Fitness questions and answers for July 15, 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.

About six months ago I experienced some pain in my left hip and tightness in the left calf, which I wonder in retrospect if it could be because it is on the opposite side of the tilt of the saddle. This pain went away after I had my bike professionally fit, and subsequently altered my position to a more correct posture. Since I have no great pain, I hate to pay a doctor for a potentially negligible diagnosis. Is a hip imbalance a possible diagnosis, and can it be remedied? Prior to the fitting, I was using a Selle Italia Flite Gel Flow, but have recently switched to a Selle Italia Signo Gel Flow, but have noticed the tilting still continues despite the elastomers in the saddle and my new position.

Your tendency to force the seat down on right hand side indicates you are dropping the right hip. As to reasons, there could be a leg length difference or more likely functional issues with pelvis, hips or lower back. I've even seen upper back asymmetries cause a chain of compensations down the spine that end with what you have noted. In short, there are host of possible reasons for it and yes, a hip imbalance (which in itself can have many potential causes) is one possible cause. The left side issues you had some time ago were more than likely caused by your tendency to drop the right hip.

It was all over the place out of plane of rotation; taking my orthotics out of the system and adding the cant seemed to correct it, and certainly felt better until about 3 weeks ago. I'll also note that, during the bike fit, the pro noted that my left knee moves out of plane at the top of the stroke with a quick outward motion, while it tends towards the inside of plane at the bottom stroke. I'm also doing strengthening exercises for my arches.

I use speed play pedals (have for years) on my road bike. I am beginning to believe that maybe the speed plays don't offer enough support, over a wide enough area of my foot, but I am not sure about that as I see that there are plenty of pro tour riders using speed play and they ride way more and put a lot more pressure on there pedals than I do, In your opinion are they any other pedal systems that offer more support, or is there another problem? Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated before I start swapping out pedals.

Thanks for the quick response. To answer you questions, due to a broken hip when I was a child, my right leg is 1cm shorter than the left, also my right foot angles out to the right due to the broken hip(that's one reason I use speed plays due to all the float). Also, I had a podiatrist tell me once that I had a condition in the left foot called long toe syndrome, where the bones in your feet are to long, and anytime you put it in undue stress it inflames the joint and also has arthritis in the joint.

Sounds like I'm a walking wreck don't it? I guess since I broke my hip when I was so young I have learned to adjust to it (or did not realise I had the problems until someone pointed them out) I grew up racing motocross, a runner, and water skied after the broke hip, although the older I get the more nagging stuff happens. I know I need to make some position changes, but am not real sure what to do and don't want to make things worst, the local podiatrist around here only know about running, Its just that the foot problem is getting worst and last year I missed a cyclo cross race because of it, and its seems to be happing more and more so I need to solve the problem.

Ok, my wife watched me from behind and above, and she said that it looked like I was dropping and rotating my right hip. Also I have always felt like I was limping when I pedal. When I set my seat height, I use the old heel barely touch the pedal using the shorter leg. After I talked with you the about the speedplay pedals, the owner of the local bike shop let me borrow a set of the new style Shimano pedals, saying they had a larger foot bed, but I am worried that the lack of float with my angled out right foot might be a problem. I did install the cleats 9mm behind the ball of my foot (size 43 shoes) and I will try them out this afternoon.

Okay, the second scenario I mentioned yesterday is likely to be what is happening. You almost certainly need to shim up the right cleat. You will need to experiment with how much but I would suggest 5mm as a starting point, though don't be surprised if you need more. For every 5mm or so of shim stack, move your cleat one mm further back relative to foot in shoe to preserve a solid feel on the pedals. And yes, with the Shimano's, it is likely that there will not be enough rotational movement to cater for your externally rotated right hip.

I was feeling great for a while and my back/paraspinal/pirformis was not bothering me when I rode at all, but then, my knees started hurting. I went back to the bike shop and the owner moved my seat back a little and up a little and then moved my cleats. Well, now my knees are okay, but my other problem areas have come back and after about 2 hours of riding I am in too much pain and have no power whatsoever in my right leg and I am in spasm.