Fitness questions and answers for March 20, 2007

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.

Hello, I'm a 43 year-old amateur, I've been riding again steady now for three years and decided this year to really give it my all. Last October I started training on a strict schedule. I have limited time to train and the weather here in the north-eastern USA is horrid so I've been stuck all most entirely on the trainer. It is good in that without a power meter I can more easily compare workouts and using a gear chart I can figure my speeds.

My current work schedule and the weather/time etc lets me ride one hour, three days (Mon, Wed, Fri) per week with a longer club ride of 2-3 hours on Saturday. On the positive side I've been much more competitive in my club rides and my cadence for the 53-17 and 16 is rising giving me more there but still I'm stuck around the 24 mph level. Do you have any suggestions for changing my workout to help me break through to that 14 gear?

The textbook definition of over-training is you increase training and performance gets worse. Ergo, you are overtrained. The question is why. Doing 50 mile rides twice per week really should not be a problem for a healthy 21-year old and two months should be plenty of time to respond to the extra volume. With no more details to go on, I'd guess that you are training too intensely or that you are not getting adequate recovery even though you think you are.

I don't have any specific brands to recommend, but do want to point out that you are right to look for shorts that hug your legs fairly firmly, especially if you are riding on bumpier pavement. The research results say that a short or tight that keeps your leg muscle a little compressed will delay fatigue. If worse comes to worst, you can take shorts that you've already bought to a tailor for re-shaping.

I noticed where you had written a note about the Stratos saddle. I have one that I have yet to put on my bike, because I want to tell myself that the Arione that I have will work. I am beginning to wonder though. I get some numbness down low when the races and rides get long, and I am putting in a hard effort. This past weekend, it was not as bad, but it was there none the less. The team got the Ariones, and I rode one last season for a while, it was old and broken in, the new one of course is not. I am beginning to look at the SMP more and more.

Great seat - long, long rails so there is plenty of fore and aft adjustment potential. I started selling them a few months back on the basis of "buy and ride for a fortnight, bring it back for a refund" because it is the only way to genuinely find out whether a new product is good. No one has returned one for a refund, though one gent brought the Evolution model back (minimal padding) and exchanged it for a model with more padding.