Top tips required for increasing leg strength!

I had a 10 day holiday nr Dorchester earlier this month. You are very lucky and very right about the hills! I was riding fixed :facepalm: Portersham hill got the better of me

grumpycommuter":3ksks9jm said:

I had a 10 day holiday nr Dorchester earlier this month. You are very lucky and very right about the hills! I was riding fixed :facepalm: Portersham hill got the better of me

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FIXED :shock: :shock:

You Sir are a madman

Big gear work into headwinds up inclines while sat in the saddle helps build up leg strength as well as running up steep sand dunes now that really burns the legs...........

Nob":2gh4qv46 said:

running up steep sand dunes now that really burns the legs...........

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Percy Cerutty - worked wonders for Herb Elliott.

If you don't know who they are etc. etc. etc.......................

Good grief, no wonder I'm called OLD Ned :roll:

If you really want to increase your leg strength the best advice i can give is to buy a rubberband. And read the instructions carefully. There are different colors for different strengthes. I use a green one which is strong. One is about 5€ and a set is about 14€ on Amazon.
If you find the exercises in the description not sufficient i'm happy to share some of my own workout plan with you.
I'm doing this because my knees gave up on me a long time ago and therefore i have like babymuscles at my legs and want to change that.
This rubberband stuff works, is cheap, and you can do it at home.

One tip I read (from a trainer for a pro cycling team) for increasing leg strength was the following:

Start from the ski-sit/army squat position (sort of a sitting position with your thighs parallel to the floor). From there, jump into the air so your legs and arms are fully extended vertically. Do three or four sets of five with a 30 second pause between each set.

I found it helps with building power for short steep climbs in particular, and it's not too intensive.

A similar effect can be had by climbing a short steep hill in a slightly higher gear than normal at low cadence, then riding for five minutes at moderate-high cadence. Do three or four repetitions of this.

Blimey, exercise tips on Retrobike... What next

Thanks for all the advice people..looks like i'll be having some big-ring action later :shock:

From recent experience, and as a pre-cursor to the Isle of Man End2End race...
Ride more hills!
I've been riding 200km a week for the last two months, culminating with two weeks in France and a ride up Mt Ventoux! 1700metres in 22km.
My two weeks in France, I clocked 10,000metres of climbing
I'm 47 and weigh 12stone
Legs have never been stronger!!

You should try the method I first used in the early 1950's.
If you have toe clips loosen them off and do a few miles without pressing down on the pedals. Purely using the up stroke. This will identify stomach and thigh muscles that have rarely been used. You may only manage a few yards at first.
I used to estimate about 1/3 of my power came from the up stroke.
From this you can learn to pedal.

Once again thanks all.... Already got some changes planned in...

keithglos":2osxcz7c said:

You should try the method I first used in the early 1950's.
If you have toe clips loosen them off and do a few miles without pressing down on the pedals. Purely using the up stroke. This will identify stomach and thigh muscles that have rarely been used. You may only manage a few yards at first.
I used to estimate about 1/3 of my power came from the up stroke.
From this you can learn to pedal.

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liking it...should be able to modify it a little to fit with fixed riding

Johnsqual":2osxcz7c said:

Blimey, exercise tips on Retrobike... What next

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Knitting and crochet tips?