Fitness questions and answers for February 6, 2005

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.

I recently purchased the CTS DVD series and find them terrific. During the winter season I will have no problem with balancing the trainer hours with my road riding. As the season changes, however, I want to keep up the intensity of the CTS workout while riding on the road. How wise is it to do both at the same time? Do you do the CTS work on "off" days, or just transfer the knowledge gained from the winter workouts to road training?

As a result I agreed to 'share' my bike with my wife whilst she trains for a local women's charity tri. I have done an Ironman and a couple of halves. I have a 2003 Giant, medium TCR frame. However, as is customary with tri riders I rotated my 'standard setback' Bontrager seat post 180 degrees to give me a very aggressive forward position. I used the standard OEM giant alloy/carbon stem in the lower position. Further, I read your post on cleat position and changed my cleats accordingly so my meta' was in front of the axle. However, this change was made some time ago and In fact I trained and rode the IM last year with no problems.

I decided on a compromise so that I did not have to change seat height and stem each weekend. I decided to fit a shorter Bontrager stem in the upper position (11 degrees approx). I rotated the Bontrager seat post to its original position and set the seat slightly back. I have been quite curious to see how this would work out as I have read your posts extensively and over time I have come to agree that the 'rotation around the bottom bracket' theory may be flawed. Our recent dilemma forced my hand.

After making the changes I experienced a significant increase in power when I road, I felt I was not tapping out 'low torque high-cadence revolutions.' However, on my second long ride since starting training, which was today, and consisted of 120k over relatively flat terrain, I felt my Quads begin to twitch as they did on my last ride and in fact by about 80k I simply could not stand up as they 'locked' (cramped) instantly. In fact I totally 'locked up' only 3k form home and I must have been a sight for sore eyes as I peeled my self of my bike and writhed in pain on someone's front lawn. (Nutrition, shoes etc is the same as in the past and no other pain such as lower back).