Fitness questions and answers for December 23, 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.

Absolutely. Muscle mass is 'metabolic' in the sense that it requires energy to maintain it and it does use some fat at rest. More muscle uses more fat. Before you consider adding muscle mass as a way of using more fat daily however, you should consider how much muscle you'd need to add. Let's say you wanted to add enough muscle to use one pound of fat per month. The following a quick calculation is full of approximations borrowed form www.wikipedia.org. Don't think of this as a rigorous bit of science, but just a ball-park estimate.

Scott Saifer's response to the question about the utility of resistance training for fat loss was limited to fuel selection (carbohydrate vs. fat) during exercise. He raises a point that is important for optimal recovery - the requisite consumption of carbohydrate for repletion of glycogen stores. However, post-exercise, metabolic pathways are regulated such that carbohydrate is used to synthesise glycogen and not fatty acids due to activation of an enzyme, AMP-kinase, which acts as a metabolic switch.

That's a fine method of finding a starting position for the cleat, so long as you remember that all rules of thumb for bike fit get you starting positions and that you then watch the rider pedalling and correct for any problems you see. For many riders, this method will get you a cleat fore-aft position that works fine and doesn't need to be adjusted. Do remember to set the angle as well on pedal systems that don't allow generous float.

The problem is that it still seems as though the left foot isn't connected as seamlessly through the pedal stoke as the right foot nor does it seem to push the same power as the right foot. At the beginning of last year I bought two different sized shoes (Shimano 300) and was fitted on the bike with those. My left foot has three shims and the right only two. The total difference in the length of the feet is far greater than the difference of the balls of the feet.

This should be an easy one to fix. You have done the right thing in using differing size shoes on each foot. You say "My left foot has three shims and the right only two". I suspect you mean wedges not shims. Wedges can't the foot; i.e., that is lift the inner edge or outside edge of the foot depending on the placement of the thick edge of the wedge. A shim elevates the foot, i.e. moves it further from the top of pedal platform and are used to correct measurable or functional limb length differences.

I know I have a problem with not sitting on the bike symmetrically but my issue is, how do I get this resolved? This is also apparent when standing and even sitting in an ergonomic office chair. Most of the 'physios', chiropractors and 'sports doctors' in my area seem to be more keen with a few random 'back cracks' and then sending me on my way without much in the way of improvement. I could try trail and error based upon what I feel but this could make things worse.

Sadly, I hear of situations like yours all the time. I don't know what you do for a living but if I asked you the question: "Of the people that you know that have a similar job to yours; what percentage would you trust to do your work for you?" - you would probably answer "About 5%" Like all other service professions, the health profession is no different in terms of customer satisfaction in my experience.