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I Love Bicycling

I Love Bicycling is a website that is geared towards cycling for beginners with road cycling tips, training articles, nutrition tips, weight loss, how to’s and bike repair articles.

How Important is Flexibility for Cyclists?

July 20, 2020 by Sarah Lauzé

You may not need to be able to relax into an advanced yoga position, or fold yourself into a human pretzel, but a certain amount of flexibility is important for all athletes. Cycling in particular can lead to short, tightened muscles because of the constant pedaling with little to no range of motion. Not only is the position on the bike restricting, but you also need to be able to maintain the correct posture to prevent injury. So yes, flexibility for cyclists is a very important element.

Why does cycling make your muscles stiff?

Besides the naturally occurring muscle soreness that comes from exercise and the buildup of lactic acids, cycling can cause body stiffness in other ways. First of all, if you stay in any one position, whether sitting or standing, for an extended period of time it can cause stiffness. You are in a bent-over, forward position for hours at a time, with the position itself acting to shorten the muscles. Yes it is great cardio and it will make you stronger, but the motion is using the same muscles over and over in the same way.

Think about when you are on your bike pedaling. You legs are never quite fully extended or flexed, limiting the joints range of motion. You are effectively contracting your muscles while shortening, rather than when you’re lengthening, which can in time lead to what is known as adaptive shortening. Most common in road cyclists is the tightening and shortening of the hip flexors and hamstrings, which can lead to issues in the legs and lower back.

Why is flexibility for cyclists important?

Flexibility, or rather inflexibility, can lead to unbalance in the body and even cause the body’s structure to move out of alignment. Failing to properly stretch and maintain flexibility can not only affect you performance, but it will inevitably lead to injury and discomfort.

1. Performance and Comfort

If you are concerned with getting into as aerodynamic position as possible on your bike, then you need to be flexible. To lean low down on your handlebars while driving power from you legs, you have to be able to get into the position in the first place. For example, tight or shortened hamstrings will make the aerodynamic position impossible and tight calves can limit the power of your pedal strokes.

Comfort on the bike does take time, but what you do off the bike plays a huge role. To improve your performance you have to work to reverse the cycling posture off the bike, and maintain a strong core. Regular stretching and cross training can be important in maintaining your overall health, as well as ensure you are the best you can be in the bike.

Flexibility for Cyclists

2. Injury Prevention

Maintaining proper posture on your bike can go a long way to prevent injury. The natural inclination is to round your back as you crane your head to look forward. Not only does this create drag, but it will eventually cause pain in your lower and upper back and neck.

Everything in your body is connected. So, to maintain proper bike posture you have to have adequate flexibility in your lower back, hips, glutes, and hamstrings. The flatter your back can be, the less issues you’ll come up against in your training.

As mentioned previously, the repetitive motion on the bike results in strength in certain muscles, but can cause the unused muscles and joints to become weak and vulnerable to injury. It takes stretching to maintain long muscles, as well as strength training to ensure your core is up to the task of keeping that proper position on the bike.

Does Stretching Make You Faster?

December 27, 2018 by Sarah Lauzé

Most cyclists want to be faster and stronger, but there is no one-size-fits-all way to get there. The general rule is to ride more, and ride smarter. Training plans can help you look at every aspect of your riding, and get you tackling those goals in a realistic way. However, time on the bike is not the whole picture of what it takes. Maintaining a healthy range of motion through stretching and strength training needs to be a key aspect of that plan. And no, we don’t mean doing a couple quad stretches before hopping on the bike–there’s more to it then that. So, how does stretching make you faster?

Stretching Make You Faster

Does Stretching Make You Faster?

The cumulative effects of stretching (when done right) add up and in turn, can make you a faster and stronger cyclist. Here’s how:

Improved Flexibility

Each person’s body defines their own range of motion, there is no standard when dealing with a group of individuals. Your muscles are not in charge of your range of motion and flexibility, it is your bone and joint actions. So, when you stretch, it is actually the joint and ligaments being moved across these contact surfaces. Flexibility, or rather inflexibility, can lead to unbalance in the body, causing these structures to move out of alignment. Properly stretching and maintaining flexibility can not only affect you performance, but it is the most effective way to avoid injury.

Comfort on the Bike & AerodynamicsStretching Make You Faster

Comfort on your bike has to do largely with your bike fit, but also your ability to maintain proper cycling posture. If certain muscles are tight, you’ll compensate in other areas of the body, which does nothing but harm. If you’re concerned with aerodynamics, then you should know that 80 percent of your aerodynamic drag is caused by your position on the bike. So, that $10,000 aero bike will only help you 20% of the way. For example, tight or shortened hamstrings will make the aerodynamic position impossible and tight calves can limit the power of your pedal strokes. Routine stretching will slowly improve your position and gift you a handful of free watts.

Injury Prevention

Due to the repetitive nature of the pedal stroke, cycling puts us in a particularly vulnerable situation. We spend hours hunched over the bars, spinning our legs at 100 revolutions per minute. The impact is low, but over time the muscular imbalances take a toll.  Maintaining proper posture on your bike can go a long way to prevent injury. The natural inclination is to round your back as you crane your head to look forward. Not only does this create drag, but it will eventually cause pain in your lower and upper back and neck.

Everything in your body is connected. So, to maintain proper bike posture you have to have adequate flexibility in your lower back, hips, glutes, and hamstrings. The flatter your back can be, the less issues you’ll come up against in your training. Stretching is an easy thing to skip, but most cycling injury is caused by tight muscles. So, you could take ten minutes a day to stretch, or be off you bike for weeks at a time with an injury. Although stretching can be great treatment for certain injuries, it’s effectively too late. Better to avoid the injury in the first place by maintaining flexibility.

Stretching Done Right

Stretching is easy, but when done incorrectly it can actually slow you down. There’s no overnight fix, and it’s not just doing a couple stretches before hopping on your bike. That may have been what they taught you in high school, but it takes time and patience to reap the benefits of stretching.

Types of Stretching

  • Dynamic – Dynamic stretching takes a joint or muscle through a range of motion. It is best done before cycling as a way to prepare the joints for the repetitive movement, get blood flowing and warm up your muscles.
  • Static – Static stretches are designed to be held in one position for at least thirty seconds, and are what most people think of when it comes to stretching. The goal is to relax and lengthen the muscle and deepen the stretch bit by bit. This is best done after exercise, as static stretching before can actually hinder the muscle’s ability to fire.

When to Stretch

Just as you should do a warm up on your bike before hammering up a climb with everything you’ve got, so you need to warm up your muscles before stretching. This doesn’t mean you have to go for a full ride before doing your stretching routine, but it could be doing some jumping jacks, massaging the muscles, or walking around the block. Anything to get blood flowing to your muscles. If you do stretch cold muscles (but please don’t) ensure you are extremely gentle, slowly easing into a stretch.

Yoga and Cycling Speed

Yoga can be a great way to ensure you’re stretching on a regular basis, but too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. If you are doing more yoga and stretching then cycling, then you are working more on being pliable then being strong and powerful. Pliable muscles have to do more work to maintain the level of contraction needed for cycling. However, you would have to be doing excessive amounts for it to be any sort of detriment to your muscle power.

Although the understanding of the relation between stretching and athletic performance is still evolving, there are some facts that are standing the test of time. Dynamic stretching before a ride and moderate routine stretching off the bike can create the muscle pliability needed for you to be the strongest cyclist possible.

You don’t need to sign up for daily yoga classes or commit a ton of time to stretching, but even a little bit can go a long way in keeping you injury free and feeling your best. Start with 10 minutes a day, 4-5 times a week and you will start seeing and feeling the results. If you want a more intensive stretching program for cyclists, check out Dynamic Cyclist. They have daily, easy to follow stretching videos designed specifically for and by cyclists. Spend less time thinking about how and what to stretch, and more time in the saddle!

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