Fitness questions and answers for October 7, 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.

It takes 2-3 years for a rider who is new to good training to get close to his or her potential as a cyclist. Starting to ride at 17 or 18, you can get to be as strong and as good a racer as anyone who started younger, but you have to accept that it will take 1-2 more years before you are at your best while the riders who have been training already are close to their best already. If you want to be a great bike racer, don't be discouraged if you are not winning this year or next. You will catch up, and when some of the others are burning out and losing interest after racing for many years, you'll be reaching your peak just in time for U23 races and perhaps turning professional.

I am a 65 year old 6'6", 185-pound male cyclist that has been battling bursitis in my left hip for quite a while. I have finally got it partially solved with spacers under my left Speedplay cleat and NAID pain killers. I have used 177.5mm Dura Ace cranks for several years, but I am now thinking of going to 180's because I feel that I am spinning in tight circles. At the same time I would like to switch to a compact set up.

Any negative effects on your hip by increasing crank length are likely to occur because your knee rises too high at the top of the pedal stroke. To test whether you are going to have a problem, drop your seat 5mm and ride for a week or so. If you don't have problems with your hips at that seat height, you're unlikely to have problems with the 180's. A set of 180mm cranks are 2.5 mm longer than your 177.5mm cranks, meaning that your seat post will have to drop 2.5mm further into your frame to maintain the same seat height from pedal axle to top of seat. That seat post drop of 2.5 mm plus the 2.5mm extra crank length means that your knee will rise 5mm higher at the top of pedal stroke.

I've been following a lot of the crank/pedal length/position debates for a long time, and now that I have six months until my next race I am taking the opportunity to try out a lot of the ideas which I think hold merit. First and foremost is mounting the cleats so that the spindle is behind the metatarsal. I am aware of some adapters for Speedplay pedals that will give you such a rear-ward mounting of cleats, but are there such systems for three-bolt pattern pedal systems? I've briefly looked around the internet to no avail... is Speedplay the only way to go if I want to give this a whirl?

You're right. Speedplay is your only option. The Speedplay part no. 13330 will allow cleat adjustment from 14mm further back to 5mm further forward than the standard Speedplay baseplate. Bear in mind though that the standard Speedplay baseplate has about 5mm less rearward adjustment than other three-bolt systems. That means that you'll end up approximately 10mm further back than is possible on whatever system you are using now. Don't confuse that with midfoot cleat position though. That would require another 30-40mm more rearward movement than is possible with part no. 13330.

My advice for anyone who is returning from injury is to take one day at a time. What is the best thing that your son can do today for his cycling? Follow the doctors' advice with regard to healing and rehabbing his arm. You didn't mention when he is allowed to return to riding or whether he has been riding already, nor how talented he is. With those bits of information plus the doctors' advice, I'd give a more specific answer. If he routinely thrashes the competition, the situation is quite different than if he needs a personal-best ride to make the selection.

It can be devastating when an injury keeps you from racing in an event that you have spent months training for. Injury is an unfortunate aspect that sometimes comes with the territory. I'm sure your son is disappointed that he will miss out on this event. Scott has some great advice - your son has to keep himself in the present and focus on what he can do right now for his cycling. Focusing on what he can do versus on what he can't do or what he will miss out on will help him feel like he has some sense of control.

My wife frequently has numb toes while riding her road bike with SPD pedals. She is riding a road bike with flat bars and recreational SPD pedals - the kind with a flat platform on one side and SPD clip-ins on the other. She has Shimano recreational mountain bike style shoes with laces and one velcro strap. The problem is not weather-related and occurs even with her laces are completely loose. Typically this occurs on longer rides (over one hour) and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it... however, she notices it occurs with thicker socks more often. Even with thicker socks though she can still wiggle her toes just fine and the shoes aren't too tight in general. It gets to the point where we have to stop for her to take the shoes off and restore some blood flow. Any thoughts?

I'm having some tightness on the outer edge of each foot that reaches more or less the full length... from the small toe to the heel. Its worse on my left foot, and the right is starting to feel similar, although some tightness is going up the achilles tendon on it now too. On trying to stretch it out, it feels quite painful and when massaging it with my hands it feels like I'm pulling tendons by hand which is quite painful.

Generally speaking (and I say this with some caution because there are exceptions) the area that is loaded as you describe is the area that should be wedged towards. This happens because you are autonomically trying to correct your footplant on pedal. By using a valgus wedge which lifts the outside edge of the foot as you have, you have made the problem worse because you have more than likely wedged in the wrong direction. Reverse your wedges so that they lift the inside edge of the foot. That should solve your problem (assuming of course that wedging or the lack of, is the problem).

It's definitely worth your while to have your fit checked by someone who knows anatomy and biomechanics as well as bikes any time you have an injury that may have arisen from a bike fit problem, but I'm doubtful in your case that the problem started from an improper bike fit. You noted the problem started while you were standing, which means that saddle position would not have much to do with it unless the muscle was fatigued when you sitting and finally pulled when you stood up.

What a wonderful service you provide on this Q&A. Your replies are really thorough and helpful. I specialise in sports medicine but certainly am no expert on bike fit. I am just now working with an elite junior cyclist who is struggling with PFJ pain. Her knees often hit the cross bar and I think she might benefit from medial shims. Her cleats are already set to bring her heels in. I have also suggested trying a shorter crank. Am I on the right track here and if so where do we get shims in Western Australia?