For many years my exercise has comprised of cycling and walking.
Now I am on a bit of a health kick and have bought a kettlebell to do high intensity interval training workouts from youtube.

I have enjoyed the exercises and the fact that I do not have to trek to a gym and so can have everything done in less than an hour.

Some of the exercises such as squats have made me realise how inflexible I have become and I am struggling to have good “form” and get low enough.

Things do seem to be improving gradually but I am wondering whether it would be beneficial to do some stretching (yoga?) to supplement the kettlebell stuff. I do not really know where to start with this and so am looking for some suggestions. Ideally I would like something I could do at home rather than going to a class but I guess I could do that to get started.

Yoga would help with flexibility yes. Why not just go onto Youtube and find a workout there?

I use a variant of the sun salutation. Easy-to-follow pics available if you search.

Pilates here and I did not realise how inflexible and uncoordinated I was till I joined a class. Just keep trying you get better.

I was listening to a podcast (sorry can’t recall specifically) and it was about stretching and flexibility and the person being interviewed (an olympic coach) stated that older, tighter muscles and tendons take a long time to gain/regain flexibility. Six to eighteen months to get flexible.

Yoga is great for you, it would certainly help.

Yoga is great for stretching, flexibility and balance. However I would suggest trying to find a class where the instructor will help you get into the correct positions rather than rely on You Tube videos, as to properly benefit you need to get the positions absolutely correct.

Dynamic stretching is better for increasing range of movement, this is best done before you train in conjunction with using a foam roller. Static stretch after training again in conjunction with a foam roller, do this if you want quick results.
Doing squats themselves will help, hang around at your lowest point for a while, with a moderate weight, this will help stretch the muscles, make sure your fully warmed up first though.
Pilates and yoga are ok if you do them every day, progress will be very slow otherwise.

Foam rolling is now often used to improve flexibility. It seems to produce similar benefits as static stretching, but…

Posted by Strength and Conditioning Research on Saturday, November 19, 2016

What’s that ^ actually saying? 10 seconds rolling doesn’t sound very much?

yep, cycling and walking are pretty poor for flexibility.
sounds like your new routine will help, as it has already highlighted the issue. take it slow.

best stretching i did was with kick boxing, long time since but i still use some of what i learned. In a class situation you have the benefit of someone watching/correcting and competition with others around you

What’s that ^ actually saying? 10 seconds rolling doesn’t sound very much?

They normally respond to Qs on their FB page pretty reliably.

The conclusion seems to be that duration rather than sets is what matters and possibly (my interpretation) that duration doesn’t need to be very long at all.

If you’ve not done yoga before I would try and find a local class before jumping into YouTube videos.
There’ll be a lot of subtle things you might miss that the instructor in a class will mention.

Of course, doing some YouTube classes will probably be beneficial, but you’d get more from it with a bit of instruction behind you…

Stretching. you don’t need to pay for a class. Just spend 10 mins a day or so in the evening stretching. I do it in front of the telly and as a result i’m more flexible that alot of people half my age. And much less injury prone too.

Yoga and other things are good if you want to do that, but if all you want to do is improve your flexibility just do some stretching. No need to overthink it.

On the subject of using a foam roller instead of stretching I’ve had greater success with a solid rubber lacrosse ball than I had with stretching in the traditional manner. I have a lower right back problem that at its worst could floor me and at best put me out of action for a day or two. Once I got back some core strength and general fitness I started stretching the piriformis (a physio put me onto that location for my particular back pain) as demonstrated in the link below…

http://www.spine-health.com/fig-20-buttocks-stretch-piriformis

To get any form of relief I used to hold it quite a bit longer than the suggested 30 seconds, repeated maybe three or four times. I started using a roller for other areas and eventually purchased a solid rubber lacrosse ball, not the hollow types offered for massage. I haven’t had a spasm for some time now but when it was a regular occurrence I would sit on the ball and get almost instant relief.

Its not one or the other, foam rolling followed by some mobility / stretching is the answer. There is so much written about this now. A couple of times a week and you will see benefits very quickly.

On the mobility front check out Abi on pinkbike who does some yoga videos. She has a mobility routine and they are only 15 minutes long. Very good and way better than any other i have tried.

Abi

teasel – Member

Once I got back some core strength and general fitness I started stretching the piriformis (a physio put me onto that location for my particular back pain) as demonstrated in the link below…

Pigeon Pose in yoga…..

This is also a good piriformis stretch you might want to try….the description to me isn’t great on the website though….but should be able to work it out from the pics…

Rest your cow to ease tight hips: five-minute yoga challenge

Pigeon pose is awesome, helps me no end.

I find yoga essential, always travel with a mat, and try to do a routine (even a short one) several time a week. I stretch almost every day, and as others have said, have much better mobility than most. I’m sure it’s reduced my injury rate significantly.

Just go slow, but frequent. Look up flying pigeon pose if you really want a target/to feel insignificant!

Thanks, Stumpy, I’ll give that a go if I get any more grief.

Its not one or the other, foam rolling followed by some mobility / stretching is the answer.

Indeed and I can see why you inferred that from my post, though it’s not what I was suggesting as I do yoga as well as foam roller/ball alongside some shoulder dislocations if I’m doing any lifting and some, well, not sure what it is – I saw Sagan doing it on a vid posted on this site, I think – lifting a knee and swinging the entire leg left and right letting it flop around. That! I do that before hill sprints and leg work. Had fewer problems since doing it.

Weirdly, I read a theory on the internet that suggested stretching before a weightlifting session is not recommended. I’ll see if I can dig it out…

I read a theory on the internet that suggested stretching before a weightlifting session is not recommended

If you can find anything that shows stretching has any benefit at all I would like to see it. People often mix up “theory” and “hypothesis”

🙂

My apologies for the confusion.

As for proof, I reckon someone will probably be along to provide the science. As for my own proof – the ball on my piriformis works well to stop my back pain. Science or not I’ll keep up use of the ball for pain relief.

As for my own proof – the ball on my piriformis works well to stop my back pain. Science or not I’ll keep up use of the ball for pain relief.

Thats not “stretching” I happen to suffer with refered pain from Piriformis issues myself, its not rare for runners to have problems emanating from this area. Massaging the piriformis is proven to work. I am not aware of any evidence that shows stretching either reduces the incidence of or speeds up the recovery from injuries.

If someone does come along with science, as oppose to dogma and anecdote, I am all ears.

So what is the ball doing when I sit on it? I think it’s called pressure point massage or similar in some texts I’ve read. What would you call it?

I’m happy with your terminology, I am not a physician.

Neither am I.

But as I understand it, when I press the ball into my piriformis area and assume the necessary posture the pressure stretches the muscle. As I wrote above, I experienced similar pain relief from the stretch to which I linked. Both achieve the same results, one is simply quicker to take effect. I don’t roll when sitting on the ball, I merely stop supporting a bit of body weight to get more pressure. There seems to be two particular areas that need hitting and the pain ceases.

I’m keen to understand the difference so as not to mislead anyone by using incorrect terminology, y’see…

Well you can call any “movement” stretching if you want. Doesnt change the fact that “stretching” in the commonly accepted way of leaning against walls, touching your toes, placing your straightened leg on steeplechase barriers is the “stretching” that most people mean when they talk about it.

If somebody does some deep tissue massage on an injured site then there is evidence that that works. It is accepted and it is peer reviewed. If you want to call that stretching and therefore by definition stretching works then that is up to you. People may not agree with your definition however.

Okay, so this is all just semantics, then.

Thanks.

Ye, tomato, tomato. Well in the same way that you would confuse a car with bike. HTH

Not really. But then nothing you’ve added to the thread appears to have helped the OP, does it.

nope, but neither does your snake oil. At least I am not presenting pseudo science as fact. Best not to mislead. Its OK to say that you dont know.

I’ve written what works for me and not presented any facts or science or claimed as much. You appear to be telling me that my own experience is bullshit or worse still, imaginary.

I think you’re just looking for a fight. Tough day, fella…?

Gimme a virtual hug, y’ big wuss.

🙂

It may be imaginary, I cant comment. I simply asked for evidence that “stretching” works. It is a genuine question. The answer seems unclear. It may, it may not, I dont know. The reason I brought it up is that it often gets trotted out on threads as if it is backed up by a body of evidence when that doesnt appear to be the case. I was one of those runners stretching before and after every track session 30 years ago. Just wondered if anybody has been able to come up with anything conclusive in the mean time?

I have got a bit of a cold actually 🙁

This is what I do before exercising, especially squats, made a big difference for me.

Foam rolling, stretching and dynamic mobility has really helped me. Doing strength work with your kettlebell will help enforce those mobility gains

Also a good sports massage can really help identify where you need to focus on in terms of rolling and stretching and give you a bit of a head start.

Also this is great book to read and full of good progression to help with mobility:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Athletic-Body-Balance-Gray-Cook/dp/0736042288

The human body is sometimes described as a ‘System of Systems’.

It is therefore unlikely that any single ‘therapy’ in isolation will aid recovery or rehab. This is the reason that most rehab involves multiple elements such as foam roller, stretching, ultrasound, manipulation, deep tissue massage, strength & conditioning etc. Some will inevitably work better for some people than others.

@surfer … you have been asking [quite aggressively if I may say so] for evidence that stretching helps rehab on this and other threads.

Here again is the link I provided:

The role of stretching in rehabilitation of hamstring injuries

Other articles are also available in the same link.

Given that by your own admission, your stretching was done pre and post exercise rather than as part of an injury rehab etc, then yes, it is perfectly possibly that all that time spent with your leg raised on a hurdle was a waste and could have been spent doing something more constructive … like being aggressive and argumentative on a cycling forum.

And regarding your continued assertion that muscles don’t stretch:

How about typing ‘child-birth’ into ‘YouTube’? Plenty of evidence of muscles, tendons & ligaments stretching and lengthening …

Streching can have some benefits, but is it for everyone?

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/fitness/Pages/Do-I-need-to-stretch-before-or-after-a-run-or-sports-and-exercise.aspx

Streching can have some benefits, but is it for everyone?

Stretching has [quite rightly] come under close scrutiny in the past few years.

Many parts of the media (both sporting & mainstream) have adopted a critical stance on stretching. However this is perhaps slightly misleading. To summarise:

Don’t stretch before exercise
Stretching is unlikely to prevent injury
Stretching can help if you have movement/flexibility issues
Stretching can help injury rehab

I can´t add to the scientific arguments, only add what I found in my experience. After a few bad crashes and generally wear and tear from too much riding over the last few years I finally decided to do something about it. I was struggling to look left and right at junctions in the van and had loads of aches and pains. I started yoga, doing the yoga abi routines off pink bike first, (OK but not great). Then i got hold of ryan leech´s yoga and that was fantastic. Now I do a mix of that and some lessons called Flow Yoga from Vimeo on Demand. I try to do about 3 sessions a week, around an hour a time, mixed with some weights just now but during the season I try to do a session a day. I´ve been doing that for about a year and the differences are amazing. I can walk up stairs properly now, touch my toes (after a bit of warming up) and general mobility and pain levels have improved so much. I´ve also got a six pack again, after a long time 🙂 It´s been a revelation for me, it´s really changed my day to day life.

I´ve never been to a class. I can´t imagine I´d enjoy it and not sure how you cope with the farting yoga seems to cause!

The P90X stretch video is great. It’s the only one I use regularly so if you don’t want to buy the whole lot for one video it comes up on a Google Videos search.

I´ve never been to a class. I can´t imagine I´d enjoy it and not sure how you cope with the farting yoga seems to cause!

I’ve never been to a class either but hear they’re mostly made up of women and women don’t fart, right…