@jerzone asks:
Q4. What other exercises and/or stretches do people use to support their biking style?
#BikeNiteQ #BikeNite #BikeTooter #Cycling #MastoBikes cc @bikenite
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Discussion
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A4. Do other exercises exist?
My doc is after me to walk more, put in 10,000 steps a day. I got a Garmin watch specifically to encourage myself to walk. Thing is, I do nearly 10,000 just on my daily commute (if I don't cycle to work) and walking about my place of work.
I think the doc has more in mind something like going for a walk, 5-10k or so.
@ascentale @jerzone @bikenite A4. In the past, I’ve done toe touch stretches because when you ride a recumbent and your hamstrings are tight, you can get some numbness in your toes. The higher up your bb, the tighter your hamstrings, the more numbness. So it’s good to be well stretched out. Although I’d say that in general your fitness will benefit from cross-training. If you cycle, also walk as they use different groups. (1/2)
@ascentale @jerzone @bikenite #BikeNite ooohh, great question. I get a pinched nerve in my shoulders from long rides or death gripping the handlebars, and get numbness down to my outermost two fingers, so I have some arm stretches against a doorway that help with that. That's really the only thing I do specifically for biking though. I guess I've made posture adjustments in my biking and expanded them to my daily life as a result, too.
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@iris I get numb fingers sometimes on longer rides, but others there's no problem at all. Which makes me wonder if there's some existing muscle tension leading to it, if I'm just taking more breaks, or unconsciously changing things up.
Humans need a debug port.
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@jerzone Is it something you feel is important to understand, or just curious?
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@iris Oh, just curious in general, about everything. ":^)
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@jerzone Haha! Well, as long as it's welcome, I could give suggestions for how to find out. It might be a result of what type of pavement you're riding on, or how hard you're gripping, or other aspects of posture, so those are all things to potentially pay attention to. I got into the habit of regularly adjusting back to a particular posture and noticing how far away from it I was when I remembered to adjust.
Also: If I'm really suffering I'll sit fully upright (hands off handlebars, shoulders back) as much as I can until the pain or numbness eases. But prevention is a lot better than cure.
@ascentale @jerzone @bikenite A4: I found a short video on Facebook of all places. The exercises are intended to help support your hip flexors and they have seriously reduced my hip pain. They also increase your balance and seem to strengthen glutes. Do each of these on both sides:
10 single leg raises
10 single leg marches
10 side leg raises
10 kickbacks
10 kickbacks dropping your hand towards your toes
10 adductor & abductor swings (lift bent leg to waist & swing foot either out or in. ) While I’m sure you could hold onto something, part of the strength benefit is in balancing.
Even if I’m not doing them every day they help a lot! #bikenite
@ascentale @jerzone @bikenite A4. I don’t stretch, probably should. On a non regular basis, at my PT’s request I do single legged squats as my legs don’t have a lot of lateral stability. I have noticed this help me in several ways, on the bike I am able engage my glutes and hamstrings more instead of just my quads. Which I think has been a big reason why I have less back pain lately. #BikeNite
@ascentale @jerzone @bikenite #BikeNite A4. This year, I want to get back to martial arts training, which I haven't seriously done in decades. I will be taking it easy, though. At 57, now, I need to work on maintaining my strength, flexibility, and balance more. Cardio is all good, though, because bicycles.
@ascentale @jerzone @bikenite A4: I thought the biking was the exercise xD