Fitness questions and answers for July 31

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 had a rather disappointing summer where I managed to break both my neck of femur 3 months apart (bike crashes). As a result there is a 3cm differential in my leg lengths. Now 6 month post the last crash with the aid of customised shoes the associated problems are subsiding and I am once more looking to improve my cycling performance. Apart from building strength can someone please advise the best way to adjust for this on the bike and where to find it. I was in a comfortable position prior to this and rode with a flat pedal stroke, now on the left side I ride quite toey to compensate.

I am a 47 year hold Cat 4 racer doing road races and hill climbs. I just had my bike refitted for my aging body (a 57 cm Bianchi titanium XL reparto corse with an Easton SL fork) at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. They replaced my flat 120 mm stem with a 110 stem with a 15 degree rise and placed the levers high on the bars. This has resulted in a fit where holding the levers is the most comfortable and default riding position. While I was skeptical, they insisted that this more upright position will give me more power and avoid back pain.

Much of the fantastic advice you have given to others in the past has helped me immensely on the bike, in terms of positioning and comfort, many thanks! I would, however, appreciate some advice (if you have any) on curing lower back pain. I am a recreational rider looking to take up road racing early next year. I currently ride roughly 150 – 190 miles a week; I am male, 30 years old, 166cm tall and weigh 60kg. In the past I have had issues with comfort on the bike – I suffered with pain at the base of my neck for a long period of time. I sought help by paying for a full Serotta fit session and had my position altered and LeWedges placed above my cleats to correct a varus tilt in my feet. After a period of roughly a year riding in the new position (feeling more but not entirely comfortable) I suffered a nasty broken wrist as a result of collision, which subsequently kept me off the bike for about 6 months.

On getting back on the bike again, after having returned to a sedentary level of fitness, I found I couldn't get comfortable. I felt like I was expending a great deal of energy by simply propping up my torso, which seemed to me to be the result of being quite far forward on the bike and spinning the pedals at a high cadence, which was something I was accustomed to doing before the accident. I searched through your archives for advice on positioning, and having discovered several relevant articles, made changes to my position. I moved the ball of my foot forward in relation to the pedal axle to roughly 7mm, I moved my saddle position back and lowered it fractionally, and I lowered my handlebars. The result of the changes being that I have started to tilt my pelvis forward slightly, my back is now much straighter and my upper body more stable, which has eradicated my neck pain, I feel most comfortable riding in the drops, I don't feel like I'm propping my torso up any more, my feet feel planted on the pedals and as a bonus I seem to be very low and in a pretty aerodynamic position.

Finally to the point: though I am now more comfortable on the bike than ever I do suffer with lower back pain when pushing bigger gears and riding hard. My usual rides are 50 to 60 miles long on a hilly (usually windy) route. I will average around 17 – 19 mph, which feels like a good workout at a comfortable pace, but if I want to increase speed, push bigger gears or climb hard I suffer with pain and stiffness in the lower back. I feel like I'm unable to develop power because my back is weak. When pushing bigger gears, I don't feel as if I'm overloading one muscle group in my legs and my torso feels quite relaxed so my effort is expended pretty much through my legs but my lower back just tightens up. Is this a common problem? Can I expect to develop strength in my lower back over time or is there something else going on here? And is it plausible that having ridden for a couple of years with a relatively upright pelvis and arched back that my legs have developed a small amount of cycling specific strength in this position which my back hasn’t?

You are overloading your quadriceps and having tracking problems with the knee cap. Firstly have a look at these posts and position your cleats as instructed - http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=2004/letters07-26#Cleat and http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=2004/letters10-11#Ball That should help to some degree, large or small. Next, buy some LeMond Wedges http://www.lemondfitness.com/products/lewedge/index.html and experiment carefully with their use underneath your cleats.

I a 23 year old Cat 2 racer who just got my upgrade at the end of June. I am 6ft and weigh 175 and consider my self an all-rounder. I can hang with the guys in the mountains and sprints, but usually take my wins in solo breaks with about 2-5 km from the finish in crits. About 3 weeks ago I came down with a headache (not the worst ever but it still hurt) and an elevated resting HR, a jump from 42 to 65. The doctor ran no test and passed it off as a tension headache. I raced that weekend (poorly) and then left for Wisconsin's Superweek the next week. My resting HR was in the mid 60's still. Racing was very tough and my legs were getting ripped off me. I thought that I was just out of my league. When I got home, I was still feeling very weak and my resting HR was still 65ish. I now had a sore throat so I went to the doctor and demanded tests. It turns out I was positive for mono. Here are a few questions.

If my the ball of my left foot and right foot differ from each other because of the feet themselves being different in size (one is slightly longer than the other) should this effect the position of my cleat in relation to the ball of my foot guideline? As of now, I have the cleats positioned differently, but only slightly, but I can still feel the difference when I ride, though it does not cause me any sort of pain. I am just wondering If I should leave it be or change it and have both cleats the same. I really do not believe in the "if its not broken then don't fix it" attitude, so whenever you guys can give me a reply I would appreciate it, thanks

I am 22 years old, live in the flat lands of Miami, FL. I have been cycling for close to two years now, but started racing competitively about 4-5 months ago. Am currently a cat 5 racer but am working on moving up soon. I hate the local cat 5 races, no one wants to pull and everyone is trying to win, so I just attack and if they want to go with me that's fine, it not I'll have fun doing what I do best, TT.

Anyways, on the last crit that I did I broke away solo early in the race, wasn't a breakaway, I just saw the peloton wasn't chasing the 4 guys up front, so I bridged the gap and once I got to them they were already toast, all after a one lap, 1 mile effort! Once I got to the front and started setting a fast tempo as the peloton was probably 5-7 seconds behind, I look back and am there all by myself. Decide to go full gas as the local crit races are 45 minutes plus 3 laps of one mile each.

Wasn't looking at my heart rate while riding but I knew it was up there. When I got home and downloaded the data I was amazed to see that I was actually above my TT avg hr the entire time while I was in the breakaway. Which brings me to my question, I know am young and can have maintain higher hr for an extended amount of time compared to my cycling buddies (All above well 30), but is it normal to be able to maintain such a high heart rate for a long time, or do the pros basically maintain a high heart rate like this in the TT's?

My favourite race is TT, as I am pretty good at them. I know when am doing a TT I can keep it at 192 bpm for at least an hour, if I start to go above 194 I start to feel it a bit and once I slow it down to like 190 I can feel am recovering... Do I have some kind of gift that my body can tolerate this? Its not in my direct genetics as everyone in my family is obese and so was I while growing up, until I I took a nutrition class, although I've always been involved in sports!