Fitness questions and answers for November 7, 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 ride Sidi Genius 5.5 HT Carbon shoes (size 42.5) and Speedplay Zero pedals. I am a Cat 1 experienced racer who is trying to dial in an efficient and comfortable pedaling position. For some reason I am unable to wear this comfortable shoe/pedal combination and have a powerful pedal stroke. I always feel like I am toeing with each pedal stroke. I've done everything from pushing the cleat as far back as possible to bringing out the dremmil tool and drilling some extra room (compromising the strength of the cleat). Riding shoes all come pre-drilled for popular cleat/pedal brands. I have switched pedals and shoes a few times, however I still run into the same problem. Sidi shoes and Speedplay Zeros are comfortable and I prefer to somehow stay with this combination.

I recently tried positioning my cleats farther back (from the ball of the foot to a little behind the ball). I did not make any adjustments left or right on the cleat, I just slid it back a few mm's. I did not make any adjustments to the saddle height or fore/aft position after the cleat relocation. I noticed a more "stable" feel from my feet, which felt good. After a longer distance I noticed a little 'tinge' from my upper right Achilles area that I hadn't felt before. Not really painful, but a twinge that seemed to tell me something was a little off.

I have seen a few options on choosing crank length, but I want a better one. I am 6'5" with a 39.75" inseam, and have a size 14.5 US foot. I run 180 cranks, and feel great on them. My riding style is relatively high cadence like 95 to 99 rpm for long rides, and above for criteriums. I have a few friends who tell me to drop to 175 or 177.5 cranks for better performance. They all site the rumors of Lance Armstrong running 165s stamped with 170. However I'm stuck in the thought of 180s being anatomically correct for me. My question to you is how can I use a Computrainer (I think that would give the best data with power and pedal scan) along with switching between 180s and 175s to see where the advantage lies for me?

I am finding in events where I use my time trial bike that I experience pins and needles in my left leg (my weaker side). It starts in my toes then my foot but eventually continues up my leg. I don't have this on either my winter training bike or my road bike. Neither does it occur on my right leg. I have tried various positions to alleviate the issue (higher bars, shorter reach, change of saddle height, tilt and even a narrower saddle) but the problem continues to persist.

I have read most of your bike fit articles over the past year or so and have implemented most of the suggestions with outstanding improvements in fit and comfort after several years of riding with the saddle too high, cleats too far forward and increasing pain as I age (60). Every one of the suggestions has improved comfort after trial and error as suggested, and usually in the direction where you identify the largest percentage of relief from something amiss.

One problem remains: I have an arthritic condition in my lower back that makes the 'balance test' problematic - I can't stay bent over the bike with no hands long enough to determine whether it's stable without having to grab back on before I lose control or suffer substantial back pain. While I can ride with no lower back pain with hands on the bars (something I couldn't do with the saddle forward and the back effectively arched), I just can't carry all the weight with the torso alone. I still get some shoulder pain and hand numbness on long rides and I can't figure out if this is inevitable or just an old habit I can't break, or something that could be helped with further positioning. I have often found myself tensing my shoulders towards my ears with no particular stimulus, and I can relax comfortably without pain if I keep myself conscious of this, but the event creeps back when I concentrate on other issues while riding.

I have been getting pain along the outside of my knee cap and also in the muscle just above and below the knee cap to the outside. All my pain is on the outside of my left leg, never medial, posterior or anterior. I only have pain in my left knee. My normal foot position is for my feet to face outwards, duck footed and I have adjusted my cleats to accommodate that position. I have just switched to Speedplays and I have narrowed my stance, but I am still feeling pain.

I was happy to finally see these questions from Viktor Recina and Robin Valdes, and thought I would share my experience with this problem. I have had symptoms identical to those described by Viktor and Robin, and though I've done much searching and had seen a few doctors, I had not yet heard of anyone with similar problems and no one could give me a diagnosis. However, the diagnosis of a muscular myopathy surprises me since I have found that my condition has gotten better over time.

I am a 25 year old cat 1 racer. I first had these symptoms 5 years ago as a cat 4 after taking 3 days off after a summer of consistent training. This first time was the worst - I couldn't walk or even stand up without extreme pain. It took 3 weeks for the symptoms to go away enough to ride again. Since then, I've had the same symptoms once or twice a year in similar circumstances, sometimes after just 1 day off the bike. Since I could find no explanation, my solution was to try to avoid taking a day off riding as much as possible. However, I have noticed that the severity of pain, and time required off the bike has decreased with each episode. Though it still happens sometimes, I don't need to be as careful as I used to be, and I am usually back to normal in a few days.

My question is what is my engine speed when I am cycling? My heart rate is now about 60 when relaxed (previous low was 42 bpm). Is my heart beating faster by ~20bpm regardless of my activity level, impairing my performance when cycling? It is normally between 140-160 when I am working hard, and I do not feel the effects of the hyperthyroidism when I am cycling, but am I endangering myself by continuing to cycle?