Stretching Routine for Cyclists

Laurie Kramer PT, DPT of University of California, San Francisco recommends these stretches for cyclists.

• Hold each stretch for 30 -90 seconds
• You should feel a stretch but it should never be painful
• Breathe into the stretch and try to relax as much as possible to allow for elongation of the tissue 

• Place your R ankle on your L knee
• Reach through and bring your L knee to your chest
• Feel the stretch in the R hip/buttock are

Grab the back of your thigh/calf or hook a towel over your foot Pull your leg towards your head until you feel a stretch

Place foot on step or floor Lean forward at the hips until you feel a stretch behind your knee Flat back (stick butt out) to increase the stretch

Place both hands on the wall Step back with R foot keeping the R knee straight Slight bend in L knee, should feel stretch in R calf

Place both hands on the wall Step back with R foot keeping the R knee slightly bent Feel the stretch deep in the R calf

Kneel on your L knee with a 90 degree angle between your R foot and hip Grab your L ankle and pull your foot towards your bottom until you feel a stretch in your L hip and quad Tuck your pelvis (posterior pelvic tilt) to achieve a deeper stretch

Place R leg over L Twist to the R placing the back of the L arm outside the R leg to create a larger spinal twist Keep L leg engaged by squeezing the quad and bringing the toes up towards the nose (dorsiflex ankle)

Lie on your back with arms and legs straight Bring L knee to chest, squeeze and let it fall to the R side Bring both arms out the side in a T and turn head to the L

Standing, grab your L foot and bring it towards your bottom Keep knees next to one another Posterior pelvic tilt will deepen the stretch

Interlace fingers, cross wrists and straighten arms Feel the stretch between the shoulder blades

• Look over your shoulder
• You can place your hand on your chin to increase the stretch but avoid pain
• Tilt ear to shoulder
• Roll neck around from L side through the middle (looking down) to the R side

Roll shoulders forward and backward Focus on squeezing between shoulder blades (shoulders up, back, down and squeeze)

Roll back and forth over IT band May be painful but well worth it Can also roll over quads and gluts

cross R leg in front of L lean trunk to the R, pushing L hips out to the side feel the stretch on the outside of the L hip

Round your back as if you were trying to hug something in front of you Without pulling your arms behind you, squeeze only the muscles between your shoulder blades and hold for 8 slow counts Keep your abdominal muscles tight as you squeeze the muscles between your shoulder blades so that your back does not arch