Glutes..

Posted by Peter Wright | 27 Nov 2008 | comments (13)

I know I have mentioned this before but I wanted to touch on it again as I feel it is very relevant to a lot of riders.

As I was climbing the Glen this morning and drowning in a combination of misery and lactic acid while my so called friends rode off and left me in their dust.. I began to think about Glutes..

When I was seeing Bruce McClachlan a few months back to try and rectify my position on the bike and improve my back pain, one of the main issues was freeing up my glutes from being a stabilising muscle for my back to an active muscle in my pedal stroke.

 Today as I saw my power diminish every time I got out of the saddle, and felt my glutes load up, I realised I had managed to go along way towards freeing them up but that they were very weak and therefore not contributing much to my stroke.

So if you are a rider who sees power drop when out of the saddle for any period, or who struggles to maintain form for any period  when out of the saddle. If you find yourself sitting when other riders are standing then maybe it is time to look at getting those glutes working properly..

Comments

Would the inverse apply too? I spend a lot of time out the saddle.

Posted by Nick on 27 Nov 2008 at 08:15:PM
Interesting question - my initial reaction would be to say that it probably indicates a good position and the correct use of the various muscle groups i.e producing more power out of the saddle and so riding more out of the saddle on climbs is a natural inclination rather than the opposite.

Posted by Peter Wright on 27 Nov 2008 at 08:57:PM
so .. strength, even specific muscle strength can be a limiting factor? Good to see the rehab cap out :)

Posted by RR on 28 Nov 2008 at 01:03:PM
I think strength can be a limiting factor with the caveat that the muscle in question is functionally compromised (as in this case)as opposed to simply getting stronger for strengths sake..

Posted by Peter Wright on 29 Nov 2008 at 01:12:PM
I know my glutes are tight and weak, and I'm trying to sort them doing various undignified excercises. Any tips for on the bike work that would help?

Posted by Another Nic on 01 Dec 2008 at 08:25:AM
Tough one - on bike work for Glutes is really going to be all about using them correctly - and this is all about sitting correctly so that they can fire when they should rather than be tied up as a stabiliser. I think is is all about correct position - get that right and the muscles will develop as they should while riding.

Posted by Peter Wright on 01 Dec 2008 at 08:40:AM
Interesting - I have raised my seat, shortened my stem, and fitted compact bars. I am having fewer knee problems, and interestingly, glutes are feeling more worked post ride, in a good way mostly.

Posted by Another Nic on 01 Dec 2008 at 04:15:PM
I have been doing a lot of thinking of exactly what you asked here, Another Nic. Would love to do some work in this area next year, as nothing (on the bike exercises) exists. Strength of specific muscle & muscle groups do hinder performance, as Peter described, but the body doesn't recognise an isolated muscle in a movement - so there lies the challenge

Posted by RR on 01 Dec 2008 at 05:45:PM
The challenge seems to lie in that cycling itself will only use the muscles required by cycling, and only to the extent they are needed. In other words, your body will make itself strong enough for the specific sport's demands. If there is a functional issue then often what seems to happen is that the body adjusts itself and starts to function sub optimally in order to allow the sport to continue - eventually this can lead to functional problems. Hence the need to find a way to ensure prime movers such as glutes are doing what they should be doing.. Step up RR - we need more ;-)

Posted by Peter Wright on 01 Dec 2008 at 05:55:PM
yip - your observation is spot on. That means that many cyclists even at elite (and pro i'm sure) levels, are doing well - even with weak glutes, shortened psoas, ect - because the body has found a way around these (unknown to the cyclist) hindrances - until some structure says STOP. This is something that i would love to investigate as one can actually see by person's hip movements on the bike (at a specific spot of the pedal stroke), that something is 'wrong'. I think this presents a great opportunity to combine photography/physio and love for the sport. (will you help?)

Posted by RR on 01 Dec 2008 at 10:12:PM
Sounds like fun - let's do it..

Posted by Peter Wright on 02 Dec 2008 at 10:16:AM
I read an article quite a while back about the way that cyclists' walk is affected by their pedalling technique. I will try and find but the gist of the article was that cyclicts "forget" to use their hips to walk and start to mimick their pedalling stroke (pushing their legs forward with their thigh muscles). So it was almost a floating action rather than USING the hips / glutes to walk. Again..it was a while back so I wil try and get the real info to you.

Posted by Gianni on 02 Dec 2008 at 11:27:PM
That is VERY interesting gianni! I can't say that i've seen this floating walk, but have often seen cyclists walked with a fixed pelvis, never fully extending the hip of weightbearing leg. Maybe this ties up with what this guy is observing.

Posted by RR on 03 Dec 2008 at 03:20:PM

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