Fitness questions and answers for July 3

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'm a 22 Male Cat 4 racer 5'9 160lb. I just picked up racing this year and I'm now upgrading to Cat 4. I want to pick up my climbing speed by about 1-2mph on a 3.5mile 8% climb. I'm currently climbing this hill in 20 minutes at TT threshold (Heartrate) I'd like to climb it in about 18 but I can't seem to get any faster on it. What would be the best route to achieving this goal, so that I can maintain the pace with racing?

Interestingly, you are 10% heavier than the average successful professional rider your height and you are asking for a 10% increase in speed, so the obvious answer to your question is that you need to lose about 15 pounds to transform your body into a bike-racer body. The weight range for successful pro at 5'9" is roughly 135-155 pounds, with the climbers at the low and and the TT/sprint guys at the higher end. Note that there is a low end of the range as well as a high end. If you get too light, you lose power and climbing suffers. If you are too heavy, you may have power but your power-to-weight ratio is not compatible with fast climbing.

I recently tried changing my pedal position from the traditional 'ball of the foot right above the axel of the pedal' to maybe 7 or 8 mm in front of the axel. I noticed less muscular stress when climbing seated (was able to sustain high outputs without feeling tired muscles as much). However, it has severely capped my pedalling speed. During high output, I am accustomed to pedal rates around 105 rpm (sometimes above 110). Now, it feels very awkward when I get over 95 rpm. I'd like to get my high pedal rate back. Should I just spend some time re-training my spin? Or is it something about my pedal position? It's worth noting that my pedals do feel a bit too far forward, and my heels have a tendancy to rise (which they didn't before I moved my cleats). I also moved my seat forward to prevent me from overextending my legs due to the new pedal position.

Move your seat back to whatever setback it was before and drop your seat 3mm from your previous height. This should be enough to accommodate the 7 - 8mm that you have moved the cleats back. Then go for a hill ride as see if you have power and fluency through the bottom of the pedal stroke. By that I mean that you should not feel any sense of over reaching. If you do, drop the seat another couple of mm. Try this for a couple of weeks, say 3 - 4 rides a week.

On December 27th of this past winter, I tore my ACL (100%) in a soccer game. There was minor cartiledge damage and a minor sprain to my MCL. I got on the indoor trainer 3 days later to test it out. Needless to say, there was limited range of motion, but I could pedal at about 20 rpms and a 49 watt normalized power for 20 minutes. I gradually built up from that, even after the MRI and follow-up suggested surgery. At the second opinion I got a month after the injury (from a trusted ortho), I was told that it would not be a problem to wait until after the cycling season for surgery. This was partly because the MCL and cartiledge had healed and my knee was doing extremely well. I was back on the bike and up to my full training, sans full-on sprinting. Now, I have gone back and seen the ortho, and he is absolutely amazed. My legs strength, from years of soccer and cycling, is compensating for the lack of an ACL to the point that he can tell no discernable difference between my two knees. This is to the point that he says I don't need surgery, period. I have no problems or pain other than occasional stiffness and no swelling after workouts. I have also, so far, had a successful season with several top-10 finishes and have just won my state's elite criterium championship.

I like the approach that your second surgeon is taking. In the short run it is not essential for the ACL to be repaired, particularly when performing a non-impact sport such as cycling. In the long run, however, my opinion is that having it repaired is the right thing. Now, before our readers bombard us with letters saying how they have done well without their ACLs, I would say that certainly some function well if they are ACL deficient, particularly if they do not participate in any high impact or lateral activities. But, in the long run, once the ACL is gone one of the primary restraints to anterior shear of the tibia is lost. This excessive motion is absorbed over time by the meniscus, which is not ideal and can lead to accelerated degenerative changes at the knee.

I have read the articles related to women's specific bike fit by Steve Hogg on the www.cyclefitcentre.com web site and any emails related to fit on the cyclingnews fitness Q&A section. Steve has a list of recommended women's saddles in his "More Sensitive Issues" article dated 2000. I would love to see an updated list of saddles that he recommends for women and am sure there are many other women who would benefit from this advice. I desperately need a new saddle, but getting one that is comfortable is such an ordeal.

I am a 21 year old male and I am currently into bike racing as well as triathlons. I think that I have seen this question asked before on your website but I can't seem to find it when I search. My right side of my body is the more dominant side and I have read that usually your non-dominant side will be a little bigger due to it not being as well trained so therefore it has to work harder. But in my case, the size difference in my right leg is about 1 inch to 1 ½ inches smaller than my left. Is this size difference normal or am I doing something incorrectly on the bike or in my workouts? Any suggestions or feedback would be helpful. Thanks.

Sorry for not specifying on whether it was leg length or circumference but yes, it is circumference. When I do sprints on my bike, am running on a track for interval work, or ride down a ramp on a time trial, I always start with my left leg because I can get more power for my first stroke or first step. Even when I play basketball I always jump off of my left leg when getting a rebound or trying to do a lay-up. Do you think that over the years of doing this on the same leg over and over could cause such a dramatic size difference between the two legs?

I may be wrong in this. We can self protect an injury to the point where we evolve patterns of motion that don't load that area or injury. These patterns of motion can often outlast the injury and be semi permanent and hard to break out of. I would be seeing some sort of health professional with a good grounding in neuroanatomy and an understanding of how these things happen and how they are broken down and replaced with more symmetrical use patterns.

I am a 50 year old, female who just purchased a Terry Madeline road bike. I'm in the test driving period and have made several trips to the bike shop for adjustments. One of the first adjustments made was to slide the seat forward a bit so that I didn't feel like I was hyper extended with no bend in my arms. This helped me relax my shoulder and took the kink out of my back but as soon as I did that my elbows began to ache. Another adjustment we made was to add one more spacer to the handbars, thinking that perhaps that would make take some of the pressure off my arms and reduce the pain. I like riding in a more upright position.

When the seat was moved forward, the weight of your upper body moved with it. That weight has to be supported somehow and it is the job of the arms to do that. It is the bearing of two much weight on your arms that is the likely culprit. The other possible but less likely happening is that the reach to the bars is no too short as well as the seat being too far forward and your arms are working hard to keep you upper body supported and stable.

I have been a runner for about 7 years. I used to run marathons and run 10-15 at least five days a week. For the past 5-6 months, whenever I bend down or do squats, I can hear this "crunching" noise in my knees which is accompanied by pain. I have stopped running and do yoga and work out at the gym. Do I need to worry about this "crunching" noise in my knees and if so, is there anything I can do to eliminate and/or stop this from getting worse. I am concerned about it and it does cause me pain, especially when I first get out of bed in the morning. I have always been very physically active. Any suggestions would be very helpful. Thank you.

You don't need to worry about the crunching noise necessarily, but you should worry about the pain. Both have many possible causes, some of which are benign and will go away with a little rest, and others which could get gradually or rapidly worse without some real medical attention. After 5-6 months of noise and pain, you can conclude that the problem is not going to go away by itself so it's time to see the doctor (sorry).

I'm a mid 40s masters racer in the Pacific Northwest. At 5'7" and 135 lbs, I hold my own in road races with longer climbs but what I really lack is a decent top end. Once the spring road race season is over in early June I'm suffering in the crits. I stay with the pack usually without too much trouble, but when it's time to come around or make a break forget it. Because of my general endurance I can post some decent times in longer TTs but fare much worse on a windy or short TT course. I'm looking for suggestions on developing more power (and hopefully something that will work for a guy busy chasing three kids under the age of 6). Thx.

I am a 47 year old athlete who recently underwent a stress-test (Bruce protocol). My physician wanted a baseline stress-test due to my age and a complaint of sharp chest pain during some climbing. My beginning heart rate was 48 bpm and my blood pressure was 135/85 at the start of the test. The stress test was normal except for an increase in blood pressure that went as high as 250/122 when I reached my predicted heart rate of 147 bpm. My heart rate went down to the mid forties within two minutes of the conclusion of the test but my blood pressure remained elevated for sometime. I do have a history of mild hypertension (usually 130/78-80mmHg). Now that I have a graphic illustration of what happens when I work out I am willing to go on anti-hypertensive to help lower my blood pressure to the recommended 120/70. My concerns are as follows: Can the medications effect my performance by limiting my heart rate? Will the medications effect my electrolyte balance since I train in the desert? Do athletes have a tendency towards a higher blood pressure due to their bradycardia? Finally, what medications do you recommend in athletes, ace inhibitors, beta blockers or diuretics?

Issue: On rides longer than 30 miles, my right quadricep cramps, preventing me from continuing until I take a break and stretch. Even then, at a much reduced level of effort. The cramping extends from the upper inside of my right thigh, past the quad to the knee. It seems that my right leg works much harder than my left. As you might expect, it is exacerbated by big ring riding and climbing. I can't really define when I first noticed the problem. Some other facts. When pedaling, my right quad is closer to the top tube than my left. Attempts at adjusting the right pedal Q factor out (away from the bike) have not corrected the issue. The sensation I have is that I am not able to sit square on the saddle and that my left foot is lower than my right. In addition, my sense is that the right leg is always under a load, and never feels relaxed like the left.

I am 28 years old and am a typical season bike rider and do most of my biking during the wormer months. I cycle about 3 times a week but would like to do more. In the winter I mostly cross country ski. I haven't been cycling that long. About four years ago I started competing in some sprint distance triathlons at a beginner's level. I hade been cycling a little mountain bike the year before that but mostly as rehabilitation because I was diagnosed with patella tendonitis the year before that (about 6 years ago now, before this I never biked).

I can get bad hip pain, mostly in right hip, after some of my longer bike rides but never during the ride itself. If I get hip pain it usually comes a little wile after I have finished riding and lasts anywhere from a few hours to a few days. I don't always get this, maybe every second or third week depending on how much riding I have done. I have also noticed that if I go to a chiropractor my hip is better for a week or so.