Left Leg issue

geoff93

Basically my left leg is weaker than my right, and has less endurance, I want to get this sorted by the start of the season. I've started a weight training program where I focus on the left leg, but are there any things I can do in everyday life, to help rectify this problem.

Cheers

cooldad

If it was your left arm the solution is simple.

Fit SPD's and pedal with your left leg.

njee20

If youve got a turbo trainer than 1 legged intervals are a decent idea, they're bloody hard!

timpop

Hop!

Buckled_Rims

Get your legs checked out to see if the left leg is shorter or longer then the right. Nobody has exactly the same length legs, but some have very close measurements that make no difference. You simply cannot be a good athlete nowadays without knowing exactly your leg and arm lengths and adjusting for it. It effects leverage, cadence and balance.

It's possible to try and measure this yourself and then put a thin shim or footpad in your training/cycling shoes.

robertpb

Season for riding what's that, just get out and ride, use your weak leg more and ease up on the strong leg.

You've probably ended up in this situation because you have allowed one leg to dominate.

EnglishChris

I have a similar problem which relates to an injury many years ago. I never really did the physio after a injury to my left knee and over the years have let my right leg compensate for my injured left. The injury is no longer a problem but I've only really worked out in the past few years how much Id biased my right side and how weak my left had become. Both in the main leg muscles and the core (smaller) muscles in the leg and torso. I'm now seeing a physio who is giving me a bunch of exercises to build up core strength generally and specifically target each leg separately to try to build them up to a similar strength.

Reverse lunges are good. Stand straight, step back with one foot, bending the stationary leg as you kind of sit back. Dont let the stationary knee move forwards past the toe below. Then push through the stationary heel and use the arse muscle on the stationary side to pull yourself back up to a standing position. All the work is in the stationary side. Keep your weight over that side and actively use the muscles in that leg and arse rather than pushing back up with the leg you stepped back on. Probably need to do both legs as even your strong side will change shape with enough exercise.

This is a harder version: http://www.bikejames.com/strength/singl ... in-biking/

In fact this site has some good exercises for biking generally: http://www.bikejames.com/strength/top-5 ... always-do/

The key if you are weaker on one side is to do exercises that target each side separately and to do them slowly and deliberately and don't skimp on the weak side because its harder!

d87heaven

Things you could do in everyday life......

Whenever you are doing something like brushing your teeth stand on the weaker leg. Cooking tea? - Stand on one leg. Do it with a slight bend in the knee and don't let the hip stick out.
Balancing helps with muscle strength and is good for the prioceptors.
When at the gym start and finish all sets of reps with your weaker leg so it gets one set more.