Fitness questions and answers for January 3, 2004

Form & Fitness Q & A

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.

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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.

The problem is that it is commonly understood that training obviously lowers one's average HR for a given piece of work (after riding the same route for a year, at the same pace, my average HR is lower now, my PE also lower) but that I was also under the impression that training also, over time, raises LTHR. In other words, through proper training one can raise the LTHR slightly, in essence putting off or delaying the onset of anaerobic energy needs (and fatigue) for a given piece of hard work. How can these two things be true?

Using data from a field test like an all-out 30-min effort in training is a common proxy for estimating one's lactate threshold (LT). For readers unfamiliar with the LT, you might want to read http://velo-fit.com/vffaq.htm faq1 . Understand that in a lab-based test, they actually draw blood to measure lactate levels. But in field tests, we have to have some proxy and these are commonly either heart rate and/or wattage. Heart rate is subject to many variables, both internal and external, and so it's a good idea to look at trends over time.

Thanks for bringing up a challenging and interesting topic. Quite simply, average heart rate (HR) for a 20-30 min max sustainable effort is a good field test for your “performance threshold,” as it directly reflects cycling performance. This maximal steady state (MSS) is the standard you should use to determine your HR training zones. Since there are numerous methods for determining lactate threshold (LT), and lactate is not a direct measure of fatigue (see this article for more on lactate), the reliability of LT as a performance measure is suspect. Lactate or LT need not even enter the picture.

First of all, you've taken the right attitude toward having your best season ever in 2005 by grabbing the reigns now and having a little more purpose throughout your "off season". Aside from the questions you have asked, I recommend looking at just what you did and did not do in previous winters so that the adjustments you make this year will be appropriate: that is to say, doing more this winter sounds like a good plan, just make sure you don't add so much as compared with previous years that you over do it. To your questions:

That said, what damage are you doing (or maybe what benefit are you taking away) from your aerobic system if you go a reasonable amount above "Zone 2"? Due to cardiac drift, if you end up 10 bpm above Zone 2 at the end of 90-120 min at steady power (perhaps at elevated cadence to work on mechanics and stress the aerobic system), isn't that still an aerobic effort? What's actually going on down in the energy pathways and the physiology that make this workout bad for aerobic development?

Yours is an excellent question, especially as you have already touched on some of the reasons why "stay in zone 2 or else" as a universal training plan for this time of year (we'll call it "base") is not applicable to many if not most cyclists. Yes, zone 2 training is the corner stone of most road cyclist's program, but such a strict regimen does not take into account your available training time, training/racing background, goals for the next season or current strengths and weaknesses.

I regularly get knot-like pain deep in my hamstrings, but not at the end of a ride, rather, after about 5-10 minutes at "tempo". After about another 10 minutes the pain completely fades and there is no pain at the end of the ride. I am well warmed up and it doesn't depend on temperature. It does seem to depend on whether I am in the drops or not (road bike), and bigger gears appear to make it worse. I sit quite a long way back in the saddle, have been on and off the bike over the years, and it only seems to be a problem when I'm in decent shape.

I am wondering if you could expand on the topic of ankle flexibility. Your last edition of Q&A had several topics relating to foot positioning, pedal stroke efficiency, Achilles tendons etc. As a 42 year-old fitness rider putting in 120 mile weeks, I am aware of the three basic foot positions-neutral or flat, heel down and toe down. But I've never come across any discussion regarding the pros & cons of holding the ankle relatively stiff through the pedal stroke versus allowing the feet to "paddle" through the stroke. Recognizing that we all have our own preferences, is one technique more efficient than any other? Will the large use of the calf muscles through paddling of the feet lead to tendon injuries versus holding the ankle stiff? Is mixing of techniques (i.e. spinning with more emphasis on the upstroke followed by mashing followed by paddling) helpful or harmful through a ride by spreading the load to various muscle groups? Your thoughts on this subject would be helpful.

The best advice I can offer is to set your parameters of position by what ever information you choose to use, and then forget about how you are pedalling and just do what comes naturally to you. My reasoning for this is as follows: There a wide variety of pedalling techniques out there, though most peoples' technique fits into the category you have described as ' paddling', though the degree varies. At either extreme there are the ' toe dippers' and the ' heel droppers' and again the degree to which this is exhibited varies across a range of people. In answer to your first question, have a look at ' Technique vs Position' in Fitness Q&A for August 23 2004 for a discussion about varying pedalling techniques and their relative efficiency.

I am 173 cm short and ride (road bicycle) on 170 mm cranks for last 12 months. I do not experience any particular discomfort when spinning and my average cadence is ~92 rpm. I have been recommended by a well recognized cycle-fit expert to try riding on longer, 172.5 mm cranks. How do I know if my 170 mm or 172.5 mm cranks are a better fit for me? What are the tell-tale signs of wrong length cranks (too long? too short?)? is it a likely a pain experience or loss of performance? Anything else?

I get soreness in my left knee which I can control through regular stretching but not cure, the right knee gives me no trouble at all. I have recently discovered that dropping my heel as I pedal through the bottom of the stroke seems to mitigate the onset of the problem. I also have a vague sense that I read somewhere that dropping the heel may be better technique. I would appreciate any feedback on why dropping the heel seems to be helping control the knee pain problem and whether I should be trying to pedal that way anyway for better technique.

Since shortly after (approx 3-weeks) my last correspondence with you, the problem has totally settled down & I can now train fully. I can't express enough to other cyclist who are doing reasonable to large volumes of training, the importance of stretching, flexibility (I brought the book you recommended to me - Stretching & core strength matched also with regular (good) sports massage as part of a regular training programme. I have come to realise over recent years that it's just as important as time spent on the bike!

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