Cycling-Related Strength & Conditioning

I was also reading J.P., J.M. Smoliga, M.J. Brick, J.T. Jolly, S.M. Lephart, and F.H. Fu. Relationship between cycling mechanics and core stability. J. Strength Cond. Res. 21(4):1300–1304. 2007, which suggests that a strong core doesn't magically increase pedalling force capability, but does help pedalling form. Apparently when the core gets fatigued, your pedalling joints (ankles, knees, hips) start to wander further out of alignment, therefore increasing risk of injury, and no doubt reducing efficiency.

That makes A LOT of sense to me. I've been reading some of this and it's heavily physio for me (I'm a massage therapist, I wasn't trained about exercises, I just have been able to figure out how to deal with the results of injuries and notice potential patterns in movement that might be causing weakness and/or overshort muscles.

I'm going to maintain a more rearward position than your average TTer, but I still want to be able to delegate a little more of the work to my quads/the stomp phase of the pedalstroke.

I was thinking about this, too, and this seems strange to me. If by "stomp phase" you mean pressing down, I know you use the quads then a bit, but extension is a hamstring/glute thing, flexion is quads. I get more burn in my quads when I purposefully pull up on the pedals or stand up out of the saddle.

I have really been wanting to work with a physio or sports trainer about how to get more power in cycling, I have a few smaller hills that are still kicking my ass. When I take the train in the morning I'm magically refreshed all day but when I ride in I'm often more tired. There is obviously some combination of amount of calories taken in, riding fixed, gear ratio, how fast I ride, and probably something I don't know about, that is killing my energy levels. I want to get faster, I want to ride more easily, I want to be able to get to the top of Bromley Hill without slowing down as much as I have been, and I want not to collapse on the couch at the end of the day. I've got to go back to geared, especially for winter, but I am still missing a few key components (such as a frickin' 90mm 1" quill stem, that everyone wants and no one has) so can't get it out on the road.