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HEALTH AND FITNESS: ASK THE COACH
Katharine McCoy
November 8, 2008
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Doesn't everybody wish that they
had access to a personal coach for their questions about training and fitness?
Road Bike Action recently caught up with Johnathan Edwards M.D. Dr. Edwards
is a practicing sports doctor and anesthesiologist in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has been
a sports doctor for American cyclists as well as in Europe. He also worked with
athletes during the Paris Dakar rally. As a former professional motocross racer and
current Cat 2 road racer, he understands the health and training needs of
cyclists of all levels.
Should I be lifting weights during the off-season?
Coach Edwards: This is a highly charged subject with many differing opinions. One of the best answers I have heard on this subject was at a conference I attended with the late Ed Burke called "The Science and Medicine of Cycling." Olympic strength training Coach Harvey Newton confirmed that strength training in the off season does have benefits for cyclists, but only if the strength training is continued throughout the season; if it is only done during the off season, one loses the gains early in the season.
Reading various research and discussions on strength training you quickly see a litany of technical terms and a lot of theory that does not necessarily translate into practice. Weight training needs to be performed with a specific goal in mind whether that is an improvement in sprinting or TT performance. Lance Armstrong trained with weights in his hay day and it seemed to help him. Since lance trained with weights, does that mean it will help you? The only way to find out is by trying and measuring your performance. All that said, core stabilization exercises seem to be the "new strength training" on the block. More research needs to be done on the subject, and the benefits look promising.
Medically speaking, no two people have the same muscle development. For example a person may have more developed gluteal muscles. It is likely that these types of individuals will perform better than others in certain aspects of cycling. Strength training in this case will certainly affect this type of person differently than another. Some athletes go through a DEXA scan, which determines the body composition of muscle, and the results can help direct an athlete which muscles need to be conditioned or where they may have an advantage over others. Finally, there is no harm in a strength training program to see if it will improve you’re cycling. Decide for yourself and give it an honest effort! At the end of the day, ride, ride, ride.
How can I tell if I am too sick to ride? Should I take the day off if my throat is a little scratchy or should I just ride anyway, unless I have a fever or something horrid?
Coach Edwards: Instead of a generic answer of riding with a scratchy throat, as a medical doctor in this exact situation, I will tell you exactly what I did.
Tuesday: I flew to a training facility, some of the athletes were a little sick when I arrived. Wednesday - We went for a 3 hour ride and it was cold.
Thursday: I woke up with a scratchy throat, no fever, otherwise feeling ok. I was scheduled to go out on a 4 hour ride. I went on the ride anyway and made sure that I was dressed properly for the occasion. The ride went well and I made sure I did not ride over my threshold or comfort level for very long.
Friday: The sniffles started with a scratchy throat; I was feeling a little under the weather. Again I went riding and even did an intense 20 minute wattage interval (don't ask why). I held about 30 watts less than I can normally do in this exercise; so I was sure that I was sick at this point.
Saturday: Still with the same symptoms, I did a real easy recovery ride for an hour.
Sunday: I was really starting to get sick; I had a fever, sore throat, tight chest, yellow mucous, sinus congestion, a bad cold. Needless to say, I took the day off, and made sure I that ate properly, lots of hydration, and nasal decongestants.
Monday: The next morning I was scheduled to ride 3 hours and do an 8 mile climb. I did not have a fever, still had a sore throat, runny nose, and the muscles felt ok. I just rode tempo for most if the ride, my chest cleared up once I was properly warmed up. Surprisingly, I actually did pretty well on the climb, and I was careful not to push my comfort zone.
Tuesday: I felt better, but I still took the day off (as I had no commitments to ride). By the next week I was completely better and was able to compete in my 112 mile time trial and perform satisfactory. Voila!
Some principles to follow if you do ride when sick, do not skimp on your calories! This is a real east way to prolong your illness, no matter the cause. If you have a fever, do not ride. Also, pay attention to the air quality. If you are sick and it is an Ozone Code Red day, perhaps it is better to stay inside and ride another day.
I am tying to lose about ten pounds. How can I tell how many calories I am burning while on my rides?
Coach Edwards: The number of calories you burn depends upon many factors and without going in to a lot of detail, the main ones are your weight, sex, intensity, and how experienced your legs are at cycling. Your nutritional state may also dictate how many calories your body can expend. An untrained cyclist may burn more calories on any given ride than a trained cyclist. This is because a trained cyclist with a lot of miles in the legs will be tons more efficient and this use less calories.
Just a word of warning regarding cardio equipment and calories burned. Many cardio machines do not ask for your weight and then it displays the number of calories burned. The number displayed is for a person of average weight (150 pounds). For many people, the number of calories is overstated.
Many calculations exist for how many calories one expends during a minute of cycling, just look on the web.
For example: Cycling at 10 mph for a 120 pound male will expend 5.5 calories per minute. Cycling at 10 mph for a 180 pound male will expend 8.2 calories per minute.
Johnathan Edwards M.D. is a practicing sports
medicine doctor and anesthesiologist in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is the medical doctor
for professional cycling races in Europe and America and has
authored numerous magazine articles and the book, Chasing Dakar. Dr.
Edwards is an avid cyclist and holds a USA cycling Category 2 road
license.
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