Cyclists, especially those training regularly, may be renowned for their supreme cardiovascular fitness, phenomenal power output and colossal thighs - but when it comes to flexibility, it has to be said that most of us are decidedly lacking.
It’s not surprising when you consider what riding a bike entails. “It’s a repetitive action performed through a limited range of motion, which means that the legs are neither fully extended nor fully flexed,” explains Rebecca Bogue, a yoga teacher who runs Yoga for Cyclists classes. “Joints are never taken through their full range of motion.”
To compound the problem, cycling is one of the few activities in which muscles contract only concentrically (while shortening) and not eccentrically (while lengthening) and over time, this can result in what’s known as ‘adaptive shortening’, the process by which muscle fibres physically shorten. But does it matter? Well, it depends who you ask.
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Scientists still hotly debate the topic of whether stretching is beneficial for athletes, detrimental or makes no difference either way. Research on runners, published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning, found that those who performed the worst in a ‘sit and reach’ test (a measure of hamstring and lower back flexibility) had the greatest running economy, a measure that could be described as their ‘miles per gallon’ rate.
The theory is that tight leg, hip and trunk musculature increases elastic energy return. But there’s a major reason why the same may not apply on a bike. “Riding a bike is not something that we evolved to do,” says Mark Simpson, lead strength and conditioning coach at the English Institute of Sport, who works with the British Cycling team. “It’s not a natural movement like running or walking, and is therefore more likely to cause muscular imbalances and postural changes.”
As an example, the forward-leaning, crouched position adopted by roadies and track cyclists tends to make the hip flexors tighten and shorten (“every cyclist I know has hip flexor tightness,” says Simpson) causing an anterior pelvic tilt and an excessively arched lower back.
Stretching Q&A
Common stretches and yoga poses ideal for cyclists
1. Calf stretch into a wall
2. Downward facing dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
3. Expanded leg pose (Prasarita Padottanasana)
4. Quad stretch
5. Camel pose (Ustrasana)
6. Seated glute stretch and hip opener
7. Revolved belly pose (Athara Parivartanasana)
8. Supported bound angle pose (Salamba Supta Baddha Khonasana)
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