Squats for Cycling - start with proper technique

Having strong gluteal muscles is important in cycling.  They are some of the largest muscles in our body and are phenomenal at generating sustained power on the bike.  Unfortunately, many of us don't get to tap into the power of the glutes and a very common reason is just poor recruitment of these muscles.  Including squats for cycling can be the answer but perhaps not in the way you are thinking.password: squathttps://vimeo.com/169930924We're not going to address heavy, weighted squat exercises at this point -- it's best we start with retraining the neuromuscular system to reorganize how we move into the squat position.If the glutes are inhibited, the necessary balance of the quadriceps and the gluteals is upset.

• sitting inhibits hip extensors
• this translates into a quad-dominant pattern on the bike
  • this quad pattern can lead to knee pain, ITB syndrome and early fatigue among others
• How to fix?
  • proper squat -- not talking about cranking out the weight on the squat rack -- most people need to fundamentally change the patterns they use when they squat; this is as much a neurmuscular retraining
    • feet a little more than shoulder width apart
    • as you squat, knees shouldn't move in front of the toes, drop the hips and keep the bac  straight, though you can lead forward
    • you should feel like your "in the back seat" during the squat and almost like you're going to fall backward
      • as your glut strength improves you'll be able to go lower without falling backward
    • I  like Jay Dicharry's "Chair of Death" version of this - toes up to chair, knees just about touching chair so that when you squat, you can't let those knees drift forward; using a piece of PVC on back to keep straight torso

By consistently working on this you'll retrain the glutes to fire properly and more intensely.  This will wake them up on the bike and besides the decrease in injury likelihood, you'll have a more efficient pedal stroke and more power.