Stretching after a Cycle

HostBidder said:

Do you recommend stretching after cycling?

When, immediately afterwards or some time later?

Any hints on the best stretches to do?

Thanks!

Yes, stretch after exercise when muscles &c. are warmed up. Only proviso:- don't stretch muscles that are completely exhausted as they are more susceptible to damage then.
Stretch soon after exercising, don't wait. Hold all stretches for at least 30 seconds, and no bouncing or ballistic stretching.

FWIW, I'll give you the other view. I never stretch, before or after a ride. I consider it a waste of time. I just start off at ~150w to get my muscles warm before pushing hard. And, I cool down slowly the last 5-10 mins of a ride.

Don Shipp said:

Yes, stretch after exercise when muscles &c. are warmed up. Only proviso:- don't stretch muscles that are completely exhausted as they are more susceptible to damage then.
Stretch soon after exercising, don't wait. Hold all stretches for at least 30 seconds, and no bouncing or ballistic stretching.

Good advice there. A couple of very simple stretching ideas amongs the many possible leg stretches.

1st - Stand with your feet shoulder width, put your hands on your hips and rotate your waist in large clockwise circles, the in counterclockwise circles.

2nd - Feet together, hands on your knees, rotate your knees clockwise then counterclockwise, the size of the rotations depending on how low you can get.

3rd- feet slightly apart, bend over and just hang down (let gravity do the work). Keep your back, neck, head, shoulders and arms totally relaxed as you reach your fingers to the ground. Breath normally. Do NOT force yourself in this stretch.

Of course, there are many seated and standing stretches. Don't overdo any of them. there should be NO pain at all.

Woo

HostBidder said:

Do you recommend stretching after cycling?

Not after reading this:
cyclingforums.comt239978 .htmlOpen ↗

frenchyge said:

Not after reading this:
cyclingforums.comt239978 .htmlOpen ↗

Exactly. 😄

I have read this and the earlier thread, but my question is just how flexible do you need to be to ride a road bike?

Doesn't stretching after workouts make you more comfortable on the drops when you need a more aero position at higher speeds?

wiredued said:

Doesn't stretching after workouts make you more comfortable on the drops when you need a more aero position at higher speeds?

So you need to be more flexible in the drops the faster you go? Hmmm.... Never heard that before

wiredued said:

Doesn't stretching after workouts make you more comfortable on the drops when you need a more aero position at higher speeds?

Not in my opinion. It doesn't take a lot of flexibility to ride on the drops, but the problem is that it's hard to generate the same power in that position as I could sitting up. Again, IMO, that's a matter of practice rather than flexibility.

I'm several weeks into my indoor trainer routine now. The problem (for me) with trainer riding is that I like to sit up, nice and comfy on the tops of the bars, and watch TV while I ride -- I do this even while doing hard intervals sets. When I try to go hard on the drops, I find that 1) my hip flexors begin to protest quickly because they're used to watching TV, and 2) it's harder to generate as much power because it's hard to get on top of the pedal as early in the downstroke.

Those two issues are solved by practice/training rather than stretching, IMO, because both seem to arise from needing to kick harder over the top of the stroke while riding on the drops than while sitting up.

frenchyge said:

Not in my opinion. It doesn't take a lot of flexibility to ride on the drops, but the problem is that it's hard to generate the same power in that position as I could sitting up. Again, IMO, that's a matter of practice rather than flexibility.

I'm several weeks into my indoor trainer routine now. The problem (for me) with trainer riding is that I like to sit up, nice and comfy on the tops of the bars, and watch TV while I ride -- I do this even while doing hard intervals sets. When I try to go hard on the drops, I find that 1) my hip flexors begin to protest quickly because they're used to watching TV, and 2) it's harder to generate as much power because it's hard to get on top of the pedal as early in the downstroke.

Those two issues are solved by practice/training rather than stretching, IMO, because both seem to arise from needing to kick harder over the top of the stroke while riding on the drops than while sitting up.

I agree that it is initially harder to develop full power on the drops and that it is a matter of practice and not flexibility. Try this. Put your hands on the drops but keep your arms relatively straight. When I go down to full aero position, my forearms are parallel with the top tube (that's my reference point). But, an intermediate position is to keep your arms straight, which raises your back angle a bit. After doing that for awhile, drop the forearms gradually, a few degrees at a time. And get Tivo.

frenchyge said:

Not in my opinion. It doesn't take a lot of flexibility to ride on the drops, but the problem is that it's hard to generate the same power in that position as I could sitting up. Again, IMO, that's a matter of practice rather than flexibility.

Agree on this. It's a function of angles and the positions in which the body works most effectively. It's easier to generate the power in upright positions as the angles are more open and you have more clearance to get over the top and you get the power down much sooner in the downstroke. The angles don't change through stretching. As you indicate, it's a time on the saddle equation. IMO your body just adapts to being able to generate the same power in any position. I'd say time on saddle and bike set-up are the biggest factors.

I don't stretch pre or post ride either. Tried it religiously for a while and found it made no difference. Time could've been better spent putting my feet up, watching the Simpsons and eating a big bowl of pasta.😄

HostBidder said:

Do you recommend stretching after cycling?

When, immediately afterwards or some time later?

Any hints on the best stretches to do?

Thanks!

The answer, then, is it depends how flexible you want to be, and why.
Stretching before riding is definately a no-no; stretching after may help recovery but some cyclists don't find this.
Cyclists don't have to be flexible to ride, and many aren't. Stretching may help posture (off the bike) and help alleviate (and perhaps prevent) back problems, so I do it. But if your only criteria is "will stretching now help me ride faster next time"; then it probably won't.

Sounds like stretching to me...🙄

RapDaddyo said:

I agree that it is initially harder to develop full power on the drops and that it is a matter of practice and not flexibility. Try this. Put your hands on the drops but keep your arms relatively straight. When I go down to full aero position, my forearms are parallel with the top tube (that's my reference point). But, an intermediate position is to keep your arms straight, which raises your back angle a bit. After doing that for awhile, drop the forearms gradually, a few degrees at a time. And get Tivo.

wiredued said:

Sounds like stretching to me...🙄

Really? I'm talking about gradually adapting to a new riding position and maintaining full power in the new position. That's stretching?

A 3 minute stretch routine for lower back, quads and hamstrings starts my day every morning. You youngsters may not need to worry about this stuff, but as a "mature" cyclist, believe the flexibility helps me continue to ride (and do everything else) with less chance of pain and injury.

As an "old-school" guy, was always taught that flexibility is one of the important components of athletic fitness, so I'm a bit surprised to hear people saying it's a waste of time.

dhk said:

A 3 minute stretch routine for lower back, quads and hamstrings starts my day every morning. You youngsters may not need to worry about this stuff, but as a "mature" cyclist, believe the flexibility helps me continue to ride (and do everything else) with less chance of pain and injury.

As an "old-school" guy, was always taught that flexibility is one of the important components of athletic fitness, so I'm a bit surprised to hear people saying it's a waste of time.

As one (if not the only one) who said it's a waste of time, I believe in warming up and cooling down before/after hard rides, but have never seen the evidence that stretching helps anything and have seen some evidence that it can actually do some damage. BTW, when I used to run, I also never stretched. Rather, I just ran the first and last miles slowly.

RapDaddyo said:

As one (if not the only one) who said it's a waste of time, I believe in warming up and cooling down before/after hard rides, but have never seen the evidence that stretching helps anything and have seen some evidence that it can actually do some damage. BTW, when I used to run, I also never stretched. Rather, I just ran the first and last miles slowly.

Here's one link that seems relevant to the discussion: http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/2000/08_00/shrier.htm

Certainly supports your belief that proper warmup is important, and that pre-event stretching does little to prevent injury. But, it also makes the case for daily stretching, outside of exercise, in order to increase the range of motion and decrease stiffness and pain.

Those are the benefits I seem to get from my daily routine, so I like this report. Of course, if you've got plenty of flexibility, and don't experience any injury, pains or stiffness, I can understand why you don't feel the need to stretch.

This is just one paper I grabbed with some quick research, would like to read others as well. I've learned here that there seems to be plenty of critical peer review published on almost any finding. It's always a bit surprising to find out what's controversial, after years of set routines by coaches and players, even at the highest levels.

dhk said:

Here's one link that seems relevant to the discussion: physsportsmed.comshrier.htmOpen ↗

That's an interesting paper, dhk. Thanks for posting it.

Perhaps a slight diversion to the topic of stretching & performance, stretching may be an essential part of rehab.

A week ago I herniated muscle fascia on my left quad and I will encorporate stretching (very lightly) during the rehab phase. Today was my first attempt to stretch the injured area after some light spinning on a stationary bike and some extremely light leg presses. The time that I spent in a stretch for the injured area was less than a minute and very light, but was essential.

The body has an incredible ability to heal fast (especially when R.I.C.E. is applied in the first 72 hours), but it does not have the ability to fully repair itself correctly. Meaning scar tissue will be formed in the injured area. Scar tissue can deeply impact future performance and flexibility if not treated.

The three things that I have been using for rehab is ultrasound, massage and as of today stretching to "hopefully" control the formation of scar tissue in order to maintain proper mobility and flexibility.