A cautionary tale:
I’ve never been very flexible, and have paid lip service to stretching & now it’s very seriously back fired on me.
These last 18 months I’ve been training hard, growing a fair amount of muscle on my quads & calfs to the extent that I had to buy 2x new bib shorts this summer, even though my overall weight has fallen.
I’ve not had a stretching regime in place for my immediate post ride routine & this is my cautionary tale as some 6 weeks ago it all ended in a torn lat’ quad muscle which simply has not got better.
Not only have I abandoned all my cycling for this year, but even with one hours stretching per day and weekly physio’ it’s not making any real improvements. I still can’t touch my toes, but more relevantly, I can’t kneel down and sit back onto my heels, it’s OK on my R side but the tightness and loss of stretch on my L side still precludes the heel making contact with my L glute’.
So, I mention it here (I’m sure someone will be along to poke their tongue out and blow the proverbial raspberry) as I’d rather others learnt from my lack of foresight & this avoidable error in their own training regimes so you too don’t end up putting your bikes in storage for the winter, 6 months too soon.
See you in 2011 (I hope). 😥
double button confusion thing
can I borrow your bike 🙂
sorry 'bout your leg tho'
Didn't something get published recently that said stretching before exercise was no use?
Granted, flexibility in general is handy to have.
putting your bikes in storage for the winter
😯
but post exercise is
must start sometime 🙄
Sorry to hear about the injury 🙁
Out of interest, what were you doing when you tore it, and why had the lack of stretching contributed to it?
stretching is good for you
Hmm. Although was your torn quad specifically due to not stretching? How does one tear a quad biking?
I hope you've been seeing a physio.
On the other hand - went on a 10hr ride on Sunday... got back and did a good 10 mins of stretching when I returned. Don't usually do anywhere near this much. Don't know what I've done to my Achilles but I have been in pain since Monday morning. It's a bit swollen, and hurts to the point that resting my heel on the bed last night was uncomfortable.
Doctors appointment tomorrow evening
Must have legs like Cancellerra on ya boy!
I'm an advocate of dynamic stretch as part of a warm-up and static stretches on days off or last thing at night.
I never static stretch before exercise.
But its also whatever works for you.
Bottomline is a stretch routine can help prevent injury.
Get well soon OP.
Didn't something get published recently that said stretching before exercise was no use?
The thing I read was a meta paper and it was on before and after, both pointless, but lets face it people will believe what they want to believe and as long as we don't force people to stretch/notstretch then I cannot see the harm in either apporach...
I don't think the OP is talking about stretching immediately before exercising, rather that a general stretching routine throughout the months of training will minimise future problems of tight muscles.
Stretching should not be done while your muscles are cold. You can stretch before exercising if you want but get a bit sweaty first.
Sorry to hear about your injury, hope it heals soon. IanMunro beat me to it, what were the specifics?
What a bummer, you have my sympathies. As this thread will now surely return as a high Google hit on "bike" and "stretching", does anyone have some suggestions for specific stretches to avoid Ti29er's unfortunate fate?
I don't think there's any magic injury prevention in stretching either as a warm-up or cool-down, and my guess is that the "research" referred to above was saying only that much.
But a regular regime of stretching to either develop or maintain flexibility is something different, and important, IMOP.
I had my own, somewhat milder thankfully, version of the OP's experience and been a believer ever since.
Dynamic stretches before exercise, Static afterwards. Hold the staic one for at least 30 secs
@Mogrips How does one tear a quad biking?
The quad is the muscle on the front of your leg and when recruited extends the knee (straightens the leg) so cycling by repeatedly using the muscle can cause it to strain - simples.
Opposingly runners get hamstring strains as its their main muscle.. well if you grossly simplify it all anyways.
Strain, yes. But I thought a tear was when you over-extended a muscle?
Re stretching, I tend to ride 10-15 to warm up with increasing intensity, then stop and static stretch and shake down, then when I get back on the bike I feel tons better. Especially if my legs are tired from a previous session.. works wonders then.
Whats dynamic stretching? I think i must do static one before i play 5 aside, stretching the various leg muscles & ham strings etc.
Dynamic stretching uses speed of movement, momentum and active muscular effort to bring about a stretch.
Unlike static stretching the end position is not held.
With Dynamic stretching you should aim to move the muscles in the plane in which the anticipated use of the muscles takes place, if that makes any sense?
Examples of Dynamic stretches are Walking lunges, high-knee skips, straight-arm twirling, jogging whilst bring your heels up to your butt-cheeks...
Dynamic stretches were out of fashion though weren't they? Someone said that they actually shortened the muscles instead of stretching.
I can see how it'd form part of a warm up routine though ie jog first then do them.
I've just recently qualified as a Gym instructor, they were very keen on Dynamic Stretches before and Static after exercise.
Strain is the clinical term for a torn, pulled over stretched muscle. Overload causes the muscle to exceed its breaking point resulting in damage - or strain. They are gradeed according to the degree of damage to the muscle.
More info here [url=[url= http://www.physioroom.com/prevention/muscle_strains.php ]Strains[/url]
I did martial arts for 15 years from the age of 6. Format of the class was always warm up runnig or skipping/bouncing. Then on to dynamic stretches then 1-2 hours class/training then static stretching for 20-30 mins. It never differed.
I've always been fairly supple and had very few muscle injuries. I don't think any instructors really knew why it followed that format but they had been taught that way so they followed suit. Seems there was some logic in it after all.
On the flip side my dad was an keen runner covering about 60 - 80 miles a week. He never warmed up or stretched afterwards and was always pulling muscles, that may have been his age though. 😉
[url= http://www.joint-pain-solutions.com ]null[/url]As a physical therapist I am always suggesting doing a warm up/stretching routine. If you can't stretch before you exercise, consider slowly increase the intensity of the workout. Stretching before a workout is not the same a working on flexibility. Make sure you take the time to address your problem areas after a workout when your muscles are warm and most flexible.
~JTrempe PT, ATC
http://www.joint-pain-solutions.com
I've had recent probs too, injured quad. Training for Kielder 100, increased intensity etc. I've been to physio, doing stretches etc. I've found sports massage to be really helpful too. Still had to pull out of SDW today.