Fitness questions and answers for March 22, 2004

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.

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 49 years old and a mountain biker of 5 years. For the last 3 years I have been doing vigorous indoor training on a RevMaster, during spinning classes. I have always known that the "220 - age" did not apply to me. To offset that knowledge, I was just adding 100 BPM to whatever % of output was being asked for. For example, if the instructor wanted us to go up to 85% of max, I would take my heart-rate to 185 BPM.

This worked fine and I was very often up to and above 195 during spinning classes. I was doing this 4 or 5 times a week for months. When I came across the Karvonen method of measuring heart-rate, I immediately adopted it. The highest I ever got my HR to, was 200 and my resting HR is around 65. I have been using the new scale for 4 or 5 weeks now and I seldom get my heart rate over 187 now. My question is, have I diminished my heart's ability to work at high levels and in fact worsened my conditioning?

An intriguing question, though I'll encourage you to think about it in a different way. Rather than be concerned with what heart rate you can sustain, I suggest that you be concerned with the speed or power that you can produce at any given heart rate. If one rider can do 25 mph at 140 bpm and be exhausted after an hour, while another rider can hold 180 bpm for an hour, but at 22 mph, I'll put my money on the first rider to win the race.

I am an intermediate cyclist in above average condition and content with my current workout and diet, however I have a question about bike set-up that I would genuinely appreciate your input. Could you please tell me what is the optimum method for figuring saddle height on a road bike in stage-race-type settings (non-crit, non-time trial). With the crank arm at its lowest position, should the leg be fully extended? Almost extended? I have heard so many theories on this subject that I don't know what to believe?

I am a recreational road cyclist aged 31 height 172cm. weight 74kg and I've been riding only about two years averaging probably less than 100 k's a week. I have recently upped the training a bit (maybe 150k/week) with the idea of trying racing by the end of the year. Unfortunately at the same time I bought new shoes and have started having some knee problems. I tend to believe the shoes are somehow responsible although I must admit to insufficient warm-ups before my rides to and from work, which both start with savage little hills. Originally I was wearing a pair of cheaper Lake tri shoes with just one strap I got second hand. The new ones are three strap carbon soled beauties and I can definitely feel the difference in power getting through to the pedals both upwards and down. I'm still using red Look cleats and mid range Look pedals.

The pain is on the inner side of the knee about an inch below the knee cap. It's not bad enough to stop riding (although I have just taken a precautionary week off) but is kind of stopping me giving everything in the inevitable races to the next light post. Initially I thought I had set the cleats up running too straight along the shoes (my feet splay out a fair bit when I walk) but turning them around to match more closely the angle of my feet when standing/walking doesn't seem to have helped as I am sore again today from my ten kilometre ride to work. Is fore and aft position important as well? Does the size of the foot make any difference - mine are pretty small for a guy at European 40. Really I was just wondering if you could tell me how to work out the best set up for your shoes/cleats/pedals and what other factors may be involved in my present discomfort.

It's possible that rotating your cleats outward would make the problem worse. It's fine that you have cleats with float, but rotating the feet out excessively can place additional strain on the inner knee. Fore and aft position does make a difference, and you should be sure that the center of the cleat (directly over the pedal axle) is positioned under the ball of your foot, if not slightly behind it. Foot size should not affect the situation, unless one foot is significantly larger/smaller than the other. In addition to proper cleat position, your saddle height should allow approximately a 25 to 35 degree angle in your knee at the bottom of the pedal stroke.

I'm not sure if when you talk about "overall fitness", whether you are including training to race? There are many, many advantages to training with a local club. To name a few: improving pack riding skills, enhancing speed while group riding, learning pacelines, learning to read the wind direction to set up echelons, camaraderie with your fellow cyclists, motivation to train/ride, safety in riding in a group versus alone out on the open road alone, learning to set up for a sprint finish, practicing chasing and attacking (it's kinda hard to chase yourself or attack yourself:), and there are certainly many more benefits to group riding.

I am a 35 y/o masters cyclist in California, Cat 4 and very competitive in mixed Cat 3/4 races, and had an MRI confirmed ACL tear 1 ½ weeks ago while attempting to ski. Initially, I had a lot of swelling and decreased range of motion, but not anymore. Actually, I am able to spin on my trainer for 1-2 hrs without pain, but obviously only using small gears. Being that I am a physician, I have done my literature search and none of it has been reassuring. The risks involved in the surgery, post op complications and conflicting data reports seem a bit too high.

While there are a host of injuries that I would rather have than an ACL tear, I would say that you should be more at ease than your letter indicates. ACL reconstruction is an extremely routine orthopedic surgery that results in excellent overall outcomes when performed by a skilled surgeon. I treat anywhere from 50-100 ACL recons. in my clinic each year and cannot think of a less than 100% return to function outcome in the past 3 years.

First I just want to thank you for all of your expert advice. I have a couple quick questions. I am relatively new to the sport of cycling and am in the base endurance building phase of my training program. On recieving my yearly phycical my Doctor happened to mention, out of the blue, that my left leg is 2 cm shorter than my right. I do not notice anything when I am on the bike, but I am wondering, since it is early in my training regiment, should I try and fix this? Second, I have been experiencing some tenderness in my achillies tendons and it seems to happen as a result of dropping my heels when climbing. Should I simple try and climb without trying to harness that extra power one gets when dropping ones heels on climbs? I am 26 yrs. old, 5' 11", and about 170 lbs.

I work 8am - 4pm and ride after work. I've read some places that you shouldn't have a large/heavy meal up to 3 hours before you go to bed. Claims of that food being more readily stored as fat are on my mind. Since I go to bed at 10pm that would put me at approximately 7pm for my last meal of the night. However, by the time I get home, get changed and head out the door it can be almost 5 o'clock some days. My dilema is that when I want to do 3+ hour rides or go on the 6pm group ride, these will generally bring me home past 8pm, what should I be doing for proper food intake and also avoid that feeling of eating too close to bed. Going to bed later isn't really an option as I have to be well rested to function at work the next day.