The Recumbent Quant
- Thread starter Charles.Plager
- Start date
John Tolhurst
Zen MBB Master
I read it.
You know physics,
I read it.
You know physics, so can I pose this to you:
You are holding an elastic between your hands. You pull your right hand out, stretching while holding the other end still in your left hand. Right arm has done WORK, left hand not. And vice versa.
There are lots of possible sutble changes in technique when riding a cruzbike that shift the WORK load around the body.
You know physics,
I read it.
You know physics, so can I pose this to you:
You are holding an elastic between your hands. You pull your right hand out, stretching while holding the other end still in your left hand. Right arm has done WORK, left hand not. And vice versa.
There are lots of possible sutble changes in technique when riding a cruzbike that shift the WORK load around the body.
ak-tux
Zen MBB Master
Nice Blog there Plager! I
Nice Blog there [URL='users/cplager" title="View user profile.">Plager[/URL]! I also found the Australian Cruzbike Firstride instructions wonderful. I think those instructions especially the videos should be in this official cruzbike site. I honestly believe if anyone who has never ridden a cruzbike follows those instructions to the letter from the start, they will be able to ride any MBB format in a very short time.
Nice Blog there [URL='users/cplager" title="View user profile.">Plager[/URL]! I also found the Australian Cruzbike Firstride instructions wonderful. I think those instructions especially the videos should be in this official cruzbike site. I honestly believe if anyone who has never ridden a cruzbike follows those instructions to the letter from the start, they will be able to ride any MBB format in a very short time.
Charles.Plager
Recumbent Quant
Hi John and Andrew,
John:
Hi John and Andrew,
John: Even though what you are describing isn't work in the physics sense, it still is in the biological sense (i.e., it uses up energy). But you are right that the Cruzbike lets you work your body in different ways than either an upright or "regular" recumbent. That's what attracted me to Cruzbikes and why I decided to buy one.
Andrew: Thanks! You're absolutely right about the Austrailian videos. I had never riden one before and rode about 10 miles my first day. I think the biggest piece of advice I have for the new rider is to relax and if things start to go badly, stop pedalling.
Cheers,
Charles
John:
Hi John and Andrew,
John: Even though what you are describing isn't work in the physics sense, it still is in the biological sense (i.e., it uses up energy). But you are right that the Cruzbike lets you work your body in different ways than either an upright or "regular" recumbent. That's what attracted me to Cruzbikes and why I decided to buy one.
Andrew: Thanks! You're absolutely right about the Austrailian videos. I had never riden one before and rode about 10 miles my first day. I think the biggest piece of advice I have for the new rider is to relax and if things start to go badly, stop pedalling.
Cheers,
Charles
Charles.Plager
Recumbent Quant
(I can't figure out how to
(I can't figure out how to edit posts, so I'll just add more here).
p.s. I just added a couple of pictures. More to come later.
(I can't figure out how to edit posts, so I'll just add more here).
p.s. I just added a couple of pictures. More to come later.
This would make a tricky high
This would make a tricky high school physics question. In John's example the left arm/ hand HAS done work . Otherwise the left hand would follow the right hand as the elastic band was stretched , or even more starkly the left arm would drop limp . In order to measure the amount of work the left stationary arm is doing you have the measure the shortening of all the muscles holding the limb in the still position when the rubber band is stretched. This muscle shortening will be the value S in the formula Work = F x S.
I imagine athletes who do isometric exercises would be a bit miffed to be told they aren't doing any work
This would make a tricky high school physics question. In John's example the left arm/ hand HAS done work . Otherwise the left hand would follow the right hand as the elastic band was stretched , or even more starkly the left arm would drop limp . In order to measure the amount of work the left stationary arm is doing you have the measure the shortening of all the muscles holding the limb in the still position when the rubber band is stretched. This muscle shortening will be the value S in the formula Work = F x S.
I imagine athletes who do isometric exercises would be a bit miffed to be told they aren't doing any work
I think I'm wrong
Since I wrote my post I think I'm wrong in a strictly Newtonian sense. If two arm wrestlers of equal strength are going at it , but the hands remain stationary a physicist would say no work is being done because the position of the clasped hands hasn't changed and no change in the level of kinetic energy has occured either. Is this correct ?
Since I wrote my post I think I'm wrong in a strictly Newtonian sense. If two arm wrestlers of equal strength are going at it , but the hands remain stationary a physicist would say no work is being done because the position of the clasped hands hasn't changed and no change in the level of kinetic energy has occured either. Is this correct ?
Charles.Plager
Recumbent Quant
Hi,
I like your example of
Hi,
I like your example of the arm wrestlers. Imagine two people arm wrestling for an hour. In a physics sense, they have done no work. But in a biological sense, they have been exercising their muscles and spending lots of energy (as they should we well exhausted at the end).
Long-story-short: It often doesn't help to try and use the simple physics ideas of work to figure out what your body has accomplished.
Cheers,
Charles
I like your example of
Hi,
I like your example of the arm wrestlers. Imagine two people arm wrestling for an hour. In a physics sense, they have done no work. But in a biological sense, they have been exercising their muscles and spending lots of energy (as they should we well exhausted at the end).
Long-story-short: It often doesn't help to try and use the simple physics ideas of work to figure out what your body has accomplished.
Cheers,
Charles
John Tolhurst
Zen MBB Master
the whole body redeploys
In the elastic band example, what if the left arm does not appear to move, but the whole body redeploys to achieve the stretching, perhaps moving the torso closer to the elastic (which is what my cheating body want to do)
In the elastic band example, what if the left arm does not appear to move, but the whole body redeploys to achieve the stretching, perhaps moving the torso closer to the elastic (which is what my cheating body want to do)
