Fitness questions and answers for September 26, 2005

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.

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.

Since 1986 Steve Hogg (www.cyclefitcentre.com) has owned and operated Pedal Pushers, a cycle shop specialising in rider positioning and custom bicycles. In that time he has positioned riders from all cycling disciplines and of all levels of ability with every concievable cycling problem.They include World and National champions at one end of the performance spectrum to amputees and people with disabilities at the other end.

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.

I have with great interest read your interesting advice on positioning on the bike. You have in few words summed up an ailment that I could get no qualified assistance on where I live (Denmark). I have previously needed to put together the solution to my problem piece by piece and now you present it almost as an everyday occurrence in your advice. I'm 34 and started road riding 18 months ago after a relatively unfit former lifestyle.

After six months of increasing intensity a cleat adjustment (spd) on the left side (heel more out) gave me an exceedingly severe case of ITB syndrome on the left leg, necessitating a one month break from the bike. On the net I accumulated enough advice over the next few months to switch to Speedplay zero and start stretching (a first time for me, but know I'm a stretch addict). I then discovered that my left foot had a severe pronation when pushing down - causing the left knee to hit the top tube, I switched to Specialized carbon pro, but the tilt wasn't enough. Then by chance I stumbled across Lemond wedges on the net. I've experimented a lot and now my left sided pedalling feels good with the specialized varus cant and two wedges. I always had saddle sores in the right side of the crotch, and it started me thinking - you probably already guessed I found my right shin to be about 1.5 cm shorter than the right (I'm not quite sure as to the femur, but when I'm standing I naturally put the right leg behind, the left up front).

I recently adopted your balance test, and brought my sitting position about two centimetres back (gone from 13 to 11 cm stem) and can pedal no hands in the drops. Interestingly - at least to me - was that this caused me to switch back to the Aspide after having tried out the Fizik arione for two months. On the Aspide I always felt like I was on the hard tip whereas the Arione had a comfortable tip when in the drops. Now that I'm further back thy aspide is perfectly supporting, I don´t go on the tip in the drops anymore and the sitbones are resting in the saddle. Funny thing is that now the Fizik seems all wrong cause I seem to slide forward doing the balance test, and my general feeling is that it doesn't keep my butt in place. Just been wondering if the popularity of the Fizik is due to its forgiveness to faulty riding positions?

I feel that I have corrected my riding position to the best of my ability, I have stretched so that fingers goes flat to the ground when bending forward, but I still feel tightness in the left hamstring, glute and calf - specially in the drops. I believe that it is due to a pelvic rotation causing my left side to be more forward than the right (I feel my left sitbone with less weight in the saddle than the right). Well the question now is how do I correct this best - you sometimes mentions saddle rotation, but is that really it? Are there any specific exercises that help this condition or should I just stretch away.

My question concerns the recovery and after effects of some climbing training that I'm doing. Usually once a week in the morning before work I do a climb up Mount Cootha (Brisbane) to maintain my hill legs. I'm generally a pretty good climber and like the intensity of it. It's not huge but a good work-out (3km at 6%) and I'll usually be in the range of say 88% to 94% or my Max HR (42 YO with a Max of 187).

I was wondering if you could offer your opinion on anatomic saddles. To me, it makes sense to have a cut-out in the "privates" area to relieve undo pressure, thus minimizing numbness and possible prostate problems. However, I have heard that wiith a traditional saddle, the pressure is dispersed over a larger sitting area and therefore provides more relief. It seems that most of the professionals are riding the more tradional shaped saddles, so maybe they are better.(?) I am in the market for a new saddle, so I wanted an expert opinion before I made my purchase. Currently I am riding on a saddle with a cut-out, however I can't say that I am overly comfortable or have not experienced an occassional tingly toe.

Hi, I am a 35 yr old cat 4 racer, train around 100-150 mi. per week and race when I can. I have been racing for about 3 yrs. I feel pretty strong and confident in most of the races which are mostly criteriums. I do have problems however when there is a hill involved. If the hill is not to steep I seem to be OK, but if it slopes at say 8-9% I go backwards very quickly(Santa Cruz Crit.). Is there a way to train for the power that is needed on these types of efforts in a criterium. I think it is a lack of power not fitness. I am 5'9" 147 lbs so I am not a natural power house, but I would like to be able to compete in these races. Thanks for any advice

I have been able to do any easy flat rides, even centuries sitting in a big pack, and can climb hills at an easy pace with no problem. The problem occurs when attempting longer intervals or on group rides when the pace on the hills gets faster. Then I can keep up for a while but soon see and feel my heart rate shoot up well over 220. At that point I just can run out of steam pretty quickly and fall right out the back. When it is coming on it seems as if I can actually feel some pressure building in my left chest right before my HR goes from a typical 170/175 climbing rate to over 200. Eventually I need to drop the pace to a crawl and spin a low gear for 10 to 15 minutes to recover, then I can usually manage to ride along at a moderate pace again. After recovering, if I try any more hard efforts the cycle repeats.

This is occurring on group rides with the same routes and riders that I have been doing for years and my performance is far below normal and the effort and physical sensations are way out of proportion with past experience on these hills and the typical pace I can normally manage. I keep a ride log and am confident that this is not a basic fitness or over training issue. I have changed the batteries and then purchased a new HR monitor to make sure the information is accurate and consistent.

I have discussed this with my doctor at my annual check up and she did the typical blood tests and an EKG that did not reveal anything unusual. I was referred to a cardiologist who performed an ultrasound that seemed to indicate normal heart functioning, but of course this was in a resting state. He also had me do a treadmill stress test which was pretty inconclusive because I didn't get anywhere near the type of top end effort a well trained cyclist could achieve.

Obviously I am concerned that I have not been able to determine the cause of, or know what if any long-term consequences this may condition may hold. I have a follow up exam scheduled with both doctors and am curious if you have any experience with similar issues and can suggest other possible things to test for. At this point I am anxious to get it resolved but am not sure if is cardiac in nature or possibly some type of virus or respiratory infection, blood parasite or a form of exercise induced asthma.

I am 6'3" and 176 pounds, male aged 36, cat 4 and single speed/expert MTB racer. I have been riding at least 2000 miles per year for as many years as I can remember, although this year is on track to be closer to 4000. In the last month I have developed a sloppy pedal stroke. Under moderate to high pressure the right leg juts out at the top of the stroke, no pain involved. a week before I noticed the knee movement i was walking and suddenly changed directions and crossed over the right leg and felt a sight sting. I do have tight IT bands. Any clue as to what may have happened? No change in riding style or position. I switch between a pair of Sidi G4 and Pearl Izumi Flow shoes. Thanks for your help!

I am a 33 year old male and have just recently got back into cycling. I am 178cm tall and weigh 88kg. I used to do a reasonable amount of cycling although it has always been intermittent; I didn't cycle for three years and then a year ago decided to cycle around France covering 2500km. Since then, I did very little cycling until a couple of months ago. I am now riding about 300kms a week and feeling no ill effects except last Sunday on a long ride I went numb around the perineum and reproductive bits and pieces; clearly a concerning development! This only occurred after about 120km and after about 20 minutes of reasonably hard work in the saddle.

Everything returned to normal after slowing and standing out of the saddle for a few kilometres. Later I felt a tingling sensation either side of the perineum where the Specialized bio Avatar saddle takes the pressure: it is one of those saddles that has a cut-out and claims to retain the blood flow to the important bits! I have only ever experienced numbness once before that I can remember and that was on a saddle without cut-outs and when I was hunkered back into it climbing the Alpe d'Huez. Obviously there is a correlation with the amount of effort I am making and the relation to saddle position.

There is so much conflicting evidence about all of this that I would like an expert's opinion on whether these cut-out saddles are worthy of the hype or whether I would be better off with something like a Fiz:ik Arione that supposedly is better for having greater contact area, not less. I also notice that none of the pro cyclists seem to use cut-out saddles. I have set up my saddle height and set-back according to the traditional calculations based on inseam and am generally comfortable; the reach is short, if anything and I favour a shallow drop from the saddle height to the bars of around 6cms and ride mostly on the hoods. Any help in ensuring I don't do any permanent damage would be most appreciated! I should add that I don't seem to have any erectile problems, but that is not to say that damage is not being done. Thanks in advance for your advice.