Leg and foot muscle / nerve dynamics during pedalling?

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TheDarkInstall
Posts: 725
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 3:44 am

by TheDarkInstall

Hey

Anyone got any technical info or links on how the muscles in the leg, and more specifically the foot, operate during pedalling?

I am also looking for insight into how the nerves in the feet are possibly affected during the pedal stroke. I realise this is a big question...

Cheers for anything you can share regarding this.

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petersh
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2018 4:10 am

by petersh

First, I think you need some advice from a doctor, especially a muscle doctor
Secondly, I think you may find some documents from google search. I've searched and I found many article, but I can't list them here :D

TheKaiser
Posts: 653
Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2013 3:29 pm

by TheKaiser

TheDarkInstall wrote:
Sun Jul 15, 2018 9:43 am
Anyone got any technical info or links on how the muscles in the leg, and more specifically the foot, operate during pedalling?

I am also looking for insight into how the nerves in the feet are possibly affected during the pedal stroke. I realise this is a big question...

Cheers for anything you can share regarding this.
As you said, it's a very big question.

I'm guessing you have already seen graphics like this one, that display which muscles of the leg are recruited during each phase of the pedal stroke: https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/the- ... rain-them/

As you will observe, that graphic does not even acknowlege that the foot is playing a role, and the discussion is limited almost entirely to the leg and glute/hip flexor.

Most people seem to view the foot as simply acting as a lever, transmitting the force of the leg muscles (primarily the upper leg muscles) to the pedal. The whole idea behind midfoot cleat positioning stems from the idea that even the calf, while recruited during pedaling, is not contributing significantly to the generation of power, at least unless you are sprinting, when "ankling" comes more into play: http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2 ... ition.html This is in contrast to running when a stretch/rebound of the achilles and plantar fascia, and "toe spring" are a key part of one's forward propulsion.

To put it another way, those views suggest that recruitment of the foot, and even the calf, should be minimized while cycling.

As to what is going on in the foot while riding, you may want to check out Steve Hoggs blog. He is a kind of polarizing figure in the bike fitting world, and some of his content is behind a paywall (very reasonably priced though, if it helps you function better), but he is one of the few people I have seen talking about foot proprioception during the pedal stroke. That is actually his main criteria for how he attempts to determine the proper mix of arch support and cleat wedging for a given rider, as opposed to the more purely knee tracking driven strategy that many others use. Here is the link to his article index, and I'd suggest you go over it and check out anything having to do with shoe/pedal/leg type topics: https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/index/

This is part 1 of the foot correction series, and it discusses the feedback loop from the nerves of the foot to the cerebellum: https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bi ... h-support/

I hope that helps. If you care to share any more details on what you are looking to achieve, I'd be interested to know more.

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