Fitness questions and answers for August 15, 2005

Form & Fitness Q & A

Got a question about fitness, training, recovery from injury or a related subject? Drop us a line at fitness@cyclingnews.com. Please include as much information about yourself as possible, including your age, sex, and type of racing or riding. Due to the volume of questions we receive, we regret that we are unable to answer them all.

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.

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.

Fiona Lockhart (www.trainright.com) is a USA Cycling Expert Coach, and holds certifications from USA Weightlifting (Sports Performance Coach), the National Strength and Conditioning Association (Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach), and the National Academy for Sports Nutrition (Primary Sports Nutritionist). She is the Sports Science Editor for Carmichael Training Systems, and has been working in the strength and conditioning and endurance sports fields for over 10 years; she's also a competitive mountain biker.

David Fleckenstein, MPT (www.physiopt.com) is a physical therapist practicing in Boise, ID. His clients have included World and U.S. champions, Olympic athletes and numerous professional athletes. He received his B.S. in Biology/Genetics from Penn State and his Master's degree in Physical Therapy from Emory University. He specializes in manual medicine treatment and specific retraining of spine and joint stabilization musculature. He is a former Cat I road racer and Expert mountain biker.

Since 1986 Steve Hogg (www.cyclefitcentre.com) has owned and operated Pedal Pushers, 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.They include World and National champions at one end of the performance spectrum to amputees and people with disabilities at the other end.

Pamela 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 assistant professor of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of iron deficiency on adaptations to endurance training and the consequences of exercise-associated changes in menstrual function on bone health.

Steve Owens (www.coloradopremiertraining.com) is a USA Cycling certified coach, exercise physiologist and owner of Colorado Premier Training. Steve has worked with both the United States Olympic Committee and Guatemalan Olympic Committee as an Exercise Physiologist. He holds a B.S. in Exercise & Sports Science and currently works with multiple national champions, professionals and World Cup level cyclists.

Richard Stern (www.cyclecoach.com) is Head Coach of Richard Stern Training, a Level 3 Coach with the Association of British Cycling Coaches, a Sports Scientist, and a writer. He has been professionally coaching cyclists and triathletes since 1998 at all levels from professional to recreational. He is a leading expert in coaching with power output and all power meters. Richard has been a competitive cyclist for 20 years

Andy Bloomer (www.cyclecoach.com) is an Associate Coach and sport scientist with Richard Stern Training. He is a member of the Association of British Cycling Coaches (ABCC) and a member of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES). In his role as Exercise Physiologist at Staffordshire University Sports Performance Centre, he has conducted physiological testing and offered training and coaching advice to athletes from all sports for the past 4 years. Andy has been a competitive cyclist for many years.

Thanks for the responses. My right femur is actually 3/8" shorter as was confirmed by my chiropractor. I want to avoid using shims because on the mountain bike cleat it makes the cleat hit the ground while walking instead of the rubber sole hitting the ground. If I place both cleats in the same position on the shoes, the left side of my saddle gets really worn on the leather and I have some issues with saddle sores on the left side in that area where the saddle is getting worn. I assumed it was because I was stretching to the pedal on the right which is pulling my left side over and constantly rubbing. This happens if I am setting my saddle height for my longer left side, what do you guys think if I were to lower my saddle to fit my shorter right side? Would that be bad for my left side or would the body compensate for it and be alright. Thanks for all your time.

I commute to work two to three times per week. Since I have to be at work early, I leave really early. Since I really don't want to wake up any earlier than 5:00AM to make breakfast and wait for it to digest, I'm trying to find the "ideal" meal(s) that won't upset my stomach as I ride in, I don't need to wait a long, long time to digest and that will help me jumpstart the first leg of the 50km ride in. Thanks.

I have a question about using motorpacing in training. I understand the idea is that it is to simulate riding in a fast moving pack. What actual physiological adaptions occur from this training stimulus? Wouldn't pushing along at 350w into a head wind at 25km/h be the same as pushing along at 350w behind a motorbike at 55km/h (I have no idea about the actual power required)? I know there is no better training than racing in general, but does the motorpacing enable you to 'race' without actually racing?

I "suffer" from the same blight that Luis mentions, appearing covered in salt at the end of any ride in hot weather, far more than anyone else I encounter. This doesn't seem to affect my performance in any way, but it does leave me a sight to behold at the end of a warm ride! Is this simply because, as Pam states, my sweat is "salty"? What causes mine to be so? Is there anything I can or should do to alter this? Is this in any way connected to the fact that I never use salt when cooking - I don't even have any in the kitchen! Thanks for your insight - from the proverbial cow's lick!

I went in for a physical in January, and I'm not exactly in shape (31 years old, about 15 lbs overweight, and live at 200m elevation). I hadn't been on my bike (or exercised otherwise) since mid-August due to an ankle injury. I had all the normal blood work done, and it revealed my hematocrit level to be 47%. The report also listed normal the normal range as being 35-50%. I thought it strange that the range was so broad, and yet being anything outside that range on the high side would get you suspended in pro cycling. That's why I thought that there might be some natural barrier at 50%. (I also looked up my last blood tests from five years prior and had a 43%).

My cycling inseam is 83cm and saddle is at 73cm from centre of BB along the seat tube to (lower) top of saddle, I ride 172.5 mm cranks. I am a 45 year old male, fitness road rider. At 73cm saddle height I got pain in back of leg/calf muscle in one leg. I get pain in front of knee of the opposite leg when saddle is less than or equal to 72cm. So in my case is it likely that a mere 10mm range is all it takes between too high and too low, pain wise? Or should I be looking elsewhere for the cause of this pain? Thank you in advance.

I think you guys do a great job answering all these tough questions. I have the following question about sitting squarely on the seat. I am 40 yrs old, cat 3 and never had a problem of pedaling and sitting on the seat until last year. While riding, I noticed that I was not sitting squarely on the seat and when looking at my legs I noticed that my pedal stroke was the same but the knee of the right leg would be farther away from the top tube than the left leg. I also looked at the inner thighs and noticed that my right inner thigh would be closer to the seat post than the left leg.

I have gone to a physical therapist and over the past year have worked on my stretching. originally, when I arrived I was much, much tighter on the left side than the right side. Presently, after all the stretching I am much more flexible. I still hang to the left as it feels that more of my left butt cheek is off the seat than the right. However, the PT noticed no discrepancy in leg length or any other structural problem. I have also developed over the last 2 weeks after a lot of riding some pain in the outer right leg and the PT observed IT Band tightness and I have been working on this.

After reading your articles it seems that my problem is a little different due to the right leg thigh being closer to the seat post and hanging on the left.

I'm a bit confused about what happens when we sleep. I've heard many different things, and I don't know how to reconcile them. I've read quite a bit about how our bodies have a big boost of growth hormone (and most other muscle-regenerative and restorative processes) when we sleep. However, it can also be a period where, if we haven't eaten correctly (or enough), our muscles can be broken down for food. What is actually happening?

However, there's this pro rider who explicitly advices against this. He says you should incline your pelvis forward so that your upper body posture looks as if you were doing dead lifts. Here's the URL of the page where you can see the pictures so you may have a better idea what I'm talking about; unfortunately the page is written only in Japanese so you might not be able to read the text, though: