Quads doing all the work!

Pouts
Pouts Posts: 34
edited May 2016 in Training, fitness and health
Can anyone advise whether it is normal to feel that my quads are doing a disproportionate amount of the work whilst cycling?

Or have I got a bike fit/set up issue and if so what is the likely cause?

Thanks in advance...

Comments

  • apreading
    apreading Posts: 4,535
    Seat too low?
  • Pouts
    Pouts Posts: 34
    Guess putting the seat up is an easy thing to try first!

    Thank you
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    It might be at the correct height already, and putting up could make things worse. Posting a pic of your position would be helpful...
  • apreading
    apreading Posts: 4,535
    There are lots of other possibilities that are more complex and/or difficult to pinpoint but saddle too low is most common and easiest to make a quick change and see.

    Also, make sure that you are not 'grinding', i.e. pushing to hard in too high a gear - I was doing this to some degree that I never noticed on short distances but when I started doing 40-50 miles found my quads ached. Changed technique to go lower gear and spin on the hills and problem solved (a proper sports massage helped too!).
  • taon24
    taon24 Posts: 185
    Once the saddle is at the correct height moving the seat forwards a few millimetres may also help to increase the work the hip extensors are doing.
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,106
    I thought it was the opposite, saddle back tended to use the hip extensors more, saddle forwards more quads. That used to be the recieved wisdom anyway whether it had any truth I don't know.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • taon24
    taon24 Posts: 185
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    I thought it was the opposite, saddle back tended to use the hip extensors more, saddle forwards more quads. That used to be the recieved wisdom anyway whether it had any truth I don't know.

    I think I may have had it the wrong way and you are correct.
  • Bill Black
    Bill Black Posts: 39
    taon24 wrote:
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    I thought it was the opposite, saddle back tended to use the hip extensors more, saddle forwards more quads. That used to be the recieved wisdom anyway whether it had any truth I don't know.

    I think I may have had it the wrong way and you are correct.

    Yes, saddle down and and back tends to better engage the posterior muscle chain. Ideally, one should seek to initiate the power phase of the pedal stroke early (11:30) with hip extension over the top of the stroke and then continue and finish the drive through the power-phase with knee-extension through 5:30 (avoid ramming through to dead bottom 6:00).

    Riders will differ based on physical configurations variance but knee-extension will always predominate as the primary muscle force applied through the pedal arc although it is certainly true that most cyclists under-utilize their posterior muscle-chain. I used a number of on-bike and off-bike drills to address this with riders but it is highly individualized.

    Bill Black
  • singleton
    singleton Posts: 2,523
    You may find that altering your technique a bit will help as well.

    Have you tried pedalling with only one leg clipped in at a time? Doing this - even for short periods of time such as 1 or 2 minutes - is a good way to learn how to use all your muscles and pedal in a circle, although it will feel very wierd when you first try it.

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