I got into an email discussion between my buddy Gene Hamilton (www.betterride.net) and a student of his regarding standing pedaling technique while climbing. Here’s my thoughts on that plus why I’m throwing the gauntlet down on clipless pedals…

Climbing while standing all comes down to body position, or more importantly you ability to hinge at the hips and not the low back. Any rounding of the low back and/ or upper back (I call it turtleing up) will throw off your power center and your balance.

Proper standing pedaling technique is nothing more than proper hip hinge technique where you’ve got your chest puffed out, and arch in your low back and being able to maintain that spine position while hinging at the hips. The only way, in my opinion, to really ingrain this and get it right on the bike is to get off the bike and train that movement pattern. So, if you really want to see good standing pedaling technique watch my deadlift demo video and ingrain that movement. If that is how you move you won’t have to “figure out” how to do it on the bike, it will happen with minimal thought and effort.

Now, since most riders can’t achieve that position when standing and instead apply a rounded “seated” posture while standing they can’t maintain traction on the rear wheel when climbing. I can climb much better when standing, when I’m seated I feel like I’m fighting my front end from popping up. The steeper the climb the more the front end wants to wander so I stand up and get long which spreads my weight out and lets me keep the front end down and traction on the rear wheel. Core and hip strength play a big role because you can’t lean on the handlebars (we know that is bad body position) and you need all your weight on the pedals but without adequate strength in those areas you will lean into the handlebars to support your weight rather than using your core and hips to “suspend” you body over your bottom bracket.

And about clipless pedals increasing power…they do, but not how you want them too. If you have someone who has long, weak glutes and short, tight hip flexors (your average rider, in other words) they literally can not use their hips to pedal through the “deadspot” on the bottom. You attach their feet to the pedals so they can now use their already overworked hip flexors to pull through the top. It did not fix the problem, it simply made you more efficient with your dysfunction. In the face of that instant performance increase people stop there and really ingrain the “sit, spin and pull through” technique. They never really learn how to use the most powerful muscles in their body (the hips) to power through the bottom of the pedal stroke which, in my opinion, ultimately limits their development.

That is not an advantage, it is a crutch that results in an appallingly high rate of overuse injuries. There is absolutely nothing that you can do with clipless pedals that you can’t do just as well, if not better, with flats. This isn’t even taking into account how clipless pedals completely screws up the natural “rolling” motion the foot goes through. Your foot is designed to strike mid foot on the outside and roll into the arch and pushing through the center of the midfoot. This rolling action creates a natural screwing motion and avoids a linear up and down motion, which is how the leg is designed to work. By attaching the foot to the pedal at the middle-midfoot position you take away the entire roll action and place a crapload of stress on the knees and hips. 85% overuse injury rates don’t lie – something is wrong with clipless pedaling.

Just because you are on a bike doesn’t mean that everything we know about how the human body is supposed to power movement goes out the window. We were convinced not too long ago that running shoes were great and we now know that you try to improve on mother nature at your own risk. The more I look at it the more I’m convinced clipless pedals are worthless and screw your body up.

Anyways, just some thoughts…

-James Wilson-

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Mountain Bike Cardio Training, Mountain Bike Injury Rehab, Rider Q & A

Most of us are twisted in one way or another…and I’m not talking about anything that you might be involved in (that’s your business). What I am talking about is how your body holds itself. Whether you realize it or not your body is probably contorting itself in order to give you the illusion of being “straight”.

Here is what I want you to do. Go into a quite, darkened room and close your eyes. Keeping your eyes closed, start to march in place. Make sure that you are bringing your knees up to that the top of your thighs are parallel to the ground. Set a timer for 60 seconds and march until the timer goes off.

When you open your eyes see where you are in relation to where you started. Odds are pretty high that you will have turned significantly to one side. If this is the case, it indicates that your body is twisted.

When we take away the auditory and visual stimulus (which is achieved by the quite, darkened room) your body will start to show you how it really holds itself.  Read more…

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Mountain Bike Injury Rehab, Mountain Bike Strength Training

Here is a complete look at what exactly is Barefoot Pedaling, why experiencing a performance dip is common and why most of the advantages attributed to clipless pedals simply are not true. Enjoy!

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Mountain Bike Injury Rehab, Technical Skills Training

Every once in while I get a complaint from someone about the Turkish Get Up causing shoulder pain, especially in the shoulder of the arm supporting their body as opposed to the arm holding the weight. Here is the most common cause of this pain and how I fix it. Even if you don’t have shoulder pain from this movement this video will still help you hone in on some of the finer details of this great exercise…

-James Wilson-

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Exercise Demos and Routines, Mountain Bike Injury Rehab, Mountain Bike Strength Training

I get a lot of questions about elbow tendonitis. I have clients who suffer from it and I have even gone through some episodes of it myself. It seems like it is a pretty common overuse injury for rides so I shot this video on what is most likely causing it (it isn’t what you think) and some exercises to help combat it. Enjoy…

-James Wilson-

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Exercise Demos and Routines, Mountain Bike Injury Rehab

On my drive to Bootleg Canyon a few weeks ago I listened to the audio-book Born to Run. If you haven’t heard of this book before it is essentially about the barefoot running movement and a tribe of Indians in the Copper Canyons of Mexico. It is a fascinating book that interweaves a great story with a harsh look at the reality of what the modern running shoe has done to our feet.

It chronicles the history of running and pinpoints when things started to go wrong. An activity that our ancestors did all the time suddenly started crippling modern man with injuries. I can not recommend the book enough – even if you don’t run it is still a chilling look at what our attempts to improve on the body have inflicted on us.

At the heart of it is how the foot works. The foot contains 25% of the total bones in our body and is a marvel of natural engineering. When running the foot is designed to pronate slightly, strike mid-foot and roll in, compressing the arch from the top. This loads the arch and allows it to spring some of that energy back into propulsion.

We screwed it up with running shoes by over-stabilizing it. There is a lot of evidence presented, both scientific and anecdotal, that supports the notion that we need to avoid restricting natural foot movement. Arch support and cushy heels have allowed us to develop a running style that creates lazy feet and an unnatural stride, both of which contribute to a very high injury rate. With the foot not working properly the knees, hips and low back are thrown out of alignment and suffer repetitive use injuries.

For a lot of people this is not really big news. There was an article in the New York Times about a year ago that talked about barefoot running and strength training. The Nike Free is a testament to this as well – it is basically Nike’s way of saying “yeah, we screwed up but we can still cash in on the truth”.

So, if this is the case with running and strength training, is it also the case with clipless pedals and shoes? The shoes basically do the same thing that the running shoe does – stabilize and restrict foot movement. They also provide arch support and an unnatural surface to drive into (too soft with running shoes and too stiff with clipless shoes). Hell, you can’t even walk straight in those things because of how much they alter your foot’s natural movement.

And being clipped in locks you into the exact same repetitive range of motion for thousands and thousands of RPMs. Your body was not made for this and instead lasts longer if there can be some minor differences in how it moves.

Maybe I’m wrong but I think that some of the knee, hip and low back injuries among riders is caused by the unnatural foot movement during hours and hours of pedaling with clipless pedals. A look at the injury statistics tells me that something is terribly wrong. One website I found (you can link to the article by clicking here) told me that 85% of cyclists are suffering from one or more overuse injuries at any given time.

Read that number again…85% of all cyclists. Since that number includes road cyclists the vast majority of those riders use clipless pedals. Here are a few other numbers from that site:

- 49% reported neck problems

- 42% reported knee trouble

- 36% reported groin/ glute pain

- 30% reported back issues

Based on the statistics, overuse injuries are at an epidemic level in our sport. Something is obviously wrong and I think I know what.

Just like people have realized that we need to preserve natural movement when we run and strength train we need to do that on the bike as well. Sitting on a little seat while hunched over with your feet strapped into tight, restrictive shoes that are attached to your pedals is pretty far removed from how are intended to move. It is no wonder that cyclists suffer more injuries than just about any other recreational sport.

I think that we need to get away from the unnatural way of pedaling and use a more “barefoot” approach. To me, “barefoot pedaling” means trying to restore more natural foot movement and posture. This requires a two part approach.

Part one is using flat pedals and shoes like the 5:10’s, which have pliable soles and no arch support. This will help the feet move more naturally and allow for minor deviations in foot placement. Part two is standing up to pedal as much as possible. This will get the neck and spine straight, the hips under the shoulders and utilize a more natural movement pattern.

Of course, I know that people will argue that they won’t be able to pedal nearly as long and far and with that I would agree – at least at first. Trust me, you will be able to go for epic pedals using the “barefoot” approach once your body has built up to it. However, based on the number of injuries in our sport I think that right now most people tend to ride too long and far anyways. They have unnaturally secured weak links to allow them to achieve performance levels their body is not really ready for.

If you are a professional and make a living from your riding then perhaps that is a fair trade off. There is a saying in high level athletics – where good sport begins, good health ends. Top athletes realize that high level performance has nothing to do with health and they are willing to make that sacrifice. However, to me it makes no sense for a rider who does not make a living off this sport to subject themselves to a repeating cycle of pain and injuries in order to gain a small mechanical advantage.

I know that not everyone will agree with me on this and I completely understand. The “clipless pedals are the only way to go” mentality is deeply entrenched in our sport and it won’t go away overnight. I just hope that this article has at least given you something to think about. Even if you are not ready to give up clipless pedals yourself you’ll at least think twice before recommending to a new rider that they need to go clipless as soon as possible.

At best I hope that you will at least try getting a good pair of flat pedals and 5:10’s and giving “barefoot pedaling” a shot and see how you feel. Stand up to attack hills and the trail in general. You should only be sitting to recover from your last standing effort and to get ready for your next. You may be surprised at how you feel both on the trail and, just as importantly, the day after a hard ride.

-James Wilson-

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Mountain Bike Cardio Training, Mountain Bike Injury Rehab