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@rpm
New sports science research has found that flexing the arms and allowing the head and shoulders to oscillate whilst cycling can help increase power to the pedal stroke by 56%.
Furthermore, extensive air tunnel testing has revealed that nodding the head vigourously up and down creates an effect which effectively 'tricks' the aerodynamic force into 'thinking' the area it is acting on has gone or moved away, in much the same way that a sniper would find it far harder to zero in on a target which is constantly moving. Researchers at the University of Birmingham have been working alongside pro teams such as Garmin to confirm that riders who sit upright and cycle with a pronounced 'nod' will be subject to 23% less aerodynamic drag than riders who simply reduce their frontal area (with a time trial position, previously thought to be optimal).