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This is true for certain metabolic zones but not others. If you're sprinting then yes, you get a higher power output while pulling up on the pedal. However if y
by justsocrateasin 3y ago
This is true for certain metabolic zones but not others. If you're sprinting then yes, you get a higher power output while pulling up on the pedal. However if you're going for any kind of endurance (longer than a minute) the limiting factor is not muscular but cardiovascular/aerobic, and using less efficient muscles (the ones used for pulling up) will actually hinder your performance since you'll need to be supplying those with oxygen, thus decreasing total cycling economy.
- onetimeuse92304 3y agoI am not versed with cycling economy. But yeah, it makes sense. On a bike, if you want to put up more power you have options to push harder or spin faster. If you had to push harder than your weight, you could always change your gears to rather spin faster.
- ip26 3y agoYour goal in endurance conditions is to maximize the aerobic pathway, which means maximizing the number of active mitochondria. Recruiting more total mitochondria from more total muscle fiber will give you greater aerobic power output.
- ang_cire 3y agoAh yes, the Powerhouse of the Cell.
- discreteevent 3y agoLike the parent said, the goal is efficiency not maximum power. And as another comment said, in practice the pros do not pull up. If there were even a minute gain in doing so, they would train themselves to do it (in fact some of them used to in the past before they figured out that it was a waste of time)