Fitness questions and answers for June 14

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.

My right foot tends to pronate. So I get all the mumbo jumbo that goes along with that, i.e., increased varus foot, heel rotation toward the frame, vulgas knee, and knee pain under the kneecap. Can angled pedal wedges actually correct a pronating foot? My current experience suggest otherwise. I shimmed shoes about a year ago thinking it would stabilize the foot but my foot doesn't seem to care. The pronating foot seems to have an increased mobility which allows the heel to keep rolling, thereby circumventing the forefoot support.

Are orthotics able to stabilise the foot better? If so, this also brings up the question, what is the point of angled wedges if they are unable to correct a pronating/varus foot? Also, can pedals contribute to how bad a foot pronates? I ride with a pair of speed plays which allows my heel to rotate toward the bike as my foot pronates. Would using pedals with less float limit the effects of a pronating foot? Or would preventing the heel from rotating toward the bike without properly stabilizing the foot put more pressure on the knee?

I'm going to need a few days to get the definitive proof that I'm sitting square in the saddle. I'll digress here for a second and get back to way that is. I wrote you in the past and told you that I had a femur length difference and tibia length difference. I have since gone to see a chiropractor and via X-rays we found this to not be true. I did have a leg length difference but it was due to posterior inferior left ilium and anterior superior ilium (resulting in a short left leg and long right leg). I believe this to be what you would call a twisted pelvis.

The twisting of my ilium was also accompanied by my sacrum twisting down and back (posterior) on the left. Through a regimen of adjustments I've been able to equalize my leg length. However I'm still not sure whether I sit completely square on the bike. As a matter a fact I'm not sure I was ever sitting twisted but I may have just 'felt' like my body wanted to twist down and forward on the left. I believe this to be the case b/c my left chest/back/arm/ab muscles are all noticeably larger on the left side, which suggests to me that I was resisting the desire of my left hip to fall by bracing with my upper body.

In addition, since having my legs realigned and pelvis untwisted by my chiropractor, my upper body weight has been shifted to my right arm, which would further suggest to me that I'm sitting more squarely in the saddle. To prove this I'll try and take my bike and trainer into the chiropractor with me this week. Perhaps her trained eye will provide better proof than my girlfriend's. Any suggestions you might offer the chiropractor to make and accurate assessment of my sitting condition?

I'm asking questions about this pronating foot because of a change in riding style I've been forced to undertake. I recently moved from Tucson, Arizona to East Lansing, Michigan and the riding style has changed significantly. Tucson was very hill which suits this 135lbs twerp just fine. Most of my major powerful efforts involved me spinning up a 15% hill. However, in East Lansing the terrain is flat. The efforts here require pushing a really big gear and doing a lot of accelerations and jumps out of that same big gear.

Every time I do one of these acceleration and jumps my foot pronates and my knee rotates inwards. These repeated efforts seem to be causing some pain underneath my kneecap. I had noticed this pronation in Tucson but it may have not been an issue because when you're making a jump while spinning a 38X19 uphill it doesn't seem to put nearly as much pressure on your joints as hammering a 52X14 on the flats does.

I'm a 19 year old racer currently in Belgium racing (and learning the hard way). I've read Steve's recommendations on cleat placement and I have a few questions. I ask because as I set up my cleats (SPD-SL) to my shoes (DMT Ultimax, size 44) I have trouble mounting the cleats as far back as is recommended. I'm worried that I'm measuring the ball of my foot incorrectly as I have the cleats as far back as possible on the shoes and it is still only 9mm (L) and 8mm (R). Any help would be much appreciated.

We're into summer here in North America, and it seems exceptionally hot in Colorado now. After doing a number of hot rides and races, I am beginning to realise that heat may be my primary limiter from a performance standpoint. When I stop to think about it, this has been true for a few years now as I have topped 40 years of age. How can one deal with this as a limiter? Assuming that one trains on one's weakness, how can I overcome it from a training perspective or mental standpoint? Are there tricks to cooling yourself when maxed at zone 5 in a race?

I would like to respond to Bill Caplice's question posted on June 5. I too am 6'5" with an even longer inseam than Bill's (100 cm). I switched from 175 mm cranks to 200 mm. I am light for my height (165 lb) and am more of a spinner than a gear masher. For decades on the 175's I turned a natural 105-110 rpm cadence. I bought the 200's late one fall and spent the winter on my trainer getting used to the new setup.

It took a few weeks, but I am very comfortable with the same 105-110 cadence on the longer cranks. For me, the only drawback to the longer cranks is less ground clearance in pedalling through turns. I don't race any more, so it's no big deal. A real bonus to the new cranks is a feeling of being more "in" the bike than perched on top of the bike. Handling is much better and the bike is much more comfortable. The cranks can be purchased through Zinn Cycles, and I think they are a great investment.

I am a 37 yr. old male. I have been cycling for two years (training as hard as my body will allow, plus a little). I've lost forty pounds and am now down to a petite 197lbs! (5'11") I put in a good base over the winter (100-140 wk. mostly flat with some structured efforts and lots of wind). In the spring I ramped up to 150 per week with rolling hills and some fast pack rides with the local cat four crowd. A month ago we started doing some fairly hard hill rides once a week - 40 miles of big rollers ½ to ¾ mile length at 8% to 15%. This was my hard effort for the week. I seemed to be adjusting to this new load for the first three weeks then started to develop some pain in the medial soft tissue of the ankle.

I bowed out of the next hill ride and returned to the flatter course but the pain continued to grow. The pain was sharp like tight skin. It started at the top of my foot where the middle strap hits my foot and traced to the medial ankle (moderate swelling) and up to the medial knee, then a little further up into the hamstring. My doctor friend said I strained/small tear of the Flexor hallus longus (plantar flexion) due to the increase hill loads. Back off, ice, stretch, ibuprofen, etc… My question is, are there some functional things that are being signalled by this injury? BTW, I do most of my climbing seated.

I've ran a search and know you've answered many related issues to mine, but I can't find one exactly the same, so here's my problem: When I pedal, my right knee tracks inward and lightly brushes my top tube on just about every pedal stroke. I've recently changed pedal/shoe combinations from Speedplay X/Specialized bg to Look KEO/Nike Poggio. I think my knee always tracked inward a bit, but it didn't seem to be a problem with the old combination as the increased pedal float on the Speedplays allowed me to position my heel to prevent this. With the decreased float on the Look pedals, I'm stuck with my knee contacting the top tube. I've had my wife watch me pedal and there is no noticable hip drop and I sit straight on my saddle. I don't have any pain associated with the problem either. The only possibly related structural issue I have is that if I allow my hamstrings to get too tight, my right SI joint gets a little out of whack and the right side of my pelvis rotates sligtly upward, but this is an off and on problem and hasn't affected me in months. Regardless, my left leg tracks perfectly straight. Would some type of wedge be the easy answer here? Thanks for the help.

My right knee tracks inward during my pedal stroke and is causing me some problems by contacting the top tube and creating a little pain on the inside portion of my knee. For several years I have been using Speedplay X pedals with Specialized Body Geometry shoes and although I always suspected my knee tracked inward slightly, it didn't pose a problem with that setup, maybe due to the free floating design of the Speedplays and the built-in wedge of the Body Geometry shoes.

However, I recently switched to Look KEO pedals and Nike Poggio shoes and the problem is now very pronounced. I don't believe I have any problems with my feet as evidenced by perfectly even running shoe wear, my left leg tracks perfectly straight, I sit even on the saddle and I don't have any noticeable hip drop when I pedal. It's just that my right knee doesn't track straight. Do I need to put a wedge into my shoe to correct this problem and if so, on what side does the thick part go? Thanks for the help.

I broke my right hip and thigh two years ago and had a femoral nail put in. Fortunately my leg lengths are nearly identical (2mm difference - measured by 2 different specialists). Despite this injury my right leg overtook the undamaged left leg in strength very quickly when I resumed riding. I've always considered my right leg to be stronger, there is more muscle mass on that side and it has always felt better and more natural on the bike, even after the massive injury it received. All my discomfort comes from the left leg.

I digress…I just went out on a 60km ride which took me 2.5 hrs to do and I felt fine; but the next morning my hamstrings were very tight and sore to the touch. This was a new experience for me since all my rides are in a hilly area. Was it just the extra 20km? I only had a sport drink to replenish my fluids. Did I need a power gel to help the working muscles and reduce the chance of the hamstrings acting up? What's the next step? Take time off till the hamstrings feel better or do light work outs and keep the muscles working and try to reduce the soreness?

My wife is 57 and is a keen leisure cyclist. However she has developed osteoarthritis in her left hip and is now waiting to have a hip replacement operation as the cartilage in the joint has all but disappeared. This has stopped her walking any distance and she is unable to get on her bike because it is just too painful. Can you give any advice about post op exercise that would enable her to restart cycling, do you know if it will be possible for her to return to cycling and how long it might take after her operation, in fact any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your help.

I am a 28 year old recreational cyclist who rides about 100 miles per week, and I have a question about my apparently imbalanced pedalling. After rides, especially those with bursts of high effort, my right quadricep muscles are considerably sorer than my left; I am guessing that this is caused by favouring my dominant (right) leg and pedalling harder on that side. However, if I simply concentrate on pedalling as hard with my left leg, I can't help starting to rock my shoulders and feel less comfortable on the bike. My question is are there any exercises or tips that you would recommend to "balance" pedalling effort? Thanks for your help!

Thank you for your reply. My observer noticed that I drop/rotate forward my right hip under load, and yes, the left/right power difference does seem to increase as the load becomes higher. I have also noticed two things since I wrote: I think my saddle has been a little too low (I have just raised it 2 mm), and my right quadricep muscles are visually a bit more developed than my left. Please let me know if you can suggest any tips to balance my pedalling effort - I'm building up to two centuries (Sat/Sun) and figure I should be using both legs! Thanks again for your help, and for your great column.

I am a 48 year-old male masters racer who only relatively recently discovered the joys of cycling. I am now into my third club season and have recently progressed to the A grade bunch. Whilst not contesting any finishes yet, I'm usually staying with the bunch. I ride/train pretty much every day to a structured plan (and loving it) - currently averaging about 375km per week. This includes periodized blocks, recovery days, and prioritised events.

A fair degree of my focus (and priority events) are in the hills. These are always a good hit-out and provide the added bonus of spectacular scenery. I usually ride 172.5 cranks and have recently begun experimenting with 175mm cranks (800mm inseam). I looked at the various formulas but decided to revert to the functional approach - which you and your associates usually also favour. The only concession I made was to lower the seat height about 1.5mm. Contact throughout the entire pedal stroke feels surprisingly even with a strong sensation of 'drive'.

My question is, will these apparent downsides eventually disappear (or become less apparent) with training adaptations and therefore ultimately yield greater power? and, if not, is it worth persisting merely from a strength training point of view, and finally, is it just a question of specialization where 172.5's may be more appropriate for crits (sprints/accelerations) and 175's a better choice for TT's and hills?

It has been three weeks since pedalling the 175's. General muscle soreness has now passed. Mild tightness high in the front of the right thigh. Could even be hip socket (in middle and front of leg) right at the top of stroke accompanied by mild tendon tightness along the inside of the right thigh (half to two-thirds down right thigh towards knee). I wouldn't describe either of these as pain. More like lingering reminders that something has altered and my body has not caught up with the changes as yet.