Fitness questions and answers for October 30, 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've been a fan of your column for quite some time and your advice has paid off regarding everything from cleat position through to solving a difficult knee problem I've had for years. So, thank you. I'm hoping you can give me an insight into 3D Dynamic Bike Fit. I hear CTS are offering it, and I was wondering if you could both elaborate on what it is, how it works, and give me your opinion on it.

I am a College student studying Exercise Science and have competed in various endurance sports (mostly running and road cycling). As a self proclaimed training geek, and like most racers, I am constantly looking for anything that could make me minutes (or even seconds) faster (LEGALLY OF COURSE...DOPERS SUCK). So my question is this, with all the nutrient possibilities and the many nutrition companies out there, all with their own recovery ideas. SOOO I was wondering, could you simplify and save money by ingesting some food with carbohydrates and a little protein plus a standard multivitamin (directly after workout or otherwise within the glycogen window) to make up for any lost nutrients in you're diet, or those nutrients that have been depleted by you're training? Would this make sense, or is it best to stick with a condensed formula, such as an energy bar or a recovery beverage. Thanks for you're help,

You are wise beyond your years, or you are an old college student. The preformulated energy and recovery products offer nothing that you can't get from intelligently chosen, "real" foods. That doesn't mean that these products are without value however. First off, if you don't have the knowledge needed to help you make those intelligent choices (a friend of mine thought that cheese was a carbohydrate-rich food, for instance) energy and recovery supplements let you choose well without thinking too muc.

I have tried so many endurance drinks including EFS, Nuun, high 5 isotonic, gatorade, Cytomax, gatorade endurance, and Salt sticks. Still, I have cramps. I have run 5 marathons and always feel the cramps after 18 miles (have to run & walk just to finish). I have also checked with my doctor and all my electrolytes are at normal level. They even said I am very healthy. They told me to hydrate days before riding, but it still didn't help. I will experiment on pickle juice this week. Any advice is very much appreciated. Thank you.

My original problem was medial knee pain slightly in front of the Anserine bursa. My diagnosis was the varus rock at the top of the pedal rotation. To solve this I placed 2 aligned LeMond wedges with the thick portion medially. The pain instantly resolved. Unfortunately I quickly developed inflammation at my iliotibial band insertion on the lateral knee that persisted with lowering the saddle and widening my cleats.

The LeMond wedges were removed and The ITB pain went away. I raised the seat which seemed to minimize the amount of the problem with getting over the top with out rocking my foot and concentrated on pedaling with my knee held much closer to my top tube. In video photography this appeared to give a very good alignment. Unfortunately I then developed pain at the superior lateral patella where the vastus lateralis inserted.

My next process was to raise the seat slightly further. Try to let my knee go naturally but concentrate on maintaining pressure medially on the pedal through the stroke. My knee angle now at about 27°. Riding in this position for moderate distances caused increased achilles pain. I moved my cleat back 11 mm from my 1st metatarsal head. (My shoe size is a 47). To do this I changed over to speed play pedals and used their extender kit. I re did my set up and had my knee angle 29 to 30 , let my knee go where it wants which on video has an almost unnoticable side to side rock and concentrated on keeping the foot medially weighted.

This seemed to solve the problem for several months until I began increasing the intensity and distance. I redeveloped medial knee pain!!!! This was instantly corrected by holding my knee slightly closer to the top tube. However the same chain reaction occurred with the return of superior lateral patellar pain. If I raise the seat still further to about 26° of the bend the achilles pain is back but knee is better.

2. Continue to try and ride at a relatively high saddle position but move the cleat back another 8 mm. 19mm total. That's about all I have left in the range from the speed play adapter. Hopefully this would remove further stress from my Achilles. It also allows me to lower my saddle from its current position. At the 26° I seem to still be able to spin on my saddle and have control at the bottom under reasonable load. I'm not sure yet how my hamstrings will handle it in the long run as the Achilles gave out first.

Hi, I'm a 44 year old recreational cyclist who wants to race next year. I just got new KEO pedals and Sidi Genius 6.6 shoes with the carbon sole. The stack height on the 6.6 shoes is 3.2 mm's less than the Genius 5's I was using. The Keo manual suggests that I lower my saddle by 5 mm's to compensate for the difference in thickness of the Keo cleats compared to the Delta cleats. If I go that low, everything feels off. I've moved my cleats back a little to compensate for the lower saddle height (2 mm's lower than previously), so they are behind the ball of each foot and are pretty comfortable now. The problem is, I'm not sure how far to lower my seat considering the two new variables (new shoes and pedals). I've been measuring my saddle height from the center of the pedal spindle to the top of the saddle, and that height has been very comfortable with my old shoes and pedals. Is this the correct way to do it? Now that I've changed shoes and pedals, I've been riding with it set 2 mm's lower than previously. Should I go any lower, or just try it here for a while? Also, should I move my saddle back on the rails any to keep the same previous position, or does 2 mm's make that much difference? Let me know if you need any more information.