Cyclingnews Fitness Q&A - December 24, 2009

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AIS Physio Karin Stephens(Image credit: Gennie Sheer)

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

Lastly, you want a "somewhat aggressive/comfortable setup. I assume "aggressive" means bum up, head down. If your degree of flexibility allows this, then great. If it doesn't, you will perform better by setting a position that is comfortable enough so that when you are going hard, you are putting minimum effort into maintaining that position on the bike which will in turn allow maximum effort to be used to propel the bike down the road.

To explain succinctly: Every action on a bike starts with a signal from the brain or elsewhere in the central nervous system which in turn is at least partly determined by a constant flow of feedback from the body. What that means is that before anyone talks about a narrow biomechanical relationship like KOPS, they need to optimise central nervous system function within the ability of their current structual condition to do that.

Now the kicker is that our brain and central nervous system gives priority to the postural muscles, not the phasic muscles that propel the bike, and there are good evolutionary reasons for this. (For more detail see http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/the-anatomy-of-bike-position That means that if we want to go fast and sustain the ability to do so, we have to prioritise the phasic, power producing muscles.

The only way to do that is to have the seat the minimum distance behind the bottom bracket that allows the rider to cantilever his torso out from his pelvis without heavily using arms, shoulder complex and upper toroo muscles to support that weight. The reason for this is that the great majority of postural muscles that need to relax to fill our lungs to greatest capacity can also be used to resist pedaling forces or to support torso weight.

Technique plays a part. You mention that you tend to be a toe down pedaler. That's fine but that also means that your major vector on the pedals under signficant load is to the rear which in turn causes your pelvis to have a tendency to move forward (for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction) and means that your seat will need to be further back to offset this tendency. And higher too than the seat height of your heel dropping hypothetical twin.

The arms are necessary as relaxed props but are not needed to bear significant weight. The only problem with that descripiton is the reasonably functional part, as many riders are less functional than that and use their upper bodies and arms to stabilise themselves because they have the poor functional stability that is widespread in a chair bound society. In their case, they should be looking for the best compromise available to them.

Many riders who determine their seat height on the flat are sitting too high. Find a moderate hill that takes a few minutes to ride up. Ride up it on the seat in one or two gears too high for comfort (rear cog one or two teeth smaller than usual). You need to force the gear but not so much that you are sacrificing technique. If you feel fluent through the bottom of the pedal stroke, your seat height is good. If you feel on/off/on/off through the bottom of the pedal stroke, then your seat height is too high.

First off, if you feel very tired on a ride, go home. Don't push it and make things worse. The key to EBV and recovery is rest and patience. (Yeah right) It can take a few months up to a year, so it seems for cyclists to feel back to normal again. There are many studies and things showing a link from EBV to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I am not saying you will have this or should you worry too much about this but it can take years in some cases to recover.

The process you are suggesting is sensible. Regarding wedging, what you are looking for is a feeling that the pedaling load is evenly distributed across the foot. If you feel more pressure under the inner edge of the foot, add a wedge or wedges oriented with thick side to the inside until that feeling of localised pressure changes to an evenly distributed load. If you feel more pressure on the outside, do the converse.

Re shimming, if have a leg length of 9mm, it is likely that not only is there a measurable difference but there are differences in flexibility between left and right sides as well. Depending on which is the tight side and which is the more flexible side, the size of shim you end up with may vary. What you are looking for is a feeling that both legs are reaching through the bottom of the pedal stroke with ease under significant load.

My main concern is whether painkillers have any adverse effects on the kidneys and GI tract while exercising. The type of training I was thinking of was low intensity rides (no more than 75 percent of max HR) for about one to 1.5 hours each day. If it is safe to train while on painkillers, is there a limit to how far I can safely push my heart rate up without causing any damage to my kidneys and GI tract. Cheers.

If you run your cursor over the top of the post you will see greater detail. If you look closely, you will see a white arrow on upper half of the two-piece section that clamps the seat rails. That arrow points at a small spigot and there is one on the other side as well. They serve to locate the seat rail clamp centrally beneath the longitudinal top piece that holds the two piece rail clamp in place.

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Kelby Bethards, MD received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University (1994) before obtaining an M.D. from the University of Iowa College of Medicine in 2000. Has been a racing cyclist 'on and off' for 20 years, and when time allows, he races Cat 3 and 35+. He is a team physician for two local Ft Collins, CO, teams, and currently works Family Practice in multiple settings: rural, urgent care, inpatient and the like.

Pam Hinton has a bachelor's degree in Molecular Biology and a doctoral degree in Nutritional Sciences, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She did postdoctoral training at Cornell University and is now an associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Carrie Cheadle, MA (www.carriecheadle.com) is a Sports Psychology consultant who has dedicated her career to helping athletes of all ages and abilities perform to their potential. Carrie specialises in working with cyclists, in disciplines ranging from track racing to mountain biking. She holds a bachelors degree in Psychology from Sonoma State University as well as a masters degree in Sport Psychology from John F. Kennedy University.