Fitness questions and answers for March 6, 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.

My local criterium series is held on weekday evenings and is really exciting. The problem is getting a good sleep afterwards. Even if I really concentrate on my breathing, it is still virtually impossible to wind down as my adrenaline is still in overdrive. When I do nod off I wake up again soon after with my heart pounding reliving the racing! Typically I will start to benefit from normal sleep by 3-4am.

My problem is that when riding I experience the sensation of not being able to get my left foot forward enough. It also feels like I'm pedaling on my tippy-toes and getting little to no power transfer to the pedal. As if my foot is about two inches away from the pedal and just going through the motion. If I concentrate real hard and shove my foot, uncomfortably, into the tip of my shoe it almost feels right as far as feeling the power to the pedal through the ball of my foot.

The aches I have are mostly on the outside of my calf and the shin. From time to time the area on the sides, below and back of the knee also feels achy... never above the knee. When riding these aches are intensified but don't keep me from doing my training rides, intervals or races. When not riding the aches are still there but not as intense. Fatigue in my leg muscles are not the same on both legs. In the left leg all fatigue is all in the lower leg. In the right, it's all upper with some fatigue in the calf as well.

Unless the difference in leg length was determined by a CT scan or similar, I would be hesitant to place any reliance on the difference in leg length you have been told about. It may be more than 12mm, it may be less. There is no accurate rule of thumb as to how to advise you. It is not just the disparity in leg length that has to be considered, but also how a life time of compensating for the leg length discrepancy has changed your body.

I checked my facts with a couple of doctors and other coaches so I'll stand by my previous post. That doesn't mean that I don't agree that you got your hernias from sprinting on the bike, but unless you think that your sprint is more powerful than the world-class sprinters who don't get hernias from sprinting, I think we have to conclude that you had some pre-existing inguinal defects, weak spots that tore when you sprinted.

But reading Scott's reply just now, one inconsistency with this line of argument occurs to me. If it is true that cycling cannot cause an inguinal hernia, why are we told to stay off the bike for 4-6 weeks after the surgery? This was following a 'keyhole' repair so there was no surface wound to worry about, but the surgeon said that the action of the hip flexors when cycling would pull on the abdominal muscles and potentially affect the bedding in of the implanted mesh.