Road Cycling - Cycling and Martial Arts?

I've been an active cyclist for the last 4 years. I recently started taking Tae Kwon Do, and discovered how little flexibility I have in my hamstrings. I am easily the least flexibile person in the class. This leads me to a few questions:

1) Is anybody here active in martial arts AND cycling?

2) Does cycling greatly reduce flexibility, expecially in the hamstrings?

3) If I want to excel in Tae Kwon Do, should I just put off cycling for now?

I appreciate any input.

I wouldn't do them at the same time :D

I can't imagine how one would negatively affect the other.

I enjoy judo & ju-jutsu for years, but cycling only for two. If anything, they help each other for me.

Do you stretch a lot after you ride? I know I have naturally tight muscles in my back and have to devote a good 20 minutes of stretching to my back alone after every single ride or it starts really tightening up. If you really stretch your hamstrings after each and every ride, you should build up flexibility fairly quickly

I train at ChaYon Ryu (http://www.kimsookarate.com/) and I have been road cycling for about 4-5 months.

I've been meaning to post a thread on this topic, in response to a similar recent thread discussing flexibility, in which many members here report doing martial arts.

It is fairly well advertised that martial arts training benefits are supposed to trickle down to other aspects of the student's life. What I noticed recently, to my delight, is how much the reverse is also true - cycling seems to really be helping my martial arts training (at least the physical components)!

The improvement in endurance has been positive. I never really worked my legs with weights, nor run, before cycling, so despite 2-3 hours of martial arts training per week, neither my legs nore my endurance were particularly very strong. Being able to ride X miles has really helped my stamina during heavier days of forms, movements, sparring, etc.

Also, it has noticeably improved my kicks. The condition of repetitive legs extension/retraction while riding has helped those muscles used for front kicks, side kicks, and roundhouse kicks. The other day I was warming up by doing an exercise in which you touch a wall for balance and hold a roundhouse kick position, doing several repetitions of roundhouse kicks in the air. I noticed my kicks felt stronger and more sure. Which is nice, because that is a challenging motion for me.

As for flexibility, I feel like cycling tends to tighten hamstrings, and I am more conscious of stretching. But it has not seemed to hurt my flexibility in martial arts.

As a practical matter, be aware that it is not the height of your kicks or the fancy style, but rather the mastery of basic principles that matters most. Your flexibility will come in time, but it is not required for quality training.

Thanks towlie!

I am concerned that my kicks are not high enough, only belt high for now. You've given me some hope that I can still partake in cycling and tae kwon do :)

I have noticed that I have probably the best endurance in the class. I can keep going while my classmates are winded and have to stop and take a breath.

or you could forget TKD and take a grappling art... don't need as much flexibility :D

I actually went at it the other way aound. I was seriously into Tae Kwon Do for years then got into biking recently after blowing out my knee.

From what I observed, I think that the single largest component of begining flexibilty in martial arts is genetic. Some people are really more flexible than others. For example by my third month in training I could do both front and side splits while for some of my batch mates, it took a year or more to reach that point.

I think that if you are consistent with your stretching (both dynamic and static) then your flexiblity will improve by leaps and bounds. Don't worry about cycling shortening your muscles, so long as you stretch you have nothing to worry about.

hope this helps.

I was seriously into Tae Kwon Do for years then got into biking recently after blowing out my knee.


I have heard that cycling is great leg exercise because it is low impact.

The system/school at which I train emphasizes training using natural body movements for longevity. We teach traditional styles, but using a foundation of natural body movements like running, throwing, twisting, etc. (the name Chayon Ryu means "natural way"). Our system also de-emphasizes (has very little involvement with) tournaments and tournament training. This is a purported contrast to a majority of other martial arts schools, and particularly tae kwon do schools, that today emphasize tournaments and sport/contact competition. Also, some tae kwon do kicks are often incorrectly taught with awkward positioning, such a roundhouse kicks without pivoting the supporting foot. As a result, many martial arts schools have a high injury and early average retirement rate. By contrast, serious injury is almost unheard of in Chayon Ryu, and we have many students in their 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and even 70s, who have been training for decades.

Although it is true that the height of your kicks and having monsterous flexibility has very little to do with the quality of the martial artist, I will qualify that statement by pointing out that those aspects may unfortunately be emphasized in many tournament-oriented schools.

Well, I will climb off my soap box, don't want to sound like a martial arts snob.

I have a rather rich history in various martial arts. One thing is for sure flexability is largely genetic. You have it or you don't. Not to say you can't accomplish a split or kick above your head, you certainly can. It's just that for some, me included, you really really have to work for it. I can't imagine how biking could really shorten the muscle bellies. I do however recognize the biking does nothing to lengthen them. We're talking hamstring glutes and calfs specifically.

Look around the net I'm sure you'll find several theories on effective streching. Just remember that 20 min a day every day is more beneficial than one hour twice a week. For me streching after a warm shower seemed to help. Don't forget to strech your back as well.

Enjoy your TKD

I've been studying a style of jiu-jitsu/karate called Shintai for 6.5 years. Our main emphases are accuracy and cumulative power of strikes/blocks, and freestyle kumite. i've been riding bikes regularly for the last 6 months and just recently got a road bike. it has definitely helped with my downside leg strength on all my kicks, especially thrust (side) kicks. and it's helped me get a high leg prime on my thrusts, too. and i can work more comfortably in lower stances. my hammies do feel tight after riding, but stretching helps that, and i'm not too interested in kicking super high.

in yoga they like to remind folks that you're often either flexible or strong in certain areas but rarely both.

it sort of works as a way to always see the positive - i'm not _weak, i'm just _flexible!

so in that sense i think there's not much room to criticize cycling as decreasing ones flexibility. i mean as your legs get stronger you are responsible for keeping them flexible. you want both strength and flexibility, but something doesn't have to give you both to be a good thing.

my after-ride stretching often turns into yoga and it's great to do either one after a ride because my muscles are much more warmed up than when i first wake up or on an off day for riding.

I've been told that cycling can tighten the hamstrings and hip flexors so you need to stretch more. Tight hamstrings and hip flexors can also cause back problems.

When I was in high school I was in a karate class with a friend and we spent the whole winter practicing stances. In the spring, when we started biking again, we both came back much stronger than we had in previous years.