matimeo

So first some quick background on why I ask this question:

Apparently I have been genetically cursed with insufficiently long hamstrings. I was actually completely off the bike for a year a couple of years back because of sore knees. I finally found a good physical therapist who does bike fittings and in a nutshell I think the biggest problem was just insufficient flexibility in my hamstrings which was causing my knees to not track correctly, causing some overuse issues. So I went clipless to help with alignment, focused on spinning vs. mashing and started stretching, rolling, etc. after every ride. So for the last five months or so I've been able to keep riding, but I still have small flare-ups where I get some patellofemoral soreness, or nights like last night where I could feel some serious tightness in my IT bands and hamstrings. My normal riding style probably doesn't help, since I tend to ride many times a day for short bursts (1-5 miles; commutes, trip to the grocery store, etc.) rather than long spinning sessions.

So with that preface, I've heard lots of different thoughts on stretching. The one that has always made sense is that it's like a stick of gum. If you try to stretch it when it's cold, it won't, but will just break. But if it's warm, it will stretch, thus the idea that you stretch only after warming up or at the end of exercising. Just curious if anyone has found this to be true or false and if stretching before riding might help me.

intransit1217

I read something similar somewhere and it just made sense so I only stretch during and after a ride. Immediately after getting off the bike.

Recently, I stretched 5 times on the way home because I was already fatigued and fighting a headwind for 38 miles, to help stave off the next day soreness thing. I'm quite 'strung too.

alan s 

I stretch while riding during long rides, and more frequently the longer the ride. Commuting, never.

e0richt

I have heard that but its not true if you are doing a static style stretch rather than a ballistic stretch.
I actually do some stretching before my ride which helps with my tight hips / quads...
One thing to note: stretching your muscles can slow you down before an athletic event where you care about performance.

jrickards

I'm not sure if ballistic = dynamic but I'm going to assume that it is.

Dynamic stretching is doing movements that stretch muscles such as high knee kicks, butt kicks, walking lunges, zombie walks, jump squats, etc. These are fine when the muscles are cold because the movement both stretches and warms up the muscles. Static stretches are hard on the muscles when they are cold as the OP stated and are perfectly fine when the muscles are warm which can mean after 5-10 min of commuting when you can stop and stretch before continuing and certainly, after the commute is finished.

Walter S

My routine includes about an hour of yoga before I ride in the morning, which includes a lot of stretching. I find it important to get a full range of motion in my joints and develop a feeling of flexibility BEFORE I ride. This helps me maintain the right posture and flexibility to prevent injuries and fatigue. Less important for short rides than long ones. I've noticed the difference markedly on all-day rides. Less so on a commute but it's part of my routine and the yoga has other benefits too.

ill.clyde

This.

However I do not stretch, at all (static or dynamic) before a ride. I hop on and spin easily for a mile or two. I will stretch on the bike as needed during long rides.

Shimagnolo

https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/0...ot-to-stretch/

e0richt

just curious but what style of yoga?

joeyduck

No I do not stretch.

The only thing I stretch is the truth. But isn't that how the interweb works?

But as @jrikards mentions dynamic stretching is great to get things stretched and warmed up. I prefer these if I actively seek workouts. When i swim I usually put in several hundred meters then get some static stretching in and continue you on my merry way.

tds101 

I'll stretch during a long ride (it does help me with fatigue, and muscle tightness) and after. I find that if I stretch before a ride I'm more prone to injury. I do slowly ride for the (minimum) first 5 minutes, but no stretching beforehand. I do try to stretch after my evening commute every day.

Walter S

It's a mix of meditation and poses that I've found work well for me personally. I started out going to a yoga class but that's been at least 30 years ago. Now it would be hard to characterize it as one of the formal styles of yoga - it's what works for me, what I like, what makes me feel good. But pretty unconventional. Cat cow, downward facing dog, warrier, and others I've latched onto over the years. I also mix in some pretty western exercises like conventional sit ups, push ups, etc.

I usually follow it all with a couple sets of 100 jump-rope reps. I find that great for balance, timing, coordination, and aerobic all in one!

bbeasley

Never

e0richt

just in case you think I made the term up....

Ballistic stretching: Information from Answers.com

the sci guy 

no

Booger1

Nope

10 Wheels

Stretch while I ride.

PaulRivers

I used to have 2 problems in biking:
1. Right knee would nearly always hurt after riding - went to 2 different fitters, fitting didn't solve it.
2. Always felt a little awkward on the bike - weak core

The following things helped me personally a lot:

1. When I was working out, long story short I hurt my leg pretty bad, and ran across this warmup for working out which both healed my remaining injury (it wasn't healing on it's own after 3 months of being easy on it), and greatly increased my flexibility:

Defranco's Limber 11
Joe D's "Limber 11" (flexibility routine) - DeFranco's Training

2. I started doing one of those exercise videos. The one I have is "Shaun T's Rockin' Body DVD Workout" - it's kinda cheesy, but it's fairly cheap and got my whole body loosened up - and built up some core muscle which has made riding my bike WAY more comfortable.

3. I bought the book "Starting Strength" and started doing barbell squats. First couple times it made my knees hurt worse, but then I kept researching good form, got it down - and it make the annoying knee pain I had been dealing with for 10+ years when biking go away in a week. You don't need to do some crazy amount of weight, but do enough that you can feel it, and for me it got my knee muscles back into proper shape.

Seriously...I couldn't believe it, nothing else worked for the knee pain - not fitting, not stretching, etc, only retraining the knee muscles with good form and a large amount of weight suddenly magically made it go away.

Just my experience. I personally found the video from #1 far, far more helpful in increasing my flexibility on the bike than the static stretching I was doing before.

RidingMatthew

i stretch my calves while in the shower.... sometimes. lately it has not been an issue of tightness.

alexaschwanden

I usually stretch before the ride and during breaks.

wolfchild

I don't stretch before my rides...But I include stretching as part of my strength training/conditioning routine.

Jim from Boston

Au contraire, I don’t stretch at all, but ride slower for about 6 to 8 miles to warm-up. When I used to do daily yoga, I found that daily cycling improved my yoga flexibility more than yoga improved my cycling, but yoga did improve my balance, and sense of what I called “energy flow.”

I never was really into the meditative aspects of yoga though. A friend recently asked me if I meditated during yoga, and I answered, “No…I listened to Talk Shows.” (I was able to do a pretty stable headstand at my peak.)

TrekCommuter

Before my 2 mile commute? No.

Papa Tom

+1 for stretching on the bike at the start of a long ride. But, like TrekCommuter, I don't stretch at all before my commute. I DO, however, stretch before getting out of bed. Otherwise, I'd never even make it as far as the bathroom!

Mark Stone

I stretch and do crunches at the end of rides, because if I don't I start getting back pain.