Fitness questions and answers for October 28, 2008

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.

About 12 months ago I started developing arch pain (especially near the ball of my left foot) whilst riding on longer rides of over 100km. The tendon (plantar fascia?) feels like it gets inflamed from the repetitive pedal stroke. On some occasions it gets to a point where it feels like a hot poker is being inserted into the base of the foot - not pleasant and it prevents you from doing anything other than riding slowly home. The pain soon passes and by the next day it feels ok again and will not "flare" until the next long ride.

I have tried ordinary physio (massage) without success, and have been shown how to tape the foot arch (which certainly helps to support the tendon/arch, but does not eliminate the problem.) For example, I completed a 'Grand Slam' Bicycle SA ride yesterday (which was 200km) but by the 150km mark the tape alone was not enough to keep the pain at bay, and I was unable to really push or get out of the saddle without real discomfort.

Ideally it would be good if you could recommend someone in Adelaide who might be able to help, or at least suggest the order in which I might attack the problem. I have heard and read lots of good thing about Steve Hogg in Melbourne, so I would certainly consider visiting Melbourne for an assessment if that was the best option to fix my stupid foot! Any ideas/suggestions will be gratefully accepted.

I'm getting close to my wits end and I'm hoping you might be charitable enough to point me in the right direction. If money were not an issue I would be on a plane to Australia this morning for a fit session instead of typing an email to you. I've been following your advice in the Cyclingnews Fitness and Form column for some time now and have actually corresponded with you earlier (I had asked if you had peers here in North America that followed the same structural approach as you). I'm a big believer in your approach.

I believe my fit is pretty close to what you advocate: my saddle position allows me to be balanced (i.e. pedalling on the trainer in a relatively big gear I can take my hands off the drops and stay balanced and my quads/hams seem to be recruited evenly) and my cleats are about 1 cm back on my shoes (I'm a 43). I believe my saddle height is reasonable as my stroke is not erratic at the top or the bottom.

I've had a couple of people look at my fit and both have found no significant problems, though I'm sceptical of both. The first was so wed to the KOPS system they used a level to check that the crack was exactly at the 6:00 position before using the plumb bob. The other told me that it was good to keep my knees close to the top tube. I'm trying to get an appointment with the Specialized rep in Montreal, who apparently is the best around here.

I'm a 40-year-old male recreational cyclist, averaging 6,000 miles/year. Despite having an almost-93cm inseam, I have to have the seat rather far forward - tip about 3-6 cm (depending on saddle) behind the BB - just to get my knee over the pedal. (Yes, I know most of you don't subscribe to the KOP theory... I'm just using that to illustrate how out-of-wack my leg proportions are. That being said, if I go just a couple mm further back, my speed drops like a rock.)

I'd be much more comfortable answering your query if you had given approximate upper and lower leg measurements. I have had a client 190 cm tall who couldn't pedal smoothly on anything longer than 172.5 cranks, but he had tiny feet (size 39!). I believe that if you can find a saddle height that lets you pedal smoothly through the bottom of the pedal stroke and pedal smoothly one-legged through the top of the pedal stroke, your cranks are not too long. If you can't find a position that lets you do both of those, your cranks are too long.

The short answer to your question is "no" unless you plan to exercise a lot. You might lose 15 pounds the first month, but you cannot possibly continue to lose 15 pounds per month and maintain your health. Here's the problem. Your basal metabolism might be 1400-1800 Calories per day and if you exercise only one hour per day, that might add 200-500 Calories per day. That makes a total of 1600-2300 Calories per day that you might expend on the high end, and it might be less.

Let's say that this is a working theory rather than a fact. I've noted over many years that there is a preponderance of right side issues amongst cyclists that manifest as a dropping right hip or a tendency to sit with the right hip forward or both. There is a left sided version of the same thing but that seems to affect 10 per cent or less of the cycling population. There is no correlation with 'handedness' or 'footedness' as left-handed and left-footed riders are just as prone to having a dropping or forward rotated right hip as right-handed and right-footed riders.

I am writing in regards to my frequent misalignment of wheels as of late. I was running Bontrager Race Lites, and now I am using Shimano WH-R550 wheels, and I am having similar problems with both: frequent out-of-true wheels and broken spokes. I am a bigger rider (6'4", 195 pounds), but there are professionals that are that big, and certainly smaller riders who have more power than I do. Can I chalk this up to two cases of poor wheelsets, or am I missing something, with regards to spoke count, wheel strength, and the like? I was thinking of just getting some Mavic Open Pro wheels built up from scratch, with a 30+ spoke count, just so I could have something that I shouldn't have to true every two weeks (which is the case right now).

You are heavy enough to wreck wheels, and pros have mechanics who follow them around, so the fact that some of them are bigger than you doesn't mean they're not having the same problem. I'd suggest you build up set of something heavy with a high spoke count for training, and save the light wheels for racing. If the light wheels come out of true after ten rides but you true them up before each race, you're fine. I don't advocate particular brands or models, but for the heavy, high spoke count wheels, I'd even use something heavier than an Open Pro.