Cyclingnews Fitness Q&A - March 3, 2011

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Farrar's Shimano Dura-Ace pedals bear noticeable scars.(Image credit: James Huang)

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.

If so, the method follows but before that, it's imperative that arch support be addressed. Very, very few cycling shoes have any real arch support and this lack can be the cause or part of the picture of many cycling related injuries including medial knee pain. Superfeet are popular and deserve to be but only really work for those with low to moderate arches. The best solution is ESoles Supportive which have modular replaceable arch supports in 4 different heights. Sadly, they have recently discontinued the black arch support insert which is needed by something like 20 - 30% of the people that I see; the ones with high to very high arches.

2. Step off the bike and determine where the centre of the 1st MTP joint (ball of the foot) is on your bare foot. You should be able to feel the joint hollow with your finger or thumbnail. If in doubt, dorsiflex the big toe several times while your nail feels for the spot. If in doubt, place a pen dot on where you think the joint hollow is and dorsiflex the toe again. If the spot is correct, the mark should not move or should barely move.

3. Get a aluminium cable crimp; the bizzo that is fitted to brake and gear cable ends by bike shops to prevent them from fraying. Also get some packing tape. Cut a piece of clear packing tape 3 or 4” long and place the cable crimp in the centre. Place the tape over the foot in such a way as to position the cable crimp vertically, exactly over the mark you have made on the joint space of your 1st MTP joint. Now reenter the shoe and feel for the cable crimp and place a mark on the outside of the shoe where you can feel the crimp protruding.

5. Again viewing from the opposite side of the bike, use a T square or rule held vertically, to determine where the pen mark indicating the centre of the ball of the foot is in relation to the centre of the pedal axle. Make sure that the shoe is being held in the pedal at the approximate rotational angle that you observed from above when pedaling under load. Measure the axle centre to pen mark distance and adjust forwards or backwards as necessary until you achieve the desired placement of the axle line relative to the centre of the ball of the foot (the mark on the shoe)

Some pedal systems, notably Shimano SPD – SL with yellow tipped cleat and Look Keo with grey cleat have so little rotational adjustment range that the above process can be frustrating and time consuming. With Look Keo's, if this is a problem, it is cheap insurance to use the red cleats instead of the grey cleats as the red version have double the rotational movement. With the SPD –SL's, there is no extra free play option. The bottom line is that you need to be patient to get the best result possible.

9. Ideally, the centre of the midfoot should be below the centre of the knee as the knee extends. If your hips are noticeably naturally externally or internally rotated (that is toes pointing out or toes pointing in) to a large degree while pedaling, this can be hard to achieve with most three bolt pedal systems, particularly the 2 mentioned above as angling the cleat also uses up the potential to move the cleat across the shoe.

If you develop problems because of this, I would suggest Speedplay pedals because they are the only road pedal that separates the rotational and lateral cleat adjustment functions. Additonally, Speedplay make 5 different axle lengths which between them will accommodate most riders needs. If you need more axle length than the longest (plus 1/2") Speedplay option, then BikeFit Systems and others sell fittings to space the pedal out further. There are 20mm, 25mm and 30mm options

When we sit too high, always, at a level below conscious thought, we will choose a side to save (by leaning towards that side) and decreasing the distance the leg has to extend) and a side to sacrifice (usually but not always the left) by leaning away from from that side and increasing the distance that leg has to reach. This is without even considering the challenge to the plane of movement of the hips and knees.

This time of year, do all your training in zone 2/aerobic, bringing the tempo work in later. You haven't mentioned goals before the summer tour, but in any case, if your goals are steady paced climbs and TT type efforts, you'd do well to do as much base as possible now, introduce tempo work with three months to go before your events, introduce shorter (a few minutes) LT intervals about two months before your events, and then start doing event-simulations about one month before your events.

You haven't mentioned cadence, so here are some thoughts for you one that topic. You'll be much faster on a one hour climb if you can learn to make good power at 90-110 rpm than if climbing always makes you mash a bigger gear, so work on making power at higher cadences a few days each week, but also take one or two days a week to push on the pedals at 70 rpm in the endurance zone. That gives you an opportunity to practice pushing harder on the pedals, without getting you caught up in exhausting workouts.

I can't answer your question definitively without knowing more about you than the info you have provided. Ideally if would be nice to have an xray or scan to determine whether there is a functional leg length difference. I also strongly suggest that you get some ESoles Supportive insoles and fit them to your shoes with whatever arch support option feels mildly intrusive. In the absence of any info re LLD the left knee sits rearward of the right knee because either:

What you are aiming to achieve is for that piece of taped conduit to fit within the cleft of your backside. It needs to be intrusive enough to alert you to any tendency to sit off centre but not so intrusive as to cause pain. This is not a joke, I am deadly serious. In the past I have used modified seat posts that allowed the seat to be positioned at a tilt or off the centre line of the bike in an effort to get the rider's butt on centre, but the best solution is to retrain the rider's awareness of where a centred position on the seat is.

But what about strength training for the upper body? I have heard sports medicine experts stress the importance of keeping the whole body in condition, even muscles that are relatively unused for the particular sport. This keeps the body “in balance” and reduces the chances of injury. Clearly a cyclist doesn't want to develop large and hence heavy upper body muscles but should you spend some time in the gym on upper body muscles eg using light weights but multiple repetitions?

Thanks for the inquiry. I do recommend upper body strength training for most riders for the reasons you suggest, plus a few more. The only people for whom I don't recommend a program of upper body strength training are those who have an injury that makes lifting uncomfortable, and those who are overweight where a part of the overweight is large upper-body muscles. Not counting massive, body-builder or power-lifter types,

When you are cruising along at moderate power, the upper body doesn't contribute much to the effort, but during an all out sprint or hard, low-cadence climbing, the arms and shoulder can get involved in making power so upper body workouts can help beyond simply maintaining balance and preventing injury. I agree with your idea of doing relatively long sets with lighter weights to maximize strength from existing muscles rather than adding mass.

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.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, a cycle shop specialising in rider positioning and custom bicycles. In that time he has positioned riders from all cycling disciplines and of all levels of ability with every concievable cycling problem. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: stevehoggbikefitting.blogspot.com/

James Hibbard progressed from the junior to the professional ranks as a rider and has over 15 years of competitive cycling experience. He is a former Collegiate All-American track cyclist, trained as a resident athlete at the United States Olympic Training Center, earned international medals as part of the U.S. National Team, and was a member of the powerhouse Shaklee and HealthNet Professional road cycling teams.

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.