No more saying, “My right side is so much stronger!”

Are you one of those making one of the most common Spinning mistakes during your workouts? “What mistake,” you ask? Using only your dominant leg to drive your pedal strokes. Cat Kom is joined by Cycling and Athletic Trainer Mimi to talk about why that’s not OK and share some tips and drills to involve both of your legs in your rides.

Nearly all of us have a dominant leg (think the one you’d use to kick a ball). When we pedal, whether or not clipped into the pedal, the tendency is for that leg to do the majority of the work. The problem is that the dominant leg becomes even stronger, and you lose overall power in your workout and you might even feel it impact other parts of your body, as imbalances often do. By training each leg to work together evenly, you can increase your power output in every pedal stroke.

More power = more strength, speed & endurance gained, more kCals burned

It’s a simple equation, and you want all that, right? Us too, so let’s dive into some of Cat and Mimi’s tips and drills to fix it.

Tips from Mimi:

Pedal Stroke – Be conscious of driving your foot over the top of the pedal, pulling through the bottom and then back up towards the glute.

Upper Body Awareness – Be aware of any lean in your upper body. If you’re often leaning to one side on your handlebars, chances are you’re over-dominant in your pedal stroke as well. Take that hand off the handlebars completely to involve the non-dominant side.

Mindfulness – Be sure to think about involving both legs in the pedal stroke. Being mindful and training will build your bilateral muscle memory.

Drills from Cat & Mimi:

Single Leg Drills – Cat likes to do these by time, Mimi by song. Both ways will help your legs:

• In the first song (or 30 seconds), focus on leading your pedal stroke with your non-dominant leg.
• In the next song (or 30 seconds), lead with your dominant leg.
• In the final song (or 30 seconds), concentrate on both legs taking equal “lead”

By the time you put them all together, you’ll be thinking “Wow! That was so much easier and smoother than the first two drills.” That’s because you’ve got balanced power distribution.

Counting/Jump Drills – “HUP two three four” is great if you’re leading a military march and want everyone starting in the same direction. But not if you’re always doing 4-count or 8-count drills leading the same foot. For this drill, pick a steady cadence and start counting:

• 8-counts up/8-counts down leading with your non-dominant leg. Repeat for 4 cycles.
• Stay down for a few beats. And this is where it gets “tricky” – speed up or slow down for a tiny bit so that your lead leg on the “downbeat” can switch.
• 8-counts up/8-counts down leading with your dominant leg. Repeat for 4 cycles.

Whenever you are doing jump drills in your workouts, be mindful of varying your lead leg from time to time.

Pedal Stroke Drills – Mimi likes this one for making sure you’re getting the most out of every single (right AND left) pedal stroke:

• For 30 seconds, focus on the front side of your pedal stroke (the “Push”)
• For 30 seconds, focus on the back side of your pedal stroke (the “Pull”)
• Now combine the two for a smooth, fluid movement.

Before you know it, all this focused effort will lead to muscle memory on both legs and you’ll be Spinning with more power than ever!

For guided workouts that help you focus on proper pedal strokes and form, check out classes at Studio SWEAT and Studio SWEAT onDemand!