Fitness questions and answers for July 8, 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.

I'm a 42 year old male who is a weekend warrior type rider from the Seattle Tacoma area. I mostly ride for fun and exercise, when I'm not training for anything specific I usually ride 40 to 60 miles without much thought. Lately I have been training for a 150 mile 10,000 vertical ride around Mount Rainier some friends and I are planning. My training rides have been somewhat sporadic 40 to 60 miles here or there usually incorporating large hills, plus a couple 100 milers. For the most part the spring in the northwest has been cold 50-60F and wet. Last Saturday after 2 weeks of only minimal riding I did a 107 mile with two big climbs of about 3000 feet and 2000 feet, with a total of about 7000 vertical. The weather was much hotter than it had been 80F in town.

I felt pretty good on the first climb and climbed at my usual long climb output of about 180-184bpm, although staying hydrated was difficult. The second climb was more exposed to the sun, after about mile one out of six on the second climb I started to feel bad (a little worse than usual), so I dropped my speed substantially lower than previous times (15%) and tried to keep my heart rate below 180bpm. I ate a little while still on the bike and kept drinking as much as I could tolerate while resisting the temptation to get off the bike or turn around, I really craved shade.

I just ground it out and at the top I got off the bike and started sweating profusely. I felt pretty uncomfortable and my heart rate was a little rapid, which isn't uncommon for me in high heat and exertion situations, but it seemed a little worse than usual. My riding companions reported my face to be flush. I definitely felt on the edge of a heat related event. We took an hour break or so, during which I almost called for a pick-up; I wasn't able to eat much, just some chips and a little pasta. Lack of appetite is pretty normal for me, but I drank a soda and some water.

Since it was 40 miles mostly downhill to the car, and most of the general discomfort had gone away I decided to continue. I cut my pace to below 170bpm and slugged it out. My legs felt better than they had at that point on previous rides and even had a bit of a kick at the end. When I got home I had lost 4 pounds. I felt I ate as much as I normally do, drank as much as I could take in (maybe a little more earler in the ride), and went to the bathroom a little more frequently than usual, but felt I needed to do better with electrolytes. The next day I noticed some blood in my urine and my lower back had a dull ache.

You were right to contact the doctor with this issue. I've worked with more than 1,000 cyclists (road and MTB racers, ultra-endurance, century and even BMX) and not run into blood in urine before. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen in cyclists (I'm sure 20 or 30 are getting ready to write me as they read this), but it does mean it's very rare. The rest of your questions about training and long-term implications should be directed to your doctor.

Not all sugars are created equal. The most basic sugars consumed by humans are glucose, fructose, and galactose. Glucose is actively absorbed in the intestine, so ingestion of glucose causes a rapid increase in blood glucose levels. In turn, an elevation in blood glucose stimulates insulin release to promote glucose uptake by liver and fat cells. Glucose is the standard by which the glycemic index of other foods is evaluated.

This is a military guy who is in his early 40's, has competed in loads of triathlons and road races, and does the electrolyte & hydration balance equations in his head. This is the guy who looks at the snacks in my pockets and stuff in my water bottle and hands me extra goodies he brought along because he knew I wouldn't do the nutrition/electrolyte/hydration calculations. And he hasn't been crushed by any buildings.

As a rule, I try to avoid taking new-age supplements and pills. That being said, I am very interested in appetite suppressants. I feel like I am doing everything on the bike I can to achieve race weight, but the pounds are still not coming off. I ride hours of tempo at 45-55% MHR. I take a spin in the morning to get my heart rate up before going to work. Sometimes I take a nap in the afternoon to get an extra burst of HGH.

At first I suspected bike position, but over the past year or so I've being doing some riding on an mtb, and I've found the problem persists. While my seat height/angle measurements are identical on both bikes, the reach and drop to the handlebars is much reduced on the mtb, leading me to wonder whether bike position isn't the issue, or at least not the only issue. (BTW, I've used Steve's balance test to assess my road bike position and have no trouble taking my hands off the bars.)

I'm guessing a couple of things could be contributing: on the longer, cruisy rides I tend to relax down onto the bars a bit, which tends to hunch my shoulders. Also, I don't tend to vary my position much (sit up, stretch, etc) until I notice the pain. Could either or both of these be contributing? And are there any stretches, or exercises, or weights I should be doing that could help reduce the problem?