Fitness questions and answers for February 26, 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 am a 42 year old Cat 4 racer that races mostly cyclo-cross and some MTB. On numerous occasions I have tried swimming as means of cross training but I just can't seem to do more than two laps without feeling like I am totally winded. I know that I am in good shape and I can sustain my heart rate on the bike well above LT threshold for a considerable amount of time. For some reason, however, in the pool I just can't seem to breathe efficiently enough to swim long distances. This makes me wonder if I am breathing efficiently on the bike. My question is two fold:

I've seen you touch on this point before but not in a way that has been too helpful for me, so I am writing. I'm trying to sort out the best setup at the pedals for me. My left shoe is a 42 and my right is a 40 (that's what I wear to try and keep shoe height differences to a minimum in street shoes, but the right foot is a little smaller), but my leg lengths are the same (I've been tested). I've set up my position usually by splitting the difference in foot length at the axle, meaning the left foot is a bit forward of the axle, while the right is just a hair behind. This has been fine but I feel power-wise it puts my right leg at a disadvantage and may mechanically be over-stressing the back of my leg due to the setup being a little unstable compared to the left. I've been exploring my pedal stroke on my road bike and on my commuter (old fashioned platform pedals, no straps) and how I do other physical activities and now am wondering if I have it all wrong, that maybe I should just be fixing the balls of my feet at the same place over the axle.

1. Different foot length will effect knee position when the foot is flat, but the foot is seldom flat, and the ankle/pedal rotation should naturally resolve this for such a small difference
2. Leg + foot length may be affected at parts of the pedal cycle, but resolved in the same way as issue #1
3. Stability and power should be more balanced between legs if they have the same ball/axle relationship
4. I do everything else fine with this discrepancy, so a radical change to my effective anatomy on the bike could mean I am losing useful adaptations I have had all my life
5. On my platform pedals, I naturally position my feet at closer to the same point over the axle, though the right foot does want to come in more
6. Shimming would have more problems than benefits, such as the length being too short at parts of the pedal stroke (but harder to compensate for naturally because it may cause an over-extended drop, vs. rise of the heal without), and instability at the foot pedal connection due to the higher stack height

So, what I am thinking is, bring both my feet over the spindle, maybe push the left foot out a hair if my cleats will allow. I know I could just give it a try, but I'd like your opinion about it before I go through the trouble and risk of a position change. Also, I'm curious about theoretically what would be best. Probably what is keeping me the most from giving it a try is not understanding at which point in the foot is it most important to have alignment between the two feet, at the ball, ankle, or heel?

Two shoe sizes difference in length should mean that your feet are approximately 12mm different in length. What you are saying about each leg feeling like there is a different muscle enlistment pattern is correct. Different relative cleat position will always cause that. Despite what you say in your point 6, don't discount it in a theoretical sense unless you have tried it. And that is what I would advise as the empirical test is the only one that matters. I would try a small shim of 3 - 5mm under the cleat of the smaller foot with cleats positioned with centre of the Ist MTP slightly in front of the pedal axle on each foot.

Hi, First I wanted to say thanks to all of you, I have learned a great deal from reading other questions and answers. Because of my schedule during the week in winter I can only fit in ~ 1 hour rides on the trainer using a power tap. Two of the workouts I do involve a 10 minute warm-up and 20 minute intervals at my threshold power or at tempo power with a 5 minute recovery in-between followed by a short cool down. I realize it's not optimal but it's what I can get a way with until the weather warms up. Most of the books I read suggest 10-15 minutes recovery at these levels. The only issue I might be having is going at a slightly lower power level to compensate for the short recovery. Is there any benefit or issue with the short recovery?

I have persistent problems with a knee that seems to rotate outward too much during the pedal stroke - what some refer to as "knee dive." My pain is at the head of the left fibula. After seeing a couple of orthopaedists and physical therapists, no one is too sure of the root of the problem. One bike shop recently pointed out that my left knee rotates outward during the pedal stroke, and I've now seen that myself on video tape. If in fact the "knee dive" is the root of the problem, what should I do to fix the dive? I use Speedplay pedals, which allow the maximum degree of float. I've tried inserting a few shims, to no avail (measurements at a good bike shop called for using three wedges, the number I am using). I have also tried (briefly) wearing the custom orthotic I use to prevent excessive over-pronation when running. Can you suggest other steps I should try? Stick with the orthotic for a longer period of time? More shims? The Body Geometry shoes from Specialized? Other things to try? Any help will be very much appreciated.

1. A physical therapist did identify my left hip as being tighter than the right, and we worked on it for a while (actually making more progress in loosening up the right than the left), and I continue to do the basic stretch and lunge exercises he gave me. It doesn't seem to have helped so far, perhaps because I haven't made any progress in loosening it up.
2. I've also tried moving my saddle down and forward (making the adjustments separately), to no avail. I will very much appreciate any suggestions you can offer.

The cause of your left knee moving outward during the left up stroke and inward on the left down stroke is that you are dropping and / or rotating your right hip during the right side pedal stroke. You will find that as the right hip drops or rotates forward on the right down stroke, the left knee has to move outward on its upstroke as a consequence. As the right knee rises the pelvis rebounds more or less towards the centre of the seat. This coincides with the left down stroke and the left knee then rolls in.

I am a 62 yr old recreational cyclist and my physician is recommending that I try testosterone injections to improve my sex life, energy levels, etc. My question is: how will this affect my cycling training. I participate in about 6 centuries and 6 metric centuries annually and ride about 100 to 150 miles per week in the warm months and supplant my cycling with running in the winter. I also lift weights 2 to 3 times per week to stave off osteo problems.

I am 31, race 5s and spent the winter riding instead of slacking. I had worked up to a point where 3-4 hour rides were the norm on Saturday, with another 2-3 on Sunday and trainer work during the week. I had not started speed work outright, but had been training harder going into late January. Then I made a mistake and took a new bike on a training ride with three guys that race 2s. We were out for about 4 hours but the intensity, especially when we did one of the few more or less sustained climbs in Oklahoma, was higher than what I was regularly training at.

The basic story is that you injured yourself after riding harder than you are used to on a bike that you weren't familiar with. The injury you have suffered was most likely caused by overextending the left leg riding those hills at higher intensity than you are used to. If you were forcing the gear a bit, you will have dropped your heels more which in turn means greater leg extension. Probably adding to that is that 95% of riders favour and protect their right legs and sacrifice their left to varying degrees under severe load. The rest favour and protect the left.

My situation is this: When I ride down long mountain roads, anywhere from about 5km to 15km, I need to keep my hands in the drops to apply enough force on the ends of the brakes levers to control my descent and stop in an emergency if necessary. But, and this is the problem, my hands are small and my fingers are short. To have a good grasp of the levers I must "rotate" my shoulders forward and stretch out my hand and fingers to grasp the brake levers so that I can squeeze them with sufficient force. If this were only for a few seconds, it would not be problematic, but going down long mountain roads, this can last for many, many minutes, up to 20 or minutes. What commonly results is a sore and cramped lower back, and especially so because before the descent I had to spend a much longer time climbing. The option of having my hands on the hoods does not work because I cannot apply enough force to the brake levers to come to a stop or reduce enough speed to get around sharp corners and hairpins.

I have not been able to find this information on my own on the internet, so I am asking for your help. In this day and age, I still use friction shifters on my downtube simply because the shortest reach levers I have found are Cane Creek SCR-5C (short reach). They are only brake levers and do not have a shifting function. I would like to go to modern combined shift-brake levers which would make shifting while descending mountains and riding in groups a much more safer and stable action. I would like to know what my options are before I spend a lot of money on what would basically be a new gruppo.