Fitness questions and answers for November 28, 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.

My question is regarding the fore/aft road bar position. I have everything else set to all your recommendations (with success). I've been told two ways. The first: when seated with hands in the drops and elbows slightly bent, looking down with only your eyes not tilting your head, the bars should intersect or block the front hub. The second: when seated with hands in the drops and elbows slightly bent, looking down tilting your head, the bars should intersect or block the front hub.

The short answer to your question is 'neither'. Why would you suddenly need a longer stem if you got a fork with more rake? Why would someone with stubby arms and a long neck need a long stem? The bar-blocks-hub concept is a quick and easy way to get close for most riders, but not a good way to settle on a final stem length. In the old days we said that if you placed your elbow against the saddle nose and your finger tips reached the bar, that was a touring fit, if there was a 2cm gap, that was a racing fit. There are lots of these fitting tricks, (knee ‘over’ pedal spindle, whatever that means, fixed knee angles at full extension (with the ankle at what angle?), back part of bars (which you never actually use) horizontal) that sound good but come up short when you try to apply them to a wide variety of riders.

Neither method you mention has any merit when applied to a large range of riders. There are too many individual and equipment variables. Just to mention equipment for a moment; if your bar has a longer or shorter reach (and the current range of road bar reaches is nearly 25mm) then you will need differing stem lengths for the same reach to the drops. This will move the relationship between top of bar and front hub but not alter the riders position in the drops. If you have a steeper or less steep head tube angle, or a fork with greater or lesser offset, then those differences will also alter the relationships between top of bar and front hub without necessarily changing rider body position. So forget what you have been told.

After reading many of your articles on fitting and leg length discrepancies I thought I needed to drop a line. Most of the posts deal with short lower legs however in my case I have a 5mm short left femur and 3mm short left tibia for an X-rayed total of about 1cm. I'm a 25yr old cat 2 racer logging about 650hrs per year. I have excellent flexibility and core strength. My hips are relatively stable in the saddle to do my body compensating for leg length through changing leg angles such as heel drop.

1. Chronically tight left ITB and left lateral hamstring and tissue between ITB and hamstring. This required weekly deep tissue massage to prevent maltracking of the patella, over time these muscles begin to pull on patella and cause knee pain. Adjusting Speedplay Zero cleat to prevent toes pointing out has helped this issue to some degree as it has seemed the the left leg wants to rotate toes out which tightens the left lateral hamstring (tibial rotation).

Re your 1: The symptoms you experience are indicative of over reaching with that leg under load and probably from favouring the right leg to some degree. To explain further, we all tend to favour one side autonomically. This is usually but not always the right side. If a rider is really functional, this may be almost imperceptible but it is always there. When there is a challenge though, whether by less than ideal function, poor bike position, perhaps in your case a leg length discrepancy, or whatever else may be the problem, the tendency to favour one side becomes more pronounced. To get to the point, can you confirm that you sit squarely on the seat?

Is there an article posted somewhere where it states the different riding positions one should take when preparing their track bike as compared to their road bike? If not, then what are some general guidelines? Should you have it set up almost the same as your road, save for a slightly lower/more forward seat position? Or should it be completely different? As in a smaller frame (top tube wise/stem wise)? Any help would be appreciated.