Want to pedal like a pro?
Have you ever watched the pros on television and thought: ‘I wish I could pedal that smoothly’? You probably have.
The seemingly effortless pedalling technique is a hallmark of a well-trained rider, developed over thousands of kilometres and millions of pedal strokes, and it can lead to improvements in endurance and power output while reducing the risk of injury.
There is no shortcut to improving your pedalling efficiency, but there are several areas you can review to see if you can achieve a more efficient pedal stroke: bike fit, cadence and technique.
That said, these are pointers to set you on the right track, but every rider has their own adaptation time and limitations; improving your pedalling technique is not easy, but with consistency and persistence it can be achieved to a greater or lesser extent.
Filippo Ganna, UCI Hour Record — 56.792 km.
Why does pedalling technique matter so much?
Pedalling efficiency is crucial to making sure you extract the maximum absolute power from every revolution; doing it well means you’ll produce more energy for the same or lower energy expenditure.
Beyond improving efficiency, a smooth pedalling technique can also reduce the risk of injury to joints and muscles, and has the potential to extend the service life of components by spreading the load more evenly across them.
Many amateur riders push their legs straight down, in a style that produces ‘spikes’ in torque rather than a uniform, constant application of power.
For most untrained riders, it’s all push-stop-push-stop, which leads to torque spikes. A consistent pedal stroke therefore means there are no torque spikes with every pedal revolution as you drive the pedals down.
Troy Doolittle.
How can I tell how efficient my pedalling is?
A power meter is a great tool for identifying imbalances and inefficiencies in your pedalling, thanks to the wealth of data it provides, but it’s important that it measures left- and right-leg power independently. Countless apps exist where you can observe, analyse and study this data at user level. If you want a more precise analysis, the ideal would be to work with a coach who knows how to carry out a detailed assessment.
You can also do single-leg pedalling drills. Ideally, you should be able to pedal with one leg without that ‘thumping’ when your leg can no longer turn the cranks smoothly.
Another easy way to assess whether your pedalling is inefficient is to vary your cadence to highlight weaknesses and see if there are points where the pedal strokes feel more pronounced than others.
Let’s say you naturally pedal at 80 rpm; if you raise your cadence for a minute to around 100 rpm, see whether you’re bouncing on the saddle. If you are, your pedalling is probably inefficient.
In the same way, try pedalling at a low cadence, in this case 60 rpm, and observe the pedal stroke to see if it feels like a push-and-stop effort. You can spot a weakness in pedalling efficiency if you find yourself constantly having to press down on the pedals again to apply force: it means that at some point in the pedal circle you’ve disconnected from them.
Source: DC Rainmaker — Wahoo PowrLink Speedplay Power Meter Review.
Is my bicycle to blame?
Possibly. Having your bicycle set up with the right measurements isn’t only important for making sure you feel comfortable and injury-free, but also for improving performance — and that includes pedalling efficiency.
For example, if your saddle is too far forward, you’ll be pedalling from a position that isn’t right for the most efficient pedal stroke.
A saddle that’s too low will cause excessive knee lift and an incomplete pedal stroke. It also compresses the diaphragm, which restricts breathing and therefore the amount of oxygen that can reach your legs. But if it’s too high and you have to rock on the saddle to achieve full leg extension, you’ll end up relying on rocking your hips and improper extension through the calf and the patellar tendon to help complete the pedal stroke.
Crank length also has to be taken into account, and there’s no golden rule for it, given the unique leg proportions of each rider — sometimes even down to the individual leg.
It’s for these reasons that I always recommend my clients have a very specific bike fitting to determine several factors and measurements, including the correct crank length and saddle height.
What’s the optimal cadence when riding a bicycle?
If you watch riders closely, you’re likely to see a wide variety of cadences, from those spinning at 90–100 rpm to those turning the cranks at 60–70 rpm.
With power being the product of cadence multiplied by torque, finding your ideal cadence is a matter of hitting the sweet spot between how fast you spin the pedals and how hard you push them. It’s not unusual to see a new rider enthusiastically grinding too big a gear before settling into a higher, more efficient cadence.
It’s a much-debated topic, but what is true is that it varies from one rider to the next. The normal recommended cadence range sits between 80 and 100 revolutions per minute. I don’t think there’s one specific optimal cadence, but a current theory suggests you should train to spin the pedals faster: it’s said to make more efficient use of energy.
That said, theory is one thing and practice another, since things are never as simple as they look. You have to practise, train, observe and understand how your pedalling works before you can draw any conclusions.
After watching and talking with riders for years (some of them professionals) about pedalling efficiency, it’s clear that technique very often deteriorates at higher cadences because the pedal action becomes choppy instead of staying smooth. That’s why, for example, Chris Froome uses oval chainrings to improve fatigue resistance and muscular performance at high cadences, as can be read in the University of Montpellier paper titled ‘Efecto de los platos osymetricos en el rendimiento del ciclista’.
Source: Universidad de Montpellier — Efecto de los platos osymetricos.
I won’t go into the performance improvements detailed in that same paper because I’ll leave them for another post, but you can see it reveals a 13% increase in power, a 21% decrease in blood lactate and an 8% decrease in muscle fatigue.
While extremes at either end of the cadence range can lead to inefficient pedalling, and new riders will need time to adapt to a higher pedalling frequency, what’s well established is that every rider finds their natural optimal cadence over time.
For maximum power output, it has long been said that your natural cadence is the most efficient in terms of technique. That doesn’t mean, however, that you shouldn’t train other cadences to improve your performance and make your pedalling more effective.
Ultimately, your cadence will vary throughout a ride, depending on a range of factors including terrain, fatigue and the situation you find yourself in — whether sitting in a group spinning lightly to conserve energy or shifting to a harder gear for a sprint. As I said earlier, training a variety of cadences is recommended so you can work on comfort and efficiency across the board.
An example: if you’re training for a sportive that involves a lot of sustained climbing, it’s ideal to train your body to shift the effort from your muscles to your cardiovascular system by raising your cadence. Doing so reduces the torque of each pedal stroke and the size of each muscle contraction, so you’ll help your legs by reducing their fatigue.
After all, opinions on optimal cadence follow fashion, as you see with Chris Froome — looking almost laboured yet moving at an incredible speed — or Lance Armstrong with his “seven Tours”, who had a notably high cadence. Had Jan Ullrich been the one to win all those Tours, the trend would probably have gone the other way and we’d have far more people advocating a lower cadence as the most efficient pedalling style.
What techniques can I use to improve my cadence?
As riders, there’s no shortage of advice and tips from clubmates on the best way to improve, and on any given ride you’ll likely see a variety of pedalling styles. Broadly speaking, there are three main techniques: neutral, toe-down and heel-down — and while they come down to individual style, there’s one key thing you should avoid.
“Don’t actively pull on the upstroke”: many riders talk about pulling as the foot recovers, but in fact you should only relieve the pressure of your foot on the pedal to avoid negative torque (that is, pushing against your own stroke with the other leg).
As a rule of thumb, when the foot is at 90 degrees the force should be applied straight down. At 135 degrees, the force direction is 45 degrees downwards, meaning you’re pushing around the pedal stroke. By contrast, an inefficient rider will only push straight down, which minimises the time spent driving the pedals. Instead, the aim is a smooth, balanced recovery phase that’s consistent between both legs and maintains momentum while allowing recovery.
So, what exercises can I do?
Take the pros as an example: it’s thanks to muscle memory that their pedalling technique is so consistent. While you’re unlikely to be able to replicate their sheer volume of training, you can try pedalling at different cadences, focusing on keeping your technique the same across each cadence you select.
Another option is to break the pedal stroke down into isolated single-leg drills. It’s a simple exercise: just unclip one foot and pedal with one leg, focusing on a smooth, circular stroke. Once one leg tires, swap and repeat.
You can also do a cadence-based session on the turbo, such as spin-ups. For example, every minute add five rpm until you start to bounce in the saddle. Then ease back until you stop bouncing and hold that cadence for five minutes. Recover at an easy cadence for 10 minutes before repeating.
What these drills aim for is to get your body to adapt and feel more comfortable working at a higher cadence. Technique will come as a side effect of that.
Does gym work help improve technique?
Simply training in the gym won’t automatically translate into more effective pedalling. That said, core training can be a vital component in helping you pedal effectively, since a solid core provides a platform from which to drive the pedals.
Any core work is beneficial: too much movement there means less stabilisation, and a stronger core helps minimise that movement. That’s why most pros also do plenty of upper-body gym work and, as a result, can generate more force at the same leg speed.
Having a strong core also means your position on the bike will be consistent: you won’t be fresh and sat upright one day, and hunched over the handlebars the next. It’s that consistency that leads to greater muscle memory around the pedal action.
Vital as it is, it’s not only about the core. Strengthening the legs will certainly make power production easier if that’s a weakness, while regular stretching and/or Pilates or Yoga will help improve overall flexibility, and with it your movement around the pedal stroke.
Taking advantage of all the factors that affect pedalling efficiency means most riders have room to improve. Improving technique is always a long-term goal and isn’t fixed overnight, but start now and you’ll soon begin to reap the rewards.