Flexibility for Cyclists

- Avoid Injury and Improve Performance through Stretching, Rolling and Self Massage -

Improving your flexibility through triggering, self massage techniques such as triggering and foam rolling is extremely important for cycling.

- How Does it Work?-

Help your body 'out of the cycling position!'
Due to the nature of cycling (sitting in the saddle for hours on end) significant amounts of stress is place on the body. The body is not meant to stay in one position for extended periods of time. It's important to help the body out of the cycling positions to avoid injury and discomfort. It's important to ensuring you are stretching your body the opposite way to the cycling position - for example using the foam roller on your thoracic spine to extend you backwards after hours bending forwards is really important. The other key exercise for this is to lengthen out through your hips by loosening off your quads and hip flexors through self massage like triggering and stretching. This helps you avoid lower back pain.

Improve Performance
Firstly avoiding injury is a sure way to improve performance! The reason being if you need to take a week or two off because of injury you are immediately at a disadvantage compared to the cyclist who's looked after themselves and managed to train through. Consistency is everything on the bike so doing what ever you can to ensure you complete the k's is important! Knee Pain and Lower Back Pain are the two cycling related injures that we see most often. Loosening through your lower back, hip flexors, gluts and quads is important to address these two concerns.

Avoid Discomfort on the Bike
Who hasn't sat on the bike for extended periods of time and gotten a sore neck? Have you jumped off the bike after a long ride and winced as you stand up properly for the first time in a few hours!? Yet what are you dong about it? A mid-ride stretch in a coffee break for a long ride may look a little funny but if it's the difference between lasting the whole way back and being dropped we know what we would choose! For neck tightness - doing a few neck stretches (lev scap & traps - see below) are two simple stretches that can keep you comfortable on the bike. For your hip flexors - performing a 'heel to butt stretch' that loosened through your quads and TFL can help with tightness around your knees and lower back pain. (And doesn't look quite as strange as getting into a full hip flexor stretch like the 'Psoas stretch' below.

How long do I hold my stretches and triggers for?

Stretching - A minimum of 1:30mins per muscle group
Foam Rolling & Self Massage Techniques like Triggering - A minimum of 1;30mins per muscle group and when you feel a change (decrease in pain) if you feel numbness, pins and needles or electric pain roll off that spot! You could be on a nerve/ vein/ artery! You are looking for a deep ache with referral.

- That's alot of stretching/ foam rolling and triggering down below! What are the priorities? -

Technically the list below would take you 39 minutes to get through. So if you divided it into 2 x 20mins blocks you could get through the entire list in a week! You don't need to do every stretch, every time.

Picking what to priorities is going to depend entirely on each individual and if you you would like a tailored program have a chat to your remedial massage therapist/ myotherapist. However below the photos we have provided a guide or how to prioritise.

- A Manageable Guide to Improving Flexibility and Avoiding Injury for Cycling -

Prioritise:

Psoas Stretch, Quad Foam Rolling and Glut Triggering for avoiding Lower Back Pain & Knee Pain first.
Thoracic Extension on the Foam Roller - to avoid lower back pain and that typical 'cyclist's hunch back' which can contribute to neck and shoulder pain.
ITB Foam Rolling & TFL to avoid knee pain
Pec Triggers & Neck Stretches - Holding onto the bike handles uses your pecs and in return these can contribute to poor upper body posture and the old 'cyclists hump!' Cycling head posture can cause neck tightness which can contribute to headaches.

An easy way to get through all these stretches in a week would be the following: (We've recommended Psoas Stretch twice as it's really important!
- Day 1: (9mins) Psoas Stretch, Quads Foam Rolling Glut Triggering
- Day 2: (9mins) Psoas Stretch, Thoracic Extension, ITB Foam Rolling/ TFL Tiggering
- Day 3: (9mins) Pec Tiggers, Traps Stretch, Lev Scap Stretch
- Day 4: (20mins) - Pick a few of the others on the list and work through them.

So why have you listed so many other stretches/ triggers below?

As you know there are a lot of additional areas of the body that get tight from cycling. Gripping the handles tightens through your forearms, doing alot of hill work not only tightens through your legs but loads up through your shoulders particularly your lats. Your lats (the muscles on the side of your bod) play a role in lower back pain and upper body posture. So loosening them off is important. Your calves get extremely tight when cycling and having good range of motion through your ankles can help with performance.

Psoas Stretch

Two hands on the ground, one foot behind, hip extended as far as possible.
Push hips forward and towards ground

Quad Foam Roller
Knee/foot parallel with the foam roller. Take the weight on the forearms and knee & foot.

Long glides up & down the muscles of the front of the leg turning the foot in and out to get inside and outside of the leg.
Small pulses over anywhere that feels particularly tight or lumpy.

Foam Roller Thoracic Extension

Lying flat on your back, hands supporting your head, feet flat on the floor place the rolled up towel/ foam roller just above the small of your lower back and arch back over the roller

3- 5 Deep Breaths and roll up/down to another area

ITB Foam Roller

1 foot off the foam roller, one forearm on the ground. Use the forearm & foot to take the load.
Work your way down your leg. Perform small pulses up near the hip, middle of leg & close to the knee. Rotate hips inward to the side to get more into quad/ hammies insertion

TFL Triggering

Lying down on your side with your legs bent to 45 degrees. Place a tennis ball underneath the side of your leg closest to the ground, just below the boney part of your hip.
Gently lean into the ball to increase pressure..

Glut Triggering

Place the ball on the fleshy part between the top of your pelvis and your hi. Place your hands behind you, bend 1 leg bent across the other. Rotate your pelvis slightly towards the side you are triggering. Gently lean in and move around until you find a spot that particular hurt.

Foam Roller your Calf

One foot on top of the other or if too painful one foot off to the side taking some of the load, hands down butt off the ground

Small pulses over areas that are particularly tight. (NEVER DIRECTLY ON BACK OF KNEE/ ACHILLES) Rotate leg inwards & outwards

Hamstrings Triggers

Sitting on a chair place a ball underneath your hamstring. Find the spots that hurt and lean in. If you feel numbness or pins and needles change the position of the ball
If using the chair try bending and straightening the knee with the ball on the hamstrings

Traps Stretch
Chin to your chest, pull your head upwards and forward.
You should feel the stretch at the back of your head and a little down your spine.

(3x 30sec holds.)

Levator Scap Stretch

Sitting/ standing with one hand on the back of your head. Bring your chin to your chest, turn head towards arm pit
Gently draw your head diagonally forward. You should feel the stretch in the opposite neck and shoulder. (3 x 30sec)

Pecs Triggers

Facing a wall, place a ball on your chest in the area between your collar bone and shoulder.
Lean in towards the wall holding the ball with the opposite hand. Slowly raise arm up to 90 degrees and back down across body

*Be careful if you feel numbness/ pins and needles in your arm move onto another spot.

Stretch Forearms Muscles

Standing in front of a bench.
Fingers placed on the edge of a bench. Drop wrists down and lean forward until you feel a stretch in your forearms/ wrists.

Latissimus Dorsi Stretch

Standing in a door way/ in front of a pole.
Grab on to the structure, with one arm above your head.
Draw the body and hips away until you feel a stretch in the side of your body and shoulder.

Duration:

Hold for 1 - 1:30mins leaning further and further away.

If you would like help working out what to do to avoid injury/ increase performance feel free to book in and we can help you work out a plan of attack specific to your needs!

GOOD LUCK!