Top 5 Stretches To Do After A Ride | Cycling Fitness

Stretching after your ride helps maintain your flexibility and potentially reduce the chances of injury. Here are 5 key exercises that you can make a part of your routine.

The main muscles that are key in cycling are the quads, hamstrings and glutes, so they will naturally get tighter over the course of a long ride. Stretching them out eases the tension in those muscles and can help stop any soreness you might have the following day.

Many cyclists will have problems with tight hamstrings - this is because the leg never fully extends at any point during the pedal stroke. Short hamstrings can also lead to lower back pain, so it's important to keep both these areas flexible to try and lessen the chances of those niggles stopping you from riding comfortably.

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[bradf.]

I even stretch mid-ride. If I'm able to coast I do things like:
— One hand on handle bar, straighten back, reach opposite hand around my back. Maybe tilt my head slightly away from the reaching shoulder. (helps loosen shoulders)
— If I'm coasting I'll stand on the pedals, lean forward with a straight back. Straighten the legs and really push my glutes UP. If I do it properly it seems to help stretch my hamstrings and calves a bit.
— Look down at water bottles for a second, look up, down, repeat. Stretches the back of the neck.
— Put chin down closer to chest, twist head left then right and repeat a few times. Keep the chin down toward your body. This seems to really help stretch the side of your neck/shoulders

hope that helps. No one asked, but thought I'd offer it up. My friend took my suggestion to stretch during his rides and said he felt a difference in how much looser he was post-ride.

[rafiashraf]

I like that you included bloopers

I feel like a lot of people take their fitness tutorial videos too seriously and forget to have fun with it 🙂

Great video!

[MangoMamaa]

I stretch at least 30 minutes after every ride. Combining cycling with yoga really helps with the flexibility :)

[chewbacca]

The bloopers are good:). Stretches are quick to do, thanks:)

[thelmaviaduct]

Can we have a compilation vid of the curly haired fella doing his laugh. It cheers me up no end, makes me smile out loud. Gaz

[matt]

When I first started cycling I never used to stretch afterwards, and then would wonder why I struggled so much on my run the next day. Then a friend who is an experienced triathlete said that it was his ritual after every ride. So from that moment on I started to do stretches and I have never looked back. I find that It makes a huge difference the next day. I will, however, point out that I am in my 40's. You could probably get away with not stretching when you're younger, but when you're older, it's a must.
I also take a protein shake with high carb content (recovery drink) immediately after a ride too as I find this also helps a great deal.

[smithwillnot]

I can't thank you enough. Few months ago I pushed myself bit too hard to the point I could barely come back from my target location. After I finally managed to get back home I googled how to stretch after cycling, followed your instructions. Didn't feel a bit of pain in days after...

[santiagolv]

The chapters sections on this video are totally off. Do you mind checking that out ? Thanks.

Ill do my own timestamps for now:
0:00 - Intro
0:39 - Quads
1:03 - Hamstrings
1:48 - Hip Flexors
2:07 - Glutes
2:24 - Medial Glutes + Lower Back

[riggermortisfpv]

Great vid, Matt's bloopers always put a smile on my old too.

[netfischer]

Two guys in spandex having way to much fun...

[redcoatphilip]

This Video was really helpful after my home exercise bike workout.

[TotalBrokenPickaxe]

I'm learning cycling from you guys and some other sources, thanks for the informative and hilarious content. You've got another cycler on the road, and another sub! Love the bloopers, "well, it is another leg". That part had me crying 😂

[TheThirdEyeDoctor]

This has come in handy, just finished a long ride, and muscles were aching. Now it feels much better after stretching. Thanks guys

[overduetax]

The end made me laugh and forget what I just learned.

[jorgecalderon]

Matt's laugh keeps getting better and better

[RupamDasChennai]

Thank you for the tips. I just finished one month of cycling and I always have sore muscles. I realised that I was not doing post ride stretching. I'll try your exercises.

[shanedavis]

Great tips. Would also suggest stretching calves, too. I usually just stand on a stair step & hold a calf stretch for 30 seconds

[Stevenhamer]

I totally agree on post ride stretches as I had terrible inner thigh cramps very painful.

[girlscyclingsquadpakistan]

This video is so cool, i watch it after every ride cool down 🚴🏻‍♀️👍🏻🙌🏻

Great video!  Be careful while stretching though, I actually tore my hip labrum trying to do the side splits on the beach. Hopefully I will be able to get it healed soon so I can start my cycling hobby.