The glutes won't fatigue as much during cycling because they don't contribute all that much compared to the quads. So there's that. But that's not a reasoning to try to use them more.

reminds me of the reasoning behind a certain product that shall not be named, but begins with Power and ends in Cranks. The inventor / owner of the company shall remain anonymous, lets just call him Drank Fay to protect his reputation.

As for spinscan, just because you can measure the value doesn't mean the measure has value.

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How would a spin scan indicate a change in crank length?

Or anything else really? I can only assume that it was simply from looking at the "power" at the over the top portions and not seeing anything "out of the ordinary"? Of course, it also ignores how much the hip flexors are working and how the rider felt. And it ignores that computrainers only have one point of measurement but purport to report distinct information for both sides.

Technically, the CT measures force at the wheel/tire interface continuously as your feet go in circles and actually have a way of knowing which foot is where, but it has no clue which foot is doing what and only knows what the combined contribution of both feet/legs are at the tire/roller interface. So it's just a wild wild guess and for obvious reasons you want your spin scan to look really ugly and show max force (or whatever the heck they measure) on the equivalent of each downstroke (and still you don't know if that is from having the world's weakest squads and the world's strongest hip flexors or the world's strongest quads with negative hip flexor contribution....for most of us the latter should be more efficient, using a bit of the quad downward force to lift the recovery leg out of the way)

Coaches and fitters (I'm both - so I can say this) have been making shit up forever, in order to drive what they believe is correct behavior in athletes when they don't really have anymore to go on than 'this seems to work' or 'I was taught to do it this way'. Those aren't generally the types of explanations that work with athletes until you've built up trust over a significant period of time, so you make up something that sounds more sciency. Do we need to discuss capillaries bursting if you go too hard during base?

Rearward pelvic rotation, of course, will fail to engage glutes. I'm also very surprised to hear that glutes don't fatigue, who knew?

The crank length guy may simply have never fit someone with a crank as short as 155, or perhaps there is some gearing reason (FD won't drop low enough for a smaller big chainring?) on the athlete's expensive bike that 155's create additional problems.

Well I currently have a torn glute medius so yes they can fatigue....

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amen to this.
peggy

Side note. I used to be on 155 (expensive fit studio fit)! Until I had A LEGIT GUY fit me.

I WANTED TO THROW THOSE 155s over a F'n bridge!!!

Even the 'legit guys' don't necessarily have the right or best answer. I'll admit, usually they do (!) but even the best of them are occasionally wrong.

Happened to me at my first-ever wetsuit fitting. Too tight. Even pulled up to wedgie high heaven. I didn't know enough to know it was too small at the time; the fitter and everyone in the triclub said "I'd get used to it, it's normal."

Sorry, but having your shoulder muscles give out within the first 150 yds of the race because the suit is so restrictive even when you've literally pulled every piece of it up to as high as it can go, means your suit is too small. (I was swimming 3000 yds no problem in the pool at the time.)

It took me 4 months to finally say F this, I'm getting a bigger suit. Both the bigger fullsuit and the sleeveless longjohn suits (got both) instantly solved all deltoid fatigue, was immediately noticeable even when I put the suit on. Fricking waste of a $400 Blueseventy wetsuit.

What was process used to settle on the 155s? What did the "legit" fitter do differently?

Now thats funny...

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I think "Dank Fray" would be a better alias ;-)

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Does this coach rhyme with Dark Talon or is he a part of Turtle Batch?

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This statement is incorrect. Even during submaximal exercise, net power generated at (across) the hip joint is as great, if not greater than, that generated across the knee joint. The hip becomes increasingly important as power output increases.

(Thank you, Jim Martin, for all of your research into cycling biomechanics.)

Thanks for the correction,

is that isolated to gluteal contributions, or does that include other muscle groups which span the hip?

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It is not possible to isolate the actions of individual muscles using inverse dynamics. However, not only is the gluteus maximus the largest muscle crossing the hip, it is the largest muscle in the human body. Furthermore, transfer of power from upper body muscles across the hip is quite limited, since your hip joint does not move much while pedaling. I would therefore say that it is safe to conclude that most power generated at the hip is the result of contraction of the gluteus maximus.

I think he was possibly referring to the hamstrings (crossing hip and knee), however with the degree of knee flexion during the power phase of the pedal stroke they are actively insufficient (shortened) therefore putting load at hip largely on the single joint gluts. Your conclusion remains correct in my book.

FWIW I have done some surface EMG on bikes and although difficult to quantify across individuals not as hard within and without regard to moments, the gluts are more "active" (duration and amplitude) in cycling than most folks running.

haha

I've had challenges fitting Turtle Batch athletes

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FWIW...I use an indoor spin bike with Assioma pedals. It's very easy for me to see the effect of "engaging" my hips more through the stroke. If I concentrate on "flexing" my glutes (like a body builder poses) my power increases, with little or no increase in my perceived exertion. In fact, when testing on the TrainerRoad Ramp X MAP test, my achieved MAP is 5% higher when I concentrate on engaging the hips.

Feeling the muscle contract (or not) with your hand while pedaling is another stimulus.

It's hard to describe. I "try" to engage the back of the leg's/gluts more, and I can feel the exertion lessen a bit in the quads. The cadence/power increases. I'm thinking that cadence/power increasing can only be a good thing, and the fact that i'm using more muscle to turn that crank explains why my MAP ends up higher in the Ramp x test. More muscle engagement = more O2, or at least that's my thinking.

For years my left glute was essentially dead and all my power was via my quads and hamstrings. Feels so much more efficient; before spinning felt like grinding but with the glutes firing it feels like swinging a bat. That being said, when those glutes are firing but I do feel they really just augment the chain and don't replace anything.

Excellent research but unfortunately for cycling, like all pedalling research to date it completely ignores one very important muscle which is as powerful as the glutes or quads and is fatigue resistant. I am referring to the soleus which together with the glutes and quads can deliver maximal torque to the crank at 12, 1 and 2 o'c and is ideal for use in flat high gear time trials.



Soleus
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The soleus is the plantar flexor muscle of the ankle. It is capable of exerting powerful forces onto the ankle joint. It is located on the back of the lower leg and originates at the posterior (rear) aspect of the fibular head and the medial border of the tibial shaft.