pedals and leg issues
I originally posted this under someone elses thread, but It's more of a personal question for me now. Can someone clarify what a wedge actually is and what it does. I have speedplay pedals and my right leg is stronger than my left so with each pedal rotation my right foot rotates too. And to top it off I also pronate (right foot only). When I purchased my TT bike this past winter I had the retul fit and the guy pointed this out. He said I would be better off with look pedals because there's no float. I stuck with speedplay for a while longer, b/c that's what on my road bike. With a reocurring IT band issue (in the right leg), I think it's starting from the bike. Any ideas? Jessica
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Hi Jessica - my take based on similar issues;
- your info seems to suggest you may think you have an actual LLD (leg length discrepancy) given that you wish to wedge (increase the length of one leg) is that correct? Have you had a full-length X-ray & measurements to make sure?
- How flexible are your hips? Could the LLD be functional, i.e. caused my lack of orientation or tightness of hip-flexors and/or glutes.
- Do you suffer back/lumbar pain while cycling?
- Has anyone noticed that your hips drop when cycling? Did the retul fitter comment your hips drop/rotate fwds?
- Have you seen a good physio? Someone like Leigh (EN's own wicked smart specialist) a professional that is experienced on bike bio-mechanics (IME it makes a massive difference).
Check out the Speedplay website - they sell plastic wedges that go under your cleat - cheap and easy to fit and available 'at most good stores' or direct I believe. You may also want to consider experimenting with moving your cleats back (on both shoes) to add more stability.
Again, IMO Jessica, I like tons of float in my pedals - my feeling is if I'm wedging my cleats & thats the beginning of the 'chain' then I want my foot & knees to do what the the hell they like to do to compensate & adapt or guess what? Next time you'll be complaining about knee hassles.
HOWEVER, that works for me & may be totally the opposite of course for you.
Later edit: the speedplay wedges are called the 'Leg Length Shim Kit' & retail @ $10.00 only. You get 2 shims (wedges), each approx 3mm thick/high - so I guess you could go 6mm under 1 cleat. Kit comes with longer screws too - piece of p*ss to fit!
Hope that helps, let me know if I can help - I've had like 2 years of playing around with stuff like this so lets see if we can get you sorted out in 2 weeks!!
Word of caution however! Remember that your body will adapt to any 'bad' position / bike set-up, especially when exposed to hours of riding at 80-100 RPM! Any change you make yes may alleviate a problem in one place but cause another one somewhere else! In my case, shimming helped me to start utilising/activating my glutes more; nett result however is I now have a reoccurring upper hamstring strain on the leg I shimmed!
Dave
Jessica
Hi Jessica,
so to recap:
- you don't have any pain or soreness on the bike that you think may be due to the stronger right leg? If that's correct then this is more of a performance concern than a injury one? IOW, you're concerned that you're not utilising the power in your left leg.
- You've had a Retul fit so we can assume that you fit your bike and seat height is correct etc.
- ART guy mentioned your hips drop, which way? Left hip or right hip drop? You may even do the same when standing for long periods.
- Which cleat would you wedge/shim without any further advice & why?
OK, I'm no therapist remember but from what you have mentioned so far, the fact that your right foot 'splays' out AND your ART chap has mentioned 'hip drop' would suggest (to me) either; 1) that you may be dropping your right hip & twisting your hip fwd & down in order to put on the power; OR 2) your left leg is longer than your right by a few cm (very common).
SUGGESTED ACTION PLAN -OK, if you know a good Physio that also rides or is a Triathlete (note, not a Physio that has treated triathletes or cyclists - I've had more luck with medical professionals that do it themselves). If you go this route, explain what you problem is & if they don't ask you to bring bike & turbo-trainer (ie. want to see you on the bike!) then don't go there!!
If you can find a physio who rides AND is also a qualified & experienced fitter then makes friends quick!! Very, very rare I've found!
DIY option - which considering you haven't mentioned 'pain' then this may be a good starting point (I'd go this route first of all if I were you, it may save you $$$$
)
- Have someone observe you on the turbo trainer indoors; better still Jessica, have someone video you on the bike. I will provide a link later or details of a test protocol you can follow (strictly!!).
THEN, you will notice whats going on and also if you've video'd it I'm sure if you post that up in the Medical Forum, then Leigh and other WSM's will be able to provide an reasoned & considered opinion.
Depending on your findings from the 'test' - it may be as easy as moving your cleats back a tad & wedging up your right leg - yes, make the right leg longer which may correct the suspected right hip drop & force you to engage the left more, makes sense?
You mentioned ART & why the treatment doesn't last - well, maybe look at it this way - you're body has developed its preferred motor patterns over many years - its adapted very well to the rigours you've placed on it - along comes ART that loosens everything up which is great but if you don't then rectify those muscle weaknesses & imbalances that caused the problem adaptation in the first place you'll end up at square-one again - unless of course you're rich and can have ART massage several times a week ongoing!
I'd put money on you having underactive glutes or glutes that are 'switched off' when cycling (especially) - not talking strengthening muscles here Jessica, we're talking switching-on those muscles to ensure they're not 'by-passed' in the movement chain.
Just my take Jessica but if you do that test you'll have a better understanding of what's going on. If you work work in a hospital and can get a full-leg x-ray then do that as well, knock out the ACTUAL LLD idea (IOW, is it fact that you have say a femur longer on one leg or is it just functional cause, such as muscle tightness).
Added a few hours later:
BIKE VIDEO ANALYSIS
(I stole this from Steve Hogg who is an Aussie fitter / therapist so its his instructions).
The bike needs to be DEAD LEVEL. The best way to do this is to mount the bike on an indoor trainer and level it between axle centres using a long carpenters’ spirit level.
Indoors and outdoors are fine, but if indoors the lighting needs to be exceptional. Best of all is outdoors on a bright overcast day. Really bright direct sunlight tends to wash out detail by reflecting from perspiring skin. If you have no other choice because of climate or time of year, early mornings outdoors are best, well before the sun is near its zenith. Quality of imaging is all important. The more detail that I can see, the better I can do my job.
Initially I need 2 1/2 minutes in total. This should be 30 seconds of each of the following views:
a. square on from the right side;
b. square on from the left side;
c. directly from in front.
d. directly from behind;
e. directly from behind with camera man standing on a chair looking
down on the rider’s torso from above
IMPORTANT NOTE: “Square on from right and left sides” means that the camera must be at 90 degrees to the direction the rider is pointing. Please don’t send me film with the rider on trainer at an angle from where the film is shot.
The front and rear views MUST be filmed from directly in front of and behind the centre line of the bike respectively. Please DO NOT film with camera off set from the centre line. It will save us both an amount of time if this is done correctly. With each view, position the hands on the brake hoods for the first 15 seconds and hands in the drops for the next 15 seconds. If using aero bars, do any extra 15 seconds on the aero bars.
For the filming, I need the rider with shirt off for males. For women, please wear a crop top or jogging bra so I can see as much of the spine and back as possible. I also need a large visible dot placed on the centre of the tibial tubercle (bony bump below kneecap) with a marker pen so that it is visible in the front on view.
Prior to filming, warm up at 90 – 100 rpm at 70% of maximum heartrate for 10 minutes and do the filming at 75 - 85% of max heartrate while pedaling at a cadence of 85 – 90 rpm. To achieve enough resistance on the trainer for this, it is better to choose a higher gear with lower resistance than it is to choose a lower gear with more resistance as that gives are more realistic ‘real world’ feel to your pedaling.