BroadSTPhilly

I always stretch when I get to work/get home. I guess I do it out of force of habit from athletics. Recently stretching has caused me some pain in my right knee (from grabbing me ankle and stretching out my quads while standing). I am wondering if you stretch, if it is beneficial and if there is a better way to do it.

dalmore

I never stretched and I am recovering from a hamstring injury that was in all likely hood caused by not stretching. I will always be stretching from this point forward. I have not put together a stretching routine yet though. My PT person will be helping me with that.

If you are having any sort of pain that you have linked to stretching - then by all means stop doing that stretch. Find another stretch for those quads that doesn't hurt. Google is your friend.

DataJunkie

It really depends upon what mileage I am putting in each week.
150 miles a week and below requires minimal stretching.
150 and above and I stretch quite a bit.
Next week Sunday is a century, Mon commute, Wed commute, Thurs commute, Sat 120 mile ride.
I may hit something around 300-400 miles for that week. You can bet I will be stretching just about every day.

Tylox

When you pull back your leg/ankle to stretch your quads, are you keeping everything straight? If you pull your ankle to the side (|/ compared to |) you can cause injury.

harleyfrog

I stretch before and after each ride. Before helps me warm up and gets the muscles, tendons and ligaments loosened up. After to get a deeper stretch (since everything is warmed up well and good, cools me off, and generally stave off cramps later on. Also, a good leg message afterwards if I feel I need/deserve one.

HardyWeinberg

I became a religious stretcher and hydrator after I came down w/ achilles problems. I've slacked way off on the stretching but continue w/ the water as best I can, although I've been replacing a lot of that w/ green tea (which may or may not be better than the coffee I was drinking gallons of before I started into the water...)

lil brown bat

Well, first, you have to use the term properly. Many people use the term "stretch" when they mean a warmup, and many people do stretches when they should be doing a warmup. Stretching, properly performed, after activity, is beneficial. Stretching before activity is not. Sounds like you need to learn a bit more about proper form in stretching, because if what you're doing is causing you pain, it's clearly not beneficial.

Allen

I'll admit it. I never stretch except when I wake up in the morning.

jpdesjar

I think it's better for your body parts if you warm up first then stretch but most times I do some light stretches before I jump on the bike in the morning, maybe I should try riding a mile and then stretching.

HOV

Agree 100%.

Here's a good video on warmup and mobility drills. I use a lot of these daily:

https://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=878989

sean000

I used to stretch all the time when most of my rides were fast road or mountain rides. In recent years more of my rides have been commuting and casual touring. Some rides are as long and as hard as those I used to do, but I got out of the habit of stretching. I still stretch before, during, and after long rides; but in the mornings I often wake up late and hop on the bike with barely enough time to get to work. Even though it's only a four mile commute, it would be a good idea to stretch before trying to sprint that four miles to get there on time. Now that the weather is warming up I will probably try to get up earlier so I can take an extended ride on my way to work (rather than on my way home), so I'm going to try and get into the habit of stretching in the morning.

I do often stretch on the bike, but there are only so many stretches you can do effectively on the bike. I can stretch my calves and hamstrings very well on the bike, and also my arms and back to some extent. I used to spend 15 minutes doing real stretches, and also doing crunches, push-ups, and other standard exercises a couple of times a day. It always really helped, and it shortened the period of time it would take before I felt warmed up on the bike. Now that I'm just a few years shy of 40, it's probably more important than ever that I revisit those old but good habits... especially since I'd like to ride a lot more for fitness and recreation this year than I was able to last year.

Sean

littlewaywelt

The general feeling on stretching now is that it doesn't do much unless you need to warm up and perform at a certain level on the go of the gun, so-to-speak.

Those most likely to get injured are the very flexible and the inflexible, so if you're average you should be fine provided you either warm up slowly or warm up prior to the gun going off.

The hot ticket right now is what's called dynamic warm up or dynamic stretching. We're not talking about bouncing or static stretching, but rather a series of fluid and repeated movements, eg- the back gets stretched by running and touching the ground left hand right hand left hand right hand while in a jog, then the exercise/warm up dynamically switches to say moving lunges, etc. In five-ten minutes of doing this you get a much better stretch and warm up while doing probably 20 different things. The US Ski Team uses it, hockey players, soccer, football, etc. It works.

Personally, I do a couple of static stretches for 30 seconds on problem spots like IT band, and lower legs before running and then warm up slowly, but that's about it. I never stretch before getting on the bike. That's the beauty of coasting...you can deal with anything that doesn't feel right on the bike.

Torrilin

I do stretches only if I think I need them. This works out to some toe-touches or windmills after most rides, especially longer ones. I also find some stretches helpful for wrist pain, so if my wrists are being cranky, I'll do something about it on the bike.

I do warm-ups every ride... I always start riding in a lowish gear and cadence and slowly work up to higher gears and cadences. If I want to do long miles (for me), I'm often not properly warmed up til I've done 4-5 miles. More conventional warm ups tend to be painful, boring and generally a bad plan for my body.