Fitness questions and answers for October 16, 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.

Jon Heidemann (www.peaktopeaktraining.com) is a USAC Elite Certified cycling coach with a BA in Health Sciences from the University of Wyoming. The 2001 Masters National Road Champion has competed at the Elite level nationally and internationally for over 14 years. As co-owner of Peak to Peak Training Systems, Jon has helped athletes of all ages earn over 84 podium medals at National & World Championship events during the past 8 years.

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.

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.

Michael Smartt (www.wholeathlete.com) is an Associate Coach with Whole Athlete™. He holds a Masters degree in exercise physiology, is a USA Cycling Level I (Elite) Coach and is certified by the NSCA (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist). Michael has more than 10 years competitive experience, primarily on the road, but also in cross and mountain biking. He is currently focused on coaching road cyclists from Jr. to elite levels, but also advises triathletes and Paralympians. Michael is a strong advocate of training with power and has over 5 years experience with the use and analysis of power meters. Michael also spent the 2007 season as the Team Coach for the Value Act Capital Women's Cycling Team.

I'm a 42 year old male who used to race/ride for 25 years but still go out for training rides with my ex team-mates. I always had custom bikes because of my un-proportional body. I'm 6' tall with 31 inseam, 42 shoulder, 175 lbs and wear size 44 shoes. I also have fairly long arms. I had a 55 frame but the top tub was too short. Then I had a 58 to 60 frame and the seat tube was too long. Currently, I have 2 custom made Serotta Legend Ti (tradition geometry not compact) and they are very comfortable. Their measurements are, 53 seat tube (c to c), 58 top-tube (c to c), 73 degree angle for both HT/ST, 100cm Wheelbase, 100mm Stem.

Here's the perspective from a racing coach: Keeping up is all important and most people can ride a little faster at a lower cadence at least for a little while. The trade off is that if you climb a big hill at a low cadence, recovery takes longer and you'll be using up your sprint before the finale. So, in a competitive situation, use the lowest gear that allows you to keep up. In training do a mix of efforts over the whole range of cadences you might ever need in competition so that you'll be ready for whatever you need to do.

Whenever I ride for over 50km I start to feel numbness in my genitals, as like, you know that nasty feeling when your leg falls asleep while you are sitting on it or when you held it on the table for a while! Well, this numbness is then with me for 2-3 days and I really don't feel much down there, so you can imagine my girlfriend going crazy about not having you know what! What should I do, I mean this is really starting to annoy me! Oh, my seat is Selle Italia Filante! Please HELP!

That is a tough question.... I would expect the pain and swelling to resolve in your leg over time. How much time is difficult to say. It all depends on your vasculature and the extent of the clot. The clot usually doesn't dissolve, so much as becomes cannulised (little tunnels through the exiting clot). The clot then becomes "integrated" into the vessel wall. Anyway, if you have a large clot it may take longer to resolve.

Just a year ago, I went down in a cyclo-cross race and hit my head hard with my helmet on. The result was: broken ribs, collarbone and collapsed lung as well as a sore head despite wearing a helmet. Then three months ago, I was taken down by a vicious wild animal on a concrete road I wasn't wearing a helmet and as a result I broke more ribs, fractured my scapula, and ended up with a big bloody crack on the noggin.

So, what you are alluding to is something called Post Concussive Syndrome (or Post Concussion Syndrome). What is that you ask? Well, just what the name implies. It is not uncommon (we like saying that in medicine), for people with head bonks to have a concussion. As you may have learned, there are varying degrees of concussions. Minor to very severe. And, as you would imagine, given the severity of the concussion, the recovery from that concussion can be varied. The symptoms that you describe; headaches, dizziness, lethargy, nausea, confusion and so on (I know you didn't mention all of these) are the major features of PCS. These symptoms can take weeks and even months to recover from completely.

I'm a 50 year old, 5'8" tall and 168 lbs. cat 4/ masters/on the road, and a sport mtb on dirt. I also race (love) cyclo-cross . I have been riding and racing for fifteen years and have averaged anywhere from 5000 to 6000 miles per year. The problem that I am (always) having is that when riding at threshold, my speed is not that fast (21-22mph).Also, it seems as if I'm at threshold on group rides before others. I believe my max heart rate is around 185bpm and threshold is 165bpm, I see heart rates up to 177-179 several times during races. I have the ability to go over threshold and recover, up to a point then just fall apart. My training includes long easy miles, sprints, threshold repeats (2 * 30') and short intervals although I don't do all listed workout throughout the year. Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated.

It appears from your training description that your present training targets the general spectrum of road cycling requirements (lower level aerobic training from your long easy miles, threshold training & "super" anaerobic training from your sprint workouts, etc). However, since you wish to be able to ride faster at what you believe to be your threshold, I would suggest focusing on that portion of your training regimen for the following suggestions:

I am currently in physical therapy for hip joint pain after I felt a pop in my hip during a very hard effort (860 Watts while seated). I was wondering if my saddle could be causing some of my hip problems. I have only been riding it this season. I have the most control over my bike with this saddle hence why I ride it. It is the Selle SMP Pro. It is a fairly wide saddle and I am thinking that its unique shape may be interfering with my hip function. Is this possible?

Recent changes/possible causes in sequence of my best guess:
1) Moderate sprinting from standing start.
2) Moving cleats back 4mm & saddle forward 3mm (did not lower saddle.)
3) Trying to pedal circles out of saddle. (May have flexed hamstrings at too tight of a knee angle.)
4) Recently did some Stair Running
5) Recently did some Jumps from slow roll
6) Not Stretching (Though I regularly use a baker's rolling pin to work out tightness in legs.)
7) Saddle height is adjusted for forced heels down pedalling where it feels more powerful for steady state pedalling circles. But my natural style is heels way up.