Single Leg Drills

Al Truscott

I just started the OS last week. It's been a while, seven years or so, since I did any single leg drills. I'm wondering what cadence and IF (% FTP) I should be shooting for? And where do you put you non-pedaling foot?

Robert Sabo

I put my foot on my computrainer but One has to be careful not to get their foot in the spokes and that there position on their seat doesn't rotate. If you have two milk crates to put on each side of your bike that would be ideal. Cadence is as fast as you can go - for me it's 80-85. IF does not matter but something easy .50-.60.

Douglas Sutherland

Just going to say it - I don't understand why this is a thing. I assume, as I do with most swim drills, that I am missing some deeper understanding of this exercise and others get more out of it than I. During my attempts, I become a hot mess of discoordination and surprise myself every time that I don't get an injury.

Marvin Karlow

I have no idea why this is a thing either .... 

Francis Picard

the same here...

Al Truscott

Have you listened to Coach R's Week 1 OS podcast where he explains the theory behind the drills?

For me, I did these for a couple of years a decade ago when I was nailing down my climb to Triathlon success. I think they gave me (a) an increase in sport specific leg strength and (b) a pedal stroke in which my knee has very little lateral movement, as attested to by my Retul fitter.

I also did running drills at the same time, and got the same results: faster race pace, smoother motion, more muscles engaged each step. Swimming drills did very little for swim technique for me as an early onset swimmer (swim team from age 11 on), but again, sport specific hand/arm/shoulder strength improved.

Al Truscott

Posted By Doug Sutherland on 30 Nov 2016 07:25 AM
Just going to say it - I don't understand why this is a thing. I assume, as I do with most swim drills, that I am missing some deeper understanding of this exercise and others get more out of it than I. During my attempts, I become a hot mess of discoordination and surprise myself every time that I don't get an injury.

As with any new physical activity, starting with slow movements, and lighter effort is the ticket. For these, I suspect you'd need to start the spins @ 95-100 rpm. The single legs are more of a puzzle, but I'm thinking lower (harder) gear, or higher watts on an electronic trainer, and slower rpm will help the discombobulating I feel on those now, which was mainly why I asked the question.

Ashton Mossy

Surprised to hear that some people don't benefit from these drills. Maybe it's because I have only been cycling for three years and am still a novice, but I get a lot out of these drills. They warm me up, work my core, and make me aware of the need to use my hamstrings to pull through the stroke. My natural pedal stroke is to use my quads and "mash". It's been hard to break that habit and apply equal pressure throughout, trying to make that perfect circle. These help immensely with that. Like I said, maybe those with lots of cycling experience have their stroke down, in which case I could somewhat understand the aversion.

During the drill, I always try to maintain my natural cadence at 90-95. I rest my unclipped toe behind me, on the top on my stationary trainer. If I am on the road, I let my unclipped foot dangle beside - this really engages my core. My abs burn after every rep. Robert's suggestion was good about the crate setup on either side because sometimes stretching that unclipped foot to the trainer can be awkward and straining as you are just warming up your muscles.

Paul Hough

I'm a huge fan of Spinervals and have several dozen DVDs. Three of them include single leg drills. The drills vary in cadence depending on the DVD...e.g., big ring/23 for medium cadence, small ring/15 for high cadence, and big ring/13 for slow cadence (60s). I only do these on the trainer and put the resting leg/foot on the trainer leg.

Derrek Sanks

I agree with Ashton. I focus on a smooth pedal stroke and don't worry about cadence or watts. My effort level is about a 5 out of 10. For me these strengthen my hip flexors, which are fatigued by the third set as I'm only able to do 20-25 seconds.