For the "pedaling technique doesn't matter crowd"

[FrankDay]

Wasn't a rider I coach but I refereed him to a good physiotherapist.

Similar deal with one rider I did coach and the physio used a counterweight on the opposite pedal so he could do some single leg pedalling to get the balance back between the legs.

A few questions:

1. How long and how many sesions did it take for the rider to return to complete balance?

2. Did the rider return to complete balance? If you think so, how do you know?

3. How much did this intervention cost either the rider or the system? (In the US such an intervention would have cost A LOT.)

 

[CoachFergie]

A few questions:

1. How long and how many sesions did it take for the rider to return to complete balance?

He did 2-3 sessions a week and was back racing at his current level within 4 weeks.

2. Did the rider return to complete balance? If you think so, how do you know?

The physio has a wattbike at the gym he operates from and we measured from that. His return to a current standard was measured via an SRM.

3. How much did this intervention cost either the rider or the system? (In the US such an intervention would have cost A LOT.)

Very little, we had a local engineer whip up a couple of axles that we could hang a counter weight from. In NZ we have ACC which is essentially a Government accident insurance scheme that covers treatment. Outside of that he was a carded athlete within High Performance Sport NZ and rides for a team that would have covered any costs.

Only real cost was time. But if he was worried about that he shouldn't have crashed in the first place.

 

[FrankDay]

He did 2-3 sessions a week and was back racing at his current level within 4 weeks.

Racing at his current level (whatever that means) is not evidence of a return to being balanced. So, 8-12 sessions, over 4 weeks, was sufficient to return a severely weakened leg to the equivalent of the uninjured one? Very impressive. Not quite my experience.

The physio has a wattbike at the gym he operates from and we measured from that. His return to a current standard was measured via an SRM.

You diagnosed his condition from simply listening to him on rollers and not from a wattbike or SRM. Why didn't his SRM pick up this imbalance before?

Very little, we had a local engineer whip up a couple of axles that we could hang a counter weight from. In NZ we have ACC which is essentially a Government accident insurance scheme that covers treatment. Outside of that he was a carded athlete within High Performance Sport NZ and rides for a team that would have covered any costs.

Only real cost was time. But if he was worried about that he shouldn't have crashed in the first place.

I asked about the cost to the system. The fact there was little out of pocket cost to the athlete is immaterial. Someone paid for this. So, you had a local engineer "whip up a couple of axles" that you could hang a counter weight from? And, then the cost of the physio paid for by someone else. And, we don't even have any evidence presented he was returned to full balance despite substantial cost. In the US that treatment would have cost someone at least a couple of grand plus the $200 or so to make those special axles that may never get used again (they will probably be lost if they ever want to use them again).

Anyhow, you went to all this trouble when it would have been much easier and probably a lot less costly to simply put him on a pair of uncoupled cranks for a few weeks (where the other leg acts as that counter weight). But, we know there is no evidence that uncoupled cranks work for anything so you simply could not have brought yourself to do that. I understand.

 

[CoachFergie]

Racing at his current level (whatever that means) is not evidence of a return to being balanced.

I didn't say it was.

So, 8-12 sessions, over 4 weeks, was sufficient to return a severely weakened leg to the equivalent of the uninjured one?

I never said what level of injury we were dealing with, or even what type of injury for that matter.

You diagnosed his condition from simply listening to him on rollers and not from a wattbike or SRM.

I am not in the business of making diagnoses as I am not a Doctor or Physiotherapist. In this case the Physio made the assessment that there was a imbalance and it was his prescription of single leg pedalling with a counterweight.

The other case was a chap I was doing a set up on and could hear from the erg and when I asked he said he had torn his Achilles previously. I referred him to a Physiotherapist.

Why didn't his SRM pick up this imbalance before?

That isn't what an SRM measures

I asked about the cost to the system. The fact there was little out of pocket cost to the athlete is immaterial. Someone paid for this. So, you had a local engineer "whip up a couple of axles" that you could hang a counter weight from? And, then the cost of the physio paid for by someone else. And, we don't even have any evidence presented he was returned to full balance despite substantial cost.

What substantial cost are you talking about?

In the US that treatment would have cost someone at least a couple of grand plus the $200 or so to make those special axles that may never get used again (they will probably be lost if they ever want to use them again).

If I told my physio that he would be on the next plane to the US.

Not very special at all, very easy to make and I'm sure the physio will use them regularly.

Anyhow, you went to all this trouble

Ummmmmm, not a lot of trouble at all.

when it would have been much easier and probably a lot less costly to simply put him on a pair of uncoupled cranks for a few weeks (where the other leg acts as that counter weight).

That would be far more expensive than what we did.

But, we know there is no evidence that uncoupled cranks work for anything so you simply could not have brought yourself to do that. I understand.

That's good to hear you are accepting the wealth of evidence that shows that uncoupled cranks do not improve cycling performance.

 

[hiero2]

There is now a new thread for pedaling technique. AND, there is a thread for uncoupled cranks - eg Powercranks.

I am closing this thread as hopelessly off-topic. It went off-topic a long time ago. Now we have a thread where discussion of Powercranks or uncoupled cranks may be continued, for all who desire to continue that conversation.

And, we have a thread for general discussion of pedaling technique, where specifically focusing on the small subtopic of uncoupled cranks will be regarded as off-topic.

This thread is now closed.