Quads - practice

The quads practice drill also gets the point across about the limitations of the quads.

Gear range:  from easy to “grind to a halt” for the quads (no cheating by using glutes)

I suggest this drill be done in one chainring with the easiest gear being a starting point that’s pretty easy at 90+ RPM and the 6th gear being very hard at 70 RPM.  Note what feels hard from rest vs. what feels hard after 30 minutes of quad isolation may be different…

Position:  torso is upright, hands on the tops of the bars, arms straight. Keeping the arms straight keeps the rider from cheating by using their glutes. If you can’t get your body weight on the pedals the glutes won’t work.  

The drill itself is simple. Start in the easiest gear at a cadence above 90. Every 5 minutes increase the gear by one. The cadence will come down with every shift, if you’re isolating your quads you will fail at some point.  The last 10 minutes will be filled with grunting and wheezing. While the quads will never be good at generating torque, progress can be gauged by how far you get into this workout. When I start my winter training in December I tend to get 30 minutes and 5 gear increases. By March I get to 45 minutes and 7 or 8 gear increases.

If you need the hand rail to walk back upstairs, you’ve done it right.