Fitness questions and answers for August 21

Greg van Avermaet (BMC) (Image credit: Cyclingnews)

Form & Fitness Q & A

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.

Individuals with pituitary tumors, kidney disease, cancer, or AIDS—these are the people who truly benefit from the hormones that athletes abuse. Because of their illness, they are unable to produce adequate amounts of growth hormone, erythropoietin, or testosterone and, as a result, suffer complications apart from their primary illness: anemia, loss of bone and muscle mass, and increased blood cholesterol and triglycerides.

In Kelby Bethards' reply to the letter 'Why Testosterone' he gives an example that a test may be 98% accurate so out of 300 tests there could be 6 false positives. That's misleading in that Floyd would have had to have had two of those false positives since his A and B specimen were both positive - I guess they were, I agree it's hard to ferret out the facts in this case. But if so what would the odds of that be?

You are exactly correct. I was over simplifying. I was only trying to point out, that in fact, no test is perfect. I have ordered tests on different patients before that, for the life of me, continued to be “incorrectly” positive in light of treatment. Only when using an alternative testing method did it come to light that the specimen, for whatever reason, reacted in a way that gave a positive result. I do not know the process followed by the UCI, but I would certainly hope, with this much at stake, that another method was employed to confirm the original positive test.

I was recently fitted to my bike by an owner of a local bike shop, who is accredited to a well known foreign bike fitting outfit. Then, I came across the UCI rules on equipment where the UCI prescribes that the peak of the saddle should be a minimum of 5 cm to the rear of a vertical plane passing though the bottom bracket spindle (Section 1.3.013, Chapter III). Having known my fore and aft position based on my bike fit, I measured the distance between the tip of my saddle and the bottom bracket spindle, using a plumb line. I noticed that the distance is less than the UCI-prescribed distance of 5 cm.

Do you know the reason behind the UCI's prescribing the said measurement? Should I move now my saddle backward to make my bike UCI legal (I want to make it UCI legal, of course). If I move my saddle backward to comply with the UCI requirement, I will have a 1 cm to 2 cm more setback than my bike fit position. Will this adjustment pose a risk of injury, or adversely affect my power, or result in poor stability on the bike.

The rule you speak of is the UCI's attempt to limit 'Obree' style superman positioning which in their view is tending towards that of a prone recumbent. While I am in sympathy with their views, I think the rule as it currently stands (last time I checked and I must admit it has been some time) is a fairly ordinary solution. It makes no mention of seat height. A rider with a seat that is 50mm behind the bottom bracket on a 60cm frame is going to be sitting further forward than a rider of a 50cm frame.

You are correct in everything you say. What you should be trying to do is mark the centre of the ball of the foot on the side of the shoe wear it faces the crank. You need to make sure that the mark on the shoe is in the relation you want to the pedal axle at the angle that your foot naturally sits on the pedal whether that be heel in or heel out. These links on cleat position and finding the ball of your foot should make it clear.

I recently suffered a femoral neck fracture that resulted in a leg length differential of about 1cm (left side short). I ride and have ridden on SPD mountain cleats for several years (road, TT, Track and MTB). As a commuter and a fitness/recreational racer I do not want to give up the convenience of double sided entry and the ability to walk in my shoes. I had an odd idea with regard to compensation and would like to know from a bio-mechanics angle, if it is a sound or horrible idea.

The best method to resolve your problem is the one that works the best. If you were here in person we would try several things and determine which suited you better than the others. Normally I would suggest a cleat shim as a starting point but understand your reluctance to do this with an SPD pedal. Axo used to make a product called a Spud Spacer that allowed an SPD cleat to be shimmed securely by either 3 or 4mm but I am told that they are no longer available. That leaves you with couple of options including shortening one crank.

It doesn't start as soon as I ride but comes on after an hour or more. I've seen several physio's about it and have had mixed responses, from it being because I pronate when walking and because when I ride the foot is fixed in a straight position, to the cause being a tendonitus which then caused a plica to become inflamed to the most recent thought that it was a problem with the sartorius muscle being tight, yet when the physio tried to stretch the sartorius it didn't feel tight at all!

I am currently resting, icing and using anti inflammatories and stretching the muscles around the knee, hoping to get it better for the end of the season but looking towards the winter can you recommend any adjustments that could be made to help? I have been rding for about 10 years and always thought that a bike fitting that may change my position alot may do more harm than good since I have developed it over so long but maybe this could help sort out my knee problem.

Knee problems on a bike are not generally caused by issues with the knee itself, though that can't be ruled out. The knee is a single plane joint and can be irritated if there is any challenge to its' preferred plane of movement. The great majority of the time issues such as you describe are caused by hip/lower back issues at one end or foot/ankle problems at the other. The hip and ankle can quite happily move in a variety of planes but if doing so causes lateral or rotational loads to be applied to the knee, then what you experience can be the result.

My problem is that my neck and shoulders are almost permanently aching, with fairly frequent and very painful spasms. Neither rest nor anti-inflamatories seem to help. I have a hybrid bike for commuting, and my physio suggests lifting the handlebars and cycling in a more upright position - and if this works I'm happy to do it. But for longer distances, and hills, won't sitting upright make life harder? I'd like to buy a road or touring bike when I'm a bit fitter for some long trips, but not at the price of permanent neck pain. Sadly I can't afford a very expensive customised bike fitted to my exact shape.

Over this 9 month period I have built up from a reasonable fitness base and only managing short rides alone or with small groups to my present level, at which I can comfortably complete 100km + rides (or 3-4 hours continuous) at a solid pace. I would now say my fitness is very good. I have been taken on as a cycling student by a competitive-level Veteran’s cyclist and my aim is to join the local cycling club over summer and to participate in an alpine classic in January. For the last few months my program has been as follows, with additions and alterations from time to time:

However, with my attention now turning towards competition, and particularly this event in late January (my aim is to finish the event), I have joined a Thursday group that focuses on hills. I am now experiencing, for the first time in my cycling ‘career’ but not the first time in my sporting career (previously played Australian football and done some running) muscle soreness and tightness in the muscles on what I can only call my shins. This discomfort has not been present on the bike in the past, but is a pain I particularly recall from running on hard grounds during football season. It has now emerged after a focused hills session.

Naturally I would like to manage this situation as best as possible, and hopefully prevent or treat it in the most effective way. I hope that it does not persist in the future. Can any of your wonderful sports scientists offer any advice on what this strain/pain may be, how I might manage it in the short term with regards to stretching etc.. and how I might go about managing it in the future? Also, your advice on whether this strain/pain is likely to be linked with hills work, and if so, how I might go about assessing or changing any part of my approach, warm up/cool down or technique to avoid any recurrence, would be most appreciated.

My non medical advice is that you probably have calves that are too tight so stretching them particularly and stretching in general should benefit you. Another thing that my exaggerate the effects of tight calves is poor cleat position. If they are too far forward or too far back on the shoe, extra load on the lower leg can be the result. Have a look at these posts on cleat position and finding the ball of your foot and position your cleats accordingly. Following those suggestions won't do you any harm and will probably help - but start stretching those calves!