Fitness questions and answers for January 24, 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.

All of the other posts indicate that a reaching with the foot (right or left) with the heel rotating away from the frame may be linked to a varus in the forefoot. I measured with the Lemond device many times and found that my right forefoot is measuring 5 VALGUS. In addition to that, my right tibia measures about 5mm shorter than my left. My left forefoot measures pretty straight, but may go slightly varus.

I'm currently a collegiate road-racer (male, 19 years old) in my first year of riding. Our first races are a few weeks off, with targeted races not happening for about a month and then continuing until early April. Most of the literature I've seen is about how NOT to overtrain, but, being a first-year rider, I've already passed that threshold. I haven't hit a mental block yet, but I know something's wrong because I just can't get comfortable on the bike, and just about everyday is a lesson in feeling TIRED off the bike. Over the winter, I did a lot of low-intensity (mostly in or below zone 2 with a few tempo and interval workouts thrown in), high-volume work. For example, my peek week was 22 hours, riding 3 2-hour days and 4 4-hour days (during finals week, at that), but most of the weeks were between 12-18. I'd been told to "keep it easy" during the winter, and felt that's what I was doing. Obviously, however, I didn't give myself enough rest time in between workouts to fully recover. Anyway, my question is: once you've deduced that you're over-trained, what's the best way to recover? Should one just get off the bike for a few days and do no training whatsoever? Spend the next week spinning for an hour or so and just generally take it easy? Or is it necessary to really re-evaluate the next months (and therefore season) training cycle?

Hi, I have an older Trek 1500 Aluminium 58 cm frame that I bought second hand. I've had it for nearly three years and the previous owners had it set up for them and as you would expect cut the fork steerer height to suit. My problem is that it's about an inch too short for me and seems to be the cause of my shoulder pain (bike was professionally set up and matches requirements posted on this site previously). Can you recommend a fork that would fit the Trek frame, that would allow me to set up the bike anew a hopefully eliminate my shoulder pain.

Hello, I have been told I need a combination of Lemond wedges on my left leg by my local bicycle fit professional. However, I use Time MTB pedals and I have been unable to make the combination of SPD style shims work with this pedal system. The shims get caught up on the cleat and pedal engagement system, causing inconsistent performance from the pedal, as well as sloppy and sometimes "sticky" feelings from the pedalling platform.

I appreciate your response; unfortunately it has taken me a while to get back to this. Before I try this I just wanted to clarify a few points. Just to make sure I am interpreting your instruction correctly, when I am making the folds are each fold in half of itself? Or am I to fold on another line or is the width of the fold not important? Also does the number of folds include the first fold of each sheet of paper "Fold them in half along the short axis"?

Once again thanks for your help, I have been struggling with this issue (over pronation) for some time. I could never get my left leg to "feel right". I see a chiropractor, for routine maintenance, for an issue of my left hip rolling forward. The adjustments seem to help that, but despite my efforts of stretching, technique drills such as isolated leg drills, pedalling, and others, I have been unable to get the powerful smooth feeling stroke I have with my right leg. Once the issue was diagnosed getting the correct fix will be a relief. I have tried custom insoles, professional fit, Specialized body geometry shoes. I have spent hours reading your column on Cyclingnews and find the overall picture of biomechanics that you and your staff provide to be very insightful. Thanks for your work in this area! Cycling needs more talented specialists helping the athletes develop.

This is general questions regarding recovery from the common cold. I have been feeling general fatigue, sinus pain, congested nose and ears (kind-of), and wake up in the middle of the night and morning with a slightly sore throat. From what I understand, the general rule is if it is above the neck you are OK to go, but a bit lower intensity/volume. The thing is I am feeling so fatigued, not enough to be on the couch all day or napping, but I cannot seem to muster up any motivation to train. I took about four days off the bike and made a deal with myself that if I did get any better then I would try moving to see how my body reacted. I was able to lift some weights one day and ran and rode the other with no avail; I am feeling the same and slightly a bit worse at days end. What are my next steps? Should I completely rest until this cold goes away or should I try pushing through it? Thank you very much.

It is normal for athletes to get sick with a cold or flu once or twice per year, just like anybody else. How you deal with being sick will determine whether it keeps you out of training for a few days or ruins your season. When you are ill the highest priority should be getting well again quickly, not sticking to your training plan. Training too much while you are ill will make you stay ill or get worse. Returning to training too soon can cause a relapse. It is better to miss a few days of training voluntarily than a few weeks due to a more serious illness. The questions are how much to back off, for how long, and how to come back to full training. The answers to all these questions depend on how sick you are.

How sick are you? Illnesses divide into two categories as far as training is concerned. Do you have a little sniffle, or something worse? If you have a little sniffle, continue to do recovery pace sessions up to half the length of your longest recent training sessions. You can continue to lift weights provided that you quit if you start to feel worse. If you have a sniffle, continue the lighter workouts until you feel well and for one more day. Then return to your full training.

How long to take off? If you have chest congestion, fever, body aches, deep fatigue or nausea, you are too sick to train. Do not train (including lifting) while you have these symptoms. Start to train again when you feel close to fully recovered. If you feel sick for a day or two, take a day or two off. If you feel sick for a week, take a week off. If you are very sick or are not recovering for a full week, it is also time to consult a doctor.

How to come back? If you miss 1 - 3 days of training, just take one easy day and rejoin the schedule. An easy day is done low in your endurance zone (zone 2) for not more than half of the time of your longest recent session. If you feel weak on the easy day, take another easy day. Continue taking easy days or days off until you have a good day. You should always have four symptom free days between an illness and any hard training or racing. If your schedule calls for hard training or racing in the first four days after you return from an illness, just do long endurance sessions instead. Don't try to make up the missing days. If you missed something important like a test, talk to your coach about how to reschedule.

If you miss 4-7 days, you will need six days to return to full training. The first two days of training, aerobic train or lift, whichever is on your schedule. If you aerobic train, do 1/4 the length of your longest recent session and do it at a recovery pace. If you lift, do 1/2 your normal sets and 1/2 your normal weights. On days three and four of your return, if you train aerobically do 1/2 your long session at an endurance pace (dropping to recovery if you get tired). If you lift do your normal weights but only half the normal sets. On days 5 and 6, you can do 3/4 your normal long session at an endurance pace or your full normal lifting routine.
If you miss more than seven days of training, talk to your coach about how best to schedule your return. After a longer break it may be best to delay the remainder of your schedule or do some testing to see how much you have really lost.

I recently read a disturbing article concerning loss of bone density in cyclists. The thrust of the article was that due to the non-weight bearing nature of the sport contributed to a stark reduction in bone mass. Additionally, the article suggested that since cyclist may train for longer periods, that extra calcium may be "leached" from the bones and out through extra sweating. While most of the cyclists they studied were elite level athletes, I got the impression that I still have alot to be concerned about.

My own background: 35-year-old male, 6', 165 lbs, cat 3 racer, cycling up to 10 hours a week on average. I came from higher impact sports in my youth such as basketball and running, but quit in my early 20s due to injury and subsequently took up cycling as my primary form of exercise. My job is very sedentary which causes me extra concern. I'm considering a bone scan and possibly continuing a weight training programme throughout the year instead of just the off-season, though I know coaches usually advise against 'heavy' year round weight training. Any additional suggestions or thought would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Against Ric Stern's advice, I have incorporated a substantial weight lifting program to my off-season training. My goal has been to develop the meanest sprint that a 137 pound (now 140 because of the gym) climber can have. I train on the bike 15-25 hours a week and lift twice a week for about four hours total. My weight room program includes leg press, hack squats, squats, lunges, and hamstring curls. Since September I have seen about a 35-40% increase in strength on each of the exercises.

Following not recovering from a crash back in September my specialist has told me I need to have an Arthroscopic Subacromial Decompression operation on my shoulder, to clean a bone spur which is prodding a tendon in my shoulder. Any idea (ish) how long after the operation I can get back on bike? If it's going to be two months or more will I lose all of my current fitness levels or will training right up to the op be 'money in the bank' so to speak?

A recurring problem I've had when training in colder weather seems to be triggered by post-nasal drip. I'm 15 minutes into it when down comes the phlegm, I hork it away, but that starts to trigger this gag reflex which triggers more phlegm, this time seemingly from below, as though I'm getting heartburn. It becomes bad enough that I have to stop riding as I feel like I'm choking on what's in the back of my throat.

I used to get heartburn semi-regularly as a teenager, when I ate something without drinking water or some other drink first, but since then I've been fine. I generally find that drinking water once this problem starts does help somewhat, and I wonder if I drank enough before its onset, would this not happen. Also, do you think it's a function of being in less than good shape? Or breathing the cold air through the mouth instead of the nose?

I'm going to ask a couple of questions which are probably far below the level of expertise this group is used to, but I wanted to try. I'm a 27-year-old graduate student with two kids who is trying to fix his lifestyle. I'm a big cycling fan, but until recently have been the kind of fan who cheers the OLN coverage while holding a bag of Doritos. I'm 5'11, and now weigh 240 lbs. I've lost 15 pounds in 3 weeks using a new bike (Trek 2100) and a fluid trainer (I live in Iowa - no outside riding now) along with a restricted calorie diet (1700-2000 cal/day). I use a scale to get portions correct, so I'm pretty confident about those numbers. Also, based on these few weeks of counting, I'm going to estimate that my previous daily calorie consumption was 3500-4000, so these first 15 pounds are probably my body saying, "Thank God, I couldn't take much more of that!"

My problem is that I'm getting very tired. Part of that is coming from the fact that I'm taking away a little bit of sleep to get my riding done, but I'm guessing that my diet is also part of the problem. I get 6-8 hours of sleep a night, which historically has been enough, even when I was in shape six years ago. I need basic nutritional info as it pertains to my weight loss. I'm riding first thing in the morning, after I down some water, but no food. I'm only riding right now for 30 minutes Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I'm riding at what feels like a tough pace for me, but I don't have a HRM or anything right now, and have spent most of my budget on the bike, the trainer and a pair of shorts. Basically, how can I get the most bang for my buck, calorie-wise, in terms of recovery? When do I want to be eating? Are there good rules in terms of what quantities to eat when? Also, from what I've described, is there anything you can glean that indicates I'm doing something fundamentally wrong? Is my body just getting used to this schedule, and will it take a while?