Yes, some people can't stretch as far...

Ok. That's why I asked. I was reading this thread and honestly asking myself "what's the big deal?". I mean, I understand the need for flexibility, but I just assumed that most everyone reading this (barring injury) could touch their toes

Steve

Very true ... and that's one of my biggest difficulties with the long distance cycling I do.

You didn't have the options of: "upper shin" or "knee" .... so I went with "middle of the shin" as the closest estimate . . . . . . . and look at that . . . . . . . I'm the only one there!!

Yep!! I've got all the flexibility of a 2x4. 200 year old oak trees can bend and flex easier than my hamstrings!! My yoga instructor told me she had never seen anyone with such tight hamstrings! I did a flexibility test for my Kinesiology class, and had the lowest rating in the entire class ... anything over a "41" rating was considered excellent, and most of the class rated somewhere between 30 and 40 ... I rated 16!!

When I took yoga classes, my flexibility did gradually improve (after 2 years of yoga) and I got to the point where I could reach my lower shin ... but I haven't done yoga in getting on for 2 years now, and I'm right back to where I started.


One of my classmates in the yoga class told me that she used to be as inflexible as me, but now can reach way beyond her toes. I asked her how she did it ... was it many years of yoga? A regular stretching plan? And here's what she told me ...

She went waterskiing one day, and everything was going great. Then all of a sudden something happened and one ski shot off one direction, and the other ski shot off the other direction ... and she ended up doing the splits (for the first time in her life). She had torn both hamstrings very badly, was in extreme pain, and was hospitalized a while. But when she healed ... she had flexibility in her hamstrings!
She recommended I avoid that method.

That's why I asked about it.

Wrong outlets on the wall. Unless you're really in the states.

Machka - have you investigated acupunture for tight hamstrings? I had it for ITB problems this summer and it worked really well.

Ouch! Yeah, I would avoid that method, too.

You people that say 'beyond the foot' are you talking about the tips of your fingers, or some other part of the hand?

Hand or wrist, as described in the poll.

Doing what Rujano is doing, I can place my palms flat on the floor.

Or, doing what EURO is doing, I can have my wrist on my toes, then point my hand straight down to touch near the bottom of my foot. Hence the 3" drop (soon to be more) on a very small frame.

I am closer to Machka. I am very inflexible. I do stretch correctly everyday and will continue to do so. Euro.....You mentioned acupuncture for flexibility? I have never heard of that but I will look into it.

Man i suck! the tips of my fingers weren't even on my ankle...Increased hamstring flexibility would help the quadriceps (most important cycling muscle) perform but would it be a good idea to stretch the quads? I read somewhere that this could weaken the muscle...am i on the right path here?

The "yeah" was sarcasm, it's not EURO in the first pic...it's Joe Redner.

Im lifting a piece of Pizza from waist height to my mouth
right now. Thats about it for my ROF.

Well...apparently that's not true. I have been off the bike for three weeks for no good reason and I'm back to fingertips about 3" off the ground.

I was comfortably flexing my fingertips on the ground and working towards getting my palm there not too long ago...stupid BeeTL...

Another reason that flexibility is so important in cycling is your lower back. When your hamstrings are/get really tight, it will cause lower back pain which will affect your power that you can produce and obviously lessen your comfort level. Additionally hamstring tightness can also translate into knee pain. All your muscles are connected and are designed to work together, when one set of muscles becomes tighter than others, especially ones that work in a contraction/elongation relationship (hamstrings and quads), your other supporting muscles/ligaments/tendons will negatively be affected.

im 43 and have never ever stretched. just don't like to do it. so i just went into the living room and gave that position a try. i can cup my hands around the arch of my foot and touch my finger tips. is that good enough?

oh and i just tried that bend over stretch like the pro was doing in the pic and i can curl my fingers under my toes & my face get 5-6 inches from my knees before my hamstrings protest. my lower back doesnt affect me at all during these stretches. just my hammies.

Excellent points!

My toe reaches 7 inches past my wrist, toward my elbow. That is without stretching.

I'm about the ankle - I'm not too flexible..
Ahh... so... another question...

How do we increase our flexibility?
Riding in lower than "norm" drops than usual?
Everyday stretching?
Can we really end up as Rujuano [speeling?] if we spent enough time stretch every morning?

-simplyred

Good questions red. I was just thinking the same.

Fair do's. But if your bike's a custom job, and you're not going to drop the bars at any stage in the future then why didn't you spec a longer head tube? Looks nicer IMO.

I only ask because I recently purchased a custom Seven and had to go through the whole fit process as well. Started with just a 3.5cm saddle to bar drop, but I knew that my flexibility had room to improve, so I specc'd the frame to give me that drop with an uprise stem and 2cm of spacer. I've taken it down to 6cm bit by bit over 6 months by flipping the stem, reducing spacers etc. I will eventually settle on 6.5cm drop and 1cm spacer, which is where I wanted to be at the end of the day, so I specc'd the frame's headtube length around that.

I'm a short@rse at 5'8 and wouldn't ever want to go below this even if I eventually get flexible enough to tie myself in knots.

I'm with Machka; I can get my hand around my leg just below the knee.

At the gym they have posters on the wall of people doing the wrong stretching exercises. Touching your toes is contraindicated. Upstairs they've got this collection of steel bars in a frame that you use to stretch, plus some big benches to stretch out on. To stretch the hams you put your foot up on the bench and keep the leg straight.

I'm guessing they put these posters up to keep old guys like me from hurting myself or should even the rubber-boned types not do those kinds of stretches? (eg. the "hurdler" stretch of one leg out while the other is tucked under you is not recommended, same for bending over to touch your toes)

I posted this on another thread once, but here goes. I broke my back, well three vertebrate, about 15 years ago in a rock-climbing fall (45 feet). Being in the Marines I had access to some decent medical help and within 6 months I was back running and doing most of the things I loved. Except beach volleyball, too much unexpected foot slippage, and road cycling, too much time locked in one position. No biggie, I was getting into Mt Biking anyway. Well the pain came and went for about 6 years until finally it got so bad, and the MRI's showed a couple of bulging disks, the docs said time for surgery. Before the Navy would cut me open they made me go through 6 months of physical therapy again. Part of that therapy was base on this book Stretching . Basically 15-20 minutes of stretching, three times a day, 1st thing in the morning, lunch, and right before bed. Well miracle of miracles, back pain went away, despite the disks, and has stayed away for 7 years. I got back on the road bike a year ago and I love it. Whole point of the above diatribe? Buy the book, it has cycling specific stretches in it, stretch before you sleep and right when you wake up.. You will be AMAZED at the difference it makes.