The last TR workout I did was towards the end of the first base building phase - and with the weather getting better, and with my last trainer workout being something closer to FTP, I figured I'd skip the last 2-3 workouts and start on the next section that includes more workouts that are also closer to FTP.
This workout, called Lamarck, was definitely more intense than the previous base building workouts - instead of the target power being in the 193-206 range, it was four intervals at just below FTP for 10 minutes each, with 2 minutes rest in between. Whereas most of the previous base workouts had the avg HR in the 120's, this reached near 140, with the intervals getting into the 160's towards the end.
However, more important than the workout itself was a revelation I had during the workout. One of the primary concepts in Total Immersion (which I feel I've used to great success to improve my swim form to be very efficient) and ChiRunning (which I've become a recent convert to) is to use the bigger core muscles for power generation, and use the muscles in the extremities less. If you look at an anatomy chart of the human muscle system - you'll notice that the larger muscles are in the core, and as you get farther along the extremities, the muscles get smaller. So, it only makes sense to use the big muscles for power, and don't try to power yourself with the smaller muscles. Sounds simple, but I'm learning that all too often, people overuse small muscles and underuse large muscles - myself included. While that may be possible and you can get away with it to some degree - it seems like it often tends to lead to injury if allowed to go on too long. In my case, that translates to having used my quads too much for running and cycling, which makes them tight, which results in extra pull on the IT band.
So anyway, I was spinning away, and had the thought - I'm using my quads to generate power on the downstroke - what can I do to relieve the quads of some effort, and transition some of that power generation to muscles that are closer to my core. Then I realized - the glutes are attached to the femur - perhaps if I engage them, I can use them to pull the femur down to generate that pumping action, instead of using the quads to straighten the lower leg to progress through the downstroke. So I toyed around with deactivating the quads a bit, and using the glutes a bit more. It resulted in the glutes definitely feeling used - but I suspected that was because they have not been used to being used. Plus, they are pretty big muscles, so they should be able to absorb that kind of abuse and recover relatively quickly. Anyway, it seemed to me like I stumbled upon something, but I wasn't sure whether I was just making things up or not.
Then, when I was done, I did some quick googling of using glutes during cycling. Immediately, a bunch of hits came up - and the very first one was an article stating that most people use glutes and quads to generate power, but those at the front of the pack when cycling use their glutes more instead of using primarily their quads. I was amazed (and pretty damn elated) to have stumbled upon this - it is certainly something I'm excited to put into practice on future cycling workouts.
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