Training & Nutrition - Flexibility?

I've been to my very first massage and to make a long (rather dismal) story very short - my muscles from the hips down are extremely tight and inflexible . . . to a damaging level (my knees and achilles tendons are suffering).

I'll continue to go to my massage therapist (she's a cyclist too so she understands), but I'm wondering what else I can do.

How many of you stretch regularly? Do any of you use massage therapy on a regular basis? How about yoga or something like that?

I'm almost 40 and amaze much younger co-workers with my flexablity. Sence my high school football days, even during the "fat years" , I have always kept up streching! I remember reading somewhere that if you do no other exersize, you should keep up streches.

I usually stretch between exercises while I weight train and sometimes on breaks when cycling if I feel tight but nothing formal.One other idea is the knee and achilles concerns could also have to do with muscle imbalances putting stress on tendons and joints .Cyclists tend to overuse and overdevelop certain muscles such as outer quads and calves relative to others and weight training can help balance this out.Also you can focus on stretch position weight training exercises with relatively light or even no weight that gives muscles a good stretch. For example standing calf raises on a block strech out the calves and would also give a good stretch to the achilles tendon area.Stifflegged deadlifts give the hams a good stretch while deep squats give the quads a good stretch and done with a wide stance they target the inner quads .Another particularly effective exercise is lunges which target the underdeveloped inner quads while streching out all the leg muscles.

I'm sold on yoga. I'm 44 and never had an interest in yoga until a year ago. The stretching and flexibility benefits are awsome and when paired with meditation, there are great psychological benefits that could improve the overall quality of your life and cycling proficiency. Great for stress management also. Even if you do "yoga light" (i.e., just for the stretching), I think you'll see some improvements.

Swimming is quite good for cyclists, you can really stretch out, and get you use your upper body.
I like some of the Tai Chi stretches. Martial arts stretches seem to be a bit more wholistic than many standard athletics ones. It is possible to damage yourself with stretching (eg bouncing, or stressing the spine), so take care.

the best book i have ever seen is Bob Andersons book of stretches... i am sure the library would have one so you can peruse it before you decide if you want to buy it. I have had mine for 4 years.. and i would recommend it to anyone for any sport.
yoga is wonderful.. but it can be really tough the first couple of times.. however knowing what i know of you C.. i am sure you can tuff it out.
there are different types of yoga.. some really work your core more than flexibility.. so check them all out. I have only done a couple of free classes at my gym ... they said they would take it easy on me!..lol.. came out of there more drained than when i am wt training for an hour, then cardio..!!!
good luck... the massage is a great start..when i started running i was told by a RMT that if you look closely at the elite atheletes their muscles look supple... they get massages constantly.

i've been trying to add stretching to my fitness routine for about 3 years... and i do something for 3-4 weeks or more but then somehow it always falls out.

i have done:
1) karate - about half of the time is spent stretching which i used to think was stupid and a waste, but no more! --- after i moved i haven't found the right group to train with again, so...
2) yoga - when i was back in grad school i found a free class that was really cool and went about 3 times a week -- i've been too lazy to find and pay for a class since...
3) stetching/aerobics classes at my gym: for a while i was going about 2 times a week to 45-90min of classes at my local gym (free and i would add the time onto my weight lifting time), but as i've been concentrating a lot on lifting i haven't found the time

as RWTD said, i think the biggest concern is muscle imbalance. i do a lot of sports and crosstraining (cycling, running, mountain climbing, snowboarding, volleyball, etc) as well as regular weight training and i still sometimes have muscle imbalances --- i had a problem with running where my legs were built up way stronger from cycling and had to do some special training to try and "fix" the imbalance.

personally, i think stretching is a great thing --- and more important as you get older -- before 25 i never stretched and didn't really need to, but after 30 it becomes more and more immportant.

i'd say the most important thing is that you find something that you can do regularly (time and $$)

i'm still looking for the right karate/yoga group and or hoping to find the discipline to do it myself (hasn't happened after 3 years of trying)

When I was a young stud athelete I never stretched. But the older I get the more I stretch. If I didn't stretch before playing basketball or soccer I am sure I would injure myself. Like UCIFLYLOW I often find that I am much more flexible than the teens and 20 somethings I compete against.

For cycling I usually stretch a lot after riding and just try to warm up slowly as I ride.

I have also started to realize that stretching feels good. :)

I've discovered that I could take any one of the following 4 types of "stretching" related classes. Each of them will be ~ $45 for 1 session per week for 10 weeks which is good. Each of them is also held at a location near me so I can get there fairly easily. Now to decide which one:

Very low impact aerobics & stretching
Stretching & working with those stretchy band things
Yoga
Pilates

I've never done anything like any of those before so . . . I'm not sure.

Machka-

Any way you could take that $45 for 10 weeks and pay for monthly fees at a fitness club? The reason why is that $45 for 10 classes seems so much more expensive then paying for a month of membership at a club so that you have the option of taking all those classes, plus more? Economically, you get a better deal paying the $45 a month... I'm sure you could find a gym where you'd pay less a month, giving you an even better savings.

Just a thought. I teach aerobics classes, which is another great way of getting all the free classes I want. That's why I started teaching in the first place. I got tired of paying my $115 a month dues at my club. Now, I get all my classes for free, and I only have to teach 1 class, or some clubs you don't even need to teach, just stay on the sub list and offer to sub a class every now and then. It's a great tradeoff.

Something to think about.

Koffee

P.S. Ashamed to say it, but I don't stretch much either. My flexibility is shot, but it's something I know I am going to need to work on. :o

*Very low impact aerobics & stretching
*Stretching & working with those stretchy band things
*Yoga
*Pilates

Machka,

of the 4, i have done the aerobics/streching and yoga... never tried the other 2 - actually i don't know what pilates is...

you didn't say exactly what your goals are other than stretching... from this i'd say any should be ok. try one out and if it's not the right one you can try another... and then maybe later try and find an even cheaper source if you decide to do it long-term.

with the aerobics/stretching you will get some general fitness as well as the streching... i enjoyed these classes (pure aerobics i don't enjoy as much, plus there are usually almost all girls in aerobics which although i don't mind it's sometimes kind of weird) and the strecthing was more like 10% guys --- it depends, but most of the ones i did would have 15-30 minutes of aerobics with active strecthing (mostly standing) and then the 2nd half of inactive stretching (mostly on a mat)

the yoga is definitely great for stretching. a plus here is that if you learn enough you can do a lot on your own... and maybe one day do your start your own routine and do until until your 75 years old or something... it's much less active and much more, uh how should i say, uh, hoky talk about cleansing the body of impurities and visualization and "hippie-meditation" or whatever... not that that's not cool or fun... it's just much different than an active/jumpy aerobis/stretching class with pop/techno music and then enya or whatever for the mat part.

i'd say either one - whichever one you think you'd enjoy more as staing with it is the most important thing... i guess it it were my choice i'd pick the yoga... also yoga generally tends to cost more so if they're the same price it's a better deal... also, there are so many different types of yoga, some having all kinds of "mental" and breathing techniques and some just being "advanced" stretching.

as to comparing to a gym membership... it totally depends on your gym as some charge extra for their classes, some are free but always full or overbooked... and price can be all over the map but $30 to 40/month is usually possible to find... obviously if you're also wanting to do weight training or treadmill or stairclimber then it might be worth looking into, but i think a 10-week class sounds quite OK... that said i have never paid more than $3/class for spinning/yoga/stretching and other classes i've done (except my karate) - but many were included free or cheaper at my fitness studio where i lift weights...

well, hope that helps.

I've never injured myself even when I do not stretch. However, I feel much better after I do some stretching. It feels just too good to be true but there's some relaxation going on when I stretch. I love the feeling, never gonna give up stretching!