Fitness questions and answers for June 3, 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.

So, with my new Specialized shoes, which have built-in cant of 1.5 mm, and the insole forefoot varus + valgus wedge, that's another 1.5 mm, maybe a tad more--they look slightly thicker than the Le-wedges I had on my DMT's - I am thinking that just 2 Le-wedges will be correct. I'm really curious if there are any other hidden things that I might not be thinking about as I make the switch. Of course, I'll take it slow and add or remove Le-wedges (none on the shoe at the moment, just the 1.5mm stack under the insole) as feels better and makes me sit straighter.

Over the last few years, I've worked consistently to try to even out my flexibility in hip flexors, glutes, and hammies. Things generally feel pretty good until I start to do very intense training and racing with an aim to peak. Things tighten up at that point, and I find my right sit-bone coming forward and both of them kicking off to the left side (toward the long leg). "Core Performance for Endurance Athletes" has some "movement prep" exercises that have been helpful, but I want to do my best to get the shoes right too. The cleats are back as far as they go with feet as close to the crankarm as possible (same as I had them on the DMT's). It is frustrating to still be crooked, but I've accepted that it will be a consistent thing I have to deal with.

Trial and error is the best method. I will explain; generally speaking Specialized in-shoe wedges require a greater height of wedge to achieve the same degree of correction as an external wedge like the BFS Cleat Wedges (formerly LeMond Wedges). The reason for this is as follows - When the cycling world speaks of varus forefoot, most of the time this is incorrect and I am as guilty of this as anyone else in an attempt to make my life easy. A true varus forefoot is a relatively uncommon thing. Much more commonly it is the rear foot that needs correction. BFS wedges work well in rear foot correction because as they are external to the shoe, they cant the entire foot.

If the seat, pedals and bars end up in the same relationship, the bikes will feel about the same riding in a straight line. You will feel a difference in cornering and sprinting though, and you might not like it. If you current bike is twitchy, the new bike would be more so. If the current bike is stable, the new bike would be twitchy. If the current bike is slow to react, the new one would be stable.

I have a question about a problem I have with my knees. My left knee does not feel as solid as my right knee and as a matter of fact, it usually aches somewhat. The ache sort of travels throughout the knee. One time I had a gait assessment trying to figure out what was wrong and the pain became sharp enough to stop the session. So at times it can be sharp if I move in a specific way. This sharp pain does not occur while cycling but the travelling ache is always there.

Because of this problem, I have tried just about every single pedal system including road and mountain trying to see if I can find some relief and one thing I have noticed. When my right knee feels fine, the ache in my left knee is there. Now, there have been times, while changing pedal systems that I have set things in a way that my right IT band becomes noticeably tight while riding and the left knee suddenly feels normal!! As I have been riding more on my mountain bike than my road bike, I set it up with a low seat height with the cleats as far back as they would go (Shimano SPD) and for two weeks, my left knee felt as solid as my right knee usually feels but my right IT band felt tight throughout the full two weeks.

Since it was just tightness and not pain, and I was so happy that my left knee felt solid, I rode like that. Since the type of SPD pedals I was using (858's) were so hard to release, I replaced them with 540's with the cleat and the seat height exactly like before but for whatever reason, my knees went back to their previous condition where the right feels solid and the ache is present on the left one.

Does the story help you figure out what could be wrong? I am thinking of going to a chiropractor to see if he could find some problem in my leg mechanics. Would that be a good idea or would a different kind of doctor be better. As far as me, I have flat feet, I am knock kneed (to the point I always tear up the nose of my saddles from pedaling with my legs so close together) and I have scoliosis which makes one of my hips (the right one) be slightly higher than the other.