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More Time To Get Fit - 2025

Brett's idea on the hand crank is great. Rope trainers are good too. IME, you can get to 125-145 avg HR w/ only resistance training too. The key is in not taking any breaks. None of the 60-90 second replenish shit.

I will say, it IS kinda fun to figure out how to work around your debilitated part(s). I hated my collar bone healing time, but was able to make good advancement on legs (which I hated doing, but now love).

Keep us in the loop R. I wanna know what you end up doing. Also, DO NOT join planet fatness. That place royally sucks.
 
Holeshot said:
Lots of core work, Rob?
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Kinda. Hip thrusts, dead lift, squat, 7-way-hips, planks. More back focused of course.

I need to add something for the psoas. I was doing knee pulls with bands, but my damn bands broke.
 
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stangmx13 said:
Kinda. Hip thrusts, dead lift, squat, 7-way-hips

I need to add something for the psoas. I was doing knee pulls with bands, but my damn bands broke.
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Have you tried hanging from a pull-up bar and doing straight-leg lifts up to your hands with ankle weights?
There is also leg sweeps where you start with both legs on one side and sweep them up and over, past your hands, to the other side. That can be done with ankle weights as well.

I know that bike riders pull up with their clip-ons, so the amount of hip flexor (psoas) strength is well beyond what is needed for sprinting or even jumping.
 
Climber said:
Have you tried hanging from a pull-up bar and doing straight-leg lifts up to your hands with ankle weights?
There is also leg sweeps where you start with both legs on one side and sweep them up and over, past your hands, to the other side. That can be done with ankle weights as well.

I know that bike riders pull up with their clip-ons, so the amount of hip flexor (psoas) strength is well beyond what is needed for sprinting or even jumping.
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I just tried that hanging exerises with a kettle bell on the gym the other day. Failed because the weight was too heavy for the foot :LOL: . Ya I'll definitely add something very similar.

Actually, cyclists often have weak AF psoas. The pull-up is minor compared to the push-down phase of the power stroke, so minor that it's never a focus. And the psoas often gets very tight and withers away from of the forward leaning position.
 
Wouldn't the pull/push action of pulling up with the rising foot give you more down force beyond what you'd get with just your body weight behind your stroke?

You may have stronger psoas than you realize compared to others. I put my jumpers and runners through a lot of high knee exercises to strengthen their hip flexors, weak hip flexors are a very common thing to slow down runners and prevent jumpers from keeping their legs up on their landings.
 
When sprinting you more pull against the bars, and less against the other foot.

Cycling metrics have 'Torque Effectiveness' if you have a double-sided powermeter. A TE under 100% means both feet are pushing down all the time, ie you are fighting against yourself and never pulling up. Common values for TE are 60-100%, so a lot of people aren't pulling up at all. My TE is usually ~70%.

Ya the psoas is engaged every pedal stroke. But it's not a healthy engagement because the muscle is always in a flexed position, more-so in an aggressive road cycling position. All literature I can find says this leads to shortening, tightness, and weakness. That's part of the reason why I love out-of-the-saddle climbing. It gives my psoas a good stretch.

Ugh, this convo is making me feel how tight my psoas is rn. It doesn't help I'm sitting in a computer chain. :cry:

Edit: Also, I'm trying shorter cranks today which should alleviate some of this with the psoas. Hip flexion at the top of the stroke will be reduced. 165mm cranks for a 33" inseam 🥳
 
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stangmx13 said:
When sprinting you more pull against the bars, and less against the other foot.

Cycling metrics have 'Torque Effectiveness' if you have a double-sided powermeter. A TE under 100% means both feet are pushing down all the time, ie you are fighting against yourself and never pulling up. Common values for TE are 60-100%, so a lot of people aren't pulling up at all. My TE is usually ~70%.

Ya the psoas is engaged every pedal stroke. But it's not a healthy engagement because the muscle is always in a flexed position, more-so in an aggressive road cycling position. All literature I can find says this leads to shortening, tightness, and weakness. That's part of the reason why I love out-of-the-saddle climbing. It gives my psoas a good stretch.

Ugh, this convo is making me feel how tight my psoas is rn. It doesn't help I'm sitting in a computer chain. :cry:

Edit: Also, I'm trying shorter cranks today which should alleviate some of this with the psoas. Hip flexion at the top of the stroke will be reduced. 165mm cranks for a 33" inseam 🥳
Click to expand...
Damn bro, your leggy! :laughing 172's with a 31" inseam here. I have been wanting to hop on the short crank train for a while too. What cranks did you get?

I though the "pulling up" idea in cycling had fallen out of fashion a bit. You're probably more up on it than I am though. As a guy who feels more comfortable on platforms for a variety of reasons, I was hoping the lack of "pull up" wasn't that big of a performance hit. Maybe it is.
 
...and all this time I thought pursuit of a tight psoas was the goal!
lERvqo.gif
 
Mike95060 said:
Damn bro, your leggy! :laughing 172's with a 31" inseam here. I have been wanting to hop on the short crank train for a while too. What cranks did you get?

I though the "pulling up" idea in cycling had fallen out of fashion a bit. You're probably more up on it than I am though. As a guy who feels more comfortable on platforms for a variety of reasons, I was hoping the lack of "pull up" wasn't that big of a performance hit. Maybe it is.
Click to expand...
Arent you taller than me (5'9")? Long legs/short torso is kinda a curse for bike fits. Your saddle is raised way up, which makes the bars too low, and you have no torso to reach the bars. People with short legs and long torso can slap a longer stem on a bike and be golden.

I'm trying the 165s first on my MTB by borrowing the SO's crank. We both have Shimano cranks with Sigeyi PMs, so it's a very easy swap. On the gravel bike when my Stages PM broke, I bought a Rotor Aldhu 24 crank with a Sigeyi PM. My Ultegra chainrings bolted right up. Unfortunately, that is still 170 so I'll need to buy new arms if this test goes well. But switching to a spider-based PM was kinda part of this plan.
powermetercity.com

Sigeyi AXO SL ROTOR ALDHU Road Power Meter Crankset

Ride informed with the Sigeyi AXO SL ROTOR ALDHU Road Power Meter Crankset. Affordable and highly accurate power meter on proven ROTOR cranks. Shop now!
powermetercity.com powermetercity.com

You don't need to pull up on the pedal to get a TE of 100%. You just need to not weight the pedal on the upstroke. Let your upstroke leg lift itself instead of making the downstroke leg do the work. You can do that without being clipped in.

The major performance hit from platform pedals is the shoes, especially if comparing super stiff carbon shoes to running shoes. Stiff MTB shoes probably aren't so bad. I wouldn't worry about anything else.
 
stangmx13 said:
Kinda. Hip thrusts, dead lift, squat, 7-way-hips, planks. More back focused of course.

I need to add something for the psoas. I was doing knee pulls with bands, but my damn bands broke.
Click to expand...

Yeah, lots of back focused. Planks are good, but I find that lower core is the most unworked area of anyone who pushes weight around. That area is key to psoas extension/ flexion, IME. I get pretty bad anterior tilt issues...some stretching has helped, but for sure I've got psoas issues. Core has helped a ton, especially independent opposite shoulder sitting high leg raises. Those give a stretch and core hit and work the lower abdominal wall and upper abdominal wall. I dig those...and hate them. Dragon flags are great, but not a place to start. Certainly a place to work up to, tho. Lastly, banded twists. I really like these, w locked arm outstretched. These work well too.

Upward dog seems like a good mobility movement for psoas...have you tried that one? I've only just started...
 
@Climber and @Holeshot i will see what’s available on craigslist up in oregon. i’m figuring some crutching will help develop my shoulders and arms. lol. i reached out to a personal trainer friend as well to talk about activities too. i got a knee scooter and will use it to continue my waddles. hopefully.
 
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I've got one of these (brand new) w/out the crossover, 5th station. The 5th station is about $1,500 IIRC. I'm in this one $4K, which is a lot, I know. I bought it for a location that I have a life fitness 8 station at now. I never used the MuscleD and it's just sitting, which is sad.

Muscle D 4-stack

And I have one of these brand new. Really neat little units and super high (Life fitness) quality. Both of these are made in Life Fitness factories and rebranded.

Muscle D Corner Gym

These units are great deals, especially @ what I paid. It's not rickety, has no movement in the joints/ feet, etc. Super solid. 95% of these types of multi gyms are absolutely junk. This one isn't. I'm in it $900.
 
stangmx13 said:
Arent you taller than me (5'9")? Long legs/short torso is kinda a curse for bike fits. Your saddle is raised way up, which makes the bars too low, and you have no torso to reach the bars. People with short legs and long torso can slap a longer stem on a bike and be golden.

I'm trying the 165s first on my MTB by borrowing the SO's crank. We both have Shimano cranks with Sigeyi PMs, so it's a very easy swap. On the gravel bike when my Stages PM broke, I bought a Rotor Aldhu 24 crank with a Sigeyi PM. My Ultegra chainrings bolted right up. Unfortunately, that is still 170 so I'll need to buy new arms if this test goes well. But switching to a spider-based PM was kinda part of this plan.
powermetercity.com

Sigeyi AXO SL ROTOR ALDHU Road Power Meter Crankset

Ride informed with the Sigeyi AXO SL ROTOR ALDHU Road Power Meter Crankset. Affordable and highly accurate power meter on proven ROTOR cranks. Shop now!
powermetercity.com powermetercity.com

You don't need to pull up on the pedal to get a TE of 100%. You just need to not weight the pedal on the upstroke. Let your upstroke leg lift itself instead of making the downstroke leg do the work. You can do that without being clipped in.

The major performance hit from platform pedals is the shoes, especially if comparing super stiff carbon shoes to running shoes. Stiff MTB shoes probably aren't so bad. I wouldn't worry about anything else.
Click to expand...
We are pretty close in height yeah. I'm about 5'10" on a good day. I'm oddly proportioned. My tib/fib are probably about 1-1.5" shorter than they "could" have been. I had to wear casts on my legs below the knee for about 2-3 years after I was born to straighten my feet out. I don't have any real proof of it but, I have always though that the casts may have stunted the tib/fib growth a bit. My femurs seem proportional to my trunk and arms. I'm a +4" on the Ape Index. lol.

I definitely use soft soled shoed to ride in. It took me a while to find a good wide shoe that i really like. If there is a stiff cycling equivalent I would try them. Vibram, yeah the goofy toe shoe people, also have a style of shoe that has a big roomy toe box. Its helped me regain some foot function to not bind up my toes. I am really reluctant to go back to any type of shoe that isn't stupid wide in the toe box specifically. Road Cycling shoes seem to worry too much about frontal area fot them to ever work for me. :laughing
 
Mike95060 said:
We are pretty close in height yeah. I'm about 5'10" on a good day. I'm oddly proportioned. My tib/fib are probably about 1-1.5" shorter than they "could" have been. I had to wear casts on my legs below the knee for about 2-3 years after I was born to straighten my feet out. I don't have any real proof of it but, I have always though that the casts may have stunted the tib/fib growth a bit. My femurs seem proportional to my trunk and arms. I'm a +4" on the Ape Index. lol.

I definitely use soft soled shoed to ride in. It took me a while to find a good wide shoe that i really like. If there is a stiff cycling equivalent I would try them. Vibram, yeah the goofy toe shoe people, also have a style of shoe that has a big roomy toe box. Its helped me regain some foot function to not bind up my toes. I am really reluctant to go back to any type of shoe that isn't stupid wide in the toe box specifically. Road Cycling shoes seem to worry too much about frontal area fot them to ever work for me. :laughing
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I always marvel at how varied humans can be. And then also, I shouldn't be surprised when people are different since everyone is diff. I had a stomach birth defect removed that I blame my skinniness on, but who knows. 6'2" wingspan - nice.

As for shoes, maybe these https://www.lakecycling.com/collections/mtb/products/mx-169 or their more expensive version. The cycling industry is starting to catch on to the fact that most people don't actually have narrow feet. That same brand makes really wide non-flat shoes too. And Shimano sells a wide in most of their shoes. Wait, have we had this convo before? :LOL:

Speaking of skinny shoes - Nike lifting shoes are narrow AF. Avoid them at all costs. TYR Lifters feel much more like a modern shoe, just sadly more expensive.
 
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