wassertreter wrote:I see where you're coming from, but the weekly time and effort I'm able to put in is a constant. I just want to get the best out of it.
This is a common issue many who have other commitments (read: a normal life) have to face. What you can do with the time you have is adhere to a good training program. A perfect pedal stroke, pedalling in circles... whatever... is most likely NOT the thing which is holding you back. And wasting time trying to obtain something which looks good rather than producing results will only delay this.
A reason why so many pros etc look to have such a smooth pedal stroke is this:- any repeated action will result in the neural pathways forming an optimum pattern for the firing of motor neurones for the required muscles. So the more you do something the better you get at it (surprise surprise). And as mentioned above it only looks smooth - the actual power is still being applied on the downstroke.
In some case a small amount of negative torque is found on the upstroke, this however, was found to be consistent with the expected weight of the limb (the muscles on the the non-working side are relaxed). Cycling is unique to other sports in that the is no eccentric load of the muscles (technically there is a tiny tiny bit but hardly any compared to running), all the relevant force is concentric.
