Squat For Pedal Power Part 3

Box Squat

 

Ideal for enhancing cycling strength

As far as running and cycling is concerned moving heavy weights [Squat & Deadlift] is one part of the speed equation or rate of force development. Moving relatively light weights fast and employing accommodating resistance is the other.

In an attempt to improve an athlete’s power many coaches and athletes implement what they believe to be Plyometrics. Jumping onto a box, jumping with added loading (barbell, weight vest), broad jump, etc. These drills are NOT Plyometric by definition. A better description might be termed Powermetrics or just plain jump training. 

Plyometric or Shock Training as it should be called requires muscles to be loaded and then contracted in rapid sequence, usually under 0.2 of a second.  Shock Training exploits muscle elasticity and neural phenomenon to improve and maximize rate of force development via acceleration rather than increases in load (mass) and has greatest transfer to those sports where eccentric loading is dominant, i.e. running and jumping. 

Plyometric muscle action by definition firstly involves a rapid muscle lengthening movement (eccentric phase), followed by a short resting phase (amortization phase), then an explosive muscle shortening movement (concentric phase). This means movements need to be extremely quick…remembering under 0.2 of a second!

Jumping on to a high box has no loading…loading is required for Plyometrics.

Jumping with additional weight is by definition to slow.

Jumping for height or length, once again provides no loading, however, like box jumps, can be used as an assessment and testing protocol.

When visualizing Shock Training think…kangaroo!

Fast bounding is a good choice, one leg or two.

Dropping from a height and immediately taking-off; one leg or two.

While lifting a relatively light weight fast utilizing accommodating resistance, is not truly Plyometric, it does incur all three Shock Training phases, i.e. eccentric loading, followed by static force overcome by dynamic work.  The timeline for its execution is seconds rather than tenths of a second. It is however, a great way to improve Explosive RFD and much safer than true Shock Training.  

Many human locomotion activities are Plyometric: Fast Running, Tumbling, Down Hill Skiing, Long Jump and Triple Jump. That being the case why don’t non Plyometric sport athletes undertake the above sports to enhance their own sport? This seems to be the logic of many coaches and athletes. Perform fast eccentrics and undertake shock training because it increases speed.  Speed for what? If their is no eccentric loading in the sporting activity, these training practices are redundant at best; at worst a complete waste of time.  Just because a sport is leg dominant does NOT mean it engages eccentric loading. There's more eccentric loading in the sport of fencing than cycling or rowing, yet it would be doubtful if shock training or squatting at "Fencing specicific angles" would lend itself to improved swordsmanship!

As far as running is concerned there is huge eccentric loading acting upon the body and the faster the locomotion the higher the loading. In cycling however, there is no eccentric loading. That being the case why implement Plyometrics?

Off-the-bike training designed to improve cycling ability would be to focus on concentric dominant strength qualities NOT angle specific strength drills. Muscle Motor Action is an important concept to understand. 

This is why there is comparable athletic transfer between such sports as cycling, rowing and ice-skating. All three are concentric muscle action dominant and the majority are concentric muscle endurance activities. It has nothing to do with knee and hip angles or squat ability and none of them transfer well to running and visa versa, because running is eccentric force dominant.

Any exercise performed from a dead stop, i.e. deadlift, box squat, bottoms up pistol, etc will emphasize concentric strength. To further enhance RFD, these drills can be utilized through accommodating resistance techniques.

Performing Powermetrics may appear to imitate Shock Training, but as explained above unless all three Plyometric phases…eccentric loading and static force overcome by dynamic movement all of which has to occur under 0.2 of a second…it is NOT Plyometrics.

Further, for sports where there is no eccentric loading, i.e. cycling and rowing, implementing Shock Training is unlikely to improve sports performance.

Improving the concentric strength of the dominant muscles will more than likely enhance cycling performance. Concentric strength is best trained when muscles are exercised through a range of movement commensurate with the athlete’s flexibility. 

Besides, how much squatting strength is actually required for optimal pedal force?  Many subtle factors influence cycling ability. Was Lance Armstrong the strongest squatter on the Tour? Was his RFD in the weight room the best? Did he incorporate Shock Training in his off-the-bike program?  The same analysis could be asserted for sprint cycling and BMX.

Rather than attempting to replicate joint angle with over-inflated load in the weight room, analyze the dominant muscle action (eccentric, concentric, isometric, etc) and implement protocols to improve that particular muscle action. 

In the case of cycling, concentric muscle action is dominant, so regardless of type of cycling…sprint, endurance, BMX, etc…concentric dominant leg exercises will provide optimal weight training transfer, anything else and it becomes an exercise in redundancy.  

Deadlift

The best drill where static force is overcome by dynamic movement