Mark: Pedaling our bikes is all about pushing down on the pedals as hard as we
can. That's how we go faster, right? Actually, there's a little bit more to it than that.
Having an efficient pedaling technique is a fundamental aspect of any good rider.
When you watch the pro riders, the pro triathletes on TV, it just looks effortless.
What is their secret? Today, I'm going to be running through some advice so that you too
can pedal more smoothly, have a more efficient pedaling technique, and also hopefully go faster.
[music] Mark: To start off with, it's probably
worth pointing out that those pro riders and pro triathletes that I've just mentioned have spent
years riding their bikes, almost their entire lives in some cases. They've spent thousands and
thousands of hours on their bikes honing their skills and their pedaling technique. Which is
why they tend to look so good on the bikes. Of course, there is no shortcut to this for
ourselves. However, there are some key aspects that we can focus on to help us some way to have a
more efficient and better pedaling technique. The first port of call and probably the most obvious
is to start with cadence. [music]
Mark: If you were to head out on a ride with your local club and took a little glance around
the riders amongst you in that group, you will find a whole array of different cadences. You'll
have people grinding 60 to 70 RPM all the way through to people spinning at 90 to 100 RPM
plus. What I'm trying to get out is that there is simply no one-size-fits-all,
one perfect cadence for everyone. We all have our own optimum individual cadence,
depending on our body types, our height and so on and so forth. Although this topic is
hotly debated, we will find most people sitting somewhere in that 80 to 100 revolutions per
minute mark. Of course, the more time is spent in the saddle and riding the bike, with time,
you will automatically self-select a cadence to work for you and be able to hone in your technique
and become more efficient at that cadence. However, I must add that it is generally thought
that really low cadences are inefficient. I quite often liken this to doing squats in the gym. Those
really high weight and low rep squats can be really destructive on the muscles versus those
low weighted and higher rep squats. It's very similar for cycling. That's not
to say you shouldn't ever do low cadence work, but actually, just have the ability
to jump between the two. It's a good idea to practice this range in your training.
For instance, just on a nice, easy ride, do three minutes over gear work around 60 to 70 RPM,
three minutes at your normal cadence, and three minutes at a really high cadence, 100 RPM plus,
and just keep cycling through that three or four times for something like 25 to 30 minutes. You can
do that on the indoor trainer or outdoors. [music]
Mark: Of course, the next port of call has to be your bike set up and fit. In fact,
you may even want to start at this point because it is so important. Not only
can help your pedaling technique, but also your comfort on the bike and avoiding any potential
injuries. In an ideal world, I'd suggest seeking some professional advice, getting a professional
bike fit. I appreciate that's not possible for everyone or within everyone's budget.
The next route is to do a home DIY bike fit, which I'm sure many of you have done before.
I would suggest, if you're doing this, to set your bike up on a turbo trainer indoors so it's static,
so you can quickly and easily jump on and off as you're making minor tweaks
as you go. The key aspect for this to help with our pedaling technique
has to be your saddle height and position. Too high a saddle and you find your hips will be
rocking and rolling from side to side as you try to overreach at the bottom of each pedal streak.
If the saddle was too low, you'll likely find your knee is lifting too much and you won't be able
to actually finish the pedal stroke at the bottom properly. Equally, if you have your saddle pushed
too far forwards, or too far backward, it means that you'll be pedaling in front of
you or behind you, and therefore limiting that distribution of workload amongst the muscles.
What should you be aiming for? As a rough starting point, pop your saddle in the middle of the rails
and at a height that when your pedals are at the bottom at the six o'clock position,
your leg is almost extended with a 25 to 30-degree bend in the knee, or you can think of it in
another way, pop your heel on the pedals and your legs should be fully extended in that position.
Next place to look to, which is a little bit more complicated is the crank length.
This actually can have a big impact on your pedaling technique. I know that
anything longer than 172.5 doesn't work for me and I feel very uncomfortable, but of course,
it's very hard to just simply test different crank lengths. This is somewhere that you may
want to go to a professional bike fitter, so they can run through the different crank
lengths with you and give you some advice there. Then, of course, we've got your cleat position if
you're using clipless pedals. You want, as a general rule of thumb, to have the
spindle of the pedal somewhere around the ball of the foot. Underneath that ball of the foot.
Then also obviously making sure that the cleats are nicely and symmetrically aligned from foot
to foot. [music]
Mark: Finally, the smoothness of our pedaling action is at the heart of us being able to produce
as much power with each pedal revolution for as little effort as possible. Therefore making it
as efficient as we possibly can, but crucially it's where and when we've produced that power.
Many people fall into the trap of pushing down hard on the pedals at around the 90-degree
position or the three o'clock mark, which we often refer to as stomping on the pedals.
Instead, it should be a consistent application of power throughout the whole
360-degree action down through the bottom, and then pulling back up. Try to focus on having a
loose ankle often referred to as an ankling so that you can more easily produce force
around the dead zone at the bottom of the stroke between approximately four and eight o'clock
allowing your leg to naturally complete the stroke without resorting to pulling upwards,
thus creating inefficient spikes in power. A great way of practicing this is with some
single leg drills on the indoor trainer. I used to do these
all the time as part of my warm-up or warm-down for indoor workouts. I've got to be honest,
due to a lot of the distractions nowadays that we have for indoor training with Zwift and whatnot,
I've forgotten about them, but they're absolutely fantastic. Just need to unclip on one leg,
do 30 seconds or so on one leg, and then swap over to the other. Repeat that through 6 to 10 times.
That's a fantastic way of working on that technique. I hope you have enjoyed today's video.
If so, please do give it a like. Do get involved in the comment section down below. I hope you have
found that advice today helpful. If you've got any more questions, please
drop them down there in the comments section. Don't forget to give us a follow over on social
media and subscribe just down below. [00:07:04] [END OF AUDIO]