http://www.nyvelocity.com/content.php?id=126
Of course you do. More carbon road bikes. While you’re there, please check out the rest of our baby site. There’s an interview with Craig Upton, a Wobble Naught fitter with lots to say about TT bike fit.
Some of what that guy says in his fit aricle is actually wrong or giving him the benefit of the doubt it is a gross simplification or a misunderstanding of physiology…
He states that a stretched muscle cannot fire… this is not right… anyone who has taken any class in physiology knows that a muscle which is stretched will be in its optimal position on its length tenion curve. He then uses the example of sticking your arm up and pushing something up to show that you can’t fire a stretched muscle. You cannot extrapolate the workings of a joint to explain the workings of single muscles. Joints work in groups with several muscles and are uniquely designed to work in certain directions. These two concepts together is why you have a stronger grip with your wrist bent back than if you bend it forward…
Either way the theoretical knowledge is sound I would just caution people from exponding on concepts they are not totally familiar with…
Reading the article does not shed new light on fitting. Similair to my personal experience with fitting and judging by what other fitters on this forum do… people do not rely SOLELY on any single measurements but work on a gestalt…
My feeling, just cause you give a name to something… don’t make it new
I have about 1500 pictures from various ITU WC’s, Ironmans, and other races. Also lots of pretty bike pics.
Whenever I see a cool picture I save it. Simple as that.
I’ll let Wobble Naught defend themselves (though I doubt they frequent this forum). I will say that my ‘gestalt’ was off by over 1 cm, as were all the other fittings I had done. Since being fitted by Craig I’ve felt more efficient. Top speed isn’t’ higher, but I can maintain it longer. Also, my legs feel much better for that second run leg in biathlons (I don’t do tri’s).
Last thing: are you saying that fully stretched muscles fire with the most power? (can you tell I haven’t taken a class in physiology?)
I guess what I should have said is that the the way that he was talking about fitting was not as revolutionary as they made it sound like… I am not doubting their skill (have no basis) but I am doubting that they came up with something totally unique…
Secondly… as you measure how strongly a muscle can fire depending on how much it can is stretched before firing you would see a gradual increase in the force followed by the a drop… kinda what the flight of a ball would look like when thrown in the air to a point far away arcing up then back down. This is called the length tension curve. The theory is that as the muscle is trretched more of it can “fire” at the same time… make it too long and you start to “tear” the muscle (oversimplification) but that is the gist of the length tension curve… Ever notice that sprinters in the box are in a position where their ham strings and glutes are stretched? same concept.
Easy analogy = a rubber band. The more you stretch, the more snap back you’ll get, until you stretch it too much and then…
Oh, thanks for the pics . Always nice ot look at.
Just remembered what Craig said about the muscles. Something about certain fibers not being in contact when the muscles is at full stretch. They vibrate and generate heat, but not a lot of force. Like I said, I didn’t take a lesson in physiology.
That is the situation when you stretch a muscle too much…