stretching
 

Any recommendations for stretches?

I never do because I know it's best to stretch after I warm by which time I'm more into riding than wanting to stop and stretch.

I know it's catching up to me with random tightness and being sore.

Would love to hear about some routines and what stretches you all perform.

Thanks!!

yoga--upward dog/downward dog, both post-ride

I foam roll post-run and sometimes post-ride, but that's not stretching.

I have a stretching routine that lasts about 7 minutes that I do post run or ride. After a swim, I modify it a bit, it's still the same time, but I focus on upper body as well.

I hold each of these stretches for 45 seconds. 30 seconds if I need to get someplace quick. 60 seconds if I'm dealing with injury or just coming back from a training break.

With legs spread just wider than shoulder width:
1. Reach for right foot and hold
2. Reach for left foot and hold
3. Reach for center and hold - trying to lean down as well to stretch the back
Standing with one foot forward:
4. Left calf (standing with right foot forward, bending the knee over the forward foot and keeping the back foot planted)
5. Right calf (reverse #4 )
Standing with feet together:
6. Left quad (stand on right foot, grab left ankle with right hand, hold)
7. Right quad (reverse #6 )
8. Hamstrings (lean forward to touch the ground)
Sit on ground with knees bent at 90* and feet flat on the floor:
9. Left hip (place left ankle on right knee)
10. Right hip (reverse #9 )

After that, I can add in any extra stretches to help any tightness. for example, sometimes I'll reach for my toes and hold while sitting to target my hamstrings again.

EDIT: Just noticed the OP mentions stretching after a warm-up. I only do this before a workout in running/swimming. Running gets a dynamic warm-up. The above muscles are targeted, but are stretched in different ways. I don't do a pre-ride or a warm-up on the bike since I don't get to ride to often. I just stretch after to prevent tight muscles.

I also roll out every now and then. Here's a good set of roller moves: http://www.bicycling.com/training-nu...roll-out-kinks

Think of your muscles as a balloon. Do you blow up a balloon before stretching it out? No. Hamstring stretch, calf stretch, groin stretch, ect. You can google plenty of stretches. Stretching after you ride before you cool down will help keep your muscles from getting stiff as well.

static stretching beforehand has pretty much been proven to be useless and even worse for your performance. Look at the pro's before a stage or TT.. they are doing warm up rides around or on a trainer.. As long as you don't gun it right out of the garage then you will be decently warmed up in a few miles.

after is where it matters. stretches, massage, all good things. I usually stretch quads and calfs right after so I don't forget, then use The Stick after that.

I stretch on the bicycle ... or after my ride in a hot shower.

I do not stretch before a ride but I do warm up about 2-5 minutes before hard exertion. During the ride I will stretch my neck and shoulders to keep from holding tension there. Immediately after the ride, I stretch my neck, shoulders, back, quads, calves and IT bands holding each for 45-60 seconds. After that I get a big glass of milk with chocolate milk mix.

This is great feedback. Thanks all.

Unless I get my 20 minutes of warm-up on the bike, a hard effort will cause tightness and necessitate stretching on the bike and at home after.

I started doing most of these stretches this past summer and found them a good place to start for both cycling and overall day-to-day wellness and flexibility:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stretching/SM00043

I also use the foam roller after rides or exercise, sometimes before too, helps with eliminating soreness and tightness.

To echo Jakedatc, save the static stretching for after the ride. Static stretching (going into a stretch and holding it for 30+ seconds) does help increase flexibility long-term, but has been shown to leave the muscles slightly weaker and less responsive for about 30 minutes post-stretch. If you just generally feel better after doing a good stretch, and prefer to start a ride off that way, there's no harm in it, just as long as you're not going to go full-gas right away, but it's not the most useful thing to do pre-ride.

However, dynamic stretching (continually moving through your range of motion) can be a good pre-ride warm up. Think along the lines of stepping back and forth quickly from one foot to the other, while kicking your heel of the free leg up towards your butt (dynamic stretching of your quads) or doing a goose-step sort of march around, swinging your leg up in front of you with each step (dynamic stretching of the hamstrings). If done with ease--not excessive force--this moves your muscles through their range of motion and helps get blood flowing through them, starting the process of warming up the muscles. Or just hop on the bike and ride, slowly amping up the effort as you warm up.

(FYI, in real life I teach ballet, and have spent a lot of time researching--and practicing--best stretching methodologies.)

crazy...

so what do you ride in the hot shower?

I'm glad some experienced riders are mirroring what I'm doing because, as a newbie rider, I was confused on whether to stretch before riding. Just based on my experience as a high school athlete, I always stretched. So when I started riding two months ago, I did the same thing. I stretched for about 5 min or so before taking off. Then I experimented with not stretching before hand and rode. During and at the end of the ride, I feel the same as the day I stretched before the ride. Ever since I use the 1st 10-15 minutes of my ride to warm up / stretch and it has been working well on my rides. And like Doc V, I drink a big glass of chocolate milk :)

I never stretch before a ride, but nearly always stretch after a ride while having a couple IPAs.

Maybe this isn't the best way to do things, but it has worked well for the last 20 or so years.

I've never had a cycling injury that wasn't the result of a wreck, so I have that going for me.

the research states it is a total waste of time and if done before warm up it can and does do damage. That being said I am very flexible and stretch daily usually my calfs as I suffered from plantar fasciiaitis for a while.......I focus on hammies, quads, calfs, lower back and that IT band thing on outside of knee area.
Not sure if it has helped but I rarely get injurys.

Grammar nazi meets slightly inappropriate guy! I like it.

I do it after ride and it helps with recovery, but less than massage which is the best thing you can do.

My routine:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...1#post15372967

I read a recent study, think it was done in the UK...anywho. They said they determined after 6 months, or a 1yr, whatever the length was, of pre-ride stretching, or pre-anything stretching for athletes, didn't make them less prone to injury at all.

In fact, they found that stretching actually caused more fatigue and less performance for endurance athletes, because the stretching is actual physically straining, and you cause/create micro muscle tears when doing it.

With that said, there are some stretches I do a few times a week, next day after a ride, few days after, to ensure some typical cycling flexibility things you should look into. Plenty of stuff on the web and in the thread relating to that.

I do some basic warm up techniques to get the blood flowing/heart rate up to start a warm up, then do a 15 minutes tempo pace up to get warmed up and increase speed. I've found this to be the key for my peformance personally, no stretching pre-ride/race...but a good longer warmup and sweat.