Fitness questions and answers for September 6, 2004

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.

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.

Please note that category comparisons were not the original intent of Dr. Coggan's work here. The sheet was originally designed to help athletes and coaches develop an understanding of a rider's "power profile"; namely, whether or not they have relative strengths or weaknesses in max effort power at certain durations relative to others. This can help identify areas to address in training as well as provide data that may be helpful in choosing certain racing tactics. In fact, in the latest incarnation of the spreadsheet, Dr. Coggan has removed the category brackets because people were focusing on them rather than the intended purpose. Additionally, he has replaced the 20-min power numbers with "FT" or Functional Threshold, which is the average power one can sustain in a max effort of about 40 - 60 minutes.

Most likely you are compressing the relevant nerve when you ride. The most likely solution involves changing how you sit on the bike or perhaps the saddle itself. If you have not had a professional fitting by a competent specialist, start with that. If you have a position with which you are generally happy, the simplest solution is to lower the nose of the saddle just a couple of degrees. If that takes the pressure off the nerve and does not increase weight on your hands much, you're done. If you can't tilt the saddle far enough to remove the pressure without throwing weight onto your hands, you may be able to rotate your whole body position backwards: seat back and down, bars up, keep saddle level. If this does not solve the problem, try a different saddle, perhaps one with a soft or cutout nose. If you are currently using a particularly narrow saddle, try a slightly wider one. Good luck.

I'm 19 years old, my weight is about 61kg, and my height is about 1,70cm. I've been riding bikes since I was kid, more frequently since 14 years old and more seriously since 18 years old. I started training with the help of a coach this year and I have already seen good improvement. I ride at about 31km/h at endurance intensity (140-150bpm). But my greatest weakness is when I have to keep a very high intensity for a short time, like when I do interval training (For example, 6 x 2km at max intensity). When I do such a thing, after less than 1 minute my legs start to burn a lot, a lot of acid and a lot of suffering. The same thing happens during criterium races where at the start, the pace of the peloton is very high, and I never can keep with it. I don't have such a difficulty when I need to keep a high intensity pace for long times (30 minutes or more).

I was wondering if is there any way to avoid acid lactic from raising so fast in the muscles, like specific diet or training. Or I just have bad genetics and my muscles easily produces acid, and it's time to stop dreaming of cycling racing. Another observation is that I have I little more fat in the legs than the other parts of the body, is there any relation with that and the lactic acid problem?

I am 32, 5'10 and weight 155 lbs. I did my first triathlon a few weeks ago and will do a 1/2 Ironman in a few weeks. My question revolves around supplements. Does taking creatine, glutamine, etc help your body repair and recover from endurance training? Since, I am new to Triathlons I am spending a lot of time doing bricks to get my body used to transitions and just to get used to the amount of energy that will have to be expended over a 1/2 Ironman. What supplements, activities, or anything aids your body in recovery and repair?

Two sure-fire keys to optimal recovery are an adequate diet and enough rest between hard workouts. I'll stick to my area of expertise and address the diet-related issues. After training for 2 hours, your glycogen stores will be running low. You need to replenish the carbohydrate you used to fuel your workout. The optimal way to do this is to consume 1.5 g carbohydrate per kg of body weight within 30 minutes after exercise and again every two hours for 4-6 hours. Exercise increases the rate of protein breakdown and synthesis in skeletal muscle and, with adequate nutrition, it will have an anabolic effect on skeletal muscle, i.e., it will result in a net increase in protein synthesis. Carbohydrate consumed post-exercise is beneficial because it reduces the rate of protein degradation. However, to increase protein synthesis and achieve a net increase in muscle mass, it is important to consume protein after exercise. Studies have shown that consuming about 0.2 g of amino acids per kg of body weight per hour during the first 2-3 hours post exercise results in net protein synthesis.

I'm a 26y/o amateur cross-country and road racer. I don't really use any supplements other than commercial carb-drinks, rather I generally take the perspective of good general nutrition and improved focus/volume of work combined with adequate rest as the method to achieving the goals I set for myself. At my level of development I still see vast improvement potential with this methodology. My mind derives great satisfaction from hard work, I haven't yet hit performance walls where I feel the need to buy products to get me to the next stage, even if I lose a race by 5 seconds. I enjoy reading about the science and/or pseudo-science behind many of these products, especially lately with the media focus surrounding pre-Olympic disqualifications for banned substances.

My intrigue stems from conversations with one of my muscular friends who seems to use any/every product available. Lately I've heard ravings about nitric oxide and "his best workouts ever" (meaning weightlifting). His product selection is designed to bulk people up and usually falls on my deaf ears, as I maintain a typical cyclist physique. However, from reading the product package and articles on the internet, it seems to function by boosting bloodflow to muscles. This would seem to have obvious benefits to endurance athletes yet I've never seen this product mentioned in the endurance sport context. Second product that has come onto my radar screen is cordyceps. My understanding is that this is a natural, legal plant product that, improves VO2 and lactate thresholds, and led to success for Chinese swimmers in the early 90's. High and/or improving VO2 and lactate thresholds are obvious goals for endurance athletes, yet I haven't heard much about this substance although it appears to have been around in sport supplement context for about a decade.

I am a little over 6'3" 215 pounds with size 14 feet. I have had some knee and lower back issues. I have been riding 21 years some of it competitively. I currently ride (road) 100-120 mikes /week at a fairly rapid pace. My feet just barely clear my chain stays with my cleats positioned as far out as possible and I feel as if I am pushing toward the outside of my shoes. It is as if my pedals are not far enough out but I am not aware the availability of variable widths of cranks/bottom brackets. In fact my little toes often hurt after a ride. Recently I became aware of a product called Kneesavers (http://www.bikescor.com/product/knee.htm) and I was wondering if anyone there has any experience with them or if you can tell me how other tall big footed riders deal with what seems to be narrow pedal width? It is my sense that a wider pedal width would provide a better power transfer and might alleviate some of the issues I have had with at least the little toe pain.

There are a couple of other possible explanations for what you are feeling that may be worth checking out before you fit Kneesavers. Firstly the little toe pain may because of a shoe that is too narrow across the forefoot, or your foot may need everting in the shoe to better spread the load across the whole of the forefoot. Any competent, and I say competent bike positioning person should be able to determine if either of these are indeed your issues.

I am writing about a particular problem I encounter at very hard race efforts (the last 5 minutes of a crit or the key hill or false flat in a road race): calf cramps (right in the "belly" of both muscles) that cause me to pedal squares. Initially I had thought these were symptomatic of a mineral imbalance, and so I have been liberally salting my sports drink. But based on Steve's recent posts, I wonder if the issue might be one of positioning, such as at very high effort levels having a tendency to drop my heel at the bottom of the pedal stroke, loading and stretching out the calf muscle more than it is prepared for.

First let's eliminate a few possible causes. Are you tight in the calves in general? If so, an appropriate stretching regime should solve the problem. If you are not sure, find out. Next, read the cleat positioning posts for July 26. If your cleats are noticeably too far forward, calf problems can be one kind of fallout. Now let's assume that none of the above are the problem and that what you suspect is the problem is indeed so, that is, if I understand you correctly, that you are quite a pedaller but the problem occurs under severe load at lower cadences than typical [ for you] You describe fixed wheel training at high cadences and having a higher than average cadence generally. The typical response with this style of pedalling is to point the toes as the revs rise. This is an unconscious attempt to reduce the range of movement that the knee works through so as to fit more revs into a given period. There is nothing wrong with that and it is entirely natural, but the calves tend to be contracted with this style of riding, often not with any great force. What I'm guessing is the issue, is that when you drop your heels more during the severe efforts, the calf is being stretched forcefully and is probably eccentrically contracted forcefully. None of which your high cadence training prepares you for. The solution may be as simple as some uphill strength/endurance efforts in training to accustom you to the same type of loading, ie, dropped heel, high load.

I believe I may have found a significant source of this problem, and the simplest of solutions: stretching my hamstrings and lower back before riding. The numbness in my leg is similar to the symptoms of sciatica, and I usually have lower back pain/tightness on my left side that accompanies the leg numbness. (this is all part of my feeling of being "crooked") The stretching has helped a lot. So it may just be a matter of being too stiff, and aggravating the sciatic nerve or similar.

I am happy that you got a result. You have realised a basic truth of cycling, indeed of all sports and that is 'function first'. Our prime interest should be in maintaining and improving structural fitness. Once we have achieved a reasonable level, then cycling is what we choose to do with it. What you have likely been feeling is the compressing of the sciatic nerve where it passes over, under or through the piriformis which is an external rotator of the hip that lies under the glute. Why only on the left side?

There are a number of regimes for loading glycogen before long races. One issue seems a bit confusing. Much advice would recommend low fibre foods the day before race -good advice. Advice is also given that (unless you are recovering from a workout) low GI food should be consumed so that your muscles can constantly load from blood supply. From my limited knowledge few foods meet these two criteria. My short list is Low GI yoghurt and apple juice. Has this been talked about within sports nutritionists?

It seems that you have the high-low GI pattern down pretty well. High GI foods and beverages are the best choices when you need a readily available glucose supply, during exercise and immediately afterwards, for example. Low GI foods are better choices the rest of the time because they cause a more moderate elevation in blood glucose levels and, thus, blood insulin levels. There are lists of GIs for foods and beverages available. A comprehensive list was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 76:5-56, 2002 (http://www.ajcn.org).

My IT band was snapping across the outside bone on my left knee when I extended my leg while pedaling. I've had my left IT band operated on (cut) twice. I was advised both times that it would eventually grow back together, but hopefully in a manner that would not cause my symptoms. For the second operation, I stayed conscious so I could duplicate the symptom on the operating table and the surgeon could make an accurate cut.

About 2 years after the second surgery, the symptoms recurred. This time, I tried lowering my seat just about 1/8-1/4 of an inch and the symptoms disappeared. This was probably because now I wasn't extending my leg far enough during the pedal stroke to straighten the IT band. The risk in doing this is that with a lower seat height, I may be stressing the knee more. It's a compromise, I know. To offset this, I've consciously changed my pedal style to spin faster using a lower gear. So far, my cycling hasn't suffered and I'm pain free.

Yours is an interesting story and without trying to criticise or rebuke you in anyway I would suggest that your ITB problem was probably a consequence rather than the root cause. Which is why it returned to haunt you post op. Given that you make no mention of a similar problem on the right side, an interesting test would be to raise your seat back to your old height but fit a spacer equivalent to the amount of seat height change under your left cleat. If you ever choose to try this I would be interested to know what happens.

I am a 46 year old male veteran recreational rider/racer who also spends a little time at the gym. I have always been very active and have always noted that at times my lower back aches, especially after prolonged exercise. This scenario is no different with cycling, which I have only been doing seriously for the past 5 years. I am reasonably sure the pain is biomechanical - there is no history of trauma, etc and medical test of various sorts, physiotherapists, etc, have found no abnormality. I am in the process of having a local expert perform a proper setup for my bike, but my question is as follows: given that most people neglect the need for stretching for whatever reason, can you help me with a useful series of stretches for my lower back? In fact because the back is related to pelvis, hamstrings. etc, what about recommended stretches for all areas. Should I spend some/more time developing "core" strength? Magical answers would be appreciated.

There are others on this forum better equipped to answer you in specific terms but here is my two bob's worth. Buy three books: 'Overcome Neck and Back Pain' by Kit Laughlin; 'Stretching and Flexibility' also by Kit Laughlin; and 'Pilates For Dummies' by Ellie Herman. Read those three excellent publications, put what you learn in them into practice and I would be surprised if you still have a problem in 12 months time.

Your problem could be as simple as having your seat too low and/or too far forward. Many women pedal in a more toe down fashion than is generally the rule for men. If this sounds like you, and if whoever positioned you used a mathematical basis for setting seat height, you are probably too low and this is the source of your problem. Set your bike on an indoor trainer, warm up thoroughly, and then while riding in a gear that is reasonably hard [ requires effort but does not cause you to sacrifice technique] raise your seat in increments of 3mm till you are obviously too high. This will be when your pedalling starts to feel a little jerky. Once this happens, drop your seat height 5mm from that point and you should be pretty close.

I know -- and fully agree with -- Steve Hogg's stance that bike fit should be based on your position while riding, not stationary. BUT . . . just wondering, based upon your experiences in fitting customers for bikes, if either of the 2 common formulas for seat height tends to be more "accurate:" the Hinault method (.885 X inseam, BB to seat), or 1.09 X inseam = pedal to seat. I ask, because I tried both, and ended up with nearly a 4 CM difference between the two. Should there be such a large discrepency, or did I calculate and/or measure incorrectly? (I also heard of the method whereby the cyclist streightens his leg, locking his knee at the bottom of the pedal stroke, which should result in the foot being parallel to the ground if height is correct . . . is this anymore "accurate?")

I weigh 100kg and am 183cm tall and 32 years old. Yes I know I'm at least 15-20kg overweight although I do have a large frame. Riding is my exercise of choice and I am interested in slowly training up enough to be able to at least go on shop rides if not compete. At the moment I'd be lucky to maintain 26km/h for an hour. 2-3 times a week. Although a few years ago I was doing 29km/h for an hour 4-5 times a week. I'm fairly dedicated so riding more and for longer is not a problem. I should be able to ride for 60-90minutes 4 times a week and a 2-3 hour on the weekend. (yes I know this isn't much compared to 350miles a week etc.)

I've read a lot on your site about the 6-10g/kg/day of carbs etc and to drink carbs while riding and before and after etc. If my initial goal is weight loss and I'm riding first thing in the morning (5am) should I have breakfast first or after. ( I know you have said to eat before to carb load but I don't think this was in the context of weight loss) Surely if I'm trying to loose weight I should deplete myself of carbs to make my body burn fat. If I eat carbs first won't I just be burning those and no fat.