I use a Polar Power meter, and it has a measure of leg balance, which it derives from the chain tension and cadence function… I have never really paid attention to it or how balanced I was. But… Last Friday I did a 210-mile ride, and by the last 50 miles or so I had developed some hot spots on my right foot. I began to deliberately pedal harder with my left leg to try to nurse the right, I happened to notice that even when doing this I was getting 60% of my power from the right… if I did not concentrate on pushing with the left, my balance was 75%right-25%left! Looking over several rides, I generally have a 60/40 split avg (right/left). This got me thinking, am I not making full power because of the imbalance, or does it not matter because I am aerobically maxed out anyway?
I did a lot of reading about the Power Cranks (jist is increased power through better muscle recruitment, pedaling circles) and there are opinions both for and against. But then if it really was all heart and lungs, wouldn’t a well trained one-legged cyclist be just as fast (or faster because lighter and more aero 😉 ) than two legged cyclist?
Has anyone played around with improving leg balance to increase sustained power output levels? Anyone have opinions on it?
I use a Polar Power meter, and it has a measure of leg balance, which it derives from the chain tension and cadence function… I have never really paid attention to it or how balanced I was. But… Last Friday I did a 210-mile ride, and by the last 50 miles or so I had developed some hot spots on my right foot. I began to deliberately pedal harder with my left leg to try to nurse the right, I happened to notice that even when doing this I was getting 60% of my power from the right… if I did not concentrate on pushing with the left, my balance was 75%right-25%left! Looking over several rides, I generally have a 60/40 split avg (right/left). This got me thinking, am I not making full power because of the imbalance, or does it not matter because I am aerobically maxed out anyway?
I did a lot of reading about the Power Cranks (jist is increased power through better muscle recruitment, pedaling circles) and there are opinions both for and against. But then if it really was all heart and lungs, wouldn’t a well trained one-legged cyclist be just as fast (or faster because lighter and more aero 😉 ) than two legged cyclist?
Has anyone played around with improving leg balance to increase sustained power output levels? Anyone have opinions on it?
60/40 split sounds like a big imbalance. It sounds like you might have a leg length discrepancy. If you haven't been professionally fitted maybe you should look into that. My averages on my Polar are never more than 51/49. I average 50/50.
60/40 split sounds like a big imbalance. It sounds like you might have a leg length discrepancy. If you haven't been professionally fitted maybe you should look into that. My averages on my Polar are never more than 51/49. I average 50/50.
Perhaps, but I only care if I can get more power down because of it. So again, the question stands: With the exception of short jumps, would a leg balance problem affect power output? I mean does it really matter if I push 60% with the right and 40% with the left... since neither my right nor my left leg are limiting my power output.
With the exception of short jumps, would a leg balance problem affect power output?
It could: the greater load on your right leg may cause it to fail before your left has reached its limit, such that the power of both legs together is less than if you were more balanced.
I mean does it really matter if I push 60% with the right and 40% with the left... since neither my right nor my left leg are limiting my power output.
I think that depends on what is causing the imbalance. If your lower left-leg output is due to not completely unweighting with the right leg, then fixing it might get you more useful power. On the other hand, if both legs are already doing as much as they can with what they have, then I wouldn't think there'd be much to gain by trying to correct the imbalance.
It could: the greater load on your right leg may cause it to fail before your left has reached its limit, such that the power of both legs together is less than if you were more balanced.
Well anecdotally the opposite occurs, as even though I use it more, it is must be that much stronger, and the left leg still weakens first.
The more I think about it, the less of a concern it seems to be… like the pedaling circles (PowerCranks) thing that has been debated into the ground. Just as it does not make sense to focus on improving my upstroke over the downstroke, I don’t think it makes sense to train my left leg any differently than I do my right. Or rather no point in holding back the right so that the left can catch up if they are both getting stronger. Like the “no child left behind” policy, it would result in lower performance on the aggregate, albeit more equal/balanced. But since absolute performance is what I want, not equality, am I correct in thinking “who cares about balance”?
I think that depends on what is causing the imbalance. If your lower left-leg output is due to not completely unweighting with the right leg, then fixing it might get you more useful power. On the other hand, if both legs are already doing as much as they can with what they have, then I wouldn't think there'd be much to gain by trying to correct the imbalance.
Agreed... I don't think I have a problem unweighting with right leg, but how will I know... oh yeah I need to get a set of Powercranks! 😉
