Fitness questions and answers for December 16, 2008

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.

Jon Heidemann (www.peaktopeaktraining.com) is a USAC Elite Certified cycling coach with a BA in Health Sciences from the University of Wyoming. The 2001 Masters National Road Champion has competed at the Elite level nationally and internationally for over 14 years. As co-owner of Peak to Peak Training Systems, Jon has helped athletes of all ages earn over 84 podium medals at National & World Championship events during the past 8 years.

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.

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.

Michael Smartt (www.wholeathlete.com) is an Associate Coach with Whole Athlete™. He holds a Masters degree in exercise physiology, is a USA Cycling Level I (Elite) Coach and is certified by the NSCA (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist). Michael has more than 10 years competitive experience, primarily on the road, but also in cross and mountain biking. He is currently focused on coaching road cyclists from Jr. to elite levels, but also advises triathletes and Paralympians. Michael is a strong advocate of training with power and has over 5 years experience with the use and analysis of power meters. Michael also spent the 2007 season as the Team Coach for the Value Act Capital Women's Cycling Team.

I ride a lot in the spring/summer and fall and am on track to finish with around 4,500 miles for the year. I work out in a gym five days a week doing legs/core work three of those five days. I already try to limit my caloric intake. Obviously with winter here and shorter days I am limited to one hour trainer sessions and whatever I can do on the weekends (weather permitting). So my question is then how much does weight training add to calorie burn/weight loss?

Great question, because the answer is really interesting. Strength training can add quite a bit to calorie expenditure. For a larger rider, one deep knee bend uses about one kcal. A long session of even shallow squats can use a few hundred calories. Other exercises use plenty of calories as well. The thing is, though, that strength training will not really support weight loss at all for two reasons. The main reason is that strength training will rely mostly on fast twitch muscle and fast twitch muscle uses carbohydrate as it's primary fuel.

I saw your latest fitness response on this subject. While I don't have your broad experience from seeing many bikes, I have found a couple of drivetrain combinations that may not be symmetrical as to Q factor. Most recently, I switched from a Dura Ace (7700) triple conversion on an Ultegra triple bottom bracket (which appears symmetrical) to a SRAM Red compact crank set. Before I did the triple conversion the Dura Ace bottom bracket I used was also symmetrical, although narrower over all.

Immediately after the change I had some problems with my left knee that I had long resolved with the Dura Ace setup. When I measured the pedal distance from the (apparently) symmetrical chain stays, the left crank was closer than the right. I have CX-6 Look pedals and when I adjusted the left pedal to be the same distance as the right, the problem disappeared. By the way, the Q factor of the SRAM double was similar to the Dura Ace on the right side.

An old Campagnolo "Racing Triple" crankset I used for a while had a similar asymmetry, which I attribute to the longer spindle needed for the triple crank. Mostly the longer right side on the spindle seemed to be needed to accommodate the inner limit of motion of the matching derailleur on my frame, which has a 35 mm seat tube--Campy specs shorter spindles for smaller seat tubes. I didn't have as much of a problem with this setup but that was 11 years ago in comparative youth and I only used it for a couple of years.

I haven't seen a Red compact crank and so can't comment. Also, I don't deny that the experience you had took place. My point is that it isn't common (at least in my experience) to see a large manufacturers crank set that has an uneven distance between the outer edge of each crank arm at the pedal hole and the centre line of the frame of more than a mm or so, which is within measurement error. range. All of us have functional asymmetries far greater than that and often do little to sort them out.

I am 46 years old and have been cycling competitively for five years. I have a resting pulse of around 54bpm and a max HR of 189. I have been told by three different doctors that I have high blood pressure (regular recordings of 145/90 and higher)I personally don't feel any symptoms of high blood pressure apart from occasional headaches. My doctor has recommended that I be put on permanent medication and here in lies my problem.

The vastus medialis (VMO) plays a part in laterally stabilising the knee. That means that something about your pedaling technique is challenging the plane of movement of the left knee. Common possible reasons are a leg length difference on either side, an uncorrected foot plant on the pedal on either or both sides, an inability to sit square on the seat, a seat height a touch too high or any other factor that tends to destabilise the pelvis on seat under load.

I have been riding competitively for four years. I have an athletic background in running and developed severe chondromalacia/tendinitis in my right knee five years ago. This injury prevented me from running at all and actually was my catalyst for turning to the bike. Two years ago I developed tendonitis in my right knee (upper, inner) while training and racing in Italy. Initially I tried to ride through the pain (for about a month) until it got so bad that I was eating ibuprofen on my long rides just to get through.

I then took about a month off the bike until it was eventually pain free enough to ride. I haven't had a problem with it since. Now, however, and since the injury, I've felt as though my right leg is extending more than my left (that the seat is too far forward for my left leg but too far back for my right). This has led me to be "one of those guys" who is constantly messing with his position. I don't have a leg length discrepancy that I am aware of. Do you have any ideas what might be causing this problem? Thanks for your help!

I am a cat 3 and 45+ racer, my height is 5'7" and I weigh 155lbs. I have a left right wiggle at the bottom of the pedal stroke on my left foot only. I have noticed my son has the same thing going on. We both use Speedplay x2 pedals. We are both 5000+ mile per year riders and have no knee pain. We both use Specialized Pro and S-Works shoes. Mine are new and his are two years old. I use the green insole in mine because I have a high arch, he uses the stock ones.

Like father like son I suppose. The left foot 'wiggle' you mention can be caused by the right hip moving backwards at the top of its pedal stroke and then rebounding forward as top dead centre is passed on the right side pedal stroke. It can also be caused by using a seat height that is too high by a few millimetres. If the seat is even a touch too high (but not high enough to cause injury) we will all autonomically favour one side, usually the right, with any fallout tending to be on the left side. What I'd suggest is drop your seat 5mm and get back to me if there is no improvement.

- We have been fit on our tandem by Paul Swift and Katrina Vogel (bikefit.com) who are friends and who I have worked with before, so I'm very confident the bike fits both of us well.
- Since my wife does not ride as much as I do (she pretty much only rides when we are on the tandem and I race on the road) her natural pedaling cadence is slower than mine but even if I make a conscious effort to ride in larger gears and/or slow down the cadence her ankle will still start to bother her after about 30 or 40 miles.
- Running does not bother her and she has completed two half marathons with no pain in her ankle at all.
- She rides with SPD cleats and MTB shoes and her cleats are adjusted pretty neutral both in terms of fore/aft positioning and in terms of toe in/out.
- We did complete one century last summer and the last 20 miles were extremely uncomfortable for her. Afterwards the pain lasted for at least one week.
- The pain/discomfort is located right above her heel in the Achilles tendon. It's definitely not a muscle or joint pain.
- We both suspect that cycling flexes the ankle LESS than running so this pain is a mystery to us.

I am a recreational triathlete and although I notice you guys have tons of questions on crank length I have yet another one. It seems to me that in triathlon applications, especially long distances like an Ironman, it would be beneficial to use a shorter crank at higher rpm in an effort to enlist more slow-twitch muscles and remain as aerobic as possible on the bike. I naturally pedal somewhere between 90-95 rpm and am hoping a shorter crank will also allow me to pedal more perfect "circles" thus being more efficient with my energy. Let me know what you guys think.

Without getting into the enlistment of muscle fibre types or aerobic changes, which I don't know enough about to comment on, if you are in doubt about crank length it is better to err on the conservative side. Whatever your crank length, don't expect going up or down 1 size (2.5mm) to make a lot of difference because it won't. But you are right that over 180kms, a small difference may be a benefit or a hindrance, just don't expect miracles.