Fitness questions and answers for April 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.

My question centres around the issue of the effect of hard riding on the immune system. I am still in the early stages of turning my body into a lean mean cycling machine and only averaging about 120km (75 miles) a week. This is achieved over five days of riding to and from work (20km a day) with perhaps a club ride on the weekend. I am pleased with the progress in my fitness level but concerned that I regularly feel 'run-down'. I find it difficult not to ride medium/hard and I regularly feel like my immune system is under pressure and dealing with some mild cold or flu like symptoms. It doesn't stop me riding to work but I just wish my body could remain clear and 'powerful' for a pro-longed period of time.

When my body is good I go hard. This often seems to result in me succumbing to another bout of feeling 'run-down'. It's like a cycle which keeps recurring. Can you recommend anything to boost my immune system; is my situation common and does the immune system become proportionally stronger as one becomes fitter? I am aware of the impact of sleep, diet, alcohol and daily stress on the immune system. I look forward to your response.

Let me reassure you that what you are experiencing is not uncommon, but unfortunately that won't make your flu-like symptoms go away. In fact, your sluggish immune system is part of the body's normal, adaptive response to exercise training. Exercise, particularly high intensity or exhaustive exercise, causes the brain to signal the adrenal gland to make glucocorticoid hormones. Cortisol release during exercise is beneficial because it stimulates glycogen breakdown and synthesis of glucose in the liver, making more carbohydrate available to the muscle.

I have been struggling with a right knee injury for the past six months or so. I had been riding in a brace for most of the fall and winter, and recently have been off the bike trying to heed the advice of my physical therapist to give it some time. I have just now returned to riding with a taping regimen that helps my knee enormously. The problem is I have noticed a tendency to favour my left leg. Even when concentrating on trying to "split the workload" I still notice my left quad getting tired first. Are there any tricks that may help me ensure that both legs are contributing equally? Thanks!

I assume that you are favouring the left leg because of the right leg injury. One small trick that sounds corny but worked for me many years ago and has worked for a lot of people in your situation is this. Do all your training on an indoor trainer for the time being. Pedal at moderate load and cadence, but, so that there is some muscular effort per stroke, rather than just momentum in the main as there would be at say, 100+ rpm in an easy gear. In this case your choice of resistance needs to be guided by what your recovering knee will stand.

I am 34, 190lb, and enjoy riding road bikes from the March-October months. I am not a serious racer or anything, but ride 100-200 miles/week and have no problems riding with the Cat 4/5 groups. Anyway, when I am getting back into shape year-in/year-out I inevitably get cramps in my calves. This always occurs during hard efforts while riding in groups. The cramps go away after about the first month of riding. So I got a mild cramp last week - that did not surprise me, but what did was afterward for several days there was a knot/soreness sensation in the exact location of the cramp. This does not hurt or anything, but just causes a little discomfort. Is this knotting sensation normal after a cramp? What causes it and any ideas why I have never had this after getting cramps in the past? Thanks.

If you are putting me on the spot and want a hard number I would say that a total of 10 degrees plus the ability to angle the cleat will keep all but the functionally strange and unusual happy. Shimano claim 6 degrees for the SPD-SL's but often with new cleats it is less than that until they wear a little. They are a good pedal but are sold willy nilly by a lot of shops because of quality of design and manufacture and relatively cheap price, without considering whether the intended buyer needs more play than they provide.

I've recently been diagnosed as suffering from irritable bowel syndrome. My symptoms (cramps, spending way too much time in the toilet etc) are usually confined to the time I spend NOT riding the bike. However, I have been known to cramp up whilst on the bike, but as this is often when I am really pushing it it's hard to tell if this is IBS related, or just "normal" suffering...I've been experiencing these symptoms for some years but always put it down to side effects from training. A recent worsening led me to consult my doctor who confirmed that such a problem is not usual.

This is not so much a question on fitness as it is a question of technique. Crits as you know start out notoriously fast. The challenge I and others face is getting our shoe clipped in ASAP. I generally push down with my strong leg and wait for the opposite arm to reach the 1:00 position before attempting to get my other foot in. Sometimes I miss (even with practice) and it causes havoc trying to catch back on. Is there a technique that is preferred over others? I noticed in watching "The Hard Road" that some racers snap in at the 7:00 position. It seems faster...but I haven't tried it yet. Thank you.

I have really liked what Steve Hogg has had to say about fitting for correct positioning, however it is a bit hard to glean enough to do the adjustments myself from the Fitness articles on Cyclingnews so I am looking to get some professional help. Steve's system sounds great, but the problem is that I am located here in the U.S. and so it isn't really an option to go into the shop. I was wondering if he is familiar with such fitting services that do have locations in the U.S. such as Wobble Naught and whether or not this is a good option. Thanks.

I live in the town from which WobbleNaught originated and can certainly attest to the inadequacies of the system. I, personally, find the system, like all formula driven systems, is severely flawed. A bike fit needs to integrate not just a rider's dimensions, but also how they move on their bike. For example, you can take two rides with identical dimensions and they will both receive the same "laser precision" fit, which I find to be overly aggressive. Rider A has normal hamstring and extensor flexibility and successfully adapts to the system. Rider B has tight hamstrings and hip ER's and rather than flexing from the pelvis, flexes almost solely from the lumbar spine.

First of all, thanks for the good you guys provide to all of us, as your feedback is always very useful and insightful. I'm a male road and mountain biker, 36 years of age; 6ft, 175lbs. My question is - after about a week of a general ill-feeling (fatigued) and a swollen lymph node under my right arm, I paid a visit to my doctor. He diagnosed me as having a sinus infection and prescribed a B-Complex shot, some nose drops and antibiotics. After three days (of the seven prescribed) of taking my meds, I have begun to feel better (regain energy), but my lymph node does not seem to be decreasing in size, or becoming less painful.

Background - I'm 28 years old and have been involved in cycling/triathlon for the past seven years. For the past two years I've been concentrating on bike racing and I take it pretty seriously (I think), I usually complete between 400-500km/week depending on the timing of the season and like to complete in Club Racing every week (A Grade) as many state opens as possible (C Grade). I train methodically using a Heart Rate-based approach with particular emphasis on adequate recovery between sessions.

Problem - For the past 3-4 months I have been experiencing a type of sleep disorder, which as you can imagine effects my training, which subsequently compromises my ability to progress, especially in racing. I have tried almost everything - herbal remedies, cutting out caffeine, no liquids after 8pm, blood tests which revealed nothing abnormal and so on and so on. The problem is that I seem to fall asleep no problems at all usually around 9.30pm-10pm then around 2-3am I wake and can't for the life of me get back to sleep.

In the past I was getting up and continuing to train at 5am but I have realised that this makes the situation worse. Recently I seem to have stumbled on a possible solution - I had reduced my carb intake in an effort to reduce my weight (I'm 6'1 and between 80-85kg - in an effort to keep up with 65kg climbers!). This was a wrong decision as this decision has resulted in my body being starved of the fuel it requires to complete my training sessions and races. Since realising this I re-introduced large amounts of carbo's into my diet and thankfully my sleep did improve.

However, on the weekend just gone I completed a race on Saturday (120Km) and then a four hour ride (120Km) on Sunday - a big weekend in all - since then I have had trouble sleeping again. It appears that my carb intake was inadequate for completing such a big weekend. Have you ever heard of people suffering from sleep deprivation through lack of carb intake? To me, and I am certainly not a nutritionist, it seems that if I have inadequate carb intake then my body goes into a state of over-exhaustion or over-metabolism to try and find the fuel it requires to recover hence I get limited sleep. Obviously trial and error will eventually sort this out and my plan is to significantly increase my pre-race/ride nutrition for the longer days on the weekend but I would be very interested to know if you have any advice or information which may help me solve this problem. Many thanks and keep up the great work.

Before the last ride (Sat.16th April) I did not alter the amount of insulin, but had a slightly larger breakfast. En-route I did two blood-sugar tests, and with an 8.4 I was happy enough to keep consumption cautious. The ride was thankfully on the famous Bristol-Bath cycle path, and was in fact my first ride for almost a year. Nothing wrong with my legs, so the 26 miles total did not hurt in any way!

I fear that I possibly get no warnings of blood-sugar low-levels/hypos approaching, but I would always have something to eat each half-hour. Is it possible my sugar level could drop VERY suddenly ? Another fear is that the Tegretol I have been taking for a few years (because epilepsy might exist) could be causing me to suddenly fall asleep ? If I was to try cycling again, would it be a very bad idea to take NO INSULIN before the cycle ride? Thank you for your efforts so far.

I've decided to splurge and spend some time in France climbing up and down most of the climbs I see every year in the Tour De France. That's the good news; and the bad news - my days are breaking down to about 20-40km of climbing each day and I'd like to feel as strong and confident as possible. Looking at it from a numbers perspective - I figure to be spending a couple hours of day climbing, at let's say an average of 7% - with kickers every now and then.

a) Losing weight if possible.
b) Working on my MSS threshold. What I'm a little unclear on is how many times a week I can do those workouts? Should I be riding just under MSS for an hour - or just over it for 10 minutes? Also, I've read that you don't need to be climbing to do this work, but do I need to be at least simulating climbing cadence? (Try as I might, I ride the flats at 90 but the climbs at 70)

I'm a 42 year old road racer. I am having problems that are really quite depressing. The problem is that when I try for a sustained hard effort, I have to stop or get out of the saddle due to pain and numbness in my left leg. The pain covers the hamstrings, outer quad(?) and terminates with a numb and tingling foot. Easing up provides relief, though the foot takes a while to come back. I also have some symptoms off the bike.

Although this problem has now come to a head and I've had to cancel my racing plans for the immediate future (very depressing because I've trained really well over the winter), I'm beginning to think that I've had this problem for a lot longer than I initially thought. Two years ago I had a bad crash (40mph into a hedge) and ever since then I've not felt quite right. Anyway, I've found myself a Physiotherapist who says the problem is my sciatic nerve. He is treating me with a mixture of ultrasound, electronic pulse massage and physical manipulation., but the problem is just as bad. I get temporary relief and then a few hours after the treatment the problem reoccurs. My questions are:

I am a 55 y/o masters racer. I have been racing on and off for many years. I turned 55 this past March and decided to train hard and give it my best shot for this year. I raced this past weekend on a 2.5 mile circuit with one climb on each lap. I was easily with the pack until the last lap when all hell broke loose on the climb. My HR climbed also to 185. If I could have had about 10-15 sec. to recover from the climb, I would have been OK, but someone attacked right at the top of the climb and I could not respond. What is the best training to help with this type of situation? Thanks for your help.

Just wanted to thank the panel for your help in answering all the questions .Fitness Q&A is my favorite part of the Cycling news page. I am a 43 year old male living in the Northeast U.S. I am a Cat 3 racer, full time worker, homeowner, etc. who's been racing for eight years. I participate mostly in crits and stay away from hilly road races.I do the local Thursday night 15km TT throughout the summer.

I have about a 1800 mile base now. I have done 3 crits so far, and done fairly well..I don't plan on doing any more crit racing until after District tt.Can you point me in the right direction? I've have not ridden my tt bike yet this year. The local tt doesn't start until June.How much of my training should be on my tt bike as opposed to regular bike? If I concentrate on my tt program only, will my crit racing suffer come June when I start racing again? My only training tool is a heart rate monitor. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

I read your and Kelby's response to the gentleman's hamstring pain on cycling news. As a cyclist dealing with the same symptoms, I thought I'd chime in that my cause is Piriformis Syndrome, caused by lifting huge objects during a late season home improvement project. The Piriformis muscle spasmed, and causes my sciatic nerve to bleed pain into my hamstring- feeling like a cramp coming on- while I pedal, push with force, and especially on the upstroke when concentrating on pedalling good circles. It doesn't hurt while climbing out of the saddle, as my quads do more work and the hamstring is not pulling.

There are a mulitude of causes of hamstring tendinosis on a bike and yours is one of the less common, though I have come across it. Generally, if the piriformis is spasming the hip externally rotates without accompanying pelvic asymmetry, though this may be present for other reasons. This external rotation can provide a diagnostic jigsaw piece.What you say is correct and valid, but when giving advice on a forum like this we all have to play the odds a bit. I will pass on your email to Bryan, the gent with the hamstring issue. Thank you for contributing.