[Closed] CAN FOREFOOT VARUS WEDGES ENHANCE ANAEROBIC CYCLING PERFORMANCE IN UNTRAINED MAL

Is the answer yes or no?

Who's Mal?

I've only got 2 feet so no good to me.

One can't help but think that there's an ulterior motive in posting this - does the OP have any involvement with the research or authors?

arf arf...you guys slay me with your wit :lol:!

edit: one is wrong one doesn't have any involvement in said literature just an interest in the subject.

UNTRAINED MALCONTENTS?

Is the answer yes or no?

A quick read suggests the answer is 'not by much'

[i]just an interest in the subject. [/i]

It just seemed odd to post it with no comment, even a synopsis of what they were lookign at and the conclusion reached (which appears to be 'maybe but not much even if it does').

Been visiting Nicola and Nick Dinsdale for treatment on a hurt knee so this is the topic of the moment for me. They advised me with shoe fitting, varus wedges etc and it's made a big difference to me.
I think the point is that you have to need them though. The more you need them, the more difference it will make to your power output.
Anyway, I can recommend a visit for a screening. Their website is [url= http://www.njdsportsinjuries.co.uk/ ]here [/url]

i use wedges to correct knee mistracking, not changed anaerobically but thigh muscles changed shape due to an overdeveloped vastus lateralis (outside of thigh), wedges got the other 2 (medialis/intermedius) working properly.
not an expert but i can't see how they can change your anaerobic output?

waswaswas, carl isn't a cool/nerdy (delete as applicable) enough podiatrist to be remotely involved in or have a financial stake in research. He does have spesh insoles in his shimano shoes though.

Just had a flick through it, lordy, is that what pschology/therapy papers look like to everyone else? 😯 😯

Aka Specialized BG shoes?

Strictly speaking BG insoles.

They helped me with a tight IT Band Knee problem, as Mr Smith said above.

Interesting, but... Subjective measure of forefoot varus, numbers are too small, 30s anaerobic effort, probably doen't equate to normal cycling performance + level of significance of the results fall below anything you draw conclusions from anyway.

But good to see some work being done on this. Would be interesting to see if high speed camera analysis comfirmed whether alignment was "corrected" by the wedges.

Food for though, cheers for posting

You can see the alignment is better just by looking downwards when you pedal 😉

I didn't put a comment up as im inbetween perusing literature and treating clients.
As Julian says I'm not cool/geeky enough for research!
I do use the spesh wedges and insoles and for me they've helped my mis-alignment problem and consequent knee pain no end and I am now pain free...
like its been said above its just good to see some work being done.

Strictly speaking BG insoles

Can you get them separately? I went from Spesh road shoes back to Shimano, and whilst I like the Shimano shoes and they are better for power delivery etc the thing I miss most about BG was the wider toe box.. The front edge of my big toe goes quite numb in the Shim shoes.

However - I wonder why the power delivery seems better? Perhaps my foot spreading out as I pedalled was acting in a similar way to sole flex?

Can you get them separately?

Yes, you can get the insoles separately, they're about 25quid-ish. They fit in Shimano shoes, but the shoes are narrower and they reduce the volume so they certainly won't help with your toe box problem.

Specialized shoes have some tilt built into them. I'm not totally clear on this, but I think it's the whole shoe which is tilted. You can add tilt to a shoe using wedges under the cleats.

I know the author recommends dealing with tibial varum (bow legs) by tilting the whole shoe and the differences in the forefoot with the wedges (as this is what he's advised me to do). I've had to put a number of wedges under the cleats of my shoes, and then use one of the forefoot wedges under one foot.

You can see this makes a huge difference to the tracking of the knee just by looking down. This is a big difference and I really wish I'd discovered all this sooner before I caused damage. I haven't measured my power output, but I'm feeling much stronger on the bike and I'm also able to maintain a higher hr longer. Very unscientific and I've had to spend ages off the bike for my knee to recover.

I've always worn the sides of cranks and chainstays and had numb feelings in my feet after long rides. All this was due to bad tracking of my knees. There is more to think about than just the angle of cleats which all the magazines mention.

I also know that the author of that report is experimenting with different insoles. He's finding that some cycle specific insoles are not strong enough to support the foot arch and also the arch support is slightly too far forward, inferring with the effect of the forefoot wedge. I'm still experimenting with soles at the moment.

if your shoes don't have the room for the BG footbeds then sidas make a thin custom foodbed. i use these in my sidi disco slippers and have moved the wedge to the cleat so as to not take up any room in the shoe, not cheap at £75 but being custom they are a step up from the BG's.
mine were done at sigmasport in kingston.