Fifty Plus (50+) - Stretching for dummies

After a couple years of riding I am not where I want to be on weight, but it is coming along. As far as muscle tone is concerned, I am doing OK, but there seems to be a problem. It appears I have lost almost all flexability. Some of my riding friends have said that stretching is so important.

I have no idea how to stretch. Is there a manual or hopefully a website that illustrates stretching positions and how long to be in those positions, etc.?

Any help on this would be appreciated.

Friel's book, "Cycling Past 50" is a good place to get stretching info.

You can also go to the web and find a number of sites that have an extensive selection of stretching exercises, here is one that has some basic stretches: http://www.halhigdon.com/15Ktraining/Stretch.htm

take a yoga class if u can or catch h one of the many tv programs if u can't and follow along as best u can

About a year ago I went to my doctor with the same complaint. He loaded me up with a lot of very helpful stretching literature and diagrams. You may try that as a resource. Dr.'s love this stuff.

My mom goes to Curves most days of the week and spends 30 minutes stretching after the routine. She says the young gals at her Curves gym tell her they can't believe how flexible she is. Well, after seeing her last week, neither can I! She can stretch her legs almost to 180 degrees with her head almost touching the floor. At 78, she's like I was in my early 20s. She's not a dancer... she's just been stretching most days of the week for the past several years, starting in her early 70s. It's never too late! I need to do more stretching.... my hamstrings are like beef jerky.

http://www.howtostretch.com/

One of things I did as physio after the bypass- was to go to the gym. Started a couple of weeks after the op and it was down to the weights room. Minimal weights on the apparatus and just go through the movements. Got the body moving and when I go to the gym now- I still use the weights room for the movement side of the exercise. Use heavier weights now but still keep them on the light side but do repetitions.

Just using those machines or going through the movement of those machines got the body back.

I'll be interested in this, too.

Stretching has always been a bugaboo for me. Mainly just caused more pain and tightness rather than enhanced flexibility. As I read now, all the stretching techniques I learned in school are flat out wrong.

There is no scientific basis for static stretching and it can cause damage. However, dynamic stretching is apparently effective. There's a new edition of Weight Training for Cyclists by Doyle and Schmitz that has three types of stretching and covers dynamic stretching well.

Weight training has kept me flexible for 30 years, so I don't need to do anything else. The book though has led me to add plyometrics (power clean and jumps), some core exercises as warm-ups for weight training and some self-myofascial release ( http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/self-myofascial-release.html ) exercises which seem to relax the muscles like a massage.

The book is well written, but the pictures don't match the text very well in some cases.

Al