Fitness questions and answers for February 27, 2007

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.

Here's my general rule for answering the question, "does cycling cause condition-X?" If cycling itself is a cause of the problem, it should cause the problem in a significant number of cyclists sooner or later. That would describe cycling's relation to such conditions as saddle sores, road rash, sore knees and a particular odd looking tan. These things happen to cyclists with enough regularity and end when people stop riding with enough regularity that we can say they are caused by cycling. Of course one can also argue that it is not cycling itself, but rather riding in dirty shorts, riding with a saddle too low or crashing that cause these things, but still one would not have the problems if one didn't ride.

I raced bikes when I was younger, in my early 20s, but got into soccer too. Over the last ten years I've managed to tear both of my anterior cruciate ligaments (ACLs) while playing, the last one was just this last spring. I got on my bike right away and have been putting in steady miles and training since. My left knee is still ACL deficient, and the meniscus is torn too - it gets sore at the back fairly often. My left leg has atrophied a bit, despite the cycling. I'm trying to be more consistent with weight training to try to build it up in relation to my stronger right leg.

So my question is, just how much cycling can I do like this? I'd like to race this coming year, and then have my ACL fixed at the end of the season - in October. I know I don't drive through my left knee as much as I would if it was ‘good'. Would massage help the meniscus feel better? How can I best compensate on the bike, power wise? Hips above the cranks, or slightly ahead, slightly behind, etc?

Don't mean to be a busybody, but I was just reading Scott Saifer's answer to the collegiate rider suffering from mononucleosis; I felt like his answer was both a bit alarmist in terms of schedule and not alarmist enough given the particular problems an athlete recovering from mononucleosis is likely to face (beyond the question of simple fatigue interrupting training, there is the possibility of liver and spleen enlargement and even the possibility of spleen rupture).