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Stretching exercises for cyclists: why, how often, and which is best?
The science behind the reasons and the key sections chosen for cyclists.
Stretching exercises for cyclists may spend a lot of time in relatively fixed positions, which can lead to many problems, including muscle shortening, increased stiffness/ache, and possibly even reduced power generated by muscle groups.
The time we usually spend in a fixed position on a bicycle is often complicated by spending a lot of work time sitting at a desk. The easiest way to combat most of these inactivity is to perform stretching exercises after riding/exercise.
The areas we often find are affected by the static nature of our positions on bicycles and desk work, including the neck, lower back, hips, and IT belt.
Why do cyclists stretch?
Cycling involves repetitive actions performed through a limited range of motion. Not surprisingly, this combined with the static nature of our position on the bicycle can create imbalances within the muscle tissue, which can lead to excessive tension through certain joints.
This excessive tension applied through the joints combined with imbalanced muscle tissue and poor flexibility can cause posture problems, make you more vulnerable to injury and limit your ability to take a comfortable posture on a bicycle.
These factors can cause performance degradation, especially for those who like time trials and sprint riding. We need a good range of motion in order to adopt aerodynamic postures on the bicycle and perform strength exercises under the bicycle, such as squats.
Stretching creates flexibility, which means greater range of motion around the joints and more freedom of movement. An increase in the level of flexibility leads to greater flexibility of the tissues in the system, and generally leads to a healthier muscular and skeletal system.
How often should we stretch?
Time: Generally speaking, the best stretch time is when the muscles are warm after exercise. However, we can add some stretches to the warm-up routine to prepare for the next training.
What type: When the muscles are warm, you want to do a static stretch at the end of the training. If you include stretching in your warm-up routine, you need to make sure that these movements are dynamic in nature, because static stretching of “cold” muscles can cause up to an hour of reduced power output.
Frequency: Our goal should be to incorporate flexibility training (stretching) into our training program at least 2 to 3 times a week.
How long: Initially your goal should be to hold at least 30 seconds each stretch, after which you can increase the stretch time to 60 seconds. This allows the stretching response to occur where the muscles are “relaxed” and flexibility is improved.
Additional information: It is important to stretch the muscles to mild discomfort. We want to stretch beyond our normal range of motion while avoiding any pain during stretching. Each stretch should also be performed two to four times on average.
What stretching exercises should we do?
Although it is clear that we should stretch around the joints most affected by the bicycle (hip, knee, ankle), we should not neglect the joints and range of motion that we do not use. Our goal should be to return to the “normal” range of motion.
Common problems we need to solve include quadriceps, hip flexors, hamstrings, lower back and upper back/chest muscles.
Some stretching exercises you should include in your stretching plan include:
Quadruple stretch (sofa stretch):
The targets of this stretching exercise are the quadriceps and hip flexors.
Put one leg on the raised platform (sofa/chair/bench) and knee on the floor
On the opposite knee, it’s in a kneeling position in front of you
Push the hips forward a little while tilting the torso back a little
Hamstring stretch:
This targets the hamstrings at the back of the thighs.
Kneel down and start stretching the front legs
Sit back toward your heels and the floor, slowly straighten your front knees
Keep your chest straight and push forward slightly to increase stretch
Buttocks extension (pigeon pose):
This is for TFL (tensor fascia lata), hip flexors and gluteal muscles.
Kneel on the floor in a desktop position with arms straight
Cross one leg in front of you so that the foot is just in front of the opposite knee
Sit back to the floor and slowly increase the stretch around the front hip/outer hip
Keep your torso upright with your hands to make progress
Iliotibial Band (ITB) Stretch:
ITB is not a muscle, but stretches the surrounding muscles, such as TFL (tensor fascia lata) and quadriceps, which will relieve the tightness in the area. This is for
In a standing position, cross your left leg in front of your right leg. Try to make your toes parallel
Bend down gently, as if touching your toes. Feel the stretch on the back and outside of the legs
When you come along, look at your belly button and gently stand up again.
Stomach/Flounder (calf) stretch:
This targets the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles at the back of the calf.
Stand with one foot slightly in front of the other
Gently bend the front legs while straightening the back legs
Slowly slide the hind legs back to increase the stretch
Increase the tensile load by leaning against the wall
Active waist stretch:
This can stretch various muscles in the lower back and upper chest.
Lie face down on the floor, place your palms flat on the floor next to your ribs
While lifting the hips, torso and top of the thighs, press firmly into the ground and straighten your arms
Put down slowly
How to ride an electric bike?
Riding an electric bike is fun and a good exercise, which is good for your health. Although there are many similarities between electric bicycles and traditional bicycles, there are few different details worth paying attention to.
How to ride an electric bike? Make sure that the battery is fully charged. Learn how to use the electric assist level, how to change gears, how to install on an electric bike when going uphill, what to pay attention to when turning or using rest.
Before your electric bike hits the road
Before you travel on an electric bike, make sure all the basics are ready.
The battery is fully charged. Although, you can certainly ride an electric bicycle like a normal bicycle, but just step on the pedal, and the battery and motor will provide you with extra electric assistance, which makes the electric bicycle an electric bicycle!
You may not need a fully charged battery on your first trip, but it is usually best to fully charge the battery in case you need to recharge it to take you where you want to go.
The helmet is opened and adjusted. Wearing a bicycle helmet is a basic safety measure. As the saying goes, you wear a helmet if you have protection, and don’t wear a helmet if you don’t. Wear a helmet at all times!
The water bottle is full. I noticed that when I start something new or do something for the first time, I often feel thirsty quickly. Is the stress level rising? I have no idea. But I find that a bottle of water is always helpful. Electric bicycle travel is no exception. Bring a whole bottle of water. I will not regret it later.
Check tire pressure. Needless to say, electric bicycles are still bicycles. Before starting a trip, make sure the tires are well inflated. Riding a bicycle with incorrectly inflated tires is dangerous. A poorly inflated tire will not allow you to drive fast.
You will have to put in more effort when riding with tires that are not inflated according to the standard. The pressure of a standard electric bicycle tire is approximately 2-2.4 bar (30 to 40 psi). Check it on your pump. Most pumps will display tire pressure.
You can also consider using an air pump and a small repair kit. It is always recommended that you bring a simple bicycle air pump and an emergency repair kit with you. If you are free, please take it with you on the journey.
First departure
Turn on the electric bike. In order for the wheels of the electric bicycle to have available electricity, you first need to turn on the electrical system. The electrical switch is usually located on the battery. Press lightly.
The light signal on the battery will show that the battery and power system have been activated. This should also turn on the control display on the handlebar. You are all ready.
Use electric assist. When you start, your electric bike will not use electricity initially. Electric assist will be in off mode. When you start pedaling, switch it from off to the first electric speed (usually called ECO mode), and you will feel that the bicycle is now helping you pedal with its motor power.
Depending on the model, electric bicycles can have 3-4 to 8-9 electric assist levels. The most common models are four or five. For example, they can be OFF, ECO, TOUR, TURBO, and SPEED. Each electric assist level provides higher power to discharge the battery faster.
Switch gears. For each electric assist level, most electric bicycle models also have corresponding mechanical gears. Similar to traditional bicycles, there are gears on the left side of the handlebars and gears on the right side of the handlebars. The electric assist level is usually on the left, and the mechanical gear (or speed) is on the right.
On the electric bike model my wife is riding, there are eight mechanical speeds and five electric assist levels. In other words, for each electric assist level, she can use eight different speeds. This provides 40 different speed combinations. This is a lot!
Even in a single ECO mode, eight different mechanical speeds can be used, which is already suitable for various terrains and training levels of cyclists.
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