Fitness questions and answers for September 23, 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.

I am a 39 year old recreational cyclist (17-18mph over rolling terrain) who loves it for the outdoor activity, fitness and friendship. I just had surgery for an Achilles tendon rupture that occurred in a city league basketball game. Beyond listening to my surgeon and doing all the physiotherapy I'm prescribed and then some are there any cycling specific things I should do or warnings I should note when I return to the bike?

When my cleats were fitted, I was encouraged to allow my feet to travel naturally, which resulted in a foot position with both heels close enough to the crank arms that they click them every now and then. Normally, this position feels just right. However, when I get into significant climbing (+5% for miles at a time), I find that my right knee occasionally bothers me (a bit of scar tissue under the patellar tendon from landing on my knee on asphalt years ago; an MRI revealed no significant damage). To remedy the discomfort and continue riding with no further problems, I merely need to pedal while holding my right heel a bit further away from the crank arm. I'm not entirely sure why this works, I'm just glad it does.

I’m a semi-pro volleyball player. I also love cycling and feel that it allows me to keep a good level of cardiovascular conditioning. However, I worry that the two sports are not compatible. Whereas volleyball (same goes for basketball, hockey, football, etc.) requires good reflexes and explosive muscles (fast-twitch fibres), cycling is all about working the slow twitch-fibres. Am I hurting my volleyball physique when cycling? Is there a specific way I should train and/or things I should avoid while cycling so as not to affect the other sport?

This is a great inquiry, getting at the fundamental question of what makes cross-training valuable or detrimental. The answer is not simple. Cross training becomes valuable when you're already doing as much specific training for your sport as you can stand. That could be as much as you can stand for the day, the week, or even the year. That could be as much as you can stand because you are losing interest, because injuries are not healing or because you've mastered your main sport to the point that more training won't help. Once you have reached the level of doing as much volleyball training as you can stand and benefit from, then it makes sense to consider cross training. Cycling will improve your stamina.

I'm a 38 year old female, Cat 2 road racer. I started having right quad cramping since the beginning of the season. It would generally cramp during high intensity such as hill climbing or sprinting and had to back off and the pain would go away in about 10 minutes. I've worked on hydration, taking electrolytes (sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium) and stretching. I recently took a couple of weeks off thinking it was overuse, but since I've been back on the bike it is much worse.

I can't answer your question in quite the way you would like because I don't know anything about Retul as a positioning system. I do know about Retul as a movement capture system. Movement capture is a method to enable bike fitters to see patterns of motion of their clients that they may not be able to see or make sense of with the naked eye. Movement capture is a tool and ideally the bike fitter uses this tool in the same way as he would use other tools and that is as an aid to help get the best result for his client.