Fitness questions and answers for January 6, 2009

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.

In addition to Pam's comments, I would add that there are some lines of supplements only sold by licensed health care practitioners that claim to adhere to quite rigorous standards versus common practice in the industry, list all ingredients and are hypoallergenic. One example is Pure Encapsulations, which claims to submit all of its products to third party labs for testing and certification versus label claims.

Hi, I am a 20-year-old, male category 1 cyclist and am trying to figure out what to make of my low RBC, hemoglobin, and hematocrit numbers. I recently received a blood test in follow up to ones I have had previously, for the purposes of a study I was conducting using an intermittent hypoxic device. I am disappointed that my blood markers still remain low and would like to do something about them to get them more into the normal range. I am confused also since my iron levels seem to be ok.

My question is: am I anaemic? Based on my RBC, hemoglobin, and hematocrit, I am... but my iron and B12 levels (a bit jacked up from the supplements) seem ok. Whatever the cause, I really would like to get my RBC, hemoglobin, and hematocrits more into the normal range. Also, I took this blood test after a couple days of easy riding in preparation for physiological testing, which I conducted later that day. Also, it is strange that my values are so low while my VO2 max tested so high (85). Is there no connection there?

Please forgive me if this topic has been covered, but I see a lot of information regarding shoe and cleat position but not so much regarding the saddle fore-aft position. In short, how should this be determined? Should the old standard (myth) of knee over the spindle be used? What exact part of the knee should be measured? What are the benefits or detriments in changing the riding position to a further back or further forward position - I notice that triathletes and time trailers sit far forward yet I have read that a forward position brings more of the fast twitch muscles into play which doesn't seem like it would be the most beneficial for TT'ing.

So long as the bars are adjusted to maintain the same hip-angle, pedaling force will be affected by extension, which is affected by both seat fore-aft and seat height. Within the range of fore-aft positions that can be accomplished on a standard road bike, there not going to be a difference in pedal force independent of seat height. That is, as you move the seat back, if you lower it to maintain extension and raise the bars and shorten the stem to maintain hip angle, the pedaling force will not be significantly affected.