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leg power asymmetry

Old 05-01-22, 12:04 PM
  #26  
extecher
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Interesting that this topic popped up, as I was about to ask a similar question:

I'm a new cyclist and am primarily a runner. In 2017 I injured my knee and spent almost a year in a knee brace--including after surgery--with the result of my gait changing considerably on the right leg. Therapy has gotten it better, but I still have a funky running motion and on an elliptical I push off with my right leg more than my left leg.

On today's ride I started getting pain/burning in my right quad and in the right hip flexor--especially when I was going hard at 22 mph+. Had some pain getting back on the saddle at the halfway point (Lifting the right leg like a moron) and I'm still a little uncomfortable in the hip, though nothing foam roller/percussion massager isn't fixing. I don't think it's a fit issue as my left side is perfectly fine and riding the same circuit at a lower speed last week I had no issues at all.

In my mind, this all sounds like an asymmetry issue and a combination of left pedal exercises and stretching out the right side before my workouts (I do 15-20 minutes' worth of stretches daily) and rides, but wanted to ask people with more experience if that lined up with them. Thanks!
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Old 05-02-22, 03:41 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by extecher
Interesting that this topic popped up, as I was about to ask a similar question:

I'm a new cyclist and am primarily a runner. In 2017 I injured my knee and spent almost a year in a knee brace--including after surgery--with the result of my gait changing considerably on the right leg. Therapy has gotten it better, but I still have a funky running motion and on an elliptical I push off with my right leg more than my left leg.

On today's ride I started getting pain/burning in my right quad and in the right hip flexor--especially when I was going hard at 22 mph+. Had some pain getting back on the saddle at the halfway point (Lifting the right leg like a moron) and I'm still a little uncomfortable in the hip, though nothing foam roller/percussion massager isn't fixing. I don't think it's a fit issue as my left side is perfectly fine and riding the same circuit at a lower speed last week I had no issues at all.

In my mind, this all sounds like an asymmetry issue and a combination of left pedal exercises and stretching out the right side before my workouts (I do 15-20 minutes' worth of stretches daily) and rides, but wanted to ask people with more experience if that lined up with them. Thanks!
Confusing. Which knee was injured and are all your left/right references correct?
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Old 05-02-22, 08:02 PM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy
Confusing. Which knee was injured and are all your left/right references correct?
Nah, references are correct; right knee was injured and time spend in a brace caused my gait to change with my right leg moving differently than the left (The one with natural movement). I find that when I'm on an elliptical, I push harder with my right leg than my left, which makes me think the pain solely in my right hip flexor/quad is because I'm asymmetrical in my leg power, biased to my right leg.
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Old 05-02-22, 08:24 PM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by extecher
Nah, references are correct; right knee was injured and time spend in a brace caused my gait to change with my right leg moving differently than the left (The one with natural movement). I find that when I'm on an elliptical, I push harder with my right leg than my left, which makes me think the pain solely in my right hip flexor/quad is because I'm asymmetrical in my leg power, biased to my right leg.
Interesting. Usually it's the injured limb which becomes weaker.
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Old 05-03-22, 11:00 AM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by mschwett
i get bored/inattentive and drift back to 56/44 before my left leg fatigues. it does feel unnatural, and if i get out of the saddle and really hammer, the peak power is notably lower (900 vs 1100) if i try and “focus” on the left side. so i think that would be the real advantage given cardio limits - more powerful sprints?

i actually first noticed this because of peaks, on the meter which was only reading from the left side i couldn’t get >900 peak watts no matter what i did.
I would be suspicious of peak power readings during sprinting due to the IMO, poor transient response of power meters with accelerometers measuring cadence. At best the sampling rate is once per second for most head units and the accuracy stated for the PM is for steady state.

L/R balance during sprinting, IMO, is going to be elusive and not worth chasing down. If you are stomping as hard as possible with each leg, you are good.
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Old 05-07-22, 08:06 PM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by Hermes
I would be suspicious of peak power readings during sprinting due to the IMO, poor transient response of power meters with accelerometers measuring cadence.
Are you saying I didn't really do 240 RPM for 1 second? 🙂

The thing is if the accelerometer can be wrong during that second, they can be wrong when they say 97 RPM too.

The vast majority of the time they're correct. Overall the PM is very good and accurate to +/- 1.5%, way off for a second every now and then and right the rest of the time stays within the accuracy spec. That works great for my average power over a couple hour ride, but, as @Hermes says, can throw the peak power off, making this number in particular less trustworthy than others.
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Old 05-08-22, 02:05 PM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by Hermes
I would be suspicious of peak power readings during sprinting due to the IMO, poor transient response of power meters with accelerometers measuring cadence. At best the sampling rate is once per second for most head units and the accuracy stated for the PM is for steady state.

L/R balance during sprinting, IMO, is going to be elusive and not worth chasing down. If you are stomping as hard as possible with each leg, you are good.
I find peak power readings to be fairly consistent in reality. At least with the various power meters I own. Maybe there is some "clipping" due to the sampling rate, but 1 sec power is certainly as much resolution as I need.
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