derek.fulmer

I have been piecing together a few different stretches after my rides and they never seem to be cohesive or have some sort of "purpose" for a lack of better words. I'm stretching my hamstrings, calves, hip flexors, and back but I want to add to it if I need to/should. Quad specific stretches as well as back and groin stretches would be helpful I think.

Elevation

In addition to stretching I would highly recommend you start foam rolling: IT band, hamstrings, glutes, quads, VMOs, calves, upper back, and lower back.

DataJunkie

No, stretching never seemed to help me but I waffle back and forth on this quite a bit.
I have a foam roller that is amazing. I use it every couple days and it has made quite a bit of difference.

ursle

Another vote for the foam roller, actually, after melting two of them I prefer the trigger point roller from EMS (eastern mountain sports) a fiberglass tube with foam around it, much better results.

But... back the the question, my stretching after riding involves a couch

clemsongirl 

After longer rides and even shorter difficult ones, I always do a post ride series of yoga poses (that work well for my body) to help lengthen the muscles that worked hard on the ride, to start to help relieve stiffness or soreness, to help recover quicker and just to help relax my body.

For the three areas I quoted from your post:
For quads you can just do the classic hand against a wall etc. for support, curling a leg up in back, grasping the front of the ankle, aiming the knee straight down and holding the stretch while breathing deeply and concentrating on relaxing the muscle. You can vary the angle by grasping with the opposite hand.

For a quick lower back stretch stand 3-4 feet away from your bike and place one hand on the handlebar and the other on the seat. Keeping your legs and back straight, slowly bend forward at the hip until you feel the stretch in your lower back. Hold for 20 or so seconds and gently straighten back up.
The yoga cat to cow pose is a good longer spine flex and extension pose for stretching the back after a ride.

The butterfly stretch is good for the groin.

JCNeumann

I've actually had better luck with using the foam roller before the ride, along with some other dynamic stretching. Afterwards, a lot of the yoga-based and static stretches seem to work.

I suspect you already have it - glutes, quads, hams, calves, and feet. Also, a little work on low back,shoulders, and neck. There's a bunch of strectching routines online - you should basically feel relaxed afterwards and still be sweating.

Pshrynk

My stretching routine is really dependent on whether I'm lifting a pint or lifting a bottle and where it is on the table.

beatlebee 

Do the pigeon pose if nothing else to get at the IT band. I highly suggest a foam roller too.

Elevation

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCNeumann

I've actually had better luck with using the foam roller before the ride, along with some other dynamic stretching. Afterwards, a lot of the yoga-based and static stretches seem to work.

i'm no doctor, but I've been told (by a P.T) that is a bad idea as a foam roller provides a very deep massage, resulting in a lot of fascia being broken up. He said using a massage stick prior to riding is a good idea because it warms the muscles up and gets them ready to fire...

JCNeumann

Interesting - I'd heard the opposite, but more from the point of having really good blood flow and looseness within the muscle. I hadn't considered the fascia breakdown at all. Out of curiosity, have you found any of the massage sticks better than the others?

(Methinks it's time to do some more research on this, and that's why this forum is so good. It challenges what you think, and makes you dig into a subject more thoroughly)