Couple of questions… when riding my tri bike do I want to rotate my hips as far forward as possible (ie. anterior pelvic tilt)? so they are essentially hitting my stomach on the way up?
Is there more power benefit to this? Utilizing different muscles and saving some for the run?
Also, when pushing the seat forward and riding on the nose of the saddle (as I have seen some pro’s do) does this increase power output? how? utilizing stronger muscles? is it just hard to stay in this position for long periods of time? should I practice this during the winter?
Do you belly breathe (diaghram) or upper chest breathe when in TT position? what do the pro’s do?
Not sure how you hit your hips on your belly!? Do you mean that you hit your quads?
The level of rotation of the hips is normally a consequence of the set up not the aim of the set up. By this I mean that things like saddle height, angle of the saddle, distance from bars to saddle, drop etc will all effect the angle of the pelvis. If you want an aero position you will have your hips rotated, if you ride very upright you won’t. If you want a really aero position you will need to rotate a long way in order to get your back flat.
The benefit of an aero position (on the nose of the saddle or not) is not power. An upright position will enable more power to be produced. However the power required to overcome the drag is disproportionate, so the issue is how fast is the position not how powerful. This will vary for different athletes. A pro capable of sustaining 50-km/h has a bigger problem with drag than an age grouper doing 25-km/h. In these two extremes the pro should be working hard to fine tune the position to balance power and drag, the age grouper needs to worry less about the drag and more about how to produce power (within reason of course). If you go too aero you can’t produce enough power due to the restriction on the muscles and you go slower, sit too upright and you require too much power to go very fast. Then factor in comfort, particularly for the longer races and its a balancing act. No point flying through half distance then having to stop for 5-min to stretch out.
Moving the saddle forward (or sitting on the front of it) will use slightly different muscles, there is still a lot of debate about whether this saves them for the run. Personally I don’t think there is sufficient evidence, the reason for the forward position is speed not saving muscles. Pro cyclists use very similar (if slightly more extreme) positions and they don’t need to save anything. You should definitely practice your race position in the winter, even if for only short times in training rides, it helps to ease you back into racing and this comfort with the position will enhance performance. Ideally you would do a fair bit on them, any intervals on the turbo etc should be done in a race specific position
Diaphragm breathing is a must. Ever wondered why pros look like they have a beer belly? Its their lungs, they are so big and are being used to the limit that they push everything else down to what looks like a beer belly.
There is loads of info about this out there, and loads of varying opinions, mine is only one!