Gravel bikes and hybrid bikes both combine elements of a road bike and a mountain bike. They both usually have wider tyres than a road bike, but less so than a mountain bike. Their intended uses and features quite a lot though. 

Here, we'll walk you through the features of gravel bikes and hybrid bikes, where they differ and help you to choose whether a hybrid bike or a gravel bike is best for you.

Hybrid bikes vs gravel bikes in a nutshell

Hybrid bikes, sometimes called fitness bikes, have been around for decades. They take the flat-bar comfort and upright position of mountain bike geometry and pair it with the 700c wheels and skinnier tyres from road bikes (usually around 28-32mm), to offer on-road speed without the drop bar position and forward-leaning geometry, which many beginners can find unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and potentially off-putting. 

Hybrid bikes are designed to be do-it-all bikes for everyday riders, and while the focus is usually paved roads, some are capable on certain off-road surfaces too, like fine gravel, canal towpaths, and bridleways. You can also choose a women's hybrid bike if you want women's-specific geometry and touchpoints.

Gravel bikes also combine road and mountain bike features, but in somewhat of an opposite approach. The most noticeable feature of gravel bikes is that they share the drop handlebar with road bikes (in most cases, at least). Their geometry is also more closely aligned with road bikes, albeit not quite as aggressive or forward-leaning as a pure road bike. 

The wheels are where the mountain biking influence shines brightest. Gravel bike wheels are still 700c in diameter (though some do use smaller 650b wheels), but the rims (and thus, the bike's frame and fork too) are built to take wider tyres, usually up to around 50mm. 

The result is a bike that offers an aerodynamic rider position for speed over longer durations but with the capability of enduring rougher terrain such as gravel roads and singletrack. Gravel bikes are designed to perform on the road, whilst being able to continue beyond where the tarmac ends.

Gravel bikes vs hybrid bikes in more detail

So with that basic explainer in mind, let's dig deeper into the two types of bike and discuss which is the right one for your cycling goals. 

Gravel bikes

The best gravel bikes are (usually) drop-bar bikes that are designed to ride on almost any surface, but they excel at riding on gravel or dirt roads. For comparison, a gravel bike's silhouette looks remarkably similar to what you may picture a road bike to look like. 

However, upon closer inspection, factors like geometry and component selection make them look and ride differently. Compared to hybrid bikes, gravel bikes are much more oriented toward long-distance off-road exploration, as well as pushing the limits of performance and/or endurance. 

The sport of gravel riding spawned from two trends. 

The first was that everyday riders started to explore further, beyond the tarmac to roads that weren't paved, in a bid to get away from fast-moving traffic.

The second was the advent of events that took the sportive/fondo structure off the beaten path, featuring long miles on dirt roads with a race at the front and mass participation everywhere else.

Lots of riders didn't even start out riding gravel on a specific gravel bike. They would use either a road bike with wider, tougher tyres, a cyclocross bike, or a hardtail mountain bike. But as the interest grew, gravel-specific bikes were born, which benefit from some distinct features. 

The thing to note with gravel bikes is that there are numerous different types catering to various rider types. Some are designed for speed on light gravel, while others feature geometry that even certain mountain bikes would call progressive. Some models will have even more relaxed geometry for adventuring on bikepacking trips or on singletrack mountain bike trails. 

Gravel race bikes, on the other hand, will have relatively steeper frame geometry angles. On average, the geometry of gravel bikes is relaxed enough to create stability over off-road terrain, but not so relaxed that the position cannot still hold speed on the road. 

In terms of component selection, gravel bikes will have components that are designed to hold up to the forces of high-paced off-road riding. Tyres and wheels will usually be wider than those found on hybrid bikes to create stability and grip off-road, and the tyres will usually be tubeless, with tough casings to protect against punctures. 

Gravel bike brakes will almost always use disc brakes because they are simply the most efficient and safest way to slow down when riding off-road and they're less prone to contamination than rim brakes.

The gearing will be lower to accommodate steep climbs and lower relative speeds. Many gravel riders prefer 1x drivetrains adopted from the mountain bike world, but 2x systems still exist. 

Some gravel bikes are becoming even more specialised. For instance, adventure-oriented bikes will have frames with plenty of mounting points for bikepacking bags and accessories. The desire to ride more singletrack has also created the demand for gravel-specific dropper seat posts and suspension forks. 

Hybrid bikes

If gravel bikes are designed and marketed for the off-road exploration side of cycling, hybrid bikes are meant for everyday riders looking to get from A to B. 

Hybrid bikes, sometimes called fitness bikes or commuter bikes, are also designed to be ridden on a variety of surfaces, but they are much less capable of riding on rough terrain than gravel bikes. They will also be less efficient on paved surfaces due to the more upright ride position. 

Hybrid bikes range in design and usually have flat bars. Some feature step-through frames and most will have provisions for fitting mudguards and pannier racks. While designs and intentions vary, hybrid bikes are meant to be ridden on a little bit of everything. 

While hybrid bikes won't be the fastest on-road or off, they are perfect for riding around town or commuting. For this reason, they don't take many cues from racing or performance riding. The geometry of these bikes will be conservative and meant to prop a rider up in an upright position, with comfort prioritised over efficiency and speed. Components are also more practical, more inexpensive, and cheaper to maintain. 

For example, hybrid bike tyres will generally be narrower and slicker than those on a gravel bike, featuring less grippy knobs. They will still have tougher casings and compounds so that riders don't puncture on off-road surfaces, and you'll be able to take these on any paved surface, as well as the smoother end of the off-road surface spectrum. 

The gearing may also be more relaxed than gravel bikes. While a gravel bike's gears are meant to accommodate both high-speed flat sections and steep climbs, hybrid gearing is meant to give the rider more options while riding at slower speeds. This means there will be more gear options (achieved by often using a 2x or triple drivetrain) and the gears will be lower, and thus, easier to pedal. 

Components like handlebars, saddles, and grips also follow the same pattern, so are typically geared towards comfort and everyday use. 

Should I buy a gravel bike or a hybrid bike? 

The decision to buy a gravel bike or a hybrid bike comes down to what style of riding you want to do. 

If you intend to go on relatively short bike rides around town, on paved paths, or on smoother off-road surfaces, hybrid bikes are a great option. They also work for recreational riding, up to a point. Hybrid bikes are also great for using the bike as a transportation tool, such as commuting to the office or riding from A to B. 

Read our guides to the best hybrid bikes and best budget hybrid bikes for some top picks.

However, if you get into the more performance side of recreational riding, where you are riding longer distances at a faster pace and want to travel further off the beaten path, you will be better served by a gravel bike. 

We've got guides to the best gravel bikes and best budget gravel bikes to help you choose.

Of course, if you're looking to travel further and faster but want to remain on paved roads, then a road bike could be the best choice, and if your off-road riding is taken to the extreme, then mountain bikes offer the extra capability. 

Adam Hansen is not one to follow the norm when it comes to his bike set-up and it's not just his position that makes him different. The Lotto Belisol rider's frame of choice is the Ridley Helium but his decision to ride the Helium over the latest Noah Fast frameset is not unusual. It's the details of his particular ride that make his set-up unique.

Hansen says his position is not something that comes easily. Of course, he's accustomed to the aggressive set-up but remaining comfortable and powerful in such a position takes work – throughout the entire season.

Core stability exercises, using a Bosu Balance Ball, are performed throughout his standard week so the Czech Republic resident can ride in the drops for long periods of time.

His narrow 380mm handlebars and 180mm cranks are just a few of the differences that set him apart from most of his teammates and WorldTour colleagues. 

In this video Hansen shows off his 2013 Ridley Helium and explains some of the interesting features of his Lotto Belisol team bike.

Topics: Training Zones, ITB issues and seat position, Early season training regimen

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness (at) cyclingnews.com. Try and include as much relevant information as you can think of. Remember, the more details you can provide the better the panel can tailor their response to your question.

Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Training Zones

ITB issues and seat position

Early season training regimen

Training Zones

Good Morning,

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Hank,

There are many valid ways to set up training zones. Here are the zones I use and how to calculate them:

Zone 0, Resting, <60% maximum heart rate
Zone 1, Active Recovery, 60-70% maximum heart rate
Zone 2, Aerobic Endurance, 70-80% maximum heart rate (but at least 5 beats below LT in case LT is low)
Zone 3, Moderate or Tempo, 92-96% of lactate threshold
Zone 4, Hard or Threshold, 97-102% of lactate threshold
Zone 5, All Out, heart rate depends on duration of exercise but will exceed lactate threshold if exercise lasts more than a minute or so

In order to set up zones in this way, you have to test your own personal threshold and maximum heart rates. The effort required to identify your maximum heart rate is of course very hard, so you should check with your physician before doing that test. If the doctor advises against all out effort but allows you to ride hard enough to breath harder, I'd suggest you identify your lactate threshold as your chat-no chat threshold heart rate and then set up zones as follows:

ITB issues and seat position

Hi,

Last year I completed an ironman, and the combination of increased training loads and ramping up of my running I gave myself IT band syndrome on my left knee (and my right IT band got very tight, but didn’t exhibit ITBS symptoms). I took 4 months off all exercise over the off season, and saw a Physio and doing the rehab (focused on VMO and glute strengthening along with massage/stretching of the ITB and stretching of the hips) I saw some improvement in the ITB. Concurrently I have been focusing on overall flexibility via yoga, and my range of movement in my hips has expanded greatly since last year’s ironman.

In February I got back on the bike to get back into bike racing however as I have ramped up my volume and intensity I have noticed the IT band flaring up again and it is now impacting my training.

Last weekend one of the riders in the race I completed videoed the race and I noticed that my hips were wiggling up and down as I peddled much more than the other cyclists in the race. My initial thought is that my seat is too high. If more bike setup details would be useful let me know and I will send them through.

Also is Steve able to recommend any bike fitters in NY City?

Thanks,
James

Steve Hogg says:

G'day James,

ITB issues caused by cycling are always caused by the opposite hip dropping while pedalling. If you are dropping both hips, then both ITB's will tighten to varying degrees.

The cause(s) are always poor function, poor position or any combination of both. Radical positions tend to increase the incidence and sensible positions tend to decrease the incidence for a given degree of functionality.

I cannot recommend a good bike fitter in New York because I have little or no firsthand knowledge of the situation there to comment.

It is probably worthwhile reading this as background info.

Once you've read that, get back to me with any specific questions that you have.

James replies:

Hi Steve,

Thanks for getting back to me. I think I didn't make one thing clear, by racing I meant road bike racing, ie on a standard road bike, cervelo r3 in my case. Not sure if I was clear on this in my original email.

Thanks,

James

Steve Hogg says:

G'day James,

No I didn't realise. The mention of "since last year's Ironman" threw me. Thank you for the clarification. Okay, so you are not stable on the seat and are dropping each hip while riding a road bike, and it is this that is causing your ITB issues. The question of course, is why are you unstable.

Potential answers can be grouped in to 2 categories and the full answer could be any combination from either group. They are:

Functional Factors:

1. If a rider is generally tight in the hips and low back, then the pelvis, hip and lower back on each side tend to work as a unit rather than individually. What typically sets off the chain of neurological inhibitions that result in this are excessively tight hip flexors. How tight are you in the hip flexors, glutes , hamstrings and quad lumborum?

If you are unsure, find out.

If you know you are really tight in those areas, then you have something to work on.

If you are reasonably flexible and functional in those areas, then either your feet are the problem or part of the problem, or what follows is to blame.

Regarding the feet; if you have less than wonderful feet functionally, then that will theoretically impose a lateral or rotational load on one or both knees while you pedal. At a level below conscious thought, humans are generally really good compensators which in turn means that we are adept at shifting the load. What hurts is the part of the body least equipped to bear that compensatory load, which in this case if your ITB's. Three links following will give you a good grasp of foot correction so that you can decide whether that is the issue.

-Arch Support
-Wedging
-Shimming

What follows is a word I dislike. "Core Strength". In simple terms, if you are reasonably functional and have a reasonable position on the bike and are still having stability issues on the seat, then your ability to apply force to the pedals (peripheral load) is greater than your ability to resist the application of that force (central stability). If you are in doubt about your core abilities, go and see a Functional Trainer and find out.

What remains are the Positional Factors:

1. The most common problem I see is too high a seat height. Probably 80% of my fit clients leave with a lower seat height than the one they arrive with. Much more about this here.

2. Seat set back is the next thing to tackle. If you seat is too far forward or too far back, the rider will not be stable on the seat. You are unstable on the seat, though we don't know why yet. More here;

3. Cleat position affects everything we do on the bike. Every pedal down stroke is a potential challenge to on seat pelvic stablity. My experience is that most riders give only cursory attention to cleat position and that oversight is a major cause of problems of all sorts. More info here:

4. Bar position. If you have to reach too far out or too far down to the bars, there will be an increased tendency to pelvic instability. More about this here.

Once you've worked your way through that, please let me know how you get on.

Steve Hogg says:

Early season training regimen

I am a dedicated roadie from the Midwest who is in his early 60’s. during the season I average 100-180 miles per week and am a B+/A- rider. Like a lot of us, I have done spinning and weights 2-3 times a week in the off season. Now that there is a spring thaw, I am hitting the road, but need some advice on the transition from gym to road. Normally I can do a 50-80 mile distance ride without problems, but what distance do I start with? 45 miles, 60 or what? While spinning does a good job of simulating riding, I can only do 1 1.2 to 2 hours before I am about to die of boredom. Also, once one is back on the bike there are certain muscles or combination of muscles that you just don’t use indoors. Don’t forget about your sit bones and reawakening those callouses.

There is a plethora of advice for going from hibernation to the road, but what about us who have worked hard to try to preserve on legs from the winter doldrums? You input is appreciated.
Mark

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Mark,

As a general rule it's always safe to go about a half hour longer than your recent routine longest ride, so if you've been doing 2 hour trainer rides, I'd suggest you start with 2:30 outdoor rides. When you've gotten a few of those and at least a week of rides in, go for 2:45s and so on, adding about 15 minutes per week to the longest ride until you are up to your usual distances.

The Cyclingnews Form & Fitness panel

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Scott has helped clients to turn pro as well as to win medals at US Masters National and World Championship events. He has worked with hundreds of beginning riders and racers and particularly enjoys working with the special or challenging rider. Scott is co-author of Bike Racing 101 with Kendra Wenzel and his monthly column appears in ROAD Magazine.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, 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. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: www.stevehoggbikefitting.com

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.

Pam 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 associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Pam was an All-American in track while at the UW. She started cycling competitively in 2003 and is a five-time Missouri State Road Champion, racing for Dogfish Racing Team.

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.

Dave Palese (www.davepalese.com) is a USA Cycling licensed coach and masters' class road racer with 16 years' race experience. He coaches racers and riders of all abilities from his home in southern Maine, USA, where he lives with his wife Sheryl, daughter Molly, and two cats, Miranda and Mu-Mu.

Dario Fredrick (www.wholeathlete.com) is an exercise physiologist and head coach for Whole Athlete™. He is a former category 1 & semi-pro MTB racer. Dario holds a masters degree in exercise science and a bachelors in sport psychology.

Topics: Leg and knee pain deriving from ITB/Sciata issues, Max HR and age, Benefits of Spin Classes, Pushing yourself “over the top” – pros and cons?, Knee Pain and Q-Factor, Scott Saifer versus Chris Carmichael, Differences in thigh sizes, Asthma affecting HR zones?, Disappointment with results

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness (at) cyclingnews.com. Try and include as much relevant information as you can think of. Remember, the more details you can provide the better the panel can tailor their response to your question.

Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Leg and knee pain deriving from ITB/Sciata issues

Max HR and age

Benefits of Spin Classes

Pushing yourself “over the top” – pros and cons?

Knee Pain and Q-Factor – a thorough response from Steve Hogg

Scott Saifer versus Chris Carmichael

Differences in thigh sizes

Asthma affecting HR zones?

Disappointment with results

Leg knee pain deriving from IT Band/Sciata issue?

Hi, I have a problem which is really limiting my riding and becomes very painful. Hope you can offer some advise with it.

I'm 35 and have been riding and racing over 20 years. I currently race at Cat3 level in the UK, just doing a handful of races a year.

All my riding over the winter has been and is quite steady state, about 60 to 70% Max HR.

About 3 weeks ago I was 2 hours in to a 3 hour ride, when I started getting a pain on the outside of my right knee.

Since that ride it has continued to be a problem, it's starts hurting once I get to about an hour, although the harder I push the sooner it starts hurting, by an hour and a half it is very painful and I literally can't ride any more. Today I crawled back at 10mph such was the discomfort.

I thought it might be IT band syndrome, but I think it's too far back, as in further around the side of the knee and into the very top/outside of the calf. It also kind of runs down my lower leg and down the outside/front of my shin.

It almost feels like what I imagine a sciatic pain would be like.

I've been to my usual physiotherapist twice and my chiropractor 3 times since it started. They both seemed to think it could be tight muscles. But no amount of massage, ice or stretching seems to help.

There was no injury or change in equipment before this painful niggle started.

I am desperate to train to get fit for racing, but am lost as to what to do to try and fix the situation. Any suggestions?

Matt.

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Matt,

I'll say at the outset that I don't know exactly what is hurting. However, here's a 'To Do' list to check off. Firstly, check the condition of your cleats. If they are badly worn, or worse still, if a bevel has been worn on them (SPD SL, Look Keo or similar three bolt Look clones) then that may be enough to explain the onset of the problem. If so, replace the cleats.

Also check the condition of the pedal platform. Have any depressions been worn on the upper surface of either pedal where it is contacted by the cleat?

If so, on either pedal, replace the pedals. If they are worn to the point where your cleats are not contacting them squarely, again, this can cause sundry problems.

Has anything else changed? Equipment, diet, stress levels etc?

Has the weather been colder than usual causing you to wear more layers of knicks etc?

Let me know how you get on.

Max HR and age

Hello,

I'm a 44 year old male who last raced/rode 15 years ago. At that time my maximum heart rate was 197 (I watched it go from 202 down to 197 over a 5 year period). From what I understand, MHR decreases by about 1 per year starting at about the age of 10. I was hit by a car last year and suffered some spinal compression fractures and started riding again this winter as part of my recovery (not really relevant). I'm not riding hard now and have been riding mostly below 145 bpm for the last 6 months. Based on the above formula, my maximum would be around 185 now.

A few weeks ago I ran into a group ride and rode with them for a few miles before I turned off. At one point someone went a little hard and I felt I may be going anaerobic so I glanced down thinking I'd see my HR in the low to mid 170s. I was surprised to see 180 as I was just starting to get that little burn (plus we were talking). I'm experienced in wearing the HRM and have a very good understanding of how my body feels based on RH. To get to my question, is there any way that my MHR is much above the estimated 185? If so, how is this possible? I'm almost willing to accept that adrenaline may have made it seem easy.

I'm going to be racing in June so I'll find out for sure, but I'm curious as I'm starting to build my racing fitness now.

Thanks.

Michael

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Michael,

The loss of one beat per year off maximum heart rate is a population average for fit people, sedentary people, sick people... everyone. Within that population there are people who lose more and people who lose fewer beats over the years. In particular, if you separate out people who train from everyone else, the loss is closer to 1/2 beat per year than a whole one. That means your maximum heart rate could now be around 188 and you'd still be "normal", and again, there are plenty of people whose maximum heart rates don't drop as quickly.

Benefits of Spin Classes

Hello Panel,

I've recently joined a spinning class and am wondering if anything I do in the class will make me a better recreational road cyclist. What I believe is somewhat unique about this class is that the entire 60 minute session is spent in the standing position - with a focus on the "pulling up" of the pedal and not the pedal stroke down. Most of the time the stationary bike has very little resistance and we spin at a high rate. It's also fairly straightfoward and not filled with dance moves or push-ups on the bike. It is a rather fast paced class and I find my HR to average in high Z4 territory (with 20-30 minutes in Z5) and I have reached a higher max HR than I ever have on a road bike. However, that specific burning sensation that comes with sprinting up a hill is nowhere to be found - which makes me wonder what exactly am I getting out of this? Is this intense activity a good use of my energy?

David

Scott Saifer says:

Hi David,

Whether this class is beneficial depends on how developed you are as a cyclist and how much you are doing it. If you have done very little riding, anything you do on a bike will make you stronger. If you have a lot of miles in your legs, training needs to be more specific to be beneficial. If that's your category, such a class might be beneficial once a week or so, but not all the time. The deal is that while the muscles that pull up on the pedals are important, and you can't help pushing down with the front leg if you are standing, the movement you are doing is not that similar to how you ride most of the time.

You won't get a burn if your cadence is high enough and resistance is low enough that you are using all low-force, high-endurance slow-twitch muscle fiber.

Pushing yourself “over the top” – pros and cons?

Panel,

I'm wondering if there are training benefits to "over the top", hard rides.

I'm a reasonably fit 45+ rider who does some cyclocross racing and competitive rides during the rest of the year. I ride about 7-12 hours per week pretty consistently and I think I do a good job of mixing endurance with power and climbing for my cycling goals.

My question is in regard to those training rides where I find myself with a group of fitter racers and may end up in serious physical distress (pain and inability to turn legs any faster at best, vomiting or brief loss of vision at worst) while trying to hang in with the group on rides between 2 and 4 hours. I think most riders have been in this situation; over their heads on a hard ride and repeatetly going over the top of their fitness limit. I'm not talking here about dehydration or bonking - just over exertion. This type of situation happens to me about once a month. I do not sustain any injuries (i.e. joint of soft tissue problems) from this, but I will feel terrible after the ride and basically be unable to do anything productive until I eat and rest.

Here's the question - is there any training benefit to this? Or is this damaging and counterproductive?

Thanks,

Matt

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Matt,

Go til you blow! That's the ticket to short term fatigue and longer term growth. Going as hard as you can until you can't any more is a good way to improve your endurance for super hard efforts, and, since it challenges recovery, your recovery. It won't make you faster, but it will make you able to hold you 2-3 minute speed for a few more minutes. In that sense it is good. Now, if the guys you are riding with are not killing themselves the way you are, you will NEVER catch up with them physically if you are doing this sort of riding. If you are gasping while others are chatting, being able to gasp longer is not going to let you keep up with them. If you are in that position, you need more aerobic power first, and it is difficult though not impossible to improve aerobic power while draining yourself with anaerobic efforts. Doing the race-like group ride once per month actually sounds perfect if that is your situation.

If you are chatting as long as anyone else is chatting, and then breathing harder only when others are also starting to suffer, you could do one of these rides weekly to improve your ability to hang on and to recover. You do need weekly killer hard rides for 3-4 weeks to "get race legs".

Knee Pain and Q-Factor – a thorough response from Steve Hogg

Panel

Steve Hogg says [with David’s responses in italics]:

G'day David,

So moving from a triple crank to a double crank is the only thing that has changed lately?

Again, I ask because a change in foot separation distance in either direction can sometimes require a different rotational angle of cleat on one or both shoes. For info on how to determine cleat angle see this link

Steve concludes:

G'day David,

Thanks for the detail. So it seems like there are no variables other than the foot separation distance forced on you by the change in cranks. Off the top of my head, your older triple would have had a Q factor of 155mm or thereabouts while your new cranks have a Q factor of 147mm or thereabouts. So 4mm per side difference.

You also mention no problem on your tandem. Tandem cranks are usually a wider Q factor than standard road double chain ring cranks which probably confirms that you are sensitive to too narrow a foot separation distance.

What is the lateral position of your Speedplay cleats?

Speedplays have lateral adjustment potential across the shoe sole of approximately 7mm. If there is potential to move the cleats further inboard (to move the feet further out) on the shoe sole by 4mm per side, then do so and that should solve the problem. If your existing cleat lateral adjustment position doesn't allow you to do that, get hold of some Speedplay plus 1/8" or plus 1/4" pedal axles and fit those to the double chain ring bike and then adjust your cleats accordingly to give you the wider foot separation distance that you seem to need.

Scott Saifer on differences (or not) to Chris Carmichael’s training philosophy

Hey Scott,

"First, I'd never recommend a program that consists mostly of short but hard intervals." – Fitness Q&A 29 February, 2012

Scott seems consistently at odds w/ Chris Carmichael's training philosophy. i think a debate between the two of them would make a good read for the training geeks.

Best,

Bret

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Bret,

In the introduction to his book, The Ultimate Ride, Chris Carmichael ably explains his transition from a push-hard all the time coaching approach to a more moderated approach that looks to get maximum gain without risking burning out the athletes. He talks about how the programs he administered for the Olympic track team burned out lots of talented, committed riders and how he now focuses more on aerobic development, at least when working with road racers. My philosophy is not too far off from the one Chris expresses in those pages.

Differences in thigh sizes

Hi,

Thanks for your very informative Fitness Q&A section, they’re a great read.

Following six months of structured training to prepare for a 250km single day road ride in the high country, I’ve noticed that visually my right thigh is significantly bigger than my left. A tape measure confirmed what my eyes were telling me and the circumference difference just below my glutes is 3cm. Is this unusual and should I be worried? Should I actively try to work the left leg more to compensate for the size (and presumably strength) difference?

During my hilly training rides (150km – 200km) with lots of seated climbing I had my right ITB flare up a couple of times towards the end of the ride causing some mild discomfort. It settled quickly on both occasions with some stretching and rolling of the legs. I completed the 250km ride without any ITB discomfort.

If it helps, I always clip out with my left foot when stopping at lights. I’ve been fitted by a cycling focussed physio who stated I have no leg length difference and had a BG Fit which suggested I had a minor (by a couple of mm) functionally shorter left leg. Both my Specialized road shoes have a 1.5mm varus insole wedge in addition to the 1mm varus sole of the shoe.

Anthony

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Anthony,

A difference in leg size by itself is not something to worry about, but the ITB flares are since they have the potential to get worse and keep you off your bike. Any chance you are sitting off-center or twisted on the saddle? That could cause both issues over time. If you'll say which way you twist, Steve will probably be able to tell you your whole life story and what to do to get everything balanced out.

Steve Hogg adds:

G'day Anthony,

Is it that you have only recently noticed the disparity in thigh diameter, or do you think it is the product of your recent 6 month training block?

Either way, if you have right side ITB issues that are caused by riding the bike I can safely say that you are dropping the left hip while riding. ITB issues caused by riding a bike are always a product of the opposite hip being dropped. The question is why are you favouring the left side?

The possible answer is that functionally short left leg you mentioned. Have you addressed that difference in any way?

If not, you should. If you are dropping the left hip and almost certainly you are, you are reducing the pressure you can apply to the left pedal. Additionally, you are asking the right leg to reach further while the plane of movement of the right hip is constantly challenged. That is quite possibly enough to cause the disparity in size you have noted as well as the ITB problem.

What to do?

The very first thing I would be doing is checking your seat using the info here http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/blog/2011/02/seat-height-how-hard-can-it-be/

By far the most common problem I find with fit clients is that a large majority have too high a seat height. If a rider sits too high, they won't equally overextend each leg. They will compensate asymmetrically because this is the nature of all cycling related compensations for less than ideal position. I don't know that this is your problem, but it is likely and worth checking out.

Perceived effort versus HR zone training for Asthmatics

Hi all,

I have a question regarding HR training for asthmatics.

I'm a 180 pound (and gradually shrinking - down from 220 a couple of years ago) 5'10", 31 year old male and have been training for the past couple of years for triathlons, road races, MTB races, and a few cyclocross races. I'm currently training for my first full IM distance triathlon (After having completed a half IM last October) so I thought I'd get a little more serious about training by heart rate. In the past, I have used a heart rate monitor but have still done most of my running and cycling at 'conversational pace' and relied on perceived exertion to set my effort. I recently used Joe Friel's method to find my Lactate Threshold HR (30 minute all out, average HR over last 20 minutes was 172 bpm on the run and 160 bpm on the bike) and was satisfied about my effort. I am an allergy induced asthmatic (I have poor peak flow and FEV1, on average, but only need a rescue inhaler 1-2x per year), and I have never experienced exercise induced asthma.

Something I have noticed since setting my zones, however, is that my Zone 2 'conversational pace' runs are by no means conversational - I could maybe utter some 2-3 word gasps, but that's about it. I am now running at a much higher effort on my endurance runs, but they've seemed manageable so far. My Zone 2 bike rides haven't changed at all (perceived exertion is on par with HR zone).

My questions are: is it typical for asthmatics to have a poorly calibrated perceived exertion scale on runs, but not bike rides? Is there any reason why asthmatics shouldn't be using Friel's HR zones? Are there other bits of conventional training wisdom that I should be wary about? Should I be trying to improve my lung capacity?

Thanks,

Alex

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Alex,

No one should use an all-out test to determine LT heart rate. Here's why. Riders who routinely train hard can develop the ability to ride heart rates well above LT for extended times. I had a client at one point who could ride a 45 minute race 40 beats above the LT heart rate we measured with a lactate monitor. His performance was poor of course, but his heart rate was up there. It is quite possible that your issue here has nothing to do with your asthma and everything to do with taking too high an estimate of lactate threshold heart rate. In any case, zone 2, conversational aerobic endurance etc rides should most certainly be conversational in pace for asthmatics as for anyone else. If your zone 2 has you out of breath, your zone is set too high.

Disappointment with results

Aloha,

Wondering if you could help me figure something out? Here is some basic information that may help:

Male
62 years old
6'4" tall
215 pounds
Skinsuit, booties, Giro aero helmet
Cadence between 80-85 rpm
20+ years racing experience

Bike
Cannondale Slice
63 cm frame
Aero bars (factory)
Front wheel: American Classic Carbon 50mm with sew ups (140 psi)
Rear wheel: X-Lab disc with sew ups (150 psi)
22 pounds

Conditions
10 miles TT (out and back mostly flat)
Asphalt road (rough)
Half-way 6% hill about 100 yards
~3 mph side wind
75% humidity (Overcast)

I don’t have a power meter or heartrate monitor on my race bike. My computrainer power threshold for a 10 mile TT is between 280-310 watts. During the race I started conservatively for the first 1.5 miles, then slowly ramped up the speed. Based on my threshold, I thought I should have had a much better result. I was wondering if you could help me figure out my average power output for the TT so that I could make adjustments. I think I started out much too slow.

Thank you,

Darryl Perry
Lihue, Hawaii

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Darryl,

No, we can't work backwards from the data you've provided to the power you produced, at least not with enough precision to be meaningful. One of the variables to be plugged into the equations would be your coefficient of drag, and there's no way to calculate that without having both speed and power to plug in. If you can get a few data points for speed and power in a no-wind, level ground situation with the same bike, position and kit, we can calculate a coefficient of drag and work back from time in the TT to average power.

One suggestion though: High pressure in your tires makes you faster on glassy-smooth tracks, but slower on rough asphalt. You've put a lot of money into your wheels, and then you are giving the time back with over-pressured tires.

The Cyclingnews Form & Fitness panel

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Scott has helped clients to turn pro as well as to win medals at US Masters National and World Championship events. He has worked with hundreds of beginning riders and racers and particularly enjoys working with the special or challenging rider. Scott is co-author of Bike Racing 101 with Kendra Wenzel and his monthly column appears in ROAD Magazine.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, 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. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: www.stevehoggbikefitting.com

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.

Pam 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 associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Pam was an All-American in track while at the UW. She started cycling competitively in 2003 and is a five-time Missouri State Road Champion, racing for Dogfish Racing Team.

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.

Dave Palese (www.davepalese.com) is a USA Cycling licensed coach and masters' class road racer with 16 years' race experience. He coaches racers and riders of all abilities from his home in southern Maine, USA, where he lives with his wife Sheryl, daughter Molly, and two cats, Miranda and Mu-Mu.

Dario Fredrick (www.wholeathlete.com) is an exercise physiologist and head coach for Whole Athlete™. He is a former category 1 & semi-pro MTB racer. Dario holds a masters degree in exercise science and a bachelors in sport psychology.

Topics: Resuming training after a winter break, Drifting and motorpacing, Losing power over the course of a ride

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness (at) cyclingnews.com. Try and include as much relevant information as you can think of. Remember, the more details you can provide the better the panel can tailor their response to your question.

Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Resuming training after a winter break

Drifting and motorpacing

Losing power over the course of a ride

Resuming training after a winter break

Panel,

My winter training season has been going pretty well until recently, when I had to get a minor surgery done. Recovery time from that surgery is about one month, and they recommend staying off the bike for that entire time. Most of my training involves short, but hard intervals. My first question is, how long should I expect before being back to the same level I was before the surgery? How much can performance degrade in one month? Then, when comes the time to train again, should I go back to what I was doing, i.e. short intervals/high intensity, or start again with longer intervals at a lower intensity? In other words, is that break long enough to cause a "reset" in my training program.

Thanks,

Eric

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Eric,

First, I'd never recommend a program that consists mostly of short but hard intervals. Depending on how long and how frequently you've been doing that, you might find that you are stronger after a month off than you were before the break. This is because a steady diet of hard intervals will leave most riders overtrained, so that time off serves as needed recovery time as much as it interrupts training.

A month is the length of a standard rest period at the end of a racing season, after which a racer on a periodized training plan would start base again. A month is long enough to lose most anaerobic capacity, and a substantial amount of endurance capacity. Generally you can expect the endurance and aerobic capacities to return with about 6 weeks of base training. I'd suggest eight weeks of base before starting intervals or other training above 80% of maximum, and then limit that harder training to two days per week, with the rest of your training done as base.

Drifting and motorpacing

Dear Panel,

I am interested to know the advantages of drifting or motorpacing while training. In other terms what are the benefits (if any) of riding at LT/sub LT or Z2 behind a scooter or inside a speeding peloton. In case of a positive difference could you please explain the underlying reasons?

Thank you

Khalil

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Khalil,

There are potential positive benefits of doing a fraction of one's training behind a scooter or in a peloton. First, drafting skills are as important as fitness in massed-start racing. A rider who can draft closely and can make split-second side-to-side adjustments to stay optimally in the draft has a huge advantage over a rider who drafts farther back or doesn't quickly adjust for changing wind direction. Motor pacing is good and group riding is excellent for developing those skills, if the pacing is appropriate to the physiological training needs of the rider.

Second, many riders find it difficult to ride solo as hard as they can ride to keep up with a scooter or group. Riding a particular heart rate, position, power and cadence behind a motor, in a group or solo will give the same training benefits, but if following something makes it possible to ride a steadier hard effort, to sustain a hard effort longer or make a harder effort than one could riding solo, then following something can be beneficial a day at the appropriate pace and the appropriate points in the training cycle.

For riders who are moderately strong, group riding can provide adequate motivation to hard training. If one rider is much stronger than everyone else in town, group riding may not provide adequate challenge to simulate what that rider will find when racing his peers. Such a rider is a good candidate for motorpacing if he is not easily motivated to work hard.

Be careful with motorpacing and group riding to be sure that the pace is appropriate to training goals. If the pace of these sessions is hard, be sure to allow adequate recovery and don't overload with too frequent sessions.

Losing power over the course of a ride

Hi

I have a question about training and losing power during a longer ride:

I am encountering what seems to be a persistent problem with my power output on longer rides. Today i did a 5h ride, and toward the end I couldnt increase my power output and HR. I just couldnt get anymore power out due to my legs feeling dead.

Mt LT threshold is 244w, but the normalized power for the ride was only 156w.

Other stats for the ride

Peak 5m power 228w
Peak 10m 209w
Peak 20m 197w
Peak 30m 194w
Peak 60m 182w

Ryan

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Ryan,

We call that getting tired on a long ride. It's possible that 5 hours is simply beyond your endurance ability but it's also possible that you are making poor gear choices, riding too hard for the distance, not drinking enough or not eating enough to keep youself strong. What is your typical cadence, how do you pace yourself, how much do you drink and eat on a ride, and what?

The Cyclingnews Form & Fitness panel

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Scott has helped clients to turn pro as well as to win medals at US Masters National and World Championship events. He has worked with hundreds of beginning riders and racers and particularly enjoys working with the special or challenging rider. Scott is co-author of Bike Racing 101 with Kendra Wenzel and his monthly column appears in ROAD Magazine.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, 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. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: www.stevehoggbikefitting.com

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.

Pam 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 associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Pam was an All-American in track while at the UW. She started cycling competitively in 2003 and is a five-time Missouri State Road Champion, racing for Dogfish Racing Team.

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.

Dave Palese (www.davepalese.com) is a USA Cycling licensed coach and masters' class road racer with 16 years' race experience. He coaches racers and riders of all abilities from his home in southern Maine, USA, where he lives with his wife Sheryl, daughter Molly, and two cats, Miranda and Mu-Mu.

Dario Fredrick (www.wholeathlete.com) is an exercise physiologist and head coach for Whole Athlete™. He is a former category 1 & semi-pro MTB racer. Dario holds a masters degree in exercise science and a bachelors in sport psychology.

Topics: Adjusting training after Thyroid problems, Resting and sickness, Pedaling style

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Try and include as much relevant information as you can think of. Remember, the more details you can provide the better the panel can tailor their response to your question.

Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Adjusting training after Thyroid problems

Resting and sickness

Pedaling style

Adjusting training after Thyroid problems

Hi,

I have just been diagnosed with a under active thyroid am on medication and this seems to be working, however I am not training or working at the moment. Can I do anything with my diet to help me from being overtired when I resume training .I am 53 yrs old and try to 150 Mlles a week, plus my full time job.

Regards,

John.

Scott Saifer says:

Hi John,

Most people need a few months to get their thyroid medication dose adjusted. Work closely with your doctor to get the dose that makes you feel most normal. Once your thyroid dose is adjusted, your dietary needs are the same as any other person or athlete.

Resting and sickness

Hi,

After being told to rest by the doctor - I have a cold - I am reluctantly following orders. I wonder though, what do elite athletes do when they have an impending event (race/tour) and become ill with a cold a few weeks before. Do they train through it, or is it also best for them to rest?

Thanks,

Tim

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Tim,

Your doctor is right. Smart pros rest when they are sick, and most of them are smart or they wouldn't be pros. resting a few weeks before a big event is actually a good idea anyway, though not necessarily as deep resting as you would do when sick. If you are feeling at all worn out, achy or exhausted, don't exercise at all. Exercise takes energy away from fighting hte germs and getting you healthy, delaying your recovery. If you feel pretty good except for a sniffle or cough, it's okay to do some short, light exercise, like a 30-45 minute ride at less than 70% of maximum heart rate.

Pedaling style

Panel,

I've read quite a few articles on how to determine one's pedal style and I seem to be a 'heels down' type. I recently moved my cleats back a tad to compensate and this feels optimal, but with one weird observation: It feels like that I am pushing my glutes back into the saddle when I come over the top of the stroke almost as if I rely on the rearward bracing of my seat to apply proper force. Is this normal for heels down people or is my saddle position just that far off?

Thanks,

Karsten

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Karsten,

There are 2 issues here. Firstly, the change is recent and you probably haven't modified your motor pattern (muscle firing sequence) to accommodate the change yet. I would advise not changing anything else for a couple of weeks as it takes this long for old motor patterns to be broken down and new ones to become embedded. How long is individually variable but can be hastened by only riding at low to moderate intensity. Anything above approximately 75 per cent of max HR and you will attempt to fall back into patterns of motion that you are used to, but that won't work perfectly because you have altered your cleat position.

Additionally, read the advice given here.

If after a week or two, the issue you describe doesn't feel natural, then the likely culprits for your need to shove back off the top of the stroke are:

-Seat height too low
-Cranks too long
-Seat too far forward

If you run into trouble, let me know and I will attempt to advise further!

Topics: Food intake/Nutrition, Power differences in pedal strokes, 10 mile time trials

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Try and include as much relevant information as you can think of. Remember, the more details you can provide the better the panel can tailor their response to your question.

Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Food intake/Nutrition

Power differences in pedal strokes

10 Mile time trials

Food intake, nutrition planning

Hi All

Could you please advise best food intake regime prior and post exercise, I'm about to hopefully start shedding approximately 50kgs through both cycling and boxing.

I'm currently working nightshift from midnight until around 8:30am and I plan to train after work then go to sleep.

At present my diet needs changes in both content and quantity but I also need a few pointers with regards to when is ideal for eating and what I should eat at certain times

Appreciate any help you can provide

Thanks

Mark

Pamela Hinton says:

Hi Mark,

Although each athlete's training diet should be individualized to meet their particular needs, a few general principles apply. Obviously, if you want to lose body fat, you must expend more energy than you consume. You can accomplish this both by increasing your training volume and/or intensity and by reducing your energy intake. However, you do not want to short change your body on the fuels needed for training or on the nutrients needed for recovery and training adaptation.

If you are regularly(i.e., multiple times per week) training for more than 90 minutes at a time at moderate-to-high intensity, you need to be sure to be sure that you are eating enough carbohydrate. Here’s the reason that dietary carbohydrate is essential for endurance athletes who train for prolonged periods of time. Our bodies prefer to use carbohydrates and fats (not protein) for energy during exercise. At rest or during low-intensity exercise (<50% of VO2max), the preferred fuel is fat. This fat can come from our diets if we've just eaten or from our fat stores if we're between meals. As exercise intensity increases, our bodies have to shift from fat to carbohydrate to generate energy.

At maximal exertion, we use only carbohydrate. In situations where oxygen demand is high (i.e., high-intensity exercise), carbohydrates have an advantage over fats because less oxygen is required to produce a given amount of energy. Dietary carbohydrate is important because the carbohydrate stored in our bodies as glycogen in the liver (240 kcal) and muscle (1400 kcal) is in limited supply. When our glycogen is gone (usually after 1.5-2 hours of exercise), we literally run out of fuel and have to markedly decrease our exercise intensity (i.e., switch back to using fat).

There are two strategies to prevent depletion of glycogen during
exercise: start with “full” glycogen stores and consume carbohydrate during exercise. To maintain glycogen stores, endurance athletes should consume 6-10 g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight (target body weight) in their usual diet. The pre-training meal should provide 100-300 g of carbohydrates, depending on workout duration and intensity. During a training ride of >90 minutes, the recommended intake is 30-60 grams of carbohydrate per hour. Drinking 16-32 ounces of a commercial fluid-replacement beverage that contains 4-8% carbohydrates every hour would meet this guideline. Most energy gels contain about 25 g of carbohydrate, and these work fine as long as they are taken with water to avoid gastrointestinal distress.

Post-exercise nutrition is focused on recovery, which includes both repletion of glycogen stores and synthesis of skeletal muscle protein.

The optimal way to replete glycogen stores is to consume 1.5 g carbohydrate per kg of body weight (target body weight) within 30 minutes after exercise and again every 2 hours for the next 4-6 hours.

Carbohydrates that are easily digested and absorbed, i.e., high glycemic index, will allow for rapid repletion of muscle and liver glycogen. Exercise increases the rate of protein breakdown and synthesis in skeletal muscle and, with adequate nutrition, it can have an anabolic effect on skeletal muscle. 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 protein per kg of body weight per hour during the first 2-3 hours post exercise results in net protein synthesis.

While these guidelines are by no means comprehensive, they should provide some guidance on pre- and post-training nutrition.

Good luck!

Pam

Scott Saifer adds:

Hi Mark,

Take a look at the article archives here and choose the one called Four Nutritional Plans for Endurance Athletes (http://www.wenzelcoaching.com/Archives.htm). There's a pdf you can download that talks about what to eat before, during, after and between rides to get lean and maintain energy and enthusiasm for training.

Power difference in pedal stroke

Hi

Cheers

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Al,

You can test the theory that you are making different power on the two sides without buying force pedals if you can borrow a Computrainer. They have them in some cycle-training classes. They have a function called "Spin Scan" that lets you compare the two sides of your pedal stroke by giving you a graph of power vs pedal position around the stroke.

You should look to improve your fitness on both sides as much as possible unless the imbalance is causing other problems such as one-sided back-soreness or saddle sores. If asymmetric pedaling is causing problems, you should certainly strive to correct it. Otherwise, make both legs as powerful as possible and don't worry about one doing more work than the other.

Correcting such an imbalance is a many-month process. If there is a significant difference in strength, start by working on that by doing workouts that are challenging for the weaker leg but easy for the strong leg. if you have a lazy leg rather than a weak leg, it is often possible to correct it by such simple maneuvers as focusing on the weaker leg by counting cadence on the down-stroke on that side.

Good luck!

Training for a 10 mile time trial

Hi

I was wondering what would be best way to train for a 10 mile time trial on rollers.

At the moment I work using heart rate, my max is 181, and I try to aim for my average 10 mile time trial rate of 164 beats per minute when I do a training effort.

Guy

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Guy,

I'll assume you are well trained for your other races, with a massive base and structured transition to intensity and that you are going well in your longer races. If any of that is not true, you need to back up and look at the bigger picture again.

Again, assuming you are well trained for road racing, there's not much fitness change you are going to accomplish as you prepare to TTs. Rather, you need to dial in your pacing and gearing strategies. Ideal pacing for a TT allows you to maintain power the whole time, with near exhaustion at the end. Since you are doing the training on rollers, you don't need a power meter to tell you if you are making steady power or not since power and speed correlate perfectly on rollers.

So, pick a heart rate you think will be sustainable for 10 miles. Warm up thoroughly and then hit that heart rate. Note the speed you make after a minute or so and then stick to that speed for 10 miles, if you can. If you can't, start a few tenths slower next time. If you can, start a tenth higher next time. Do this sort of workout no more than once per week.

When as you find the highest pace you can sustain for ten miles, pay attention to the feel as well as the heart rate throughout the session. That's the feel and heart rate you are shooting for in your events.

Make sure you have a huge fan and plenty of cool air blowing over you when doing hard workouts on rollers or a trainer.

The Cyclingnews Form & Fitness panel

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Scott has helped clients to turn pro as well as to win medals at US Masters National and World Championship events. He has worked with hundreds of beginning riders and racers and particularly enjoys working with the special or challenging rider. Scott is co-author of Bike Racing 101 with Kendra Wenzel and his monthly column appears in ROAD Magazine.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, 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. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: www.stevehoggbikefitting.com

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.

Pam 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 associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Pam was an All-American in track while at the UW. She started cycling competitively in 2003 and is a five-time Missouri State Road Champion, racing for Dogfish Racing Team.

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.

Dave Palese (www.davepalese.com) is a USA Cycling licensed coach and masters' class road racer with 16 years' race experience. He coaches racers and riders of all abilities from his home in southern Maine, USA, where he lives with his wife Sheryl, daughter Molly, and two cats, Miranda and Mu-Mu.

Dario Fredrick (www.wholeathlete.com) is an exercise physiologist and head coach for Whole Athlete™. He is a former category 1 & semi-pro MTB racer. Dario holds a masters degree in exercise science and a bachelors in sport psychology.

Topics: Cleat adjustment and knee problems, endurance racing, average heart rate, electrolytes, winter attire, cold knees

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Try and include as much relevant information as you can think of. Remember, the more details you can provide the better the panel can tailor their response to your question.

Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Cleat adjustment and knee problems

Endurance racing, average heart rate

Electrolytes

Winter attire, cold knees

Cleat adjustment and knee problems

I am an avid club rider and have been riding for years with only minimal physical complaints. I was fitted for my bike with Specialized's process and was doing fine. However, I took matters into my own hands one day and moved my Look cleats from their original position (mid to front) to the back position. I did this because I read something about cleat position in an article somewhere and tried this to see how it felt. There were no immediate problems on the bike at all. However, off the bike was a different story. After riding this way for a month or so, I began to experience pain/stiffness in the back of my left knee when rising from a sitting position or from kneeling after a period of time. When I first noticed this, I didn't connect it to the cleat adjustment because of the amount of time that elapsed between changing the cleat position to the onset of pain. I had to think long and hard before I even connected the dots to this. I have since moved my left cleat position back to its original setting. The right cleat is still in the back position since I've not felt any discomfort. However, the pain/stiffness after sitting/kneeling persists behind the left knee. I can stretch my hamstring out and it seems to provide some temporary relief. I did all this back in the summer of 2011 but now, at the start of 2012 I'm still experiencing the same symptoms.

I am considering scheduling an appointment with an orthopaedic doctor to have it examined. Is there any insight you can give me about this that I can share with the doctor to help him zero in on the problem and solution?

Thanks,

John Meehan

Laurel, MD, USA

Steve Hogg says:

G'day John,

This is an easy one. When you moved your cleats back, that reduces ankle movement and also increases leg extension. Did you drop your seat when you moved the cleats further back?

If not, that is the source of your problem. Pain behind the knee on a bike or arising from riding a bike is always overextension of the legs.

Why is it still happening even though you have moved the left cleat back to its original position?
Because you haven't moved the right cleat back to its original position. The right cleat is still causing overextension which you are likely compensating for by dropping the right hip. In turn this means that the left leg is still overextending.

I suggest that you move your right cleat back to its original position as a starting point. If you then want to experiment with cleat position, fine, but drop your seat when you do.

Click these links for more info on setting cleat position, seat height and why your right cleat position is affecting your left leg.

Endurance racing, average heart rate

I'm sure there are numerous factors involved but maybe there is also something simple at work here. I recently completed a 12 hour endurance mountain bike event and my Garmin recorded these lap times and average heart rate for 10 laps (mins per lap/bpm). 56/159, 57/160, 57/157, 57/152, 59/148, 58/146, 59/145, 62/143, 61/141, 63/142. It shows a steady increase in lap times and a steady decrease in heart rate. I do not FEEL l like I slacked off more as the race continued, the later laps certainly felt more difficult than the early ones. There are pits stops after every lap, ranging 3-15 minutes each.

(Recordings of other races and training show very similar increases in lap time with decreases in average heart rates)

So the simple questions are:

1. Do tired legs require less blood flow therefore a lower heart rate?
2. Or is the heart itself fatigued, along with the legs, and it can no longer perform late in the race as it did early?

Any thought and input is greatly appreciated

David Loehrs

Tucson, AZ

Scott Saifer says:

Hi David,

No, your heart doesn't get tired, but as your muscles fatigue it takes more mental effort to maintain the same power output. That's why you feel like you maintained or increased effort but still went slower. In order to make steady lap times in a long race, you have to go gradually harder. What's going on is that individual muscle fibers are making less contraction force as their fuel is depleted and their internal chemistry is changing, so you have to recruit more fibers. Recruiting more fibers means sending nerve impulses to more fibers, which is what you normally do to increase force, so maintaining cycling effort feels like working harder and harder. Your heart rate is dropping because you are not actually maintaining power, and your legs don't need as much oxygen to make less power. If you did maintain power and speed, you'd find that your heart rate actually increased a few beats with time passing due to an effect called "cardiac drift". Cardiac drift is a result of decreased blood volume and therefore less filling of the heart chambers prior to each beat. Less stroke volume means more strokes to deliver the same amount of blood.

Just FYI, if you pace optimally in an endurance MTB race, you feel like you are going super easy the first few laps, then you are working a bit in the middle laps and finally burying yourself at the end, all while maintaining steady power and lap times.

Electrolytes

I live in the San Francisco East bay area. The training, racing, and riding is some of the best in the world. Our Sat rides feature amateurs, current master national champs, pros, world class triathaletes, Olympians…… a tough and very cool crowd.

At 52 years of age I do my best to “cut meat” with these tough men. I often fair well. Over the years I experienced, on occasion, cramping as do many. I have read so much about electrolytes, much contradictory info. One article from Garmen team said that cramping is rarely due to sodium issues.

Spoke to my friend that does bravies and lots of double centuries and he shared with me his special recipe for electrolyte replacement. Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, and Sodium. Thought I would give it a try. My friend says that the distant guys can tell the difference between a sodium cramp and a calcium cramp?

I train often in the Eastern Sierra and high mountains of California to prepare for the Everest Challenge stage race and Halaekala climb in Maui. Last summer I began experimenting with ratios and frequency. The short of it is that once I figured out the correct protocol my ability to train was improved significantly, much deeper.

I learned that perceived fatigue at the end of a 5 hour climbing workout may be from electrolyte depletion and not from having had deeply exhausted your body. Correct replenishment enabled me to go so much deeper in my training that I improved my time on the 2 days of the Everest Challenge stage race by an honest :45:00 with no cramping.

Here’s how I knew it worked: Years previous at Everest cramping was always an issue at the end of the first day (about 16,000’). This time no cramping on the first day, of course I was fatigued but not like completely hammered out shit tired. Good on second day finished well, took 45 min out of my best time overall, did not make the podium though. The following weekend, as usual, I sponsor the Diablo Challenge, a local hill climb 800 + participants, and always try to make a good showing. Lost 2 minutes and 13 seconds to my best time. I was so fatigued from Everest the weekend before that I needed more time to recover. The year before I cramped badly at Everest yet the following weekend I had a personal best on our local climb race, the Diablo Challenge. The big difference between cramping tired and being tired from fully using all your reserves correctly is significant and requires much more time to heal and recover. You can’t get to the deep training if your electrolytes are not correct. Avoiding the cramping enables one to train deeper and get stronger without damaging tissues.

Through this I have learned that everyone has different needs and many factors come into play: Age, type of training, environment, and personal chemistry. And, for a lot of hard core endurance athletes the over the counter electrolyte replacement products are not enough. Each athlete needs a customized program. Electrolyte imbalance can even be fatal!

My question? Is this credible?

Fact or fiction?

Thanks

Brian Gates
Orinda, California.

Pamela Hinton says:

Hi Brian,

Ideally, you'd like to replace electrolytes at the rate they're lost in sweat during exercise. However, that's not possible for sodium because the rate of absorption from the gut is limiting. Nevertheless, the sweat concentration (and rate of absorption for sodium) are the basis for the recommendations. As you know, sweat losses are going to be highly variable among individuals and within an individual depending on acclimitization, environmental conditions, duration of exercise, etc. Although present at much lower concentrations that sodium, athletes who train for prolonged periods of time can lose significant amounts of potassium, magnesium, and calcium via sweat.

Based on the reported concentrations of these electrolytes in sweat, I recommend 500-700 mg of sodium, 80-200 mg potassium, 4-40 mg magnesium, and 30-300 mg of calcium in 1.0-1.5 liters of water per hour. Most of us do not get enough magnesium in our diets. And, in my experience with athletes who suffer from muscle cramps, increasing magnesium intake via food or a dietary supplement to the RDA often helps.

Winter attire, cold knees

Hi,

This question is about winter attire. I'm a collegiate cyclist from northern New Jersey but spend most of my time in Syracuse, NY as a graduate student at Syracuse University. The winters in New Jersey can be pretty cold but in upstate New York they are brutal. If I get out to train for the collegiate season at all, because snow usually prevents me, I subject myself to freezing temperatures.

When the season starts, whether or not I've gotten out, it is likely that the weather will still not cooperate. Last year at a race in Albany, NY it was 22 degrees at the start. The course took us alongside the Hudson where the wind picked up making the temperatures even more oppressive. At this race as in all other races and training rides I rode in shorts. Is this an unhealthy decision? Sometimes my knees look a bit discolored after a ride but I have never felt discomfort or pain before, after, or during. Thanks for your help!

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Trevor,

I've lived in upstate New York and you are right, it gets cold there and stays cold a long time. Cover your knees. I'm not promising you'll an injury if you don't, but a century or more of accumulated wisdom says its a good idea. I've had many clients who's knee problems are cured by keeping the knees warm, suggesting that if they had kept them warm in the first place, they'd not have had problems in the first place. Find some other way to show how tough you are.

Here's the rule: If it's below 65F (18C), put on a layer over your knees. As it gets colder, add layers so that your knees always feel like it's 65F or warmer (some coaches say 70F (21C). I think that's extreme). If you touch your knee skin after a rider, it should not be cold.

The Cyclingnews Form & Fitness panel

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Scott has helped clients to turn pro as well as to win medals at US Masters National and World Championship events. He has worked with hundreds of beginning riders and racers and particularly enjoys working with the special or challenging rider. Scott is co-author of Bike Racing 101 with Kendra Wenzel and his monthly column appears in ROAD Magazine.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, 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. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: www.stevehoggbikefitting.com

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.

Pam 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 associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Pam was an All-American in track while at the UW. She started cycling competitively in 2003 and is a five-time Missouri State Road Champion, racing for Dogfish Racing Team.

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.

Dave Palese (www.davepalese.com) is a USA Cycling licensed coach and masters' class road racer with 16 years' race experience. He coaches racers and riders of all abilities from his home in southern Maine, USA, where he lives with his wife Sheryl, daughter Molly, and two cats, Miranda and Mu-Mu.

Dario Fredrick (www.wholeathlete.com) is an exercise physiologist and head coach for Whole Athlete™. He is a former category 1 & semi-pro MTB racer. Dario holds a masters degree in exercise science and a bachelors in sport psychology.

Topics: Power to weight ratios, Returning confidence levels after a bad crash, Efficient cadence, Balancing aerodynamics and power, Recovering from a shattered femur

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Try and include as much relevant information as you can think of. Remember, the more details you can provide the better the panel can tailor their response to your question.

Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Eating less than recommended, yes or no?

Cycling with a fused knee

Intervals

Strange Iliotibial Band Syndrome Symptoms

Low volume training and ‘Wattage’ drift

Eating less than recommended, yes or no?

Is there a training benefit to eating less than required when doing training rides to purposely put yourself in the box or should you always follow the 1g carbohydrate per kg both training and racing?

Pamela Hinton says:

Hi Darren,

Eating less than required when training is not beneficial.

Some have proposed that training while fasted (i.e., first thing in the morning) or without adequate carbohydrate consumption will “train the body to use fat.”

However, this strategy is ineffective from the perspective of getting the most out of your training, and here’s why. It is true that not eating before a ride or under-eating (carbs) during the ride will increase the use of fat for energy during exercise. This happens because you either start your ride with depleted glycogen stores or deplete them during the ride. Because your body has no alternative, it has to use stored body fat for energy. So far, that sounds like a good thing, right? But, there’s a high price to pay: if fat is the only fuel available, you are forced to exercise at low intensity.

Carbohydrate mandatory for high-intensity exercise because more ATP is produced per liter of oxygen consumed from carbohydrate than fat.

Training per se causes metabolic adaptations that increase oxidation of fat for energy during exercise: 1) increased release of fatty acids from fat stores during exercise; 2) increased fat storage near skeletal muscle mitochondria for more rapid use; and 3) increased capacity of skeletal muscle to oxidize fat.

The bottom line is that your body will respond best to training if you give it the required fuel.

Cycling with a fused knee

I am a 21 year old female and my right leg is fused at the knee, which makes it so that I am unable to bend it. I am curious if there are any kinds of bikes that I could look into as I cannot ride a regular one. I am interested in just riding the bike around town. I really miss being able to ride a bike and have been looking for a while but just can't seem to find anything that I could ride. Do you have any information on this?

Thanks,

Cami Smith

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Cami,

With a knee that won't bend, you aren't going to be doing any bicycling that seems or looks "normal", so the next question is how close to normal you can get and how far from normal you are willing to go to ride. One off-the-shelf possibility to get you out on the road again certainly is some sort of hand-cycle. A Google search will bring you lots of options there.

I'd love to say that you could ride standing with one leg straight, but that simply won't work. If you really want to be on a bike rather than a trike, a second possibility is pedaling with one leg, rigging a way to get your second leg supported out of the way and probably adding a weight to the right pedal to make it easier to get the pedals around. A recumbent bike would make getting the right leg out of the way much easier than an upright bike.

People with no knee or lower leg at all can ride relatively normal bikes with prostheses. I'm not an expert on such things, but I imagine you might be able to involve your right leg with a prosthesis hinged near your knee in a way that allows you to pedal with both legs.

Good luck. I hope you are able to get rolling again. Do let us know what you decide to try and how it works and of course write again if we can help in any way.

Intervals

Hey panel,

I have two questions regarding interval training.

1. When looking to improve overall performance are there any advantages/disadvantages to doing interval training on hills when the variables are the same as the flat: i.e length, cadence and effort?

2. Should intervals be done on consecutive days or is it best for recovery and performance gains to have a rest or recovery ride day in between? (due to training restrictions I often end up doing intervals back to back, typically one day doing 30X30 intervals (12-16 reps) and the other doing 3X3 (6-9 reps).

Many Thanks.

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Adam,

Two good questions!

Many people find it easier to raise heart rate and deliver higher power on hills than on flat, so I suggest that you do intervals on both hills and flat. Being able to make power on the flat roads will turn out to be a very valuable racing skill for TT riding, chasing or breaking away, so doing your intervals only on hills where it is easier is an error.

Do your intervals on non-consecutive days as much as possible to maximize the fitness gains.

Strange Iliotibial Band Syndrome Symptoms

Ever since I discovered this wonderful website, I have eagerly awaited the "Fitness Q&A" articles because many of the tips you give others apply to myself as well. I am a 17 year old competitive cyclist, and though I do not consider myself among the elite, I do tend to place well in almost all the road races I enter. As of now I have been seriously training for a little under two years. Over the summer I ride 200 to 250 miles a week, and during the winter I use the bike trainer for about an hour a day for five days out of the week.

Last winter I encountered some pain in my left knee and decided to go to a physical therapist, he diagnosed my problem as Iliotibial Band Friction Syndrome (ITBFS), and gave me great advice and a stretching routine. Shortly after doing the prescribed stretches, my knee pain disappeared, but one symptom of ITBFS remained, I could still feel my iliotibial band flick over the bone protrusion on my femur. I continue to do this stretching routine three or four times a day, everyday. Over the next summer I returned to my training regimen, and made some wonderful progress, and I was free of knee pain, but the flicking continued.

After it started getting cold, I decided to take a month off with hopes of getting rid of the 'flicking' sensation in my knee, and I discovered something strange. My left knee became sore, not excessively so, but there was a small amount of pain when I would stand up from a crouched position or something of that sort. After riding again, I noticed this soreness disappeared, and then came back again after not riding for a few days. Once I resumed winter training, I found the flicking was still present, and the soreness in my knee was completely absent.

I debated returning to the physical therapist. but resolved to email the the panel of experts because my physical therapist was not as well versed in cycling specific injuries as he is injuries specific to more popular sports in my area. Any advice regarding this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time,

Jonathan

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Jonathan,

The 'flicking' sensation is caused by a muscle, tendon or ligament moving across a bony protrusion or landmark. It might be because you have some minor anatomical abnormality but given what you have said about your ITB history on the left side, it is more likely that you’re on seat symmetry when riding is not what it could be. ITB niggles that arise on a bike are almost always a product of dropping the hip on the other side and subsequently challenging the plane of movement of the hip on the affected side.

The solution could be as simple as dropping your seat a few mm. If the seat is too high, next to no one sits squarely on the seat and overextends each leg equally. What normally happens is that they will drop one hip, mostly but not always the right hip, and overextend the other leg through a less than ideal plane of movement.

Of course there are other possible reasons as well but seat height is by far the most common. I would suggest dropping your seat 5mm as a test and leaving it like that for 2 weeks of consistent riding. Then get back to me and let me know what happened.

Low volume training and ‘Wattage’ drift

Good day All,

With increasing non-cycling related responsibilities I have fairly recently adopted a high intensity low volume type of training plan. My question relates to my rest days. If I take the day off completely I feel horrible and find it difficult to get up for the next training ride. If I ride at an active recovery pace (around 40-50% of threshold power) I feel better and the next day's workout is significantly easier to get up for. The question is am I hurting myself by riding on my off days?

The second question relates to the power readings on my power meter. I use a powertap and calibrate it before every ride. I am familiar with cardiac drift but is there such an animal as power drift? I find the wattage required to maintain a given speed continues to rise for about 40 minutes when it will eventually flatten out for the speed I am riding. This is seen on an indoor trainer so wind and hills are a non-issue.

I look forward to your answers.

Best regards,

Art Magnaye

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Art,

Fun questions, thanks! No, you are not hurting yourself by riding on your rest days, so long as the rides are very, very easy. 40-50% of threshold power certainly counts as very, very easy. Moving blood through the tissues, stretching them, keeping the muscle fibers sliding over each other... all these are good for recovery. So long as you are not generating new fatigue, activity is good on rest days.

Yes, there is such a thing as power drift on certain trainers. For instance, I have several fluid trainers. In one of them the fluid seems to get less viscous as it warms up so that the power required to maintain a speed is quite high at first but decreases with time. This is the opposite of the effect you are noting. I'd guess that some part of your trainer is increasing friction as it gets warmer. To test, I'd suggest a roll-down test done in the first minutes of a ride and repeated 40 minutes in. If the roll-down time decreases, you know that friction has increased. Then you can attempt to determine why.

The Cyclingnews Form & Fitness panel

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Scott has helped clients to turn pro as well as to win medals at US Masters National and World Championship events. He has worked with hundreds of beginning riders and racers and particularly enjoys working with the special or challenging rider. Scott is co-author of Bike Racing 101 with Kendra Wenzel and his monthly column appears in ROAD Magazine.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, 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. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: www.stevehoggbikefitting.com

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.

Pam 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 associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Pam was an All-American in track while at the UW. She started cycling competitively in 2003 and is a five-time Missouri State Road Champion, racing for Dogfish Racing Team.

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.

Dave Palese (www.davepalese.com) is a USA Cycling licensed coach and masters' class road racer with 16 years' race experience. He coaches racers and riders of all abilities from his home in southern Maine, USA, where he lives with his wife Sheryl, daughter Molly, and two cats, Miranda and Mu-Mu.

Dario Fredrick (www.wholeathlete.com) is an exercise physiologist and head coach for Whole Athlete™. He is a former category 1 & semi-pro MTB racer. Dario holds a masters degree in exercise science and a bachelors in sport psychology.

Topics: Power to weight ratios, Returning confidence levels after a bad crash, Efficient cadence, Balancing aerodynamics and power, Recovering from a shattered femur

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Try and include as much relevant information as you can think of. Remember, the more details you can provide the better the panel can tailor their response to your question.

Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Power to weight ratios

Returning confidence levels after a bad crash

Efficient cadence

Balancing aerodynamics and power

Recovering from a shattered femur

Power to weight ratios

Hey Cyclingnews!

I am a 17-year-old road cyclist and I compete at the highest level for my age nationally. I see a lot of stuff surrounding road cycling in power relative to weight. I’m an all right time trial rider but my real strength is hills, while I don’t have the power of many of the more mature top riders my exceedingly low weight means that on longer climbs (4min+) and steeper ones I can keep up and beat many of the much better all round riders on those hills. This brings me to my point of writing into you guys.

The reason I have such a low body weight is down to three things, my physical maturity, (which I accept will come to pass), my height (173cm) and my extreme lack of upper body muscle volume. I want to know form you guys if it is worth while doing any upper body specific exercises to increase my strength in my Pecs, biceps, deltoids etc... I already do abdominal workouts because I recognize the importance of strength there.

My last note is that sometimes at an exceedingly high pace when the hammer is down my arms fatigue and go kind of weightless as in a complete loss of strength, far before any other muscle sets do which generally results in a loss of power at the pedals. So I want you guys to answer this question: increasing upper body strength will obviously increase my ability to apply power through a more rigid frame but will the gains in strength be applied enough to outweigh the extra gains in weight.

Thanks

Daniel.

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Daniel,

I have really good news for you. Muscle strength depends on two factors which can develop separately: How much muscle mass you have (size and number of muscle fibers) and how efficiently your brain can recruit the existing muscle mass. Gym workouts done without aerobic endurance work in the same program (not the same session, but sessions of each within the same week) will cause increases in the protein component in individual muscle fibers, increasing muscle mass. The research says that if you do gym work while doing high-volume endurance training in the same program, you will gain muscle strength without gaining muscle mass.

So, the easy answer to your question is that if your arm strength is limiting your cycling ability, you should definitely do some strength work for your arms. Using weights is a convenient way to do that.

(Your case is special since you are young and still developing. You will probably add muscle mass as you age independent of lifting.)

Returning confidence levels after a bad crash

I recently crashed from my bike and stayed on the ground for twenty minutes. Lying unconscious five minutes on the cold ground.

I survived the crash with cuts and bruises and my recovery is going well but my psychologically side is no doubt how to continue with my riding. Reason of my crash is a dog that ran in front of me in second. The accident was unavoidable. How can I channel my fear and my breaking doubts? I stayed locked and paralysed second before crash and that's all I remember! I have only second and half to react and my reaction is both brakes squeezed down to the bottom. My speed was about 40 km/h moment before impact.

What’s the best way to approach returning to the bike – I want to come back, but I’m obviously quite shaken up!

Sincerely yours,

Sinisa Saric

Carrie Cheadle says:

Hi Saric,

I'm so sorry to hear about your crash. After a bad crash it can be challenging to get your confidence back and get yourself riding again. After a crash you can feel a little more vulnerable and fragile when you get back on the bike. That fear of reinjury is a strong one – it's your brain's way of trying to keep you safe.

Unfortunately, when you do get back on your back, the physiological response of the anxiety you feel usually includes holding your breath and tensing your muscles which affects your balance and coordination on the bike. This begins a negative feedback loop because as soon as you feel unstable on the bike it causes anxiety and feeling anxious causes you to feel unstable on the bike.

To start regaining your confidence you want to create a way to set yourself up for accomplishing small successes. Start off small and slow. When you are ready to get on your bike, go for a short fun ride. Start with situations that don't make you feel nervous and start building confidence from there. Working on your bike handling skills including Scott's suggestions on learning how to fall is a great way to build that confidence as well. Practicing those rolls helps your brain get the message that you aren't as vulnerable as you think and you aren't going to get hurt every time you fall which can help to start breaking that anxiety loop.

You also need to work on relaxing on the bike. An easy tool to make sure you are releasing tension while you are riding is to relax your face, relax your hands, and breathe. Do this drill every few minutes to help relax the physiological tension that tends to build up when you get back onto a bike after a crash.

There is truth in the saying "time heals all wounds" - this goes for both physical and mental. Be patient with yourself, be patient with the process, and work on your physical skills as well as your psychological comeback.

Good luck!

Carrie

Pamela Hinton says:

Hi Saric,

It sounds like you might have experienced a concussion as a result of your accident. A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that is caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head that changes the way your brain normally works. Loss of consciousness is one symptom of a concussion, but there are many others, including headache, nausea or vomiting, balance problems, dizziness, double or blurry vision, sensitivity to light or noise, feeling slow or foggy, problems with concentration or memory, and confusion. You don’t have to be “knocked out” to have had a concussion. In fact, most concussions occur without loss of consciousness. You should pay attention to how you are feeling and avoid exercise that aggravates any of these symptoms.

I mention the possibility of a concussion because the symptoms might be contributing to your fear and lack of confidence. If your balance is off or you feel “slow” processing information, getting back on the bike will be even more challenging. Most people fully recover from sports-related concussions, but for some people, signs and symptoms of concussion can last for days, weeks, or longer.

Pam

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Saric,

I'm sorry about your crash. As you know, bad crashes happen from time to time, even to the very best riders. I'll let Carrie answer about how to deal the psychological aftermath of a crash.

It sounds like you went over the bars and landed on your head. There are a few skills that you might want to develop along with your psychological recovery, if you don't already have them:

1. When you grab the brakes hard, push yourself backwards off the seat, lower your shoulders and straighten your arms at the same time. The more weight you put over the back wheel and the lower you get your center of mass, the less likely you are to go over the bars, even if you hit something pretty solid.

2. Go to a grassy field or a gymnastics hall and practice dive rolls and somersaults, first from standing, then from walking and eventually from a run. You won't always have time to control a fall, but if you have developed the reflexes, you at least have more of a chance.

3. If you end up scared enough that you will take some time away from the bike, replace some of the bike time with a martial art that includes falling, such as Judo or Aikido.

Efficient cadence

Over the years, I have read two different clinical studies concluding that the most efficient cadence over a whole range of powers is 80 rpm from an oxygen utilization standpoint. Yet the conventional wisdom is train to spin at 90 rpm or better. Please can you explain, or suggest optimum training plan from a cadence perspective?

Thanks,

Tom.

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Tom,

Indeed, the research generally agrees that 80 rpm or so is optimal from an oxygen utilization standpoint, for stronger riders putting out higher power. For less trained riders or lower power, the optimum is even lower and yet no one (other than Ironman triathletes) races at or below 80 rpm unless they are out of gears. What gives?

There is no shortage of oxygen or heart beats in the world, so getting maximum power for a given rate of oxygen consumption is not a particularly important goal. The thing that stops racers is not running out of oxygen, but various forms of fatigue. In the case of Ironman triathletes, fuel is the limiting factor. They run out of usable carbohydrate sooner than they face any other sort of fatigue. It turns out that at intensities well below LT, the cadences that reduce oxygen use also spare carbohydrate, enhancing endurance. That doesn't explain why mased-start bike racers ride around 100 rpm though.

Pedal slower than the typical 90-110 of a pro and the well known power=force x velocity equation dominates. Lower foot velocity means higher force to get the same power, and higher force means more rapid fatigue. Pedal much faster than 110 rpm, even if you have a well developed spin, and another effect becomes dominant: Think for a moment about pedaling really fast in a very low gear or with the chain off and you'll realize that a lot of energy and muscle tension go into keeping the feet moving in a circle, even when there is little or no pressure on the pedals. Very high cadences mean more wasted energy, more muscle tension and more rapid fatigue.

Biomechanical modeling studies show that peak muscle tensions during riding at typical power outputs of racers are minimized around 100-110 rpm, coinciding with the cadences actually used by the most successful longer-distance, massed start racers. On very long cranks, the tension minimizing cadence is proportionally slower, and on very short ones, proportionally faster. It appears that racers choose their cadences to minimize muscle tension and thus delay fatigue.

From a training perspective, you want to include lots of time at typical racing cadence, including spinning 90-110 rpm, but also down to 50 rpm if you'll be doing hilly races. Even if you won't be doing hilly races, lower cadence riding is good for recruiting and training fast-twitch muscle fiber, which is very important for sustained and short term high-power efforts, such as time-trialing, riding a break away, chasing and sprinting.

Balancing aerodynamics and power

Hi,

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Anders,

If your heart rate rises when riding in the drops, then there is a problem with the position of your bars, or your flexibility or what is more likely, a problem with both. Ideally, when using an indoor trainer at a given load, your heart rate shouldn't change when moving from the brake hoods to the drops. That it does means that you are reducing your breathing ability or having to enlist more muscles to support your position on the drops.

There are two parts to your issue. The first is how effective your bike position is and the second is how functional are you.

Re your bike position, have a look at this link. There is a large amount of information there.

As to your function, if you don't experience regular back or neck pain, get hold of a copy of "Flexibility For Cyclists" by Fred McDaniel. It is currently hard to get so if you cannot track down a copy, try "Stretching and Flexibility" by Kit Laughlin.

If you do experience regular neck or back pain, read "Overcome Neck and Back Pain" by Kit Laughlin.

You will know when you are making progress when you can move from brake hoods to drop bars without your heart rate increasing.

Recovering from a shattered femur

Hi Fellas and Ladies,

I read some of your site and thought you might have some insight here.I shattered a femur as a paratrooper in the Army. After the docs used me as a guinea pig one leg is 2" shorter than the other. This is all in the femur so the mechanics are very different right to left.

The docs also failed to repair the ACL on that side. I've compensated with flexibility and strength gains in my hammies and glutes to the point where I can do a forced march with a 90lb pack but I still have a lot of play.

So, the question becomes should I go clipless and settle with being asymmetric or use clips with my built-up shoe? Should I shim or change the crank size on one side? Any input would be helpful. I'm back in the pool and trying to go for a triathalon.

Thanks,

David

Steve Hogg says:

G'day David,

Considering how few paratroopers there are in the world, I see a lot as clients! I get the impression that jumping out of planes with the combination of a heavy pack and a small 'chute isn't that good for the human body. And it is usually knee reconstructions ,other knee problems or back injuries that brings them to us.

Given that you are going to need a substantial shim stack on the side of the shorter leg, (and possibly other measures) here is what I would advise. Find a bike fitter with an adjustable bike with adjustable length cranks. Duplicate your existing bike position and crank length on the adjustable bike. Use clipless pedals and shoes. You will not sit squarely on the seat because of the 2" LLD. Keep shortening the crank on the shorter legged side until you are sitting squarely on the seat and both legs are able to pedal smoothly. What difference results in the crank length is the size of shim stack that you are going to need under your shoe.

The shim stack will be large and that then presents a problem with an increase in rocking torque. For a detailed explanation please look at this link: http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/blog/2011/04/foot-correction-part-3-shimming/

If you do decide to go to clipless pedals, use Speedplay. The reason I suggest this is that with the size of shim stack you need, rocking torque will become a problem on the shimmed side. The only way to negate or minimise rocking torque is to move the shimmed cleat further back relative to foot in shoe. Speedplay (with optional part no. 13330) offer more rearward adjustment potential than any other system. Also to that end, the current Specialized S works shoes have a more rearward cleat mounting hole position than any other shoe.

Once you have worked out an ideal shim stack with further rearward position of cleat to minimise rocking torque, my advice would be to have a boot maker heat and remove the sole of your shoe and fit a full length dense EVA foam build up of the desired height. Done properly, it will look like a factory job at a glance. A large shim stack will have multiple layers which can come loose where as a built up shoe is faultlessly reliable.

Re your question about differing crank lengths. Only consider this when it is the least worst of only bad options. You already have significant difference in femur (primary lever) length. That means that you will either develop less torque on that side or have to contract muscles harder to produce the same torque. Shortening crank length will reduce torque even more because torque is muscular force exerted on the pedal multiplied by crank length. Ideally, you want to function on the bike in as functionally symmetrical way as possible. The only reason to use a shorter crank is because all else has failed and a shorter crank in conjunction with a shimmed or built up shoe is the only viable option left to you to allow you to ride a bike.

Re your sloppy knee. I have one too but in my case it is an unrepaired rupture of the PCL and MCL that is 38 years old. I've got about 10 - 12 mm of fore and aft slop between tibia and femur but have built up VMO's and hamstrings to the point where I can perform deep single legged squats, have run marathons on it and so on. I would get it repaired but everyone who looks at it tells me that the chances of an operation making any long term improvement are not high. In contrast, my understanding of ACL repairs is that they are fairly routine with a very, very high success rate. Have you considered surgery?

The Cyclingnews Form & Fitness panel

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Scott has helped clients to turn pro as well as to win medals at US Masters National and World Championship events. He has worked with hundreds of beginning riders and racers and particularly enjoys working with the special or challenging rider. Scott is co-author of Bike Racing 101 with Kendra Wenzel and his monthly column appears in ROAD Magazine.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, 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. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: www.stevehoggbikefitting.com

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.

Pam 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 associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Pam was an All-American in track while at the UW. She started cycling competitively in 2003 and is a five-time Missouri State Road Champion, racing for Dogfish Racing Team.

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.

Dave Palese (www.davepalese.com) is a USA Cycling licensed coach and masters' class road racer with 16 years' race experience. He coaches racers and riders of all abilities from his home in southern Maine, USA, where he lives with his wife Sheryl, daughter Molly, and two cats, Miranda and Mu-Mu.

Dario Fredrick (www.wholeathlete.com) is an exercise physiologist and head coach for Whole Athlete™. He is a former category 1 & semi-pro MTB racer. Dario holds a masters degree in exercise science and a bachelors in sport psychology.

Topics: Physiological rationale for lower cadences while climbing, Knee discomfort in cold, Finding that ideal weight, Redlining while climbing

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Try and include as much relevant information as you can think of. Remember, the more details you can provide the better the panel can tailor their response to your question.

Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Physiological rationale for lower cadences while climbing

Knee discomfort in cold

Finding that ideal weight

Redlining while climbing

Physiological rationale for lower cadences while climbing

Would anyone care to explain the physiological rationale for using lower cadences when climbing? Naively, it would seem that if a rider is optimally efficient at cadences around 90 RPM on the flats, this would be the optimal cadence when climbing. In fact, I find that I feel better continuing to pedal at higher cadences when on a climb.

I strongly suspect that these higher cadences feel more efficient to me because I've never trained to use lower cadence (so I continue to reinforce this preference each time that I ride). So, please explain the benefit of lower cadences while climbing; if I understand a rational justification I may be able to embrace lower cadences and become a better climber.

Best,

Dave

Scott Saifer says:

Hi David,

Higher cadences are better for climbing so long as the rider has the skill and coordination to do them. Many riders don't have those, so they climb better at lower cadences. Skill and coordination for higher-power spinning require focused practice, which it sounds like you have done.

The exception to the rule that higher cadence is better is of course climbs so steep that you won't have the gears to climb them at higher cadences with sustainable power. If any races you'll enter have hills like that, lower gears are a potential solution, but on hills too steep to spin in gears that it makes sense to have on your bike given all the events you'll do, you'll have to reduce cadence. Train lower cadence if you'll have to race lower cadence. It will never be as efficient as higher cadence in terms of fatigue generated per distance traveled at a given power, but training will at least decrease the rate of fatigue when you are forced to lower cadence.

Knee discomfort in cold

As I’ve gotten older, my knees sometimes ache or I feel a slight twinge in them during the winter when I am outside here in New Hampshire. Once I’ve been on the bike for a bit and warmed up, I don’t feel any discomfort or aches in my knees, nor do I feel anything post ride, it’s just before when I am walking around outside in the cold.

I’m wondering if an embrocation like Mad Alchemy applied to my knees would warm them up prior to a ride and be beneficial. Some general info for you that you might need to know – both bikes have been fit by the same person/ shop, no aches/ pains any other time of year and I’ve never done any serious/ lasting damage to my knees. I run 3x week on a treadmill for 30 minutes and I do specific leg weight training 3 times a week, but do not do leg extensions because I know they can adversely affect the knees.

Chris

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Chris,

Embrocations that increase the circulation of blood near the skin do nothing to replace a warm up for muscle function, but they could help with warming up the knees in the sense of getting you past your early-ride aches. Riding for a few minutes on a trainer or stretching before riding might also do the same. I'd suggest experimenting with each of those possibilities, and also being sure to keep your knees very warm and protected from wind when riding on cold days.

Finding that ideal weight

Hello,

I'm a relative newcomer to cycling, 6 months ago I bought myself a road bike with the aim of getting back into shape. I have no lofty aims of winning competitions, I'm just looking to not embarass myself complete when i take on a couple of 10 mile trials and a 100 miles sportif in April. I've always kept myself fairly fit through football but I've been pretty bad with my food in past, hence when i started cycling again seriously I was 93kg. I've now got myself down to 83kg and I feel stronger and now follow a much heathier diet. I was wondering what your view of my ideal weight should be? I'm 6ft and I'm 27 years old.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks,

Ian

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Ian,

You haven't said if your 10-mile trials with be hilly or flat. If they are flat and you are not concerned about finishing time for the sportifs, then your weight doesn't matter too much. Being lighter lets you go faster and dissipate heat more effectively, but if your goals don't involve winning, those are just comfort issues. If you want to ride up hill faster, being lighter helps to a point. For what it's worth, at your height, the vast majority of successful pro road racers are between 150 and 170 pounds (68-77 kg).

At the high end you find the sprinters and time trialists. At the low end the climbers. Below the low end, you give up power even for climbing. Above the high end you can lose weight without giving up TT or road sprint ability. My suggestion would be to keep riding, improve your diet and let your weight go where it goes. You will certainly be lighter and leaner than you are now, but I would not recommend a particular weight unless you are thinking of competing more seriously.

Redlining while climbing

I'm a 48 year old on again off again roadie who moved to Colorado from Florida this past July. I jumped in with a group riding east out of Denver doing about 45 miles to try and get back in shape. I can hang on the flats and little rollers but always get dropped on one particular climb.

I monitor my heart rate and find that when the hammers down I'm in the 160-168 bpm range, but when we hit the climb that I always get dropped on I'm usually at 186-188 before the top. My legs turn to ballpark franks and I've got to back it down to below 150 beats per minute to recover. Any advice to help keep me from redlining it would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Bob

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Bob,

You've been in Colorado long enough to have adjusted to the altitude so you're getting dropped on that hill because you are not in good enough shape one way or another to hang. You are simply going "as hard as you can" for right now, so we need to see what you can do to make more power or improve your power-to-weight ratio.

If you can trade pulls on the flats but you get dropped on the hills, I'd be suspicious that you need to lose some weight. If you'll tell me your height and weight, I can make a clearer judgement on that. (Or figure it out yourself: The vast majority of successful racers fall in a narrow band of weights, roughly 10 pounds either side of a line. If you are 5'10", the average pro your height is 150 lbs. If you weigh that much or less, you can potentially climb, if you have the aerobic power. If you weight more than that, long climbs are going to be your competitive downfall. Super-fit riders riding in lower categories might get away with 5-10 extra pounds. For every inch you are taller or shorter than 5'10", add or subtract 5 pounds.) If the guys you ride with are fit, you need to follow these rules to keep up with them.)

If you can sit in on the flats but not trade pulls, then you are lacking in aerobic power and need to develop that before you hope to climb with the big boys. That means several months of aerobic training, lots of long rides but not too much intensity.

As to advice to keep you from red-lining - That's easy: don't go so hard up the big hill. If you are blowing and then crawling over the top, you might even finish the climb quicker by not trying to stay with the group once they start going hard.

The Cyclingnews Form & Fitness panel

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Scott has helped clients to turn pro as well as to win medals at US Masters National and World Championship events. He has worked with hundreds of beginning riders and racers and particularly enjoys working with the special or challenging rider. Scott is co-author of Bike Racing 101 with Kendra Wenzel and his monthly column appears in ROAD Magazine.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, 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. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: www.stevehoggbikefitting.com

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.

Pam 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 associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Pam was an All-American in track while at the UW. She started cycling competitively in 2003 and is a three-time Missouri State Road Champion.

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.

Dave Palese (www.davepalese.com) is a USA Cycling licensed coach and masters' class road racer with 16 years' race experience. He coaches racers and riders of all abilities from his home in southern Maine, USA, where he lives with his wife Sheryl, daughter Molly, and two cats, Miranda and Mu-Mu.

Dario Fredrick (www.wholeathlete.com) is an exercise physiologist and head coach for Whole Athlete™. He is a former category 1 & semi-pro MTB racer. Dario holds a masters degree in exercise science and a bachelors in sport psychology.

Topics: Spinning, One leg bigger than the other, Comparing personal BikeFit with the Pros, Tabata session workload, Strength training, In depth from Steve: How does saddle position affect reach to bars, and drops?

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Try and include as much relevant information as you can think of. Remember, the more details you can provide the better the panel can tailor their response to your question.

Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Spinning

One leg bigger than the other

Comparing personal BikeFit with the Pros

Tabata session workload

Strength training

In depth from Steve: How does saddle position affect reach to bars, and drops?

Spinning

Hi Cyclingnews,

I’m currently living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. There is some great riding in Cambodia but around Phnom Penh it is flat, dusty, busy and dangerous. Basically, it’s no good for training.

As a result, I have been doing most of my training on Spinning bikes.
I'm not feeling as strong as I might expect from the work I have been doing. Is it possible to get race fit purely on Spinning bikes? If not, what sort of balance is required?

Cheers,

Laurence

James Hibbard says:

Hello Laurence,

My concern about training exclusively on a spin bike is that many have a flywheel mechanism which can allow one to simply “float” through the recovery stroke. This stands in contrast to a set of rollers, or even a trainer, where one’s pedaling is quite similar to actual riding and one has to engage their posterior chain much more on the recovery stroke.

I am not sure about the logistical possibility of this for you, but for someone in your situation it would be best to have your actual bike and at least a trainer (if not a set of rollers and a trainer).

The rollers would be a great tool to work on your pedaling technique, while a trainer works well for longer and/or more power-oriented efforts.

Best of luck!

One leg bigger than the other

Hello,

I'm 22, 6' 3" and weigh 155-160 lbs. I have been riding/racing road for almost 5 years and cyclo-cross for 3 years. I have also been running for about 2 years. My problem is this; my left leg is smaller than my right leg and not in length. My left calf and quad muscles are noticeably smaller than my right. When I first noticed the difference I tried to change my pedaling style, thinking I favored the right leg more. But even trying the change there was still no difference. When I run I try the same theory, leading with the left leg and changing my stride to try and get both legs to do the same amount of work.

I don't notice that one leg is stronger than the other, they feel equally strong when I'm riding or running. After long hard rides I can feel my right (bigger) leg is much more tired than the other. Is there anything that can be done to get both legs at an equal size? Is this a common problem and is it a problem? Any information or tips on the matter would be a great help, thank you!

Sean

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Sean,

I see this from time to time. What it says is that no matter what you feel, you are functioning asymmetrically. Here's a few suggestions.

1. Have an x ray taken to determine whether there is a disparity in leg length. I know you have said that you don't, but there is certainty with a well taken x ray or scan. Anything else is conjecture.

2. It is much more common for cyclists to favour and overemphasise their right leg than their left leg and there are a variety of reasons for this. Read this link for more.

The Right Side Bias http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/blog/2011/04/the-right-side-bias/

3. Another common one is too high a seat height. If the rider is too high, it is exceedingly uncommon to sit squarely on the seat and equally overextend each leg. What happens is that the rider hangs towards their favoured side, usually but not always the right, and sacrifices the other leg which is usually but not always the left. This 'sacrificing' takes 2 basic forms. Working the left leg just as hard as the right but through greater extension usually causes pain anywhere from the Achilles tendon to the lower and upper back. The other, and what you may be doing, is not using the leg in danger of over extending as much. If this is the case, you will end up with a larger right leg than left leg. These links will give you more about this.

Seat Height. http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/blog/2011/02/seat-height-how-hard-can-it-be/

Addendum to Seat Height. http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/blog/2011/05/addendum-to-seat-height-how-hard-can-it-be-2/

4. Lastly, any tendency to self protect one side, whether consciously or unconsciously, will potentially lead to what you describe. A simple one being like a dropping arch on the right side. If the right arch collapses during the pedalling action more than the left arch, a common pattern of self protection is to do whatever is necessary, which usually involves shifting the pelvis on the seat, to protect the right side issue. This comes at a cost to power production on the left side. In addition as above in 3.

In your shoes, what I would do is, firstly - establish that you are sitting squarely on the seat. Don't assume you are because you feel you are. Most people don't sit squarely. Only the level varies.

Secondly, find a bike fitter using torque analysis. Velotron, Computrainer and others highlight differences in left / right power and torque output. Find someone who uses that kind of equipment and see what the state of play is regarding not only power output but the way that you produce it.

I would be interested to hear what happens.

Comparing personal BikeFit with the Pros

G'day,

As a long time rider and racer, I have watched with interest the changes in the bike fit of the pros over the years. And, thanks to your pro bike features, the various rider positions are listed.

I have kept track of the (12) riders whose height is the same as my own (180cm), and averaged out the measurements. When I applied this to mine, the obvious difference was saddle height, it averaged 2 cm lower then my own, so as a experiment, I dropped the height and adjusted the setback a few mils, the reach remained the same as were the cleats were kept the same, a little behind the metatarsal. The first thing I noticed was that my whole leg seemed to be more involved the usual, especially the calf muscles. My pedalling action, which I thought decent, became much smoother and I felt I was generating a more consistent power throughout the stroke, whether I was climbing or a rouleur. I could rotate my hips easier and as a plus, my lumbar quit aching for a change. There is a bit of tightness in my gluteus minimus and tensor fascia lata, but nothing that doesn't stretch out. The quads and hammies are fine.

I have retained this position for the past few weeks and I believe it has been of a benefit to me, I know it's not exactly the way it's done, but I'd be interested to read the reactions, either I have been fit badly over the years, or this is closer to how I should be sitting.

Many thanks

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Steve,

That's an interesting exercise you've undertaken and while I don't doubt your conclusion about improved performance in the slightest, your methodology of linking rider stature to seat height leaves a lot to be desired for individual application. Even so, by far the most common major issue (as distinct from minor) issue that I see with first time clients' positions' is too high a seat height. Over 80% of fit clients leave here with a seat height lower than when they arrived.

Too high a seat height is common because people set seat height on a new bike after a ride around the block on the flat where momentum plays a large part. Better to set it while riding uphill under reasonably hard load as a realistic test for how far the legs can reach with ease. Too many bike fitters set seat heights too high because instead of taking an individual approach to the task, too often the goniometer or a tech version of the same thing is consulted to conform to someone's ideal of what an average angle of bend in the knee should be.

Lastly, many riders when questioned will tell you that they have a strong leg and a not so strong leg. Almost always seat height is the major reason for this. If the seat is too high, almost no one will sit squarely on the seat and equally overextend each leg. They will compensate by hanging towards one pedal (mostly but not always the right one) and overextending the other leg (mostly but not always the left). So the right leg will be 'stronger' for those who hang to the right because it can reach the pedal with ease. The left leg will be 'weaker' because is over extending and the left foot skates around on the pedal to varying degrees.

Other consequential fallout is ITB discomfort on the side away from the favoured hip dropping side, the knee of the non favoured leg moving outwards on the upstroke and inwards on the downstroke, one shoulder being thrust further forward than the other and one hand going numb more than the other. Oftentimes other factors play a part but almost always too high a seat height is the major reason or major contributor.

Tabata session workload

Hi there,

Philip

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Philip,

If you are racing twice each weekend, you are getting plenty of high-intensity exercise for the week, so the Tabata interval sessions probably aren't really adding to your performance. If you do choose to do intervals of any sort though, it's generally a good idea to quit the workout when you can no longer maintain the power you made on earlier intervals. Beyond that point you are sort of practicing to go slower than you could, so if you goal is maximal 20 second power, go flat out and quit when you lose power. If your goal is more repeatable power, pick a power you can repeat 8 times for your Tabata set, and still quit the workout when you can no longer maintain the effort.

Strength training

Just completed a road race of 228km and felt I lacked pure strength. I could climb with people far less fit than me yet I couldn’t stay with them. I feel I am lacking strength what exercises would you recommend to improve leg strength.

Regards

Jason

Scott Saifer says:

You can improve leg strength by doing low-cadence, high-force pedaling such as long rides in zone 2 alternating 5 minute intervals at 40 rpm with 5 minute intervals at 90 rpm. Appropriately structured gym work could also develop pure strength, but nothing you've written suggests that pure strength is going to help you. Pure strength translates into sprint acceleration on the bike, which is not what you are describing as lacking. Strength work also improves anaerobic endurance or the ability to maintain an above LT power output, by a few minutes.

What makes you think the guys you can't stay with are less fit than you? If you'll describe the terrain and effort of the race up to the point where couldn't stay with them, perhaps we can help you figure out what you really need to work on.

In depth from Steve: How does saddle position affect reach to bars, and drops?

Hey guys,

I'm a 43 year old male, fast recreational cyclist (6,000 miles/yr.), 187 cm tall, 91 cm inseam, with a relatively short torso. Despite 20+ years of serious cycling, I still have an obsessive/compulsion thing about constantly fooling around with my position. During my latest round of experimenting, I noticed something weird. With the seat obviously too far forward, I had to have the bar fairly high (no more that a 2-3 cm drop), and rather close to the seat (about 52 cm seat tip to bar); any lower or further forward and my speed/power dropped dramatically. Conversely, when the seat was apparently too far rear ward, I had to get into a rather low and long position (at least 8-9 cm bar drop, and 58 cm seat to bar); if I sat anymore upright, my power dropped way off. (I did a few rides that way, and ended up with one of the few backaches I've ever had in my life!)

Isn't this the opposite of the way it's supposed to work? (Don't time trialist move their seats forward - or slide to the tip while pedaling - so they can get lower?) If so, does this just mean I'm an oddball - or does it indicate a serious flaw in my setup?

I adjusted the seat by moving it 5 mm at a time - alternating height and fore/aft numerous times - until arriving at what allowed me to pedal the fastest at a moderate, steady pace. Currently, seat height - BB to seat - is 80 cm., which is pretty much "heal-on-pedal", if that matters. (I had a few fittings done, all of which place the seat 1-2 cm higher, which I'm 99% certain is to high for me.) Fore/aft is tip of seat 9.5 cm behind BB, which is 5 cm forward of the point where I need to get into that extreme low position in order to generate full power. (This is also 15-20 mm behind where I can pass the "hands-off" test. I'm sure that test places me too far forward, as there is then enough pressure on my hands to make them sore and numb within a half hour.) Bar drop is 5 cm below seat, reach 55 cm tip to bar. (This is the most I can go at full power - just a cm lower and/or further, and my speed/power drops like a rock.

I know power is supposed to be lost when getting low, but is it normal for it to drop so sharply at a given point? Or can that also indicate a fit problem?) This position is definitely the most comfortable I've ever had. And, on my MTB I can better handle the rough stuff. It's probably about the fastest position I've had. On average the seat is now much further rearward and somewhat lower than the many other positions I've had over the years. I used the "hands off" fore/aft for quite some time, but after trying this position, that definitely doesn't feel right anymore. Any ideas?

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Paul,

You've covered a fair bit of ground there. Firstly, you sound really happy with your current position. So even though it will be hard for you to avoid the temptation; leave it alone.

To address your comments one by one:

Q: "With the seat obviously too far forward, I had to have the bar fairly high (no more that a 2-3 cm drop), and rather close to the seat (about 52 cm seat tip to bar); any lower or further forward and my speed/power dropped dramatically"..........(. you ask why?)

A: This is predictable. We need to balance the metabolic cost of maintaining a position against the metabolic cost of producing power. Each rider has a finite capacity and they can choose to use it for a low metabolic cost positionor a high metabolic cost position. The 'aero' line of argument often pushed hard by the marketing guys, can be summed up as "Yes you will produce less power but you will go faster anyway because of better aerodynamics". I think an overly high priority on aerodynamics is a major reason for poor performance in many riders / triathletes. If the seat is too far forward, stability is compromised. To produce power optimally, the rider needs to be stable. When too far forward the rider has to shorten up their reach to the bars to try and regain stability as well as invest effort in bearing weight because as the seat moves forward, there is a transfer of body weight forward with it, that has to be supported somehow. Three things result.

Firstly a lot of effort that should be going into pushing on the pedals is diverted into weight bearing. This is pretty basic stuff. A stable position is needed to provide a platform to resist the forces that pedalling generates. The higher the metabolic cost of achieving stability, the less available effort is left to propel the bike.

Secondly, because the seat has moved too far forward with a weight shift onto the handlebars that needs to be supported, a lot of this effort is upper body focused and enlists muscles that need to relax to allow full breathing. If they are carrying tension due to weight bearing, then they cannot relax to allow full breathing. There are 20 torso muscles used in breathing. 18 of them have postural implications. That means that they can be used to breathe with, but to do so need to be able to relax. Or they can be used to bear weight and / or resist pedalling forces with, but in so doing, they carry tension and cannot fully relax. Translation: you won't suffocate, you will just ride more slowly.

Thirdly, the shortening up of your upper body reach to the bars that you noted is a consequence of needing to bear too much weight forward but has the consequence of shortening your 'effective' torso length. Again, this is to the detriment of breathing efficiency because your lungs don't have as much room to expand into.

Your too far forward position needed a lot of effort to maintain the position and the reason that your power dropped off dramatically if you went lower or further forward again is that you pushed a poor poor position into a more extreme version of the same thing. Because your seat position was basically poor, you had to raise your bars and shorten your reach in an attempt to regain some modicum of stability.

If you are interested in the detail of this subject, here is 3 links for you.

TT Rider http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/blog/2011/07/tt-rider-rod-and-bikefitter-discuss-the-secret-of-speed/

Ironman Position - How Marketing Overcame Reality For Some http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/blog/2011/08/ironman-triathlon-position-how-marketing-overcame-some-peoples-reality/

And best of all, an expose' confirming what a lot of people have been saying for a long time but have been drowned out by the marketing effort devoted to pushing aerodynamics. It is about how Pro teams have found that too often they are paying big bucks in wind tunnel costs for an aerodynamic improvement only to have riders perform worse. http://www.bikeradar.com/racing/article/aero-position-isnt-everything-31165

Q: " Conversely, when the seat was apparently too far rear ward, I had to get into a rather low and long position (at least 8-9 cm bar drop, and 58 cm seat to bar); if I sat any more upright, my power dropped way off. (I did a few rides that way, and ended up with one of the few backaches I've ever had in my life!) "..........(you ask why?)

A: Again, this is predictable and normal if you want to push a rearward seat position too far. It is the exact opposite of your first situation. The key to understanding what happened is that pelvic angle has a large effect on how efficiently you can apply force to the pedals. You have pushed yourself way too far back BUT if you reach low enough and far enough to the bars you are forced to roll your pelvis forward enough so that you have good muscle enlistment and your power is good. Unfortunately your back can't cope. This highlights why using power as a single criterion is a poor basis for judging a position on a bike. The reason that your power output suffered when you sat up is that your pelvis was rotating rearward as you sat up. This changed the relative enlistment of the power producing muscles and revealed your seat poor position for what it was; a poor seat position.

Q: "Isn't this the opposite of the way it's supposed to work? (Don't time triallists move their seats forward -- or slide to the tip while pedaling -- so they can get lower?) If so, does this just mean I'm an oddball . . . or does it indicate a serious flaw in my setup?"

A: No, this is exactly the way things work if a position is pushed too far. The Ironman Position link that I gave you above is a large part of the answer to your question. But if a rider has to slide forward while making a TT effort, then there is something wrong with their position. I know that sliding forward is so common that it has become 'normal'. It is NOT normal. It is a human body deciding at a level below conscious thought that it cannot maintain a position on a comfortable part of the seat with weight borne on the rear of the pelvis while applying the pressure the rider desires to put out to the pedals. So it moves forward; either because the riders bar position is too low and has been set at low load rather than under pressure OR that the riders's seat is too far forward to start with leaving them with an unstable position. Under load the rider HAS to regain stability somehow and the only method left to them while riding is too shorten up. The aero bars aren't going to come to them, so the rider has to move forward on the seat. This common, but is not normal nor desirable from a performance perspective or a procreative perspective.

As to whether this indicates a serious flaw in your set up; of course it does. You were experimenting with poor positions pushed to the extreme in either direction of seat movement.

Re your comments about seat height, I agree completely. Most riders set their seat height too high which is excusable because in many cases they don't know what they are doing. And most bike fitters set their clients seat heights too high for the same reason. Rather than watching how the client functions under load they try and achieve a theoretically appropriate average angle of bend in the knee at the bottom of the pedal stroke. This is fine in theory, but takes zero account of how that client functions under load and is an exceedingly poor way for someone being paid to do a job to determine seat height..

As to your comments re the balance test and your power dropping dramatically if your bars are a touch too low -

The balance test was an attempt by me about 6 years ago to give questioners on this site a simple means to work out ideal seat setback. It is not a perfect description because so much depends on how functional the rider is, but it was the best written description I could come up with. One of it's shortcomings is that some unusually long legged / short torso'd riders can to end up too far forward and some short legged / long torso'd riders can end up too far back. In almost every case I have seen to date, the people in these categories whom the balance test fails have poor posture and limited functional stability. I assume this describes you and mean no aspersions if it does. I am trying to give you a genuine explanation. You're the best judge of whether what I've just said is accurate or not in your case. The reason your power drops off dramatically if you drop your bars even a centimetre is because you are probably close to the limit now with the bar height you have. Dropping it that little bit more pushes you over the edge.

Finally, you sound like you use power as a major determinant of the effectiveness of a position on your bike. I understand why you do this but be wary of using a single criterion for judging position. A good position on a bike is a compromise between often contending requirements. To ride well, over time and with minimal chance of injury, power is a poor choice alone. I think you must be pretty close to ideal when you say "This position is definitely the most comfortable I've ever had. And, on my MTB I can better handle the rough stuff. It's probably about the fastest position I've had."

If you are comfortable and have a reasonably good position you will produce good power over time. If you are powerful but not comfortable, either your power will drop over time or you will get injured. That is just the way it works.

The Cyclingnews Form & Fitness panel

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Scott has helped clients to turn pro as well as to win medals at US Masters National and World Championship events. He has worked with hundreds of beginning riders and racers and particularly enjoys working with the special or challenging rider. Scott is co-author of Bike Racing 101 with Kendra Wenzel and his monthly column appears in ROAD Magazine.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, 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. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: www.stevehoggbikefitting.com

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.

Pam 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 associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Pam was an All-American in track while at the UW. She started cycling competitively in 2003 and is a three-time Missouri State Road Champion.

James Hibbard progressed from the junior to the professional ranks as a rider and has over 15 years of competitive cycling experience. He is a former Collegiate All-American track cyclist, trained as a resident athlete at the United States Olympic Training Center, earned international medals as part of the U.S. National Team, and was a member of the powerhouse Shaklee and HealthNet Professional road cycling teams.

He has earned 13 National Track Championship medals, as well as numerous junior, U-23 and elite California State championships on both the road and track. Since retiring from full-time racing in 2005, James has focused on his development as a coach.

David Fleckenstein, MPT, OCS (www.physiopt.com) is a physical therapist practicing in Eagle, ID and the president of Physiotherapy, PA, an outpatient orthopedic clinic focusing in orthopedics, spine, and sportsmedicine care.

His clients have included World and US champions, Olympic athletes and numerous professional athletes. He received his Masters degree in Physical Therapy from Emory University and is currently completing his doctorate at Regis University.

He is a board certified orthopedic specialist focusing in manual medicine and specific retraining of spine and joint stabilisation musculature. He is a former Cat I road racer and Expert mountain biker.

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.

Dave Palese (www.davepalese.com) is a USA Cycling licensed coach and masters' class road racer with 16 years' race experience. He coaches racers and riders of all abilities from his home in southern Maine, USA, where he lives with his wife Sheryl, daughter Molly, and two cats, Miranda and Mu-Mu.

Dario Fredrick (www.wholeathlete.com) is an exercise physiologist and head coach for Whole Athlete™. He is a former category 1 & semi-pro MTB racer. Dario holds a masters degree in exercise science and a bachelors in sport psychology.

Topics: Lack of sleep, Balancing work and riding commitments, A follow up by a concerned reader on unequal leg power from October 5

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Try and include as much relevant information as you can think of. Remember, the more details you can provide the better the panel can tailor their response to your question.

Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Lack of sleep

Balancing work and riding commitments

A follow up by a concerned reader on unequal leg power from October 5

Lack of sleep

Hi,

My question is a general one that I, and probably others, have problems with when having a full-time job, family, etc. What do you recommend on those intense workout days when you are lacking adequate sleep? I can feel that my body needed an extra 1-2 hrs of sleep, and doing intervals, sprints, or even a training race is the last thing I want to do. Do you recommend taking the day off the bike altogether, do a recovery ride, or shorten the workout by a certain amount?

I'm doing all that can to improve my sleep, but when trying to stick to a training plan, it can be very frustrating when you aren't well rested.

Thanks,

Mark

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Mark,

I encourage all my clients to follow this rule: If you are well rested and feeling good, train long or hard as the program suggests. If you are feeling less than great, do a Recovery Ride of the full length of the suggested ride for the day. If you are really tired, replace the training with a nap. For my clients that regularly have trouble getting enough sleep for good recovery, we have the rule that they must sleep to train.

The training plan might say something like "Sprints (10) if you got 8 hours sleep last night, else Short Recovery Ride" or "Endurance Spin: 4 hours if you got 8 hours sleep last night, else Short Recovery Ride" and so on. When the body is ready for rest, rest will do more to make it stronger than any number of intervals, sprints, training races or long rides. Only replace a ride with a Day Off if you are rather tired or sick. Otherwise, an easy ride is better than no ride and better than a hard ride when tired.

Balancing work and riding commitments

Hi,

I used to do a lot of racing, however I've just started a new job as a waiter which means I work either 12 hour shifts or do split shifts e.g 1130am-1500pm and then 1700pm - 1200am, and I'm struggling to stay race fit. Do you have any tips which I could do to try and keep at my level?

Many thanks.

Tom

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Tom,

I've had a few waiter-clients. Waiting tables and bike racing is a tough combination. Being on your feet 12-hours a day is really not conducive to recovering from whatever training you manage to squeak in. Here's the general advice though.

On work days do an hour or two at most of easy spinning. Don't ride hard in the 8 hours before working. Standing, you won't recover from it well enough to get a training benefit, and going to work shortly after a hard ride increases your chance of getting sick. On non-work days, sleep in and then go as long as you have time and energy for. Only go long or hard when you'll have a good opportunity to recover before your next work day.

A follow up by a concerned reader on unequal leg power from October 5

Ben Lewis replied:

Hi Steve,

I’m a tutor for second year medical students in Muscular Skeletal Systems and just wanted to rationalize the following comment:

From October 5.

“To my knowledge, there is no nerve exiting C7 or nearby that goes to the legs. The innervation of the legs stems from much further down in the spine.”

You comment is correct, L1 through L5 and the sacrum. However, just remember that spinal cord lesions at C7 can still cause quadriplegia.

Kind regards,

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Ben,

The questioner was concerned about differing power outputs from each leg (left weaker) which he felt may be stemming from a previous C7 injury that had affected his left arm. Is it your experience that an injury of the type he describes can cause the symptoms he describes; weaker left leg?

It may be so, as I don't know. I see a lot of people with similar power imbalances that have had no injuries to the neck and the cases I've seen, other factors or poor bike position play a part. I thought it unlikely that his root cause was his injury, but if I'm wrong on that and it is possible, I'm happy to be corrected.

The Cyclingnews Form & Fitness panel

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Scott has helped clients to turn pro as well as to win medals at US Masters National and World Championship events. He has worked with hundreds of beginning riders and racers and particularly enjoys working with the special or challenging rider. Scott is co-author of Bike Racing 101 with Kendra Wenzel and his monthly column appears in ROAD Magazine.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, 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. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: www.stevehoggbikefitting.com

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.

Pam 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 associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Pam was an All-American in track while at the UW. She started cycling competitively in 2003 and is a three-time Missouri State Road Champion.

James Hibbard progressed from the junior to the professional ranks as a rider and has over 15 years of competitive cycling experience. He is a former Collegiate All-American track cyclist, trained as a resident athlete at the United States Olympic Training Center, earned international medals as part of the U.S. National Team, and was a member of the powerhouse Shaklee and HealthNet Professional road cycling teams.

He has earned 13 National Track Championship medals, as well as numerous junior, U-23 and elite California State championships on both the road and track. Since retiring from full-time racing in 2005, James has focused on his development as a coach.

David Fleckenstein, MPT, OCS (www.physiopt.com) is a physical therapist practicing in Eagle, ID and the president of Physiotherapy, PA, an outpatient orthopedic clinic focusing in orthopedics, spine, and sportsmedicine care.

His clients have included World and US champions, Olympic athletes and numerous professional athletes. He received his Masters degree in Physical Therapy from Emory University and is currently completing his doctorate at Regis University.

He is a board certified orthopedic specialist focusing in manual medicine and specific retraining of spine and joint stabilisation musculature. He is a former Cat I road racer and Expert mountain biker.

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.

Dave Palese (www.davepalese.com) is a USA Cycling licensed coach and masters' class road racer with 16 years' race experience. He coaches racers and riders of all abilities from his home in southern Maine, USA, where he lives with his wife Sheryl, daughter Molly, and two cats, Miranda and Mu-Mu.

Dario Fredrick (www.wholeathlete.com) is an exercise physiologist and head coach for Whole Athlete™. He is a former category 1 & semi-pro MTB racer. Dario holds a masters degree in exercise science and a bachelors in sport psychology.

Topics: Warm up guide, Training on different bikes, "Q" Factor

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Try and include as much relevant information as you can think of. Remember, the more details you can provide the better the panel can tailor their response to your question.

Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Warm up guide

Glucosamine Sulphate

"Q" Factor

Warm Up Guide

Greetings,

Can you give me any heart rate targets for a proper warm-up in preparation for a 2-3 hour race and an under 45 min. time trial please? Also, physiologically, what is going on in the body during warm-up? I have always been fascinated to watch my heart rate climb slowly for 15 to 20 minutes and then stabilize during a steady effort warm-up, or, the hills I face before my heart rate lifts seem harder than those same climbs later in a ride.

Thanks, Steve

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Steve,

Here's a possible warm up scheme for a 45 minute race:

20 minutes easy spinning your way up from 70-80% of LT heart rate
5 minutes at 80-93% of LT heart rate
3 minutes at 93-96% LT heart rate
2 minutes right around LT
3 minutes easy
2 minutes right around LT
3 minutes easy
2 minutes right around LT
10 minutes easy ending less than 15 minutes before the start.

Putting that less technically, take about a half hour to warm up very gradually until you reach your LT. Then do three 2-minute intervals with three minute rests right on the edge of breathing harder and feeling a hint of leg burn.

I don't like to have people warm up by power because if something is not quite right, a power that is usually sub-LT can be anaerobic and burn too many matches before the race start.

What to do before a longer race depends on how the race is likely to start. If the race starts with a climb, or the riders are likely to take off hard, use the same warm-up as before a shorter race. If the race is guaranteed to start easy (does that ever happen?) you can shorten the warm up to include only the first 28 minutes of the above.

The exception for both longer and shorter races is extreme weather days. If it is hot enough that you might overheat during the warm up, keep yourself wet with plain, cool water while you spin around for 20-25 minutes and call that warming up. If it's so cold and wet that you'll be hypothermic if you do the warm up, get better clothing and then do the warm up.

Tailoring training with two different disciplines

Hey everybody,

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Joseph,

If your goal is mainly to be competitive on the MTB, you should be doing just enough MTB time to maintain your skills, and all the rest of your training time on the road. That might mean a day every week or two on dirt, and the rest of the time on the road. On the road you make the sort of consistent power that causes aerobic development. Eventually you take the steady effort you can make on the road and do what you can to make a similar effort on the MTB. MTB riding may feel like a series of very hard and then easy bits making you think you should work on bursts of power or intervals, but that's not how races are won. MTB races are won by coming as close as possible, given the terrain, to a steady effort.

To optimize your ability to hold a high pace for the length of a race, you need a big aerobic engine. You get that by doing several months of base riding before doing any harder stuff. Once you have those several months of base riding on the road, add two days per week of long, sub-LT intervals, say 5-15 beats below LT if you are using a heart rate monitor or hard but below the level that brings on heavier breathing if you don't. One day each week these could be on the dirt for skills refinement and the other on the road for maximal fitness gains. After a month of these intervals, do a month of 5-8 minute intervals, two days per week at LT. Again, one set on dirt and one on the road. On the other days, keep up your base riding. Once you have followed this plan, you'll need a few hard group MTB rides or races to find your race legs, and then you should be hot for racing.

“Q” Factor

Hey guys, I'm a 6'1'' 165 lb triathlete, mountain bike and occasional road racer. I have found that making my stance on the bike as narrow as possible my power and heart rate numbers have improved for the better.

This involved moving my cleat to the outside of the shoe, which proved to be tricky with 48cm feet not hitting the crank arm, and finding cranks that had a low Q factor. I also noticed that, despite having the black KEO no float cleats, when I moved the saddle forward and up my feet pointed straight ahead more and the issue of my heal hitting the arm became less significant unless I became tired and stroke got sloppy. I have always used Big Meat wedges under my cleats, in case that matters. My two questions are: Is Q factor really that huge of a deal? My friends are crying "placebo".

I do have narrow hips for my height, 32 inch waist, etc. Second question is, how do I duplicate this stance on my mountain bikes? There is and inch and a half difference in stance and for some reason every mountain crank I find seems to clear the chain stay by a pointlessly huge distance. How the heck do I solve that problem?

Thanks, Paul

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Paul,

Yes, it does matter to a point. Like you, the less separation between my feet the better I like it. I use Speedplay road pedals with the 1/8" shorter than standard axles, have the cleats pushed all the way to the outside (to bring my feet in) and use Campagnolo cranks because they are couple of mm narrower than Shimano and SRAM and 5mm narrower than many aftermarket brands.

I'm narrow hipped and have good mobility in the hips and low back, which may play a part, though I'm not sure.

Every pedal stroke is a potential challenge to pelvic stability on the seat. If my feet are much further apart on my road bike I constantly have a feeling of shuffling around on the seat. It is not bad but I never feel 'right', whereas with the foot separation I ride, I feel rock solid on the seat. Additionally, with feet further apart on the pedals I find that I have to increase my stretching because at some level, greater foot separation is harder on my body, at least on the road bike.

Re the mountain bike; it won't happen. Again I have the same issue. Whenever I get on the mountain bike after a period off it, it feels strange. On the road bike with free play cleats my feet point straight ahead. On the MTB, I pedal noticeably heel in. This is 'normal' due to the wider pedal spacing. The solution on the MTB is to make your bar height and position conservative. I can comfortably ride a lower than average bar position on the road bike but don't even try to on the MTB. I find that if I do, and combined with the 35mm wider crank separation it feels terrible. With bars higher, there is less pressure on hips and lower back and I adapt to the wider foot placement quickly. At the moment I'm spending more time on the MTB than usual and it has become 'normal'.

From time to time I come across fit clients with the same issue as you and I have on the road bike. Speedplay make a stainless steel axled Zero with a 1/8" shorter than standard axle. Additionally, the Ti axled version has the same axle length. Both have more ability to adjust the cleat laterally than other systems. Keywin, who are not well known, have pedals with 3mm and 6mm shorter than standard (but with very limited rotational movement or lateral cleat adjustment). Additionally, the higher end Cannondale cranks have a Q factor of approximately 140mm whereas Campag are 145.5, Shimano and Sram are 147.5mm and most others are wider still.

When I started cycling, road cranks had Q factors of 130 - 135mm but that was in 5/6 speed days. As manufacturers have added more cogs at the rear, the outermost rear cog is much closer to the chain / seat say junction at the rear tip with the consequence of chain moving further outward in the outer gears. Crank Q factor has had to increase so that the right hand crank arm doesn't foul the chain in top gear.

Hope this helps.

The Cyclingnews Form & Fitness panel

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Scott has helped clients to turn pro as well as to win medals at US Masters National and World Championship events. He has worked with hundreds of beginning riders and racers and particularly enjoys working with the special or challenging rider. Scott is co-author of Bike Racing 101 with Kendra Wenzel and his monthly column appears in ROAD Magazine.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, 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. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: www.stevehoggbikefitting.com

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.

Pam 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 associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Pam was an All-American in track while at the UW. She started cycling competitively in 2003 and is a three-time Missouri State Road Champion.

James Hibbard progressed from the junior to the professional ranks as a rider and has over 15 years of competitive cycling experience. He is a former Collegiate All-American track cyclist, trained as a resident athlete at the United States Olympic Training Center, earned international medals as part of the U.S. National Team, and was a member of the powerhouse Shaklee and HealthNet Professional road cycling teams.

He has earned 13 National Track Championship medals, as well as numerous junior, U-23 and elite California State championships on both the road and track. Since retiring from full-time racing in 2005, James has focused on his development as a coach.

David Fleckenstein, MPT, OCS (www.physiopt.com) is a physical therapist practicing in Eagle, ID and the president of Physiotherapy, PA, an outpatient orthopedic clinic focusing in orthopedics, spine, and sportsmedicine care.

His clients have included World and US champions, Olympic athletes and numerous professional athletes. He received his Masters degree in Physical Therapy from Emory University and is currently completing his doctorate at Regis University.

He is a board certified orthopedic specialist focusing in manual medicine and specific retraining of spine and joint stabilisation musculature. He is a former Cat I road racer and Expert mountain biker.

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.

Dave Palese (www.davepalese.com) is a USA Cycling licensed coach and masters' class road racer with 16 years' race experience. He coaches racers and riders of all abilities from his home in southern Maine, USA, where he lives with his wife Sheryl, daughter Molly, and two cats, Miranda and Mu-Mu.

Dario Fredrick (www.wholeathlete.com) is an exercise physiologist and head coach for Whole Athlete™. He is a former category 1 & semi-pro MTB racer. Dario holds a masters degree in exercise science and a bachelors in sport psychology.

Topics: Maintaining cycling fitness when you can’t be on the bike, Climbing in the seat or out of the saddle?, Pedaling style, Riding with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Increasing performance when you can’t increase volume.

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Try and include as much relevant information as you can think of. Remember, the more details you can provide the better the panel can tailor their response to your question.

Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Maintaining cycling fitness when you can’t be on the bike

Climbing in the seat or out of the saddle?

Pedaling style

Riding with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Increasing performance when you can’t increase volume

Maintaining cycling fitness when you can’t be on the bike

I was hoping that you guys could help me out with some future training. I know since I have such a unique situation that you may not post this on the website, but I really don't care about that I just want some good advice.

In the next few weeks I will be deployed to Afghanistan and will no longer be able to race or ride my bike. I will be gone for a total of 9 months which will bring me back to the United States in July of 2012. I understand that my season for 2012 will not be able to happen except for a few races in the fall, but I am hoping that I can continue to progress as an athlete and really make great strides during the 2013 season. Some of my goals for the time that I will be in Afghanistan are to cut some weight off (particularly upper-body mass), maintain my cardiovascular and lung capacity, add strength without additional weight, and continue to build my aerobic base.

I have been reading Matt Fitzgerald's book Racing Weight and I am going to start incorporating that into my current diet plan. I will not have control over the quality of the food I eat, but I can control the quantity. So by running a calorie deficit I should be able to cut my weight from 165 down to 155/150; I stand at 5 foot 8 inches. There should be a treadmill at the base that I am living so doing long slow distance mixed with some intervals should help maintain my cardio and lungs. I am not so sure about the strength training that I should be doing.

I started doing some more strength training and I already added 10 pounds to my weight, going from 155 to 165, and I understand that a lot of this is from cutting my riding volume down. Are there particular exercises that I should be doing that will specifically help my cycling and maintain my strength for the sport? How should I go about my strength training since I gain muscle mass so easily?

The good news is that I will get back with enough time to do a few races in the late fall and go right into base training for the 2013 season without worry of being burnt out. The base that I am living at is around 8800 feet in elevation so that will help increase my cardio and lung capacity just by living there. I should also have about an hour in the morning and evening in which I can work out. I appreciate any advice that you guys can offer my way, and hopefully I can come back leaner, stronger, and ready to ride!

Thanks again.

James Hibbard says:

Hello Matt,

In light of what is undoubtedly a unique set of training constraints, I think that the best way to maintain cycling-specific fitness is through not only a fair bit of running on the treadmill, but also through a strength training program that will not add unnecessary upper body mass.

The gym movement that most closely maps onto cycling is the squat. Ideally you should perform free squats (as opposed to doing them on the Smith machine) but other good movements include the leg press, leg curls, dead lifts and the leg extension - however this is a far from exhaustive list, and it is important not to get stale so feel free to mix up your routine. Also make sure to address your core strength through crunches, back extensions and medicine ball work.

Since you sound as if you put on muscle mass easily, and are not racing until the fall of 2012, I would not go through the typical hypertrophy (that is mass-building) phase of strength training. This phase typically consists of eight to twelve repetitions performed at 80-90 per cent of one's single repetition maximum. Instead of a hypertrophy phases, I would stick to lower weights so as to not add any unnecessary mass. However, much like the exercises, some changes in terms of weights and repetitions will be helpful.

One further option to consider is some form of circuit training which would have the added benefit of offering some additional aerobic conditioning.

I hope that this helps.

Best of luck!

Climbing in the seat or out of the saddle?

Hello All,

I really enjoy your section whenever it comes out. Of course I read Cyclingnews every day.

I am a 65-year-old enthusiast who does about 4000km every year and just getting into road cycling with a Specialized Allez bike.

I would really appreciate it if you experts could describe the pros and cons of climbing in the seated vs standing on pedals positions.

Thanks very much and wish you all happy cycling

Cheers,

Sam

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Sam,

There are two times when it makes sense to climb standing for most riders: when they need more power than they can make seated, and when they have run out of gears so that cadence will be below about 70 even in the lowest gear.

For most riders on moderate climbs, seated is more efficient in terms of delaying fatigue while climbing at the same speed, since body weight is not supported on the legs. Thus it makes sense to stand for a quick burst of power to stay with a group or break away near the crest of a climb, but not for a sustained climb. At very low cadences, the ability to drop the body weight on the pedal when standing may allow a rider to keep moving when he's not strong enough to keep the pedals moving while seated.

For very light riders, the loss of efficiency when standing may be small enough to be outweighed by other factors. Thus the tiny climbers may stand where larger riders, even if they are climbers, may need to sit.

Pedaling style

Panel,

I've read quite a few articles on how to determine one's pedal style and I seem to be a 'heels down' type. I recently moved my cleats back a tad to compensate and this feels optimal, but with one weird observation: It feels like that I am pushing my glutes back into the saddle when I come over the top of the stroke almost as if I rely on the rearward bracing of my seat to apply proper force. Is this normal for heels down people or is my saddle position just that far off?

Thanks,

Karsten

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Karsten,

There are 2 issues here. Firstly, the change is recent and you probably haven't modified your motor pattern (muscle firing sequence) to accommodate the change yet. I would advise not changing anything else for a couple of weeks as it takes this long for old motor patterns to be broken down and new ones to become embedded. How long is individually variable but can be hastened by only riding at low to moderate intensity. Anything above approximately 75 per cent of max HR and you will attempt to fall back into patterns of motion that you are used to, but that won't work perfectly because you have altered your cleat position.

Additionally, read the advice given here.

If after a week or two, the issue you describe doesn't feel natural, then the likely culprits for your need to shove back off the top of the stroke are:

-Seat height too low

-Cranks too long

-Seat too far forward

If you run into trouble, let me know and I will attempt to advise further!

Riding with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Hi fitness team,

I wrote to you about 18 months ago seeking advice on what I thought was Glandular Fever. I had been tested for GF, which was positive, but it couldn't be proven that it fell within that timeframe. It is possible now that in Sept 09 I contracted GF or a bad virus that kick started my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - which is what I have now.

I've been recovering now for 2 years and am still affected by this horrible illness. I've sought heaps of advice (I've attached a copy of my Mitochondria test). I'm currently following a diet that starts my day off with proteins (eggs and ham) and then introduces low GI carbs in the day (mostly spinach and peppers ) with more protein in the form of chicken or Mackerel. I have gluten-free pasta or rice with meat in the evening. I also have berry fruits and nuts in the day to supplement my diet. I consume 4500 calories a day but have lost nearly 6kg. I used to weigh 69kg and now weigh 63.5kg.

My current sensations are that the cloudiness has mostly gone, I am able to perform most duties although I still get tired easier than when I was fully fit. Some days I get mentally or physically fatigued - usually when I've overdone things. I am taking 40mg of citalopram a day to help with my sleeping and recovery.

Also, is there any mileage in the mitochondria failure?

I really appreciate your help as I'm desperate to get well again.

Kind regards,

Andrew

James Hibbard says:

Hello Andrew,

Thank you for writing. I am sorry to hear about your Chronic Fatigue Syndrome diagnosis. I have seen cyclists deal with CFS and know that it can be very difficult to deal with.

As you probably know, the very diagnosis for CFS has been contentious as it encompasses such a broad array of symptoms— not only fatigue but also gastrointestinal and digestive problems, mental “fogginess” as well as sleep problems.

Because CFS is so broad, I first really want to urge you to get second (and even third) opinions from medical professionals in order to to eliminate all other possible causes of your CFS.

In 2008 there was study that linked CFS with a retrovirus. This prompted some doctors to prescribe antiviral medicals for the treatment of CFS.

However, just in the last weeks the results of this study have been called into question.

I urge you to follow what the general medical consensus is on the viral link and to keep that in mind as you continue to seek treatment.

In terms of how much cycling you can undertake without setting back your recovery, I would urge you to avoid intense efforts and to heed how you feel. I know that this is rather generic advice but how much training you can recover from is very much predicated upon where you are in your recovery from CFS and is impossible to prescribe training loads in a situation like yours.

I certainly have heard of cases where it is necessary for athletes to take more than a year off in order to fully recover but I have also seen instances where athletes are able to train with some regularity in a matter of months after a CFS diagnosis.

I know that this is not the sort of definitive response that you were probably hoping for and the fact that it is so fuzzy highlights just why CFS is so frustrating to deal with.

Nonetheless, I hope it is somewhat helpful.

Steve Hogg adds:

G'day Andrew,

I've met a number of people like you who have been able to return to full fitness and training. Get hold of a book named "The Big Book of Endurance Racing and Training" by Dr Philip Maffetone. It touches at length on situations such as yours, how to recover from them and return to full fitness and how to train so that it doesn't occur again.

I've seen the 'befores' and the 'afters' and from that small sample, the info contained in the book seems to work well.

In your current condition, your max training HR probably should not rise over 130 bpm, and that may be optimistic. I have seen a number of people in your situation act on the advice in that book and go back to successful high level racing within 18 months because they followed the recommendations religiously. Why that book isn't required reading for every athlete I don't know. I stress, I'm not a coach and James is. However, I see people like you from time to time, recommend that book and invariably get a call at a later date saying that following the the advice contained within it was what enabled them to become healthy and ride strongly again.

Basically general health and neural function are underpinned by a healthy aerobic system. This is why you feel better after training at low intensity; you are rebuilding your aerobic system from a low base of poor health. While you don't perceive training at 140 HR as hard, it is likely noticeably too hard for you at the moment.

Increasing performance when you can’t increase volume

I am a 45 year-old male with a job that requires me to work long hours. Riding more than one day a week is out of the question, and group rides are difficult to arrange, so I ride solo 35-40 Saturdays a year in a variety of weather. My Saturday rides are typically 80-100 miles with around 4,000-6,000 feet of climbing. I try to sprint traffic light to traffic light in the first and last five miles as I work my way out and back into the city. My fitness level has remained consistent over the past two years, with roughly the same average speed and heart rate on each ride. I would like to increase my fitness and ride faster, especially when climbing, but the training resources I have reviewed always begin by recommending more days per week on the bike. Do you have any suggestions given my constraints?

John

Scott Saifer says:

Hi John,

Well, I'm certainly not going to suggest that you go longer on Saturday. What sort of work do you do and do you really have no opportunity to train in any way on the other six days? If you job is very physical, you're probably doing what you can. If not, a short run, spin on the trainer or a few minutes spent climbing stairs in an office building every other day could help improve your bike performance. Any aerobic exercise over 20 minutes is probably worth something. Even a shorter routine of core training and squats done on the floor as you roll out of bed could make a difference. You don't have to ride multiple hours to get a training benefit.

The Cyclingnews Form & Fitness panel

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Scott has helped clients to turn pro as well as to win medals at US Masters National and World Championship events. He has worked with hundreds of beginning riders and racers and particularly enjoys working with the special or challenging rider. Scott is co-author of Bike Racing 101 with Kendra Wenzel and his monthly column appears in ROAD Magazine.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, 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. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: www.stevehoggbikefitting.com

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.

Pam 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 associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Pam was an All-American in track while at the UW. She started cycling competitively in 2003 and is a three-time Missouri State Road Champion.

James Hibbard progressed from the junior to the professional ranks as a rider and has over 15 years of competitive cycling experience. He is a former Collegiate All-American track cyclist, trained as a resident athlete at the United States Olympic Training Center, earned international medals as part of the U.S. National Team, and was a member of the powerhouse Shaklee and HealthNet Professional road cycling teams.

He has earned 13 National Track Championship medals, as well as numerous junior, U-23 and elite California State championships on both the road and track. Since retiring from full-time racing in 2005, James has focused on his development as a coach.

David Fleckenstein, MPT, OCS (www.physiopt.com) is a physical therapist practicing in Eagle, ID and the president of Physiotherapy, PA, an outpatient orthopedic clinic focusing in orthopedics, spine, and sportsmedicine care.

His clients have included World and US champions, Olympic athletes and numerous professional athletes. He received his Masters degree in Physical Therapy from Emory University and is currently completing his doctorate at Regis University.

He is a board certified orthopedic specialist focusing in manual medicine and specific retraining of spine and joint stabilisation musculature. He is a former Cat I road racer and Expert mountain biker.

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.

Dave Palese (www.davepalese.com) is a USA Cycling licensed coach and masters' class road racer with 16 years' race experience. He coaches racers and riders of all abilities from his home in southern Maine, USA, where he lives with his wife Sheryl, daughter Molly, and two cats, Miranda and Mu-Mu.

Dario Fredrick (www.wholeathlete.com) is an exercise physiologist and head coach for Whole Athlete™. He is a former category 1 & semi-pro MTB racer. Dario holds a masters degree in exercise science and a bachelors in sport psychology.

Topics: Weight training, Specific sprint training, Optimising your warm-up, Out-turned foot issues

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Try and include as much relevant information as you can think of. The more details you can provide the better the panel can tailor their response to your question.

Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Weight Training

Specific sprint training

Optimising your warm-up

Out-turned foot issues

Weight training

Hi Cyclingnews,

My question is in regard to weight training for cyclists. Firstly is it beneficial for cyclists, more specifically sprinters? Secondly, which muscles should be targeted, any upper body? And thirdly how many reps and how should they be preformed for explosive strength? Finally which part of the year should I be engaging in weight training and can a day at the gym replace a day riding?

Thanks for the advice,

Jeffrey

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Jeffrey,

Yes, weight training is beneficial for cyclists, especially for sprinters. Target the power muscles (glutes, calves, hams, quads), the core muscles and the muscles of the upper body that you use when you sprint. Emphasize multi-joint exercises that require you to use small muscles for posture and coordination over machines that isolate particular muscles.

Start your strength training when you start your off-season training. Two or three days per week is appropriate for road cyclists. Track sprinters will do more. Start with short sets and trivially light weights for a week or two while you learn the motions and then build up. Adjust to lifting with four weeks or so of lifting that feels challenging but not hard. Then make it hard by extending sets and adding weight. Make all changes gradually. The exact design of the program is not so important as the philosophy of starting with plenty of anatomic adaptation time and then building up gradually. It's not unreasonable to be working towards sets of 50 or more reps on the power muscles.

I suggest riding at least 40 minutes on at least two of the lifting days if your schedule allows.

Weights and sprinting

Hi Scott,

Thanks for all the advice, but I was hoping that you could clarify a few thing. Firstly, which upper body muscles are used when sprinting; back, biceps, triceps, chest? And secondly, should I continue weight training throughout the racing season?

Thanks again,

Jeffrey

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Jeffrey,

To sprint effectively you need to be able to stabilize the pelvis against the huge forces you'll be developing below the waist. To do that, you need to be able to anchor yourself to the bars and make your chest and abdomen a nearly motionless platform. That means you need to be strong in the biceps and triceps and all the muscles of the trunk.

What to do about tapering depends on whether you are focused on a few races or trying to be strong for a few particular races. If you are a typical roadie who wants to be strong for an extended block of races, taper to one day per week of relatively light lifting a few weeks before those races start. If you are focused on one particular race, lift hard into the racing season, but quit weights entirely about six weeks before you main event.

Optimising your warm-up

To this layman, the exercise physiology texts seem to suggest that you reach an aerobic steady state within a few minutes of commencing endurance exercise. However, it takes me about 50 minutes to feel comfortable at my maximum sustainable output, and even as much as two hours to feel really great. What's going on in the interim, assuming I'm typical? Is there a way to expedite this warm-up period? If you must stop riding, such as before a TT, how long will a warm-up "last?" Thanks, great feature of the site.

Richard

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Richard,

There are many processes we know about going on during warm up, and probably some that we don't. At the least, body temperature is rising, blood vessels are dilating in muscles and constricting in the kidneys and gut, fatty acids are being released at increasing rates from fat tissue for use as fuel in muscles, and levels of various hormones are rising or falling.

As fitness level increases, warm up generally takes longer. It's not clear whether this is because more experienced riders are more sensitive to their being not entirely warmed up, or maybe the experienced rider body in some sense doesn't take the ride seriously until it's been going on a for a while. In any case, it's common for experienced riders to need 45 minutes or longer to feel completely warmed up. I recommend a standard 1-hour warm up for all racers except in hot weather or for races that will certainly start slowly.

I don't know of any way to speed up the warm up. There are rubs that promise to speed up warm up, but the real research on them says that are placebos at best.

Being fatigued will slow warm up, or at least delay the moment of feeling good, so if you seem to need much longer to warm up than other riders do, you might benefit from an examination of your overall work-rest balance.

Out turned foot

Hey guys,

I'm recovering slowly from a comminuted right hip fracture. I had surgery in Spain but it had to be revised back home because it was not done well. The first operation left my leg about 3 cm short and in varus (angled medially). The second procedure fixed these problems but the leg is externally rotated by 15 - 20 degrees. I am a month or two before I'll be able to use a wind trainer and the road is further away.

I use Shimano pedals with floating cleats. I expect the cleat will hold my leg in an internally rotated position and stop my heal contacting the chain stay. That would not be good for my knee at least and I can't imagine it would be a comfortable or powerful position. What are my options?

Thanks

David

Scott Saifer says:

Hi David,

Steve may have more for you on this, but I'll jump in and say that if you adjust your cleat to keep your heel from rubbing the crank, you'll probably end up toasting your knee. Better you should get some pedal axle extenders so you can let your foot take it's new neutral angle. Good luck.

The Cyclingnews Form & Fitness panel

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Scott has helped clients to turn pro as well as to win medals at US Masters National and World Championship events. He has worked with hundreds of beginning riders and racers and particularly enjoys working with the special or challenging rider. Scott is co-author of Bike Racing 101 with Kendra Wenzel and his monthly column appears in ROAD Magazine.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, 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. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: www.stevehoggbikefitting.com

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.

Pam 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 associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Pam was an All-American in track while at the UW. She started cycling competitively in 2003 and is a three-time Missouri State Road Champion.

James Hibbard progressed from the junior to the professional ranks as a rider and has over 15 years of competitive cycling experience. He is a former Collegiate All-American track cyclist, trained as a resident athlete at the United States Olympic Training Center, earned international medals as part of the U.S. National Team, and was a member of the powerhouse Shaklee and HealthNet Professional road cycling teams.

He has earned 13 National Track Championship medals, as well as numerous junior, U-23 and elite California State championships on both the road and track. Since retiring from full-time racing in 2005, James has focused on his development as a coach.

David Fleckenstein, MPT, OCS (www.physiopt.com) is a physical therapist practicing in Eagle, ID and the president of Physiotherapy, PA, an outpatient orthopedic clinic focusing in orthopedics, spine, and sportsmedicine care.

His clients have included World and US champions, Olympic athletes and numerous professional athletes. He received his Masters degree in Physical Therapy from Emory University and is currently completing his doctorate at Regis University.

He is a board certified orthopedic specialist focusing in manual medicine and specific retraining of spine and joint stabilisation musculature. He is a former Cat I road racer and Expert mountain biker.

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.

Dave Palese (www.davepalese.com) is a USA Cycling licensed coach and masters' class road racer with 16 years' race experience. He coaches racers and riders of all abilities from his home in southern Maine, USA, where he lives with his wife Sheryl, daughter Molly, and two cats, Miranda and Mu-Mu.

Dario Fredrick (www.wholeathlete.com) is an exercise physiologist and head coach for Whole Athlete™. He is a former category 1 & semi-pro MTB racer. Dario holds a masters degree in exercise science and a bachelors in sport psychology.

Topics: Blood donation, RE: Base training, Hamstring, sit bone pain, Strength training, Sore/Numb right buttocks

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Try and include as much relevant information as you can think of. The more details you can provide the better the panel can tailor their response to your question.

Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Blood Donation and racing performance

RE: Base training and offseason training

Hamstring, Sit Bone pain

Strength Training

Sore/numb right buttocks

Blood donation and racing performance

Hi,

Could you please discuss the pros and cons of whole blood and plasma donation for racers?

NB: This is not a solicitation for covert performance enhancing advice - I'm a long term blood donor seeking to better understand the implications of donation in order to avoid unnecessarily hindering my training.

If I donate whole blood, how long will it take for my red blood cell levels to return to normal? Will they return to the old level, or higher? lower? and why?

If I donate plasma (and therefore don't lose any red blood cells) will this affect red blood cell production? If so, in what way? Will the other things that I lose with the plasma (i.e. white cells (?), antibodies) make me more prone to illness and infection in the short term? If so, how long until this passes?

Thanks for your help,

J Gregory

Additional Question;

I am a 27-year-old male, beginning to train seriously for road cycling. I'm following the principles laid down in The Training Bible, and I've begun base training in preparation for local Cat V racing next year. How should I alter my training plan in the various training phases (base, build) after donating blood? Are there any health benefits to giving blood?

Thanks,

Chris

Falls Church, VA

Pam Hinton says:

Hi Greg,

Sure there are health benefits to donating blood—for the people who need your blood via transfusion. Accident victims, cancer patients, and people with blood disorders, such as sickle cell anemia, all require blood transfusions. Five million Americans receive blood transfusions every year and many of them would have a hard time living without your gift. That’s why they call it a gift of life, and you are to be commended for this unselfish act. But as an athlete, there are some issues to be mindful of with respect to blood donation.

I suspect that you’ve heard donating blood stimulates production of red blood cells. This is true, but you only replace the number of cells that were lost. There is no net increase in red blood cells, i.e., hematocrit. After donating blood, the kidneys detect a decrease in oxygen carrying capacity of the blood and increase production of erythropoietin (EPO). This hormone acts on the bone marrow to stimulate production of new red blood cells. It takes several weeks to replenish your red blood cell supply, so you may fatigue more rapidly during hard training rides after donating blood. Plasma donation does not impact red blood cell production.

If you are going to donate blood regularly there are several precautions to take so that it doesn’t negatively affect your training. Be sure to allow a minimum of 8 weeks between donations, so that your red blood cell count is back to normal before you donate again. Production of red blood cells depends on many vitamins and minerals, in addition to iron: zinc, copper, vitamins B6, B12, C, and folate. You can get enough of these nutrients by eating a high-quality diet that includes whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, and red meat.

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Chris,

I concur with Pam that when you donate blood, you are doing something far more important in the grander scheme of things than winning a bike race. How hard would you be willing to ride to save a life? I'd try at least as hard as I would in a race, if there were ever a chance to make that difference in that way.

At the same time, donating blood decreases your performance ability in one sense for a few weeks and in another sense for many months because it decreases your ability to deliver oxygen to your muscles during the few weeks after a donation. It lowers your VO2-max, your power at lactate threshold and your power at all heart rates. In other words, it does the opposite of what training is supposed to do.

Pam is right that a few weeks after a donation your blood levels will be back to normal and you'll be training normally again, but you will also have had 2-3 weeks of compromised training. Thus your approach to blood donation should depend on your goals in cycling. If you are enjoying riding your bike, maybe cruising at a relatively mellow pace with friends, donate as often as your donation center will have you. If your goals in cycling include high level racing, you want to be more judicious in parting with your blood. Training at lower power for 2-3 weeks out of every eight is not an ideal way to build up to being a competitive racer. People who are training seriously for racing should consider donating early in their annual rest period so that they won't need their blood at full strength during the post-donation period. That means a maximum of one or two donations per year.

I know that blood donation enthusiasts will be grumpy about this, but since only a few percent of people ever donate at all, donating once a year consistently actually moves you into the top 1% of donators after only the second year.

RE: Base training in the off-season

Scott Saifer wrote:

"Very briefly, you should do a few months of base and then start increasing intensity gradually with one month that includes long sub-lactic threshold intervals a couple of days per week, one month that includes shorter LT intervals a couple of days per week, and then one month that includes either club rides, races that you enter for training, or supra-threshold efforts, sprints, all-out hill repeats and the like one or two days per week."

I currently train in a similar fashion to this. However the one piece that I struggle with is how much of the previous phase should I carry into the new phase for maintenance. Or in other words, when the Sub-LT phase is finished (or when LT starts) how much Sub-LT work do I need to keep, if any for maintenance while improving LT.

And then when moving to MAX efforts how much sub-LT and LT work do I need, if any.

I try to keep at least 1 day for sub-LT when moving to LT and 1 day of sub-LT and LT combined in one workout when adding MAX efforts (sprints and hills). But time and other commitments don't always allow the time.

I find that 3 days hard training is about what I can stand (from a daily life point of view) with easy rides and core work in between.

I know it is not simple and don't expect you to answer for me specifically with information provided. Just curious if there are any "guidelines" as to how much carryover of phases is recommended. Based on your example if a person kept the previous training into the next there would be 6 days of hard training. I know this is not your suggestion but curious for information on what one would do with the previous phase when beginning a new phase.

Thank you

David

Scott Saifer says:

Hi David,

Good question! Thank you. It helps to think of training in terms of the energy systems involved. It turns out that endurance training and sub-LT work are very similar physiologically, so while sub-LT work is important in preparation for harder work, endurance training is enough to maintain the benefits of the sub-LT work. Thus when you add in your two days of LT work, you can entirely stop doing sub-LT work. Just do your LT work and endurance rides.

Sprint and other short, near maximal work does challenge different physiological systems than either endurance or LT work, so you do need to maintain both of those as you enter the supra-threshold training phase. That's why I recommend using club rides or races for your supra-threshold work for most riders. You'll unavoidably get training of every intensity of which you are capable, plus the motivation to maintain your efforts probably longer than you could when riding alone. If you don't have access to club rides and races in the supra-threshold period, I'd suggest doing one day of sprint-type workouts and one or two days of threshold work depending on your ability to recover. If you can do good quality work on one sprint day and two threshold days and still get in 2-3 days of endurance work, do two threshold days.

Hamstring, Sit Bone Pain

Fitness Panel,

I am a fit 41 yr old cyclist. I have raced off and on for the last 25 years, currently a cat 1 mountain biker. For the last year I have been battling a pain in my right sit bone area. As far as I can tell, it is the soft tissue and not the bone itself. The pain typically starts about an hour into a ride and becomes very uncomfortable after 3-4 hours. Taking the weight off my seat by standing makes the pain subside until I sit back down again. I believe this all started about a year ago while riding 10 hrs at the Shenandoah 100 race on a hard tail MTB. Until the pain gets really bad, it does not seem to affect my performance on the bike. In general, my bike positioning has not changed and yes, I have tried 5-6 saddles to find one that hurts the least while riding (WTB Rocket V). I do use chamois creme which seems to help a bit.

The PT mentioned Ischial Tuberosity or Piriformis as a possible causes and it does appear that I have a tight hamstring. His advice was to try to strengthen all the muscles associated with my hip and prescribed a series of lunges and other exercises. Currently I ride 2-3 times a week for 6-8 hours (total). I rarely ride two days in a row because the pain gets better with time off the bike. I am willing to take some extended time off the bike if that is what is needed, but I would prefer to wait until cross if over if possible.

Is sit bone pain common among competitive cyclist? Does the diagnosis of Ischial Tubrosity fit the pain I describe? What can I do to help? This has been a real pain in my ass.

Thanks,

Ken Bell

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Ken,

Issues like yours are reasonably common. I suppose it is possible that you have bruised the bone but the more likely reason is that you have hamstring origin tendinitis caused by over extension on the right side. Often this only becomes obvious to the rider on harder than normal efforts and I suspect your 10 hour race falls into that category.

The question is why the right side and not the left side?

The more common possible answers are below and include links to info that expands on some of them:

1. Shorter right leg

2. Tight right side hip flexors inhibiting right side glutes which in turn often causes the hamstrings to be loaded more heavily while cycling. If the right side psoas and iliacus are significantly tighter than the same muscles on the left side, one common correlation is dairy intake. Eliminating dairy food can be a positive for this in some people.

3. Not sitting squarely on the seat and hanging or twisting forward to the left. If this happens, the right leg has to reach further to the pedal. If this is the case, one of the more common reasons is too high a seat height. When the seat is too high, next to no one sits squarely on the seat and equally overextends each leg. Always they will hang one way and overextend one leg more than the other. More often than not, the 'protected side' is the right and the 'sacrificed' side is the left. You may be an example of the opposite as there are plenty out there.

4. Poor cleat position triggering asymmetric compensatory patterns.

5. Less than ideal foot correction on one or both sides also triggering compensatory patterns. This link covers the most important aspect of foot correction though there is more on the site as well

Once you've read that, either something will strike a chord or it won't. If nothing does, find a quality structural health professional and ask them for a global structural assessment with the focus on finding why you are functioning as asymmetrically as you do on the bike.

Regards,

Steve

Strength Training

Hi guys,

I really enjoy reading the Fitness Q&A, keep up the good work.

You may be a bit sick of questions like the one I have for you but here goes. I’m a 30 year old competitive mountain biker in the masters category and have been racing and training for around 5/6 years. My question is one of strength training. In previous winters I have included some general conditioning work 2/3 times a week like bodyweight exercises, core work and light weights/high reps to try and be an all-round athlete.

My core was also a big weakness a couple of years ago and I wanted to address this. I’ve read and own a variety of training books for cycling training and they all recommend strength training in the winter. I’m 6’4, 79kg and pretty good on long gradual climbs but seem to struggle when it’s short and steep. I thought that a properly implemented strength training program would help with this weakness and also help me to generate more power in general to ride faster (the goal of every competitive cyclist). I just wondered what your thoughts were on strength training for already trained cyclists.

Many thanks,

Michael

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Michael,

Strength training is good for cyclists unless they are overweight with muscle already or have some injury that could be worsened by strength training. You are pretty light for your height and you haven't mentioned injuries, so I'd suggest you include some strength training in your training plans.

Strength training is not going to help with sustained speed, but it will help with bursts of high speed up to several minutes duration, and with the short, super hard efforts that are needed in technical climbing, or sprinting around another rider. Core and upper body strength training will give you the strength foundation on which to build your technical descending ability.

Sore/numb right buttocks

Hi,

I just moved from Chicago to LA, and I’ve started riding my road bike after a winter on my indoor cycling bike (Cycleops PT300). But my right buttocks gets sore / numb after about an hour of riding. I’ve had my position on my road bike checked in Chicago, and the fitter noticed that I drop my right hip when I pedal. We played with seat height / fore-aft placement, and weren’t able to eliminate the hip drop.

My current saddle is a Selle Italia Flight Gel Flow, which replaces the Selle Italia SLR. The Flight is more comfortable than the SLR – I can ride about an extra 15 - 30 minutes before the problem happens. I’ve tried both the Fizik Arione and the Antares, and both exacerbated the problem, and were uncomfortable after about 20 minutes.

Fit wise, I’m on the smaller size 5’ 9”, 150lbs. But I have a very long torso for my height: Saddle Top to BB is 68.5cm, while Saddle Tip to Handle Bar 54.3.

I’ve also noticed that I’m very asymmetric strength wise: my right quad is stronger than my left, but my left hamstring is stronger than my right. Also, I had knee problems in the past (soccer injury from when I was 11), that were corrected with orthoscopic surgery.

Bike Setup:

Shoes are Side Genius
Pedals are Time Iclic
Cranks are 170mm

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Mathew,

Your self-description of asymmetric strength (development?) suggests that something fairly basic is awry. It could be a leg length difference, it could be a pelvic asymetry or it could be a host of other things including issues with your position.

There are two broad categories as to why people drop one hip. The first is Positional Challenges. For instance, if the seat is too high it is a rare rider who will sit squarely on the seat and overextend both legs equally. The vast majority will drop one hip (more often than not the right). Another example is bars that are too far away or too low. This can cause people to also asymmetrically compensate by bringing one hip and shoulder further forward than the other. If either of these or similar things happen for long enough, hard enough, pain on the dropping side can be one type of fallout. These links will give you more background;

1. Right side bias

2. Seat Height

3. Seat Height #2

The other category is Structural Challenges. Basically we need to be as functionally symmetrical on a bike as possible to interact with a positionally symmetrical bicycle for best performance and lowest chance of developing overuse injuries. Your description of left / right differences in flexibility may have been caused by your bike position. More likely, that riding a bike exacerbates existing asymmetries. You may even have a shorter leg. Self knowledge is the key to a solution. Find a really good physio, chiropractor, functional trainer or similar and have yourself globally assessed for functional and measurable asymmetries including leg length difference.

With the knowledge you gain from that process, you can determine whether your bike position is the problem, whether your current state of structural fitness is the problem or whether it is a combination of the two.

Let me know what you find.

Regards,

Steve

The Cyclingnews Form & Fitness panel

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Scott has helped clients to turn pro as well as to win medals at US Masters National and World Championship events. He has worked with hundreds of beginning riders and racers and particularly enjoys working with the special or challenging rider. Scott is co-author of Bike Racing 101 with Kendra Wenzel and his monthly column appears in ROAD Magazine.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, 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. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: www.stevehoggbikefitting.com

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.

Pam 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 associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Pam was an All-American in track while at the UW. She started cycling competitively in 2003 and is a three-time Missouri State Road Champion.

James Hibbard progressed from the junior to the professional ranks as a rider and has over 15 years of competitive cycling experience. He is a former Collegiate All-American track cyclist, trained as a resident athlete at the United States Olympic Training Center, earned international medals as part of the U.S. National Team, and was a member of the powerhouse Shaklee and HealthNet Professional road cycling teams.

He has earned 13 National Track Championship medals, as well as numerous junior, U-23 and elite California State championships on both the road and track. Since retiring from full-time racing in 2005, James has focused on his development as a coach.

David Fleckenstein, MPT, OCS (www.physiopt.com) is a physical therapist practicing in Eagle, ID and the president of Physiotherapy, PA, an outpatient orthopedic clinic focusing in orthopedics, spine, and sportsmedicine care.

His clients have included World and US champions, Olympic athletes and numerous professional athletes. He received his Masters degree in Physical Therapy from Emory University and is currently completing his doctorate at Regis University.

He is a board certified orthopedic specialist focusing in manual medicine and specific retraining of spine and joint stabilisation musculature. He is a former Cat I road racer and Expert mountain biker.

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.

Dave Palese (www.davepalese.com) is a USA Cycling licensed coach and masters' class road racer with 16 years' race experience. He coaches racers and riders of all abilities from his home in southern Maine, USA, where he lives with his wife Sheryl, daughter Molly, and two cats, Miranda and Mu-Mu.

Dario Fredrick (www.wholeathlete.com) is an exercise physiologist and head coach for Whole Athlete™. He is a former category 1 & semi-pro MTB racer. Dario holds a masters degree in exercise science and a bachelors in sport psychology.

Topics: Fitting a new seat, Diet and weight, Returning to competitive racing, Sore hamstrings - bike fit issues.

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Try and include as much relevant information as you can think of. The more details you can provide the better the panel can tailor their response to your question.

Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Problems with fitting a new seat

Diet and weight, finding the right balance

Returning to competitive racing

Sore hamstrings - a bike fit issue?

Problems with fitting a new seat

Hi,

I am a 53-year-old cat. 2 rider and have been racing for 30 years. One problem I have never had, until recently, is post ride bilateral ‘charley horses’ and calf, sometimes even foot arch cramping.

I don't think this is an electrolyte or hydration issue. Several months ago I began experimenting with the "sit bone" seats (Selle SMP and ISM) to be a little more friendly on "the boys" and better accommodate my rotated and dropped sacrum. I do feel like I am better planted on the seat and sitting straighter in general but it feels like I have a little more weight shifted forward and my quads, and to a lesser degree my hamstrings, are working harder while my gluts are not as much. I set my knee to spindle distance the same as I have always had. Any ideas or thoughts? Is this an inherent issue with these types of seats?

Thanks,

Jerry Morrison

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Jerry,

I had to Google "charley horses" to find out it is U.S. slang for cramps. If you are convinced it is not hydration or nutritional (magnesium etc?), then it probably has something to do with the seats you are experimenting with. Can you restore your old position and seat as a starting point?

If so, have a look at this post as it is good advice for anyone experimenting with their bike position.

Then start making changes one at a time. I assume that the SMPs and ISM seats you have tried have altered your position in space above the bike. Your are convinced that your knee is in the same relationship to the pedal that you are used but this doesn't mean you are in the same position on the bike that you are used to. The Knee / Pedal relationship can be the same with differing seat heights and setbacks. Based on what you have said, I'd suggest that your experimenting has left your seat too far forward and and too high.

What I would suggest doing is going back to your original position. Then read the post I've linked to above, and the information below.

Basic instructions for fitting a different seat

Diet and weight

Panel,

My question relates to diet and weight. I have struggled to stay down at my winter weight (~167 lbs) despite the longer ride and work out times (currently I float around 170+). I have not changed my diet much if at all (intake ~2000-2200 calories per day). I am looking to start racing next year (at a very amateur level of course) and I would like drop some more weight. My question is this - what do you recommend for someone to do for their diet to help lost more weight? Do you think it has more to do with the exercise being longer endurance rides vs. short interval rides? Any diet plans that you might recommend? Thanks

Pamela Hinton says:

Hi Chris,

You are really asking two questions: 1) Why can’t I maintain my winter weight during the rest of the year when my training volume is increased?; and 2) How should I change my diet to lose weight?

Regarding your difficulty maintaining your winter weight despite the increased training volume, keep in mind that we are talking about a very small difference in body weight (167 vs. 170 lbs, i.e., less than 2%!). Recognize that body weight and body composition are not the same thing. In other words, you don’t know whether the increase in body weight is due to gains in muscle, fat or a combination. It is quite possible that, in reality, you are relatively leaner now due to a gain in lean body mass since the winter.

Before I give anyone advice on how to lose weight, I always ask them to consider whether their weight loss goal or "ideal" body weight is realistic. Trying to achieve a body weight or percent body fat that is too low and/or cannot be sustained will ultimately have undesirable effects on performance and health. You didn’t provide your height, so I cannot determine whether losing a few pounds would leave you at a healthy body weight. However, at 2,000-2,200 kcal/day, your energy intake is quite low, making it difficult to consume a nutritionally adequate diet. In my experience, you will be much more successful at losing the weight and maintaining a lower weight if you focus more on your training and less on "dieting".

The First Law of Thermodynamics applies to human beings, so to lose weight, you have to create an energy deficit. A negative energy balance of 500 kcal per day will result in the loss of about one pound per week. If you lose weight too rapidly (<2 pounds/ week) than you risk losing muscle mass, which is obviously something you want to avoid.

To create an energy deficit you can decrease your energy intake and/or increase your energy output. Being aware of portion size is a great place to start to decrease your energy intake. There are other small changes that you can make to your diet that aren’t likely to have a negative impact on your training. You want to limit your intake of foods that have a high energy density, i.e., a lot of kcals per volume, and that are low in other nutrients (like vitamins and minerals). A good example of this type of food is the fat that we add to our food (e.g., butter on bread, dressing on salad, etc.) I am by no means suggesting that you eliminate these foods from your diet.

Rather, simply decrease the amount that you consume. For example, by using one tablespoon of dressing instead of two, you cut out 100 kcal.

This a very small decrease in your overall energy intake, but over the course of 4-5 weeks would result in a loss of one pound of body fat. You should also pay attention to the energy you consume as beverages. Soda, fruit "juice," and beer have about 150-200 calories per 12-ounce serving, and most of that energy comes from simple sugar (or alcohol). You could easily reduce your energy intake by eliminating these "empty" calories.

To increase the "energy out" half of the energy-balance equation you could increase the frequency or duration of your exercise session to expend more calories. You might also try increasing the intensity of your workouts by doing hill repeats or intervals once a week. The high-intensity efforts (>85% of max) cause your metabolic rate to stay elevated for several hours after the workout. This increase in your metabolic rate by ~10% is equivalent to approximately 200 extra calories expended during the 24 hours after the high-intensity session. It takes an energy deficit of 3500 kcal to lose one pound of body fat. You could accomplish this by substituting a high-intensity workout for 8 weeks.

Don’t lose sight of your ultimate objective - which is to excel at cycling - as you try to drop a few pounds. Keep focused on your training, which is just as important as your weight, in preparing to race next year.

Returning to competitive cycling

Panel,

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Stephen,

You are on the right track with the idea of training through the rest of this summer and right up to the 2012 races. You need a training plan, which is more than I can describe here in adequate detail. I'd suggest you get yourself a book or work with a coach. Very briefly, you should do a few months of base and then start increasing intensity gradually with one month that includes long sub-lactic threshold intervals a couple of days per week, one month that includes shorter LT intervals a couple of days per week, and then one month that includes either club rides, races that you enter for training, or supra-threshold efforts, sprints, all-out hill repeats and the like one or two days per week. I usually suggest that people use racing to put the finishing touches on racing fitness so that they get a dose of tactical education along with their high-end fitness, but if you want to be hot off the blocks, you'll have to develop your high end before you start racing.

Sore hamstrings - a bike fit issue?

Mr. Hogg

I recently did a 7x3 VO2 max workout and my hamstrings and calf's hurt for days after. I then started to study bike fitting and found your site. The first thing I did was to check my cleat position. I was 10mm too far back!

I had a Retul fit two years ago. The fitter said he did not believe in KOP and moved me back (aft). I never checked my cleats. My legs also get tired after a FTP interval workout but not as bad as they do with VO2 max intervals. I did your balance test and can do it but it is very hard. I am comfortable on the bike and can do 4/5 hr. rides. I think my saddle height is good.

Should I try to move my saddle forward 3-5mm? Do you recommend anyone in USA, Texas for a good fit? Could the hamstring and calf soreness be anything else?

Thank you for any help. All fitters within 100 miles of me use the KOP method.

Richard Linebaugh

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Richard,

I agree with your Retul guy about KOPS but struggle to understand how a quality bike fit can ignore your feet!.

Too far rearward a cleat position will hinder your ability to sprint. However, the rearward cleat position shouldn't create a problem for your hamstrings and calves unless either:
1. Your seat is too high
2. Your seat is too far back
3. A combination of both.

If either 1, 2 or 3 applies to you, and based on what you have told me, it is likely, then yes, you will have problems passing the balance test. The most common positional mistake I see is too high a seat height. You mentioned you'd been to our site, so read the posts on seat height; and this one.

Apply that info, and see how you get on.

As to competent bike fitters in Texas; there is only one gent that I would suggest; Jerry Gerlich at Castle Hill Cycles in Austin. He is way ahead of run of the mill bike fitters and will do a good job.

Regards,

Steve

The Cyclingnews Form & Fitness panel

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Scott has helped clients to turn pro as well as to win medals at US Masters National and World Championship events. He has worked with hundreds of beginning riders and racers and particularly enjoys working with the special or challenging rider. Scott is co-author of Bike Racing 101 with Kendra Wenzel and his monthly column appears in ROAD Magazine.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, 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. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: www.stevehoggbikefitting.com

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.

Pam 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 associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Pam was an All-American in track while at the UW. She started cycling competitively in 2003 and is a three-time Missouri State Road Champion.

James Hibbard progressed from the junior to the professional ranks as a rider and has over 15 years of competitive cycling experience. He is a former Collegiate All-American track cyclist, trained as a resident athlete at the United States Olympic Training Center, earned international medals as part of the U.S. National Team, and was a member of the powerhouse Shaklee and HealthNet Professional road cycling teams.

He has earned 13 National Track Championship medals, as well as numerous junior, U-23 and elite California State championships on both the road and track. Since retiring from full-time racing in 2005, James has focused on his development as a coach.

David Fleckenstein, MPT, OCS (www.physiopt.com) is a physical therapist practicing in Eagle, ID and the president of Physiotherapy, PA, an outpatient orthopedic clinic focusing in orthopedics, spine, and sportsmedicine care.

His clients have included World and US champions, Olympic athletes and numerous professional athletes. He received his Masters degree in Physical Therapy from Emory University and is currently completing his doctorate at Regis University.

He is a board certified orthopedic specialist focusing in manual medicine and specific retraining of spine and joint stabilisation musculature. He is a former Cat I road racer and Expert mountain biker.

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.

Dave Palese (www.davepalese.com) is a USA Cycling licensed coach and masters' class road racer with 16 years' race experience. He coaches racers and riders of all abilities from his home in southern Maine, USA, where he lives with his wife Sheryl, daughter Molly, and two cats, Miranda and Mu-Mu.

Dario Fredrick (www.wholeathlete.com) is an exercise physiologist and head coach for Whole Athlete™. He is a former category 1 & semi-pro MTB racer. Dario holds a masters degree in exercise science and a bachelors in sport psychology.

Topics: Hill training simulation, Scott comes clean RE: shaving your legs, Rebuilding endurance after a Laryngectomee, ITB syndrome

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Try and include as much relevant information as you can think of. The more details you can provide the better the panel can tailor their response to your question.

Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Hill training simulation

Scott comes clean RE: shaving your legs

Building endurance again after a Laryngectomee

ITB syndrome

Hill training simulation

Panel,

I‘ve recently caught the competitive bug and quite intend on being a racer in the near future. As a means to get serious, I read Joe Friel’s The cyclist training bible. In the book, Friel recommended the general to specific approach to training. In the force or strength area, Friel’s recommendation was to train with weights then proceed to riding in progressively harder hills.

Considering I live in a flat area and the only significant hill is 50km away, it is simply impractical to incorporate that in to my training. I’ve read here and there that grinding a big gear can be an equivalent to training in the hills. In fact, in my Garmin device there is a list of template workouts and one of the workouts is hill simulation which basically calls for big gear grinding intervals. Is there any validity to this approach? If it is a valid way to substitute hills, what should I know before I do this kind of workouts? What would a typical hill-sim workout look like?

Cheers,

Anon.

Scott Saifer says:

Yes, low cadence/high force riding is acceptable as a substitute for climbing practice and will indeed help you prepare physically for climbing in races about as well as climbing in training. You should probably make the 50km trek to the hills a few times to boost your confidence and familiarity with hill climbing. Also, there is nothing you can do on the flat that is adequate preparation for twisty descending, so for safety sake, be sure to work some descending practice into your program before doing any races that include challenging descents.

As far as what to look for in using big gear riding as a substitute for climbing: Don't do big-gear work until you are sure you have your position dialed in and are riding pain free for long rides in light gears. Big gear work in a position that is already bothering your knees or back may cause some serious harm. After you've been training by spinning for 6 hours or more per week for a month or more, add some rides where you pedal along at 70 rpm in your usual endurance heart rate or power zone for an hour or more at a time. That's a good power builder in itself. Once you've been doing that few weeks without problems, it's time to do some real on-bike strength training. There are many ways to do that. One of my favorites is the Big Gear-Little Gear exercise: Warm up for a while at an easy pace and then start switching back and forth every 5 minutes between a gear that gives you 90 rpm on the flat and a gear that gives you 50-rpm on the flat, but keep switching between those same two gears no matter where you are in the ride, so you might switch to the big gear while climbing a steep hill some times. Stay seated and grind it out always in your endurance zone.

Another less intense version of the same exercise is to switch back and forth every 3 minutes between 50 and 90 rpm in your endurance zone.

If you have any knee pain or your muscles get sore, go back to spinning an easy gear for the rest of the day.

RE: Shaving your legs, Scott comes clean

Dear Mr Saifer,

Thank you for your reply.

But I must say I do not understand the benefits. I frequently receive professional massages at the sports club that I am a member of. The masseuse always covers my body with a towel and the massage is done through the towel so I don't think shaving the legs would make any difference. Also, are the legs the only part of the professional bodies that receive massages?

I apply a lot of sunscreen to my legs, arms, face (I have a beard) and the hair does not present any problems. Again, if applying sunscreen to shaved skin is somehow more effective, why don't pros and amateur riders shave their arms as well as their legs?

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Brian

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Brian,

Okay, I have to tell you the real reason pros shave their legs. It's because pros shave their legs. There are lots of reasons to do it, but ultimately they do it because all the other riders do it. I've heard that pros shave so that it they crash and have to have bandages, the bandages won't stick to the hair, but I don't believe that most pros plan to crash so while that is a reason to shave, I don't believe that's why they do it. I've heard that hair sticks to asphalt and makes road rash worse as bigger chunks of skin get pulled off, but again, I don't think that's why they shave.

I'm not familiar with through the towel massage. I'm sure it can be done, though I suspect that it detracts from the experience when the masseur can't see what he or she is working on and there is no skin-to-skin contact. With shaved legs one can do a bit of massage anytime, anywhere without a towel or lubricant. I'm sure pros could arrange to have towels and lubricant present so again, the ability to get a massage doesn't adequately justify shaving.

It's been said that smooth legs might decrease aerodynamic drag and improve competitiveness. It's also been said that a bit of hair could act like the turbulators on airplane wings, actually deceasing wind resistance by disrupting laminar flow and easing the separation of the air from the leg. Since smooth legs being faster makes intuitive sense, aerodynamics could explain shaving. Some pros do shave their arms as well.

Some riders say they shave because "chicks dig it". Many riders say that the first few days after shaving for the first time sliding between clean sheets is an awesome experience. Maybe some pros are closet sensualists.

Bottom line though is that riders shave because pros shave, and pros shave because pros shave. There are lots of arguable reasons but I don't think individual riders necessarily have reasons in that way. On the other hand, show up at a racing club ride in a new town with hairy legs and see how you are received. You'll be accepted much more readily if your legs are smooth.

Building endurance again after a Laryngectomee

Hi!

I'm a 63-year-old Laryngectomee who used to be a very active recreational cyclist - 4,000-5000 miles a year, including some back-to-back centuries. In the FWIW department, in 1998 I created - my idea with a lot of help from a group of cycling buddies - a week long supported summer ride under the auspices of the Cascade Bicycle Club, called Ride Around Washington.

I quit smoking and drink/drugging in the late '80s but a few years ago I was diagnosed with laryngeal (voice box) cancer, and now breathe through one of those holes (tracheostoma) in my neck. After fully recovering from a third surgery in as many years (to allow me to eat), I am just beginning to get back on my bike.

My first ride was a whopping 26 flat miles last weekend, and I didn't know if my quads or seat were sorer at the end. Even though it was a very flat route, however, I found myself sometimes breathing heavily. Also, as I live in Puget Sound, there are not that many flat miles around (that don't have good sized ridges in between), and I live on top of a hill. I am fearful that when I hit a hill, I'm simply not going to be able to get enough air. Will a slow, steady growth in cycling miles, progressively working in small to larger hills, get me back to being comfortable on any terrain? What sort of gym exercises might I do to build cardio-pulmonary endurance?

Thanks!

Marshall

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Marshall,

Congratulations on quitting smoking etc and on having the drive to get back on the bike after what must have been a terrible experience.

You bit off a big chunk riding 26 miles your first day back on. I would have had you go out for 20-30 minutes a few times to get started, maybe adding 20 minutes to your longest ride each week, so you'd be going 26 miles after a month or more.

It's no surprise you'd be breathing heavily or that you'd end up sore with such a big first ride after a long time off. Yes, building up gradually will have you back to decent fitness in a few months, with speed coming gradually after that. The first few months should be mostly easy spinning. Since you don't have flat roads available, you might start with your bike on a trainer and cardio machines in the gym for the first month. By then you should be able to ride slowly up moderate hills without getting sore or out of breath.

Good luck.

ITB syndrome

Hi guys,

I also develop the same symptoms when walking on the beach with the slopping shoreline doesn't seem to matter which leg is on the "high side" but it is always the left ITB that tightens.

I'm 36, 5'6 65kg have been riding for 10years and normally ride about 500km a week. I use Look Keo pedals, LG shoes, 175mm cranks on my TT bike (170mm on road bike)

Any help would be appreciated.

Adam

Steve Hogg says:

Hey Adam,

The most common reason for left ITB pain on a bike is that the rider is not sitting squarely and is dropping the right hip. This challenges the plane of movement of the left hip with experiences similar to yours as the result.

Why your TT bike and not your road bike?

Because the lower torso position is more of a challenge to your pelvic symmetry. It may be that your bars are too low, or are too far away or that your seat is too high. It also maybe a latent issue even on the road bike, but that the road bike position is kinder to you, so you feel no ill effects. Conceivably too, you may have a shorter left leg. Has anyone ever mentioned that in the past?

In simple terms you have two choices -

1. Raise your bars until the problem disappears
2. Diagnose the structural problem that your beach walking experience suggests you have and do what you have to do to fix it.

Better still, do both.

There is info in these posts that will probably be useful.

The Right Side Bias
TT Rider

Regards,

Steve

The Cyclingnews Form & Fitness panel

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Scott has helped clients to turn pro as well as to win medals at US Masters National and World Championship events. He has worked with hundreds of beginning riders and racers and particularly enjoys working with the special or challenging rider. Scott is co-author of Bike Racing 101 with Kendra Wenzel and his monthly column appears in ROAD Magazine.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, 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. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: www.stevehoggbikefitting.com

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.

Pam 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 associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Pam was an All-American in track while at the UW. She started cycling competitively in 2003 and is a three-time Missouri State Road Champion.

James Hibbard progressed from the junior to the professional ranks as a rider and has over 15 years of competitive cycling experience. He is a former Collegiate All-American track cyclist, trained as a resident athlete at the United States Olympic Training Center, earned international medals as part of the U.S. National Team, and was a member of the powerhouse Shaklee and HealthNet Professional road cycling teams.

He has earned 13 National Track Championship medals, as well as numerous junior, U-23 and elite California State championships on both the road and track. Since retiring from full-time racing in 2005, James has focused on his development as a coach.

David Fleckenstein, MPT, OCS (www.physiopt.com) is a physical therapist practicing in Eagle, ID and the president of Physiotherapy, PA, an outpatient orthopedic clinic focusing in orthopedics, spine, and sportsmedicine care.

His clients have included World and US champions, Olympic athletes and numerous professional athletes. He received his Masters degree in Physical Therapy from Emory University and is currently completing his doctorate at Regis University.

He is a board certified orthopedic specialist focusing in manual medicine and specific retraining of spine and joint stabilisation musculature. He is a former Cat I road racer and Expert mountain biker.

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.

Dave Palese (www.davepalese.com) is a USA Cycling licensed coach and masters' class road racer with 16 years' race experience. He coaches racers and riders of all abilities from his home in southern Maine, USA, where he lives with his wife Sheryl, daughter Molly, and two cats, Miranda and Mu-Mu.

Dario Fredrick (www.wholeathlete.com) is an exercise physiologist and head coach for Whole Athlete™. He is a former category 1 & semi-pro MTB racer. Dario holds a masters degree in exercise science and a bachelors in sport psychology.

Topics: Endurance Training, Preventing the post-weekend form backslide, Achilles problems, How do the pro's peak for a three week race?, Hamstring Soreness, Training intensity, finding the right balance, Adjusting your setup to a new road bike

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Try and include as much relevant information as you can think of. The more details you can provide the better the panel can tailor their response to your problem.

Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Endurance Training

Preventing the post-weekend form backslide

Achilles problems

How do the pro's peak for a three week race?

Hamstring Soreness

Training intensity, finding the right balance

Adjusting your setup to a new road bike

Endurance Training

Panel,

I'm looking for some advice on the sort of training I might do to prepare me for a tour over about 5 days, through hilly country, doing between 4-6 hours a day on the bike (sealed roads all the way with little in the way of baggage, on my road bike). I plan to do this in about three months.

I am a 50 year old male in reasonable condition, doing regular rides of about one hour and light weight training sessions. I have problems with worn or slightly displaced vertebrae in spots including my neck and lower back, which have in the past caused problems with riding. Doing exercises advised by physios and maintaining general strength through gym work, I do not have any particular issue at the moment. I have been increasing the length of my rides recently and can comfortably do rides of up to four hours without problems. Obviously a multi-day ride may increase the likelihood of problems, due to accumulated fatigue etc. My question is, apart from the obvious approach of preparing by doing a couple of consecutive days at least of long rides, is there any preparation I could undertake that would reduce the chances of crocking at about day three?

Neville Worland

Brisbane, Australia

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Neville,

This sounds like two different questions rolled into one:

1) How should a mostly healthy 50 year old prepare for a 5-day tour of longish days and

2) How should a rider with known neck and lower back issues prepare for several days of hard riding.

I'm reluctant to write a detailed answer to the first question since I answered more or less the same question sometime in the last few months and you seem to be on the right track anyway: work up gradually to doing several days in a row of multi-hour rides, mostly at a very sustainable pace. When you can finish a six-hour ride feeling like you could do more, you'll be ready for your tour. There was as decent study a number of year ago that found that riders who trained 6 hours or more per week and 100 miles (160 kilometers) or more per week before a multi-day tour had far fewer injuries than those who trained much less than that. There'd be nothing wrong with working up to larger totals, but take that as your minimum target. Riding at least every other day, even if many of those rides are short, is far better than riding less frequently and skipping more days.

Since you are problem free as you ride currently, my main advice on the second question is to make sure you've got a great bike fit. If your position puts you close to the limit of what your back or neck can handle, it may not cause problems on a few hour ride, but may cause problems when you do multiple back to back long days. The problem for you getting a fitting, is that none of the "systems" for doing a fit really take into account your back situation, so you need to visit someone who actually understands biomechanics, or to educate yourself.

One way to test your current position is to challenge it. Can you ride the drops with your elbows significantly bent for an hour or so without pain or tightness? Check your back, neck, and saddle-contact patch. If that works okay, then your position should be fine for your tour. If you can't ride the drops for an hour without noticing it in your back or neck or saddle-contact area, you're likely to have problems on your long ride. If that is the case, write back for more advice.

Preventing the post-weekend form backslide

Hi,

I'm a 36 year old and I currently do 500 miles a month. My rides are usually around the 40 mile mark, and consist of mixed terrain. (some flatish routes, some hilly/climbing routes). I tend to bunch my rides, due to work commitments, and a typical pattern for me would be 5/6 daily rides in the mornings with then 3 or 4 days off. What I have noticed is my fitness level seems considerably diminished after a few days off the bike. The first few days back riding I seem to have lost a lot of fitness and it feels although I'm out of condition. More than just a case of stiff legs, I really suffer. Is this normal and is there anything I can do to reduce this effect?

Thanks in advance,

Marc Evans

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Marc,

Your experience is normal for someone following a pattern of training like yours. What you are describing is a reduced version of the weekend warrior effect. In 3-4 days off, your cardiac stroke volume decreases substantially so you have to sustain a higher heart rate to deliver the same oxygen to your muscles and produce the same power. The solution is not to take 3-4 day blocks of days off.

Riding at least every other day prevents the back-sliding to some extent, and riding daily of course prevents it entirely. The extra days of riding you do to preserve your fitness don't need to be long or hard, just long enough for a good warm up and nothing more. If you can get on a trainer or on the road and spin for 30-40 minutes on what are now your days off, reducing actual off days to one per week or two but with a day or more of training in between, you'll not only avoid the first-day-back-on feeling but also get stronger overall.

Achilles Tendons

Dear Panel,

Last year I developed severe pain in both Achilles tendons during a three-day mountain bike race (very noticeable when walking, too severe to run or cycle for any distance). It went away after about 2 months, after rest and light physio, and I forgot all about it. However, It all came back during the same event this year. I did other similar events in between with no problems. I've rested and had physiotherapy but still have mild pain (it’s now been 2 months since the event) and have also suffered a massive loss of confidence.

Any advice would be appreciated,

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Glen,

I'd be suggesting cleat position and seat height as the two most likely candidates, with the strong possibility of overly tight calves as well. I'd guess that a 3 day mountain bike race is at the tougher end of the spectrum of your riding?

If so, then when the going gets tough, inadequacies of our position that aren't noticeable day to day, begin to make their presence felt. If your cleats are too far forward, your calves and Achilles tendons will have to work very hard. If your seat height is too high and you are forcing the pace during a 3 day race with the extra heel drop that forcing the pace always requires, then the calves and Achilles tendons (and probably the hamstrings) are being pressured.

If you don't stretch and have calves that are too tight, then you have less margin for error with both cleat position and seat height.

The info on these two links should get you started on the path to not having this happen again, but additionally, if you don't stretch, now is as good a time to start as any.

Peaking for the Tour; how to keep your strength over 3 weeks

Since to be able to peak you need some rest to get rid of fatigue - how do the pros peak for the Tour de France’s 3rd week when there is no rest and a lot of fatigue?

Samuel

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Samuel,

This reminds me of the old joke about two backpackers who run into a bear in the woods. As the bear begins to charge towards them, one of the guys drops his pack and starts changing into running shoes while the other alternately looks at him and the charging bear. The guy who's standing with his pack on says, "What? Are you crazy? You can't outrun a bear!" and the other guy says, "I don't have to. I just have to outrun you!"

You are right, by the end of a 3-week Tour, all the riders are fatigued. The ones who are less fatigued appear to peak by comparison to those who are more fatigued. Oversimplifying, the ones who have been protected by their teams, who's aerobically sustainable speed is high enough that they could ride below lactate threshold more of the time, who have been able to ride more conservatively, not having to make their own bridges or chases, and who have the most toughness will be less fatigued than the others and will eventually ride away from them.

Hamstring soreness

Hi,

I have been experiencing a lot of pain in the belly of my hamstring muscles. After a day or two of recovery from a hard threshold session they hurt less. When I do these threshold efforts I usually notice the burn the most in the hamstrings. I have had a bike fit done so my position is at least reasonable. Are my hamstrings weak or should I look into another bike fit. I do stretch, but could do more. Any help would be much appreciated. I feel like this is really holding me back from doing more workouts.

Thanks,

Michael

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Michael,

If the hamstrings are overloaded, either the seat is too high or too far back. Or possibly both. Normally, if having the seat too high is what causes the hamstrings to load up, discomfort is felt either very high in the hamstrings or very low, not in the belly. This is not a 100% occurrence but it is more likely that your seat setback is too great as more often than not, when this is the reason for hamstring problems, it is the belly of the muscle group that feels the pressure.

The info on these links will also help; Seat set back, Seat height.

Training Intensity

Dear Panel,

I have always stuck to the "no more than 20%" intensity rule for total training time. Using Heart rate as a barometer, I either train at 135bpm or just below LT at 162bpm, not much in between for any length of time. My question is, my whole life I have designated high intensity days which are shorter, i.e. 30 minutes running hill repeats or 1 hour of intervals on the bike on the same day, and then no more intensity for a few days. Can I just incorporate some high intensity into most of my workouts not exceeding the 20% rule?

In other words, for a two hour ride can I throw in three 4 minute LT hill repeats for all of my rides and not exceed 135bpm the rest of the time?

I ask because I started doing this 3 weeks ago and it is working a little "too well" and I'm afraid I am creating an unwanted peak and the wheels are going to fall off soon.

Cheers,

Paul

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Paul,

I'm afraid no one knows the answer to your question. We do know that too much intensity leaves people tired and decreases the quality of training so that going hard every day to the point of fatigue is undoubtedly detrimental. I suspect that a bit of intensity every day is probably okay, so long as you are coming home still pretty energetic after each ride, and that your rides still end up being long enough to maintain your base.

When people do too much intensity for long term gains, they generally get faster and faster for 3-4 weeks, and plateau for another few weeks before falling apart. So, either you are now about peaked, or you have discovered a new model of training. How about letting us know in a few more weeks?

Adjusting to a new road bike

G’Day Ladies and Gents,

I took up riding about 4 years ago on a suggestion from my physio following a second knee clean up, damaged from playing too much cricket, both indoor and outdoor and I did run alot. The same sport has damaged my ankles; I also have horrible arm extension as both my shoulders have suffered pretty serious structural damage. I guess you could say I am bull at a gate and do everything at 110% without really worrying about getting injured.

Set Height of 740mm above the Bottom Bracket Centre (peoples opinion on how to do this measurement seem to vary)
550mm Bar Centre to Saddle Tip,
90mm drop from Saddle Top to Bar Top (I don’t think this is particularly extreme but some people say I ride a really low bar height)
Saddle Tip 70mm behind bottom bracket (I set it back this far as I am a ‘Toe Dipper’ in my pedal stroke, I think as a result of my ankles not really flexing a lot, but I could be wrong)
I ride 172.5 mm cranks.
I ride a Prologo Nago Evo or Prologo Choice Saddle, both are semi-round and I have no trouble being comfortable on them for 3 hours or more.
I am a hair under 6 feet tall,
I have an 82.5cm inseam measurement,
I weigh 65kgs
I am not a big gear thumper, I spin a lot.

Any Help or Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Brenden

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Brenden,

Firstly, please confirm that the discomfort was equally distributed between legs [edit: pain was equally distributed]. Do you still have your old bike?

If so, you can use it as a control providing you are using the same seat. Seat shapes and proportions vary so much that placing two different seats at the same setback can have the riders backside anywhere from the same place to quite different places relative to the bottom bracket.

As far as measuring seat height and seat setback goes, the measurements should be independent of bottom bracket diameter unless you are using an unusual method of measurement. Try this:

Grab your old bike and fit it to an indoor trainer and lock it up. Use a carpenter's long level to ensure that the bike is levelled between front and rear axle centres. Use a steel rule to measure the flat section of the seat rail. Typically this is 75mm long but can vary quite a bit. Use a marker pen and mark the midpoint of the flat section of the seat rail. Place the steel rule lengthways along the top of your seat. If there is a centre channel in the seat, move the rule to the side of the seat nearest you away from the cut out. Now measure your seat height from centre of bottom bracket to the underside of the rule laid along the seat and make sure that the measuring edge of your tape passes through the mark you have made at the centre point of the seat rail. This is a repeatable way to measure seat height, providing you use the same kind of seat. Measure on the left hand side of the bike so that you can accurately find the bottom bracket centre. Some cranks, including Shimano, use a blind crank with no hole on the right hand side and so trying to find bottom bracket centre is a guess.

The above will sort out seat height. As to seat setback, if it is too little, I would expect the entire quad group to feel the pressure, not just the VL's (unless there has been a change in cleat position / rotational angle). Let me know what happens and get back to me if the problem continues.

The Cyclingnews Form & Fitness panel

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Scott has helped clients to turn pro as well as to win medals at US Masters National and World Championship events. He has worked with hundreds of beginning riders and racers and particularly enjoys working with the special or challenging rider. Scott is co-author of Bike Racing 101 with Kendra Wenzel and his monthly column appears in ROAD Magazine.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, 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. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: www.stevehoggbikefitting.com

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.

Pam 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 associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Pam was an All-American in track while at the UW. She started cycling competitively in 2003 and is a three-time Missouri State Road Champion.

James Hibbard progressed from the junior to the professional ranks as a rider and has over 15 years of competitive cycling experience. He is a former Collegiate All-American track cyclist, trained as a resident athlete at the United States Olympic Training Center, earned international medals as part of the U.S. National Team, and was a member of the powerhouse Shaklee and HealthNet Professional road cycling teams.

He has earned 13 National Track Championship medals, as well as numerous junior, U-23 and elite California State championships on both the road and track. Since retiring from full-time racing in 2005, James has focused on his development as a coach.

David Fleckenstein, MPT, OCS (www.physiopt.com) is a physical therapist practicing in Eagle, ID and the president of Physiotherapy, PA, an outpatient orthopedic clinic focusing in orthopedics, spine, and sportsmedicine care.

His clients have included World and US champions, Olympic athletes and numerous professional athletes. He received his Masters degree in Physical Therapy from Emory University and is currently completing his doctorate at Regis University.

He is a board certified orthopedic specialist focusing in manual medicine and specific retraining of spine and joint stabilisation musculature. He is a former Cat I road racer and Expert mountain biker.

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.

Dave Palese (www.davepalese.com) is a USA Cycling licensed coach and masters' class road racer with 16 years' race experience. He coaches racers and riders of all abilities from his home in southern Maine, USA, where he lives with his wife Sheryl, daughter Molly, and two cats, Miranda and Mu-Mu.

Dario Fredrick (www.wholeathlete.com) is an exercise physiologist and head coach for Whole Athlete™. He is a former category 1 & semi-pro MTB racer. Dario holds a masters degree in exercise science and a bachelors in sport psychology.

Topics: Adjustments to setup after changing to a new bike, Breathing exercises, Pudendal Nerve problems, Ankle pain, Returning from extensive shoulder surgery

Got a question for the fitness panel? Send it to fitness@cyclingnews.com. Emails may be edited for length or clarity, but we try to publish both questions and answers in their entirety.

To find advice that relates to you more easily:

Adjustments to setup after changing to a new bike

Breathing exercises

Pudendal Nerve problems

Ankle pain

Returning from extensive shoulder surgery

Pain arising after a change in bikes

Panel,

I am a triathlete and switched bikes last year from a Specialized Transition frame to a Gray Storm frame.

I have narrow hips, I tend to overpronate and toe-out, and my knees tend to brush the top tube as I ride.

When I switched bikes, I retained the majority of my fit measurements, but began to get pain the outside back of my right knee that arises within 15 minutes of being on the bike. My knee angle did not change, so I know seat height is not an issue. From everything I can tell, the pain is in the biceps femoris attachment.

Here is what *did* change when I switched bikes:

1) I have found that on the new bike setup, I am unable to ride with right toes as externally rotated and right heel in without brushing the crank with my right shoe (I use Look Keo). Therefore, my toes are slightly less externally rotated than what I was accustomed to on the previous bike. When I attempt to remedy this issue by switching to a pedal with a longer axle (Speedplay), or by moving my cleats medially, my Q-angle changes enough to where I begin to get pain on the *inside* of the right knee, feel as if I'm pedalling bowlegged and my hips feel unnaturally oriented.

2) The top tube of the Gray is nearly twice as thick as the top tube of the Specialized, which means my knees, cannot come in as much at the top of the pedal stroke. This knee pain issue is frustrating and has kept me from enjoying my bike rides. My question is two-fold: 1) are there any pedal/spindle/cleat/crank/seat fore-aft changes that could be made to allow my right foot to be more externally rotated? 2) Would the thickness of the top tube be aggravating this issue?

Thanks!

Ben

Steve Hogg says:

Interesting story. I think you've answered your own question. If the only things that have changed are the top tube diameter increase, which prevents your knees moving as close to the centre line as previously, and the angle of your cleat is not quite the same as before, either directly, or indirectly, those changes have caused your problem.

Do you have any foot correction?

I ask, because optimising foot plant on the pedal is the likely solution to your problem. I can't guarantee this, but once you sort that matter out, your feet shouldn't need to rotate as far out; i.e., heels in / toes out as they currently do which will allow you to bring your feet closer to the centre line of the bike and also allow you to have your cleats set at an angle so that both feet naturally sit in the middle of the range of rotational movement offered by the cleat.

Re foot correction, start with arch support as this is the most important aspect in my view. This link will explain how to get the ideal result. Once you have got Level 2 arch support inside your shoes, have a look at this info and experiment with wedges. By the time you have finished that process you should be fine.

A couple more things; If as is likely, the result of correcting your feet results in your them pointing closer to straight ahead, you should be able to bring your feet closer to the centre line of the bike and have them more underneath your knees which is good. However Keos have limited ability to laterally adjust the cleats. If you find this isn't enough, switch to Speedplay as they have more. Additionally, Speedplay make a range of axle lengths including one that is 1/8" shorter than standard.

Ben replies:

Thanks Steve.

I have custom cycling orthotics that provide fabulous arch support.

I also have some BFS Cleat Wedges and I believe I will go on a 'wedge ride' and try the heel wedging approach you recommend. My only concern is that once this is done, medial adjustment of either the Look or the Keo’s, my foot would potentially be rubbing the crank even more than it is now. Or would that possibly be alleviated through the wedge placement?

Cheers,

Ben

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Ben,

Not necessarily so. You ride heel in / toe out because the combined effects of your hip lower back function and the feet you have necessitate that to keep your knees tracking more or less okay. If you get the wedging right, and gauge it on feel under foot, not visual alignment, there is a substantial chance that you will pedal less heel in / toe out. I can't be certain as a lot depends on how your function.

Once you have settled on the number of cleat wedges that you feel is ideal, go through the process of determining cleat angle as suggested at the end of this post.

Scroll down to the italicised text at the end.

Breathing problems/Spinning on the hills

Panel,

I and many others appreciate your consistent and detailed log of advice and information. One thing I would like you to touch on is the importance of breathing, particularly during high intensity exercises like racing. I’m not sure if there is much detail on its merits. I've found that I have to consciously will myself to breathe steadily & deep when I'm near the end of a race in order for me to arrive at the finishing sprint as fresh as possible. Primarily my breathing has been subconscious I would only tend to breathe hard when I'm quite tired and starting to get gassed but now I'm starting to actively breathe hard and deep even when I'm not under much pressure. I've only tried it recently and I'm wondering if it’s something that I need to keep in mind every race/high intensity workout.

Most critically though so far this year I've been noticing a trend for most of my road races. I'm decently strong and competitive for most of the race until the last 1-2km and then I get shot out the back in the closing several hundred meters as guys start winding up for the closing (usually uphill) sprint. I'm a small guy (5'4 130lbs) but I tend to struggle on the hills in the closing lap despite being fairly comfortable on the hills for most of the race.

Part of me wonders if it’s an energy thing but I've found that I tend to bloat easily and eating a bit too much before a high intensity workout makes me feel like I can’t breathe efficiently- but then apparently if I don't eat enough then I won’t have the pop to finish off a race strong. Would a dietician provide a worthwhile return on investment? How do I know how much food before and during a race is the ideal amount. Or maybe my issue also has to do with my cadence. I tend to find that I can spin more easily on the flats and downhills but when the road becomes mildly steep I tend to prefer pushing a slower cadence. Would working on keeping my cadence high on uphills help me arrive with more pop for the closing meters of a road race?

Novo

Scott Saifer says:

Hi Novo,

You've packed a bunch of questions in here. I'll do my best to answer the ones I can identify.

Breathing, yes, very good, do it. Hah! Some riders do and some don't breathe efficiently without thinking about it. By all means, if you feel that deliberately breathing more deeply helps your performance, do it, and practice it routinely in training so you won't have to think about it so much when you race.

Make a habit of spinning up all the hills in your races and saving the high force pedalling for the end. When you drop your cadence on the hills you are engaging the higher-force, fast-twitch fibres. They are great for bursts of speed, but they recover poorly during a race, so if you use them on the hills before the end, they won't be as powerful when you need them in the finale. So, learn to spin on the hills, and take enough gears that you can do so on whatever hills you'll find in your races.

Someone your size should be consuming about 175 carbohydrate calories per hour of racing, on top of 100-200 calories just before the race. If you are getting less than that, your late race fade may be due to a lack of carbs.

Not warming up right before a criterium race puts you at a huge disadvantage for the reason you suggested and several others. Bottom line though is that you should be warming up at least 45 minutes before a criterium, increasing from a mellow spin in the first 20 minutes or so, up to a few, short efforts that get your breathing increasing just a little in the last few minutes.

Pudendal Nerve Problem

Panel,

I was a keen road cyclist, who trained about 250 km per week. I was a member of a local club and raced on weekends. For many years I rode injury free and without any nerve irritation. As a result of a radical change to my bike set up recommended by a bike shop (being a major increase in my seat height), I ended up rolling forward on the bike seat to reach the handle bars. This has caused me pudendal nerve irritation and I have been off the bike for 18 months. I have consulted various medical specialists, but none can offer any definite advice on returning to the bike. Can anyone help, as I am really depressed being off the bike.

Thanks,

Matt

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Matt,

Sorry to hear of this. I hope you gave the gent who fitted you some feedback. Re: returning to riding; have you considered SMP seats?

There should be zero contact pressure on the pudendal nerve with a Lite 209, Dynamic, Glider or Avant as the SMP's have a larger perineal cut-out as standard than any other brand of seats. Which one you should use would depend on your size and weight. See if you can find a shop that will allow you to trial them on an indoor trainer at their premises. I would be surprised if an SMP is not the solution or a major part of the solution to getting you back on your bike.

Matt replies:

Thanks Steve for the prompt reply. I did move to a SMP seat shortly after the dramatic increase in my seat height as it was too painful riding so far forward on my pelvic area. Rather than reduce my seat height, the bike shop guy recommended that I move to a cut out style seat. I ordered a composite model, which had no padding, as a way of handling the discomfort of riding with the high seat height. Unfortunately, the positioning on the SMP only served to compound the problem as I was still too far forward on my pelvis, which meant the soft tissue was being forced into the cut-out section of the seat and the edges of the cut out felt like it was digging into me.

I ultimately reduced the seat height, but because of the nerve injury, I think I would need a more padded version of the SMP seat.

I am 6ft tall, and am about 78kgs.

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Matthew,

If you were sitting way too high, it wouldn't matter what brand of seat you use. Equally, an SMP Composit would not be my first choice from the SMP range for someone with nerve damage. Assuming average build for your height and weight, I would suggest the SMP Lite 209. Moderate width and well padded. Depending on how flexible you are, they are designed to be ridden with the rise towards the nose 2-5 degrees lower than the high point at the rear. More flexibility equals more nose down / less flexibility equals less nose down.

I hope you have given feedback to the shop involved so they learn from your bad experience.

Ankle Pain

Panel,

I am 45 years old and have been cycling for only 3 years. I manage about 8 hours per week, including club rides and have even tried some road racing.

Recently I have suffered with ankle pain, initially in my right ankle, now in the left. It takes the form of pain and swelling on the outside of the joint, below and around the ankle bone. It's as if I twisted it.

My feet are considerably different in length and I recently dropped the cleat on the right shoe back, which seemed to alleviate the problem. The right cleat was positioned so my toe pointed out slightly to alleviate a knee problem, but I have changed this to a straighter position. Both these seem to have relieved the right ankle pain, though the cleat is now as far back as it will go. I have never had any problems with my left cleat, or knee or ankle pain, though it seems to have come on this week since I sorted the right one.

The pain comes on when out of the saddle or when I do hard rides. Is this problem likely to be because I am dropping the ankle when tired or under heavy load and is the left ankle problem either in my head (there is no swelling) or compensation for the right foot finally being sorted?

Thanks,

Owen

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Owen,

From what you're saying, I suspect that you don't have the right side "sorted". I know the pain on the right side has disappeared but most riders protect their right sides at some cost to their left side. This happens below conscious thought which is why you are not aware of it (assuming what I'm saying is the case). If you are shifting your pelvis on the seat to ensure that the right leg tracks well, then that can be enough to put pressure on the left ankle. Have a look at this link and scroll down to the italicised text at the bottom and follow that method to ensure that the angle of your cleats is okay for both sides.

Next, you mention a "considerable difference in (foot) length". Often that goes hand in hand with a difference in leg length or a long term pelvic tilt from an early age. Have you ever had anyone check your leg length?

If not, now is as good a time as any.

Even if there is no difference in bone length between legs, a substantial difference in foot length functionally shortens the leg with the shorter foot when pedalling. Have you compensated for that functional difference with a shim?

You don't mention which foot is the shorter, but if there is a functional (or measurable?) difference in leg length, you are going to be chasing your tail trying to resolve the problem unless you compensate for it. The best method of compensation is with a shim underneath the shorter foot (leg). This link will explain more in detail.

Get back to me with your answers and I'll try to advise further.

Owen replies:

Thanks for such a prompt reply.

I have read most of the link, but didn't need to read too much as a little light pinged on as I read. I have not had time to read it all and act on it, though it sounds like common sense.

I have just been out for a quick 24 miles, average speed 20mph. Lovely. I had no discomfort in my left ankle, but did have some on the original side, the right. I have noticed on many occasions that I drop my right heel but not left. Tonight, before I read your article, I looked harder.

On the left I am perfectly comfortable and very slightly toe down, on my right, the short foot, I had to concentrate to prevent the heel dropping: when it did I felt some discomfort - not really pain. It feels like my cleat is too far forward, so I intend to drop it back a little more if I can. Could that mean that I then have to lift the saddle? That would probably over extend the left leg? Is that extension of the ankle causing the problem?

I have noticed in the past that my right quad is better defined that the left, though thought that was the result of an old rugby injury to my right ACL (don't ask what the injury was, my doctor was rubbish, it was probably a very slight tear causing instability and pain) and resultant muscle wastage. When I stopped rugby I tried running and suffered from ITB syndrome a bit.

My chiropractor sister-in-law diagnosed one of my legs as functionally shorter that the other some time ago, I cannot remember which one though. She is 9 months pregnant as is not able to help at the moment.

My other question is why now? I presume it is because I am fitter and stronger and able to put more stress through the pedal, thus accentuating the weakness?

Once I've read your article properly and acted on it I'll get back to you, though I can feel an expensive bike fit coming on! (I'm in Cambridge in the UK, if you can recommend anyone.)

Steve Hogg says:

G'day Owen,

Why now?

Because pain isn't the first sign of a problem. It is actually one of the last signs! If there is an incipient problem, then sooner or later an invisible threshold is reached after which the problem intrudes into your consciousness. Once you've read the post fully, get back to me with any questions.

Regards,

Steve

Returning after shoulder surgery

Panel,

I just had arthroscopic left shoulder surgery, so will be off the bike for a while. Please suggest a regimen or a training DVD for staying in shape and being ready for the road in a couple months. I have a fluid trainer.

Extra information:

Currently I ride about 80-100 miles per week, 50 on Sat, 30-40 on Sunday. I have no specific training per se (that's my problem, probably). I ride a fluid trainer a couple times during the week, sometimes TT and sometimes hills, sometimes short intervals.

I can't expect to come back from shoulder surgery stronger than I left, but would like to have some decent legs and lungs.

I rode a few 200K brevets with my ultra friends last year (averaged about 16mph on them, too), but this year am off some. I would like to get back to that level by next March.

I am retiring in July (just turned 66), and hopefully I’ll then have more time to ride during the week.

Scott Saifer says:

Hi David,

Looking through your notes, I'm calculating that you have been riding about 5-6 hours per week. That's not a crazy amount of time to put in on a trainer, especially for someone who is retired. I'd suggest you aim to keep that up or boost it a bit as follows. Aim for a one hour ride five days per week at first, with the days off separated by at least one work day, increasing the length of one or two of those rides by 30 minutes, or more if you can stand it.

The really important thing is to be on the bike and pedalling. It won't make a big difference if that pedalling is harder or easier so long as you don't go so hard that you use up your energy and motivation so much that you are tempted to skip the next ride. So, the main challenge is to keep the riding entertaining enough that you will keep it up until you are okayed to ride outside again. One easy way to keep the riding entertaining is to set the bike up in front of a TV and watch TV or movies. So long as you keep pedalling at a decent clip, you'll maintain most of your fitness.

If you want to focus more on the riding, here are some exercises to do to keep your attention and make the time pass. For each, start by warming up spinning for 15 minutes or so. Then pick one of these, or mix up several:

Single Leg Pedalling: Pedal with one leg for one minute or as long as you can do so smoothly. Then two legs for one minute, then the other leg for one minute. Repeat until you've used up the time. This will make you a smoother peddler when you get outside again.

Cadence Pyramids: Work up a pyramid of cadence in 1-minute, 5 rpm increments with spinning in between. Thus do one minute chunks of 90, 95, 90, 100, 90 105, 90, 110, 90, 115 and so on until you can't pedal with power any more, and then step back down. This will give you coordination at higher cadences. Coordination underlies power, so this is good preparation for sprinting.

On-Bike Strength: Alternate 2-minute periods of 90 rpm and 60 rpm. This will give you strength that underlies power.

Back workout: Alternate 10 pedal strokes on the drops with 10 pedal strokes on the hoods for as long as you can take it.

Zig-zags: Use a heart rate monitor and make efforts to bring your heart rate up to 80 percent of max as quickly as possible without overshooting, and then down to 70 percent again without going under. Repeat as long as you can stand it.

The Cyclingnews Form & Fitness panel

Scott Saifer (www.wenzelcoaching.com) is head coach, CEO of Wenzel Coaching.com and has been coaching cyclists professionally for 18 years. He combines a master's degree in Exercise Physiology with experience in 20 years of touring and racing and over 300 road, track and MTB races to deliver training plans and advice that are both rigorously scientific and compatible with the real world of bike racing.

Scott has helped clients to turn pro as well as to win medals at US Masters National and World Championship events. He has worked with hundreds of beginning riders and racers and particularly enjoys working with the special or challenging rider. Scott is co-author of Bike Racing 101 with Kendra Wenzel and his monthly column appears in ROAD Magazine.

Steve Hogg has owned and operated Pedal Pushers since 1986, 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. Clients range from recreational riders and riders with disabilities to World and National champions. He can be reached at: www.stevehoggbikefitting.com

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.

Pam 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 associate professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she studies the effects of energy balance on bone health. She has published on the effects of cycling and multi-day stage racing on bone density and turnover.

Pam was an All-American in track while at the UW. She started cycling competitively in 2003 and is a three-time Missouri State Road Champion.

James Hibbard progressed from the junior to the professional ranks as a rider and has over 15 years of competitive cycling experience. He is a former Collegiate All-American track cyclist, trained as a resident athlete at the United States Olympic Training Center, earned international medals as part of the U.S. National Team, and was a member of the powerhouse Shaklee and HealthNet Professional road cycling teams.

He has earned 13 National Track Championship medals, as well as numerous junior, U-23 and elite California State championships on both the road and track. Since retiring from full-time racing in 2005, James has focused on his development as a coach.

David Fleckenstein, MPT, OCS (www.physiopt.com) is a physical therapist practicing in Eagle, ID and the president of Physiotherapy, PA, an outpatient orthopedic clinic focusing in orthopedics, spine, and sportsmedicine care.

His clients have included World and US champions, Olympic athletes and numerous professional athletes. He received his Masters degree in Physical Therapy from Emory University and is currently completing his doctorate at Regis University.

He is a board certified orthopedic specialist focusing in manual medicine and specific retraining of spine and joint stabilisation musculature. He is a former Cat I road racer and Expert mountain biker.

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.

Dave Palese (www.davepalese.com) is a USA Cycling licensed coach and masters' class road racer with 16 years' race experience. He coaches racers and riders of all abilities from his home in southern Maine, USA, where he lives with his wife Sheryl, daughter Molly, and two cats, Miranda and Mu-Mu.

Dario Fredrick (www.wholeathlete.com) is an exercise physiologist and head coach for Whole Athlete™. He is a former category 1 & semi-pro MTB racer. Dario holds a masters degree in exercise science and a bachelors in sport psychology.