Fitness questions and answers for March 14, 2005

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.

While I am aware of the many studies carried out in this regard, and more recent work such as the use of highly bio-available protein/carbohydrate's or so-called "recovery formulas" I have never seen a study which looks at the long term performance impact of both loading or rapid replenishment - current studies all look at training performance which while not irrelevant, is definitely secondary to how effectively one races.

What I am getting at it this; part of the value of long endurance training is that it provides the body with the demand/stress required to engage the body's fat burning metabolism, and the longer one trains the more this effect is noticeable - in short this is the required adaptation. However, my understanding is that carbo-loading prior to an event actually switches off or at least reduces the fat burning metabolism by as much as 40% - as does rapid replenishment of glycogen stores with high glycaemic index Carbohydrates. This implies that the use of these techniques is of value short term rather than long-term interest.

So, while rapid replenishment is valuable in a short cycling tour to ensure recovery (and certainly it is better for the athlete's state of mind during heavy training!) I suspect that it's only actually necessary to load Carbohydrates immediately after training in the few days prior to a long distance race so that the fat burning mechanism is still able to function effectively. I have always adopted a minimalist strategy of nutrition when training - i.e. taking in the minimum necessary to function effectively so that I maximise my fat burning potential - I then rapidly take on a recovery drink but don't go silly and try to replace every gram of Carbohydrates burned - has it worked? Well I lost 16Kg in 9 months and now weigh 74KG at 1.88m in height and it wasn't that painful! The real emphasis I seek in your reply is - what the effect is of such a regime on race performance, and what research has been carried out?

I have chronic right soleus muscle pain and possibly even fibular/peroneal musculotendenous pain (lots of pain in the leg). The muscle gets tender just inferior and postero-lateral to the fibular head. After careful consideration I feel this is upper-lateral soleus and not simply the peroneals. Initially I also had pain at my lateral distal hamstrings-biceps femuris- and was told that my seat was raised too high and that every pedal stroke was elongating (eccentrically) this tendon.

Magically when I lowered my seat the outside distal hamstring pain disappeared but the upper posterior-LATERAL calf pain has persisted! I am 6'2" with only a 34 inch inseam. I ride a 58cm Merlin Cyrene with a 115 stem and a CormiaC layed back reversible seat post with my seat pushed as far back as I can so that I have most of my weight comfortably on my ischial tuberosities. While I have found this positioning comfortable, I have began to wonder if I actually need to ALSO bring my seat forward and possibly also invest in a longer stem?

2) I have been using a simple over-the-counter orthotic "SuperfeetC" in both my running shoes and cycling shoes, but have also begun to wonder if these should be removed, as perhaps the medial posting has caused lateral stretching? In the past I have tried Speedplay pedals, Dura Ace 7800 pedals and even BMX style platform pedals (ultimate in float and inability to pull up with muscle!!), to no avail. Should I move my seat forward or a combo of seat forward and longer stem, or possibly other considerations, such as inward or outward foot movement, etc.

I have read a lot about hematocrit and I still have some questions regarding this area. I know that the hematorcrit level is not necessarily an indication of fitness (i.e. high hematocrit = high performance), but suppose a non-athletic person who has a high natural hematocrit, but actually a low VO2 max…does this person possess greater potential to reach a high VO2 max with proper training, more than a person who has a lower natural hematocrit? And if yes, how strong is this tendency?
I mean, a person who has a high hematocrit (i.e. 42%) will reach a high VO2Max properly training (i.e. 5 litres/min), for sure. Exists a strong tendency like that?

My question is - what do you recommend as food during long training rides. I've done four hour rides where I normally eat two or three PowerBars and stay plenty hydrated with four bidons of Gatorade. My pre-ride meals normally consist of a large bowl of whole grain cereal and one or two bananas. I'm just wondering if there is a more effective alternative to my simple PowerBar meal. I'm normally pretty well spent at the end of these long rides of low to moderate intensity averaging 17-18 mph. I read about professionals training for six to eight hours a day and can't help but wonder what they do to keep their energy levels up. I've read some pretty insane training days of Eddy Merckx - 270km, and this in a day where the sports nutrition industry was in its infancy at best. This leads me to wonder if there is some simple energy food out there that has been around for some time that I just don't know about. Any guidance you can recommend is greatly appreciated.

I am going to be doing a twelve kilometer time trial soon and would like to know the best way to warm up for the start. For my training rides I generally do fifteen to thirty minutes of easy riding before elevating my heart rate. I never do any stretching. For previous races I have kept the same routine-about thirty to forty minutes of easy riding before the start. However, if I go from the gun the way other riders can, I blow quickly. But if I sit in the group for a while I get stronger as the race progresses. By the way, the time trial course is quite rolling, with a couple of steep sections. Thank you for any advice you can offer.

At 6'1'' and 135 lbs, (currently age 18, male) I feel I could benefit from gaining leg strength. Last year I received help for an eating disorder and successfully gained approximately 10 lbs. Now that I've conquered my fear of gaining weight, I'd like a build some lean muscle mass, especially on my lower body. There is not much I can do to build upper body strength as my left arm was severely broken in a crash last summer and I will be unable to put it under extreme stress for at least a year to ensure the surgery has corrected all the damage.

I also tend to shy away from resistance training, not only because cyclocross extends so long into the winter, and racing starts up in late February, but mainly because every winter I've spent in the gym has left me with tendonitis in the spring; this year I seem to have avoided any such injuries. I have a pending cat 2 upgrade in the near future, and train about 2.5+ hours a day with five days a week on the trainer - longer if the weather is nice - and dedicate two days to recovery and core strength.

I have been doing low cadence drills all winter, and recently began more intense intervals to prep for racing. I figure I generally consume about 3300 calories per day, split fairly evenly between breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. There is a surplus of info out there on how to lose weight, but unless you're looking to be a bulky body builder, it's hard to find credible info on how to build strength for endurance events (in case you couldn't guess, I'm not a trackie. I do mainly XC mtb races and a mix of crits and RR). What are your suggestions for gaining strength (as related to diet, and intervals)? Thank you.