LGHT

I was talking to a ride buddy who's a really good climber and he suggested I add in a some good quad exercises 3 times a week. I started my routine yesterday from home by doing a lot of squats / lunges with various weights and today my left leg is in horrible pain although my right is almost not sore at all. I always figured while riding I was putting out equal power on both legs, but based on my soreness left leg is pretty week by comparison.

Is there any techniques or things to focus on while riding to get the left leg up to the same strength as the right leg? I have a feeling I'm relying on my right leg a lot more during my rides and not even realizing it.

Carbonfiberboy 

One legged pedaling on the trainer or rollers works well. One legged leg presses at the gym work well. My two legs are slightly differently talented. All the work in the world doesn't seem to change that. I think maybe they are slightly different lengths.

Gyrine

You probably want to work the whole of your legs; your weak leg will catch up. Nevertheless, to add focus to a weak leg, the best lifts are on machines that 1) work the muscles you want to strengthen, and 2) allow you to work one leg at a time. For your situation, to strengthen a quad, I would comtinue with the squats, and possibly the lunges but add seated leg extensions for the left leg to strengthen that quad. For balance I would add lying leg curls to strengthen the hamstring on the same leg. And for kicks, you might want try all of the leg specific machines at your gym and assess which might give you best response.

GeorgeBMac

I am the opposite. My left leg is stronger than my right. But I know why: sciatica...
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A year ago I suffered an injury in a Pilates Class that resulted in a piriformis syndrome where the muscles in my right hip were inflamed and squeezing on the sciatic nerve bundle that runs through those muscles. It took 5 months and 4 physicians before it was diagnosed and then it took another 3 months and 3 physical therapists before it was treated effectively. It is now healing and I am working on strengthening that leg to bring it up to the same strength as my left leg. But that will be a long, slow process because some of the major muscles are severely atrophied.

I bring all that up not to whine, but to point out that maybe you should be careful with this: WHY would one leg be weaker than another? They both have experienced the same things: running, walking, climbing, cycling, etc... Since they both experienced the same inputs, they should have the same output. I suspect the most likely cause of a one sided weakness is lack of stimulation from the nerve. Most often that is caused by a stroke -- where the part of the brain that stimulates that area is killed off. But it is also often caused by sciatica where the main nerve that stimulates that leg is pinched. The pinching usually occurs in the back (which is why they had so much trouble diagnosing my injury -- it didn't fit the standard model) but wherever that nerve is pinched, any muscles that it controls will be weaker...

If so, if it is a nerve problem, you don't want to mess with it. As my atrophied muscles will attest, bad things can happen.

gregf83 

You can balance the strength of your legs if you like but I wouldn't assume that because one legs is stronger than the other that your power output while pedaling is unbalanced. Other than sprinting, you aren't limited by the strength in your legs as force required, even at high sustained power outputs, is relatively low.

Even if your pedaling is unbalanced, balancing the power output is unlikely to improve your performance as you'll still be limited by your cardiovascular system.

LGHT

Thanks all for the tips so I guess I'll just continue the home workouts that include weighted lunges, squats, and leg lifts for now and put a little more focus on the left leg. Just wasn't sure if there was anything I could do ON the bike.

As far as a pinched nerve what level of weakness would I have to see before I would consider that? This is the first leg workout I've done in a long time and outside of this workout I really haven't noticed my left leg being weak. When I ride, walk, hike, climb stairs etc. I just found it odd that the leg is a lot more sore than the right which would lead me to believe it's a lot weaker. I'll do some research on the topic for sure. I have my annual coming up and I think they do an EKG so I'll ask the doc about it to see if that would show any signs.

Carbonfiberboy 

As I said in post 2, do one legged pedaling intervals on the bike. These are best done on the trainer or rollers. The sequence is 2 minutes each leg alone (OLP), then 2 minutes legs together at a zone 2 pace, repeat until exhaustion. Use a gear which has you crying for mommy the last 15 seconds. Alternate the OLP between two cadences: 50-55 in a big gear, 80-85 in a tiny gear, same gear for both legs. If you don't have a trainer or rollers, do them on a long, shallow hill. Flat is no good. They must be done against resistance. I do them for a total of between 15 and 45 minutes, depending on fitness.

LGHT

hahah ohh you where serious? Ok I recently got a trainer so I'll start trying those exercises. I almost never ride the trainer, but if I do I'll focus on the one leg pedal.

Carbonfiberboy 

You won't believe the pain, but it gets better with practice. I do them once a week which I find to be plenty.

wphamilton

One leg being stronger than the other is not something to cause that much consternation and not by itself even suggestive of a medical problem. Many people have a stronger arm and/or leg and it's primarily because one is dominant and is used more often or strenuously. Our work load between legs is necessarily not equal just because we stand on both legs.

My left leg is stronger - I have enough kinesthetic sense that I am certain of greater power from the left while cycling. When I had an injury to my right knee 5 or 6 years ago I still biked quite a bit and maybe 90% of my pedal stroke was from the left leg for perhaps a month. I'm sure that it strengthened my left leg during that time - which means that simply reversing it (in moderation) would strengthen the right leg comparatively. That's what I'm doing now (because I want more power, not that it's a "problem" that needs to be corrected). But I have to temper my expectations because looking back, one leg has always been dominant. Sprinting out of a track block, always the left leg. High jump and long jump, springing off the left. But sprints, cuts and jumps such as in football and basketball, neither leg was particularly favored. I think that beyond specific goals in weight-training and body-building, it may not be feasible nor worthwhile to try to train both sides to exactly the same strength and development.

GeorgeBMac

I'm not sure that there is any specific level of weakness that indicates one thing or another. But an unexplained weakness can have one of two causes: either weak muscles or a weak signal getting to those muscles. The weak signal in turn can have two primary causes: either the brain region responsible for generating the signal is damaged or the wiring that transmits that signal to the muscles is damaged.

If exercises such as those suggested in this thread resolve the problem then it was probably due to a muscle weakness. If not, then it is probably due to a weak signal coming from the central or peripheral nervous systems. The primary way of diagnosing those problems is with a nerve conduction study -- where they stick electrified needles into your nerves and muscles and measure the conductive capabilities of those nerves and the effect on the muscles. I would try the exercises first -- even if they do leave you "crying for mommy"...