Fitness questions and answers for March 14, 2006

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 am taking the anti-depressant Wellbutrin and one of the side effects is weight loss. I ride approximately 5000 miles a year and I am pretty lean already. 6 ft, 167 lbs. I am having to overeat to keep the weight healthy so my questions is what kind of nutrition I need to counter the combined weight loss effects of training and the medicine? The high caloric is making me sluggish and giving me a gut. None of which I enjoy. What are the good calories that can keep it all in check and allow me to keep riding? Thank you.

I am a 49 year old male who started cycling three years ago as a short commute. Last year at the urging of my brother I decided to get more serious about the sport in order to improve overall fitness and, to be honest, impress him with my skills. Here is the thing, I was in a motorcycle accident and became a below the knee amputee on one side when I was 18. When I cycle I use my prosthesis. Currently I am in good health and ride 70 miles per week on average, 50 of that is on weekends where I sustain 80-90% of my estimated max HR. I also spend about two hours a week on a trainer where I sustain 70-85% of max HR. Several months ago I completed a metric century and want to get a 'real' century in this year. Long term I want to be able to keep up with my brother who is quite a strong rider. To that end I am in the process of dropping 15 pounds off my current weight of 170 and want to optimize my training.

I have read some of your responses to others and am heartened by the some of the opinions of the contributors; especially in regards to strength being a less important factor when it comes to endurance riding as I am pretty sure I don't have the ability to generate the raw force with my right leg as with my left leg. What I want to know is what you think my capabilities are as a cyclist given a reasonable training regimen for a working stiff with a family. How big a factor is loss of a foot in terms of endurance? Is it reasonable to expect to be able to drop my brother someday?

I have been riding on and off for the last 20 odd years. I don't smoke, drink occasionally and try to eat well. My career can be quite stressful at times and the diet and sleep can suffer. I have been back on the bike since May 2005 after a break of almost three years. The last time I rode seriously was in Wellington NZ. By the time I left NZ my resting HR was 46bpm and my max HR seemed to be around 189bpm.

My training in Sydney peaked towards the Alpine Classic (200km in 41deg heat!) in Victoria end of January this year. Steve Hogg helped with my set up which I'm grateful for and I rode beyond my expectations. I rode Twaonga on the Friday, 10km climb and Mt Hotham on Sat, 30km climb before the Alpine Classic on the Sunday. My total time wasn't fast but my climbing was, (not A grade fast but better than most). Up to and including the Alpine Classic my max HR was 187bpm. Work commitments and the need for a rest (even though I didn't really feel like it) prompted a lay off since the end of January to now, approx 6-7 weeks. In that time I have managed 600km and the odd ride here and there; some hard, some relaxed.

A few weeks into this 'rest period', I started seeing a max HR of 195bpm on my POLAR HR monitor. This was after the unit had been returned from service. These were not spikes caused by interference from train lines but gradual curves up to that figure and back down again. I am able to download the data into my computer and examine the curves so I know its not spiking. This has happened several times and seems repeatable. Whereas once I could maintain 171bpm for quite some time, I can now do the same at 181bpm for the same perceived level of exertion. I think I'm going faster in some areas but I can't tell for certain. My HR seems normal the lower it gets, i.e. cruising, rolling down hills, resting etc. I have yet to cross check the readings with another POLAR unit and eliminate this as the cause. All other HR readings seem consistent with past experience.

Because of the sitting problems last week, I skipped one day. Rode a week, and I had always an imbus spanner nearby and made several adjustments. On Saturday I was frightened as I felt there were going to be troubles in the pants again: Sunday there was a swelling again, so no riding. I am medicating it and hope it will be ok soon. Besides that, I would like to prevent the problem in the future by a structural solution.

There are three sorts of sitting problems I encountered. Firstly in the genital area when the pelvis is rotated forward, where there was indeed an influence of dip in the saddle and saddle tilt. If you want the rear levelled it's good, but an upward tilted saddle nose is painful and if you level the seat to the nose, you slide forward, which is also painful. But this is not a problem anymore as I described before.

1. My seat (Flite Ti) and former seats, last summer. I bought the flight seat last summer. It was one of the steps I took to resolve the sitting problems I had back then. The reason I chose the Flite is because someone advised me to buy a good saddle such as the Flite and only wear shorts without seams. And the flight itself does not have seams too. With the new saddle, I also started to use a more forward position and went to sit on the narrower part of the saddle (to prevent shifting)
2. My position. Because my position was not that good, I played with it a few centimetres this winter. But changing a good position in order to resolve all sitting problems does not seem to work. Now I think it can not be a solution to the saddle problems if your position is ok and stable.

1. Now I try to sit on the sitting bones (for stability and not directing problems to another region).
2. With this saddle, the rear has to be levelled right.
3. But a little later, I still have to search for the right spot. Plus there still is temporary saddle pain at the contact points - hot spots (and saddle sores).
4. The swelling or saddle sores - I think if I am really on the sitting bones, thus on relative rear of the saddle, my legs may need more space, so the saddle shape can be wrong - too wide, the curve too gradual.

I am 21 years old and have been cycling for about a year. I competed in triathlons all last season and am going to be racing bicycles in the spring. I have been battling an annoying right knee problem for most of the season. I have seen an orthopedic surgeon and he did not find anything just put me on steroids for a week and told me to take it easy. It helped for a little but it is back again. The problem seems to be mostly aggravated by biking. My knee becomes stiff and a bit achy after biking and I have trouble standing for long periods of time, however, I very rarely have any sort of sharp pain.

I have tried ice and IB profin without much success. I do not have any pain when running distances up to 18 miles but it seems to bother me on the bike which seems a bit odd to me. I occasionally have a stiff lower left part of my back and when I stand in the mirror my right hip is higher then my left. I had a friend also look at me while riding to see if I sit straight on the saddle and he said I did; if anything just slightly to the left. The condition gets worse when I push big gears so I have been trying to keep my cadence at 90+ or so. I would really like to fix this during the off season if it is a bike fit problem. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I have been playing with my cleat alignment and setup a little bit and have notice that my right foot wants to point outward and my left is foot ahead or a little inward during the pedal stroke. Also, at the bottom of the stroke when going up my right knee rotates inwardly whereas my right knee track straight throughout the pedal stroke. I have a feeling this could be my issue however I am not sure what is causing this imbalance in pedal stroke. Thanks.

Find a good physio and start working on your structural fitness, which from what you are describing lags a long way behind your 'physical fitness'. From what you have said, there is a discrepancy, measurable or functional, in leg length. You haven't given me enough to attempt to be definitive. See the physio, have yourself structurally assessed in a whole of body sense and get back to me with what you find. We will proceed from there.

I have been working with a chiropractor for a few months now and have seemed to improve upon my structurally fitness/alignment etc, however the above problem is still persisting. I was fit after the previous message and we lowered the seat a significant amount (.5-.75 in). However, this has not helped the problem. I am now also having calf tightness in the same leg right under the knee after an hour or so on the bike. I have tried shifting the cleats backwards to take some of the strain of the calf but that has not seemed to help either.

I have also tried Speedplay pedals with more float in an attempt to help the knee problem and they seemed to for a bit but not anymore. However I believe they may be precipitating the calf tightness as I never had this problem previously (SPD SL pedal and cleats). In addition, just from observation there seems to be slightly more "laxness" in the right knee than the left and a "clicking" on the medial side of the right knee when squatting. I recently got a fixed gear and when applying reverse pressure on the pedals to slow down I can feel a clicking in the medial side of the right knee below the quadriceps and not on the left knee. This problem has not stopped me from training due to pain but it is very annoying to have an aching knee while standing and one that just plain feels "weird" sometimes.

I'll include a bit of a medical history. About 15 years ago I fractured my pelvis in three places in a crash. Approximately 10 years ago I had a series of three injections in my back to deal with L4-L5 disc issue and the left side leg weakening sciatica which accompanied it. 3 years ago I had a very serious fall at the track resulting in a free fall landing on my backside. I have had PT and Chiropractic therapy to correct a tilted and rotated pelvis....probably dating back to the fractured pelvis. Yep, I am an old war horse!

This off season I took over two months off the bike. Starting this year the pain is back with a vengeance and feels like someone is stabbing the outside of the knee with an ice pick. The pain can start as early as 15 miles into the ride. I have worked on the premise it is ITB tightness. I trigger point, compress on a closed cell foam roller and stretch the IT and the quads, all of which hurt like hell. I would say I am flexible in my back since I can easily bend in half. My inner thigh muscles are not as flexible but I do yoga/stretching at least 2-3 times a week. My quads also seem flexible since my heel can touch my butt when stretched.

I am writing in regards to the letter on the last issue of Q&A in Cyclingnews. The one titled "Q Factor on SPD-SL pedals". The writer says that his right leg tends to naturally move a few mm to the outside of the pedal. You told him to try Lemond Wedges to see if he could correct it. My question is this: in this case, are you asking for the wedges to be mounted with a cant or just flat to simply shim what could be a shorter leg?

The reason I ask is because I have the same problem. My right foot seems to always move to the outside of the pedal. Not only that but I have problems with pain on the outside of my right knee and on the front of the left knee. I have gone to physiotherapists and they all say that I do not have a leg length discrepancy but because I have scoliosis, my right hip is higher than the left. When standing in front of a mirror with just riding shorts, it is very obvious.