anti rotation core exercises. When you push/ pull, it's causing your pelvis to turn and rotate the lumbar spine, leading to your sore lower back. The lumbar spine isn't designed for movement, it's supposed to be kept neutral by the core muscles. I guarantee your back pain will be eliminated once you develop greater pelvic control.

In terms of hamstring flexibility and cycling, you need greater than normal hamstring flexibility for the aero position. In order to activate the glutes, focus only on applying power on the downstroke, apply power from the hips and through the heels without letting the ankle flex under pressure, then relax the entire hip and leg during the backstroke or return phase.

---
Vincent Vergara
Personal Trainer/ Coach
B.S. Kinesiology
EatSleepTrainSmart.com

I'm with [MENTION=78894]Carbonfiberboy[/MENTION] on this, at least on my road bikes. I had no idea how ham-glute intensive my cycling was until I got the TT bike. That position engages so much more quads for me than do the road bikes, during my first session on the TT bike with the fitter, I was feeling major fatigue in the quads. We've fiddled with position and improved the fit but I've also spent a lot of time on the TT bike building quad strength.

My saddle is farther forward on the TT bike than the road bikes, just as [MENTION=364384]Ali89[/MENTION] points out. Maybe that accounts for the difference, I'm not sure.

Yes, that accounts for the difference. It's well known that pushing back in the saddle and/or setting the saddle further back engages more glutes. I don't know why though. Have you seen this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSXyg6dn0Kk That saddle position does not look comfortable.
I've had good results in leg extension strength from doing one-legged presses at the gym. One can use either a machine or the leg sled. I push with my toe, not flat footed. The further down the foot board you put your toe, the more quad you get and the less glute and ham. Twice a week, super effective. On one day, I load it up to failure at somewhere between 4 and 10 reps.

I can't view YouTube videos on my iPad (which is my Internet connection right now, we're out of town.)

I do strength workouts once a week- the core as you describe it above, not the typical "ab" workout. But beyond that, for me it's all time on the bike. I know my coach feels like you're doing more than building leg strength on the TT bike- you're working your core & neck muscles, you're adapting to breathing in a horizontal position, you're stretching the glutes/hamstrings, getting better at bike handling, etc. Adding time in the gym is probably not going to happen for me anytime soon, this bike is just too new for me.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Hi,
This is great information. what off bike exercises do you recommend for developing greater pelvic control? Lunges stepping forward? Bridges on a ball?

Lunges combined with a wood chopper are better, but that's more of an intermediate level exercise. A good starting point would be a lunge asymmetrically loaded with one dumbbell or a cable positioned to pull your body into rotation. If you do bridges, a single leg bridge will give you the anti-rotation effect you need, but you'll probably want to start on the floor first. I posted a few examples below.

To make a better recommendation, I'd need a better idea of your fitness level and health status. If you're very new to core training or if your pelvis is very unstable, starting with static core exercises like planks and isometric standing cable anti-rotations are good starting points, but you'll still need good coaching to make sure your technique is correct. This work would be a lot more involved and I would recommend hiring a trainer like myself or scheduling a visit with a Physical Therapist or a local trainer affiliated with a Physical Therapy clinic.

Level 1 Anti-Rotation Core Exercise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8bE3OzHxkg

Advanced Core Exercise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNFf...CPKuMw&index=2

---
Vincent Vergara
Personal Trainer/ Coach
B.S. Kinesiology
EatSleepTrainSmart.com

Hi Vincent,
Thanks for such a detailed response. My core and deep stabilizing muscles are better than they used to be but likely I am still an advanced beginner. Are there particular muscles you want to target: multifidus, medial gluteus, inner obliques, etc.?
BTW, Those are funky exercises!
(To your mention of physical therapy, it is likely in my future. I have some torn patella articular cartilage due to be removed in 10 days. Ugh.)

The main core muscle you want to target is the transverse abdominis. The core exercises I recommended train the other core muscles in concert with the TA. Training all of the muscles of the core to work as a system rather than in isolation is how you can develop a strong, injury resistant core.

Hi Vincent,
Thanks again. I definitely struggle with getting the stabilizing and core muscles to fire along with the major muscles. (I think a lot of the smaller muscles shut down after injuries & surgeries.) Besides the exercises in the videos you linked to, how helpful might Turkish Get Ups be to developing resistance to rotational stresses?

I definitely recommend avoiding Turkish Get Ups for now because there are a lot of prerequisites you'll need, and the variations in movement are more complex, so there's a greater likelihood of doing more harm than good. You'll want to start with isometric core exercises, then progress from there. That anti-rotation cable push out is a good place to start. It's easy to check your technique because if you draw an imaginary line bisecting the body, both sides should look symmetrical, so you'll be able to correct compensation patterns more easily.

I find that When I sit up as high as possible, slide back on the seat, and go hard up a hill, that it helps my hams. I can actually feel it. I do that some on every ride.