Yoga????

Marcryan206
Marcryan206 Posts: 116
edited June 2013 in Road general
I do stretch and foam rollers after my rides but I still find my legs are really tight. Do you think yoga will help? Or what do you find helps?

Comments

  • goonz
    goonz Posts: 3,106
    Ice baths are great and if you can manage it get the missus to give you a good massage. Nothing beats that.
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  • danlikesbikes
    danlikesbikes Posts: 3,898
    edited April 2013
    Marcryan206 wrote:
    I do stretch and foam rollers after my rides but I still find my legs are really tight. Do you think yoga will help? Or what do you find helps?

    I raised a similar question - viewtopic.php?f=40011&t=12905002&hilit=yoga

    As you can see got a mixed reaction with some saying yes & others no.

    I do tend to do some myself simply as I find doing stretches a bit boring and easy to cheat at so don't get the full benefit. Foam rollers are a good move though have one myself and find it does help a lot.
    Pain hurts much less if its topped off with beating your mates to top of a climb.
  • fnq59
    fnq59 Posts: 37
    I have a dodgy back from tight legs and find that a yoga session does help with this.
  • Marcryan206
    Marcryan206 Posts: 116
    Wow very mixed views I'm not looking for it to improve my times just a way to improve my tightness.

    Agreed foam rollers are great!!
  • danlikesbikes
    danlikesbikes Posts: 3,898
    Marcryan206 wrote:
    Wow very mixed views I'm not looking for it to improve my times just a way to improve my tightness.

    Agreed foam rollers are great!!

    I do a lot of running and have always suffered with tight ham's so know what you mean. If you look on Youtube there are quite a few good ones to follow & once you get a few in under your belt are easy to collect a good range of moves that you can link together yourself.
    Pain hurts much less if its topped off with beating your mates to top of a climb.
  • AchillesLeftKnee
    AchillesLeftKnee Posts: 713
    Personally, I reckon the best cure for tight leg muscles is, if you can fit it in, a recovery / oooh, missus, nice ride in the country, let's look at the cows pace ride, which in my case involves either hopping on the spin bike (in which case it's a look at the telly paced ride...) or taking the ex-hardtail 26er-now-hack-must-replace-it out for a plod in the middle of HR zone 2 (about 125-130 bpm for me) for a bit.

    In the absence of a heart rate monitor, the best way to spot said pace is by the total lack of stress on the legs, the failure to break a sweat, and the feeling of being a total pussy for going that easy. It does, however, loosen the legs up no end, and gets a ride of sorts in. Plus, you actually get to look at your surroundings, rather than pounding past them, and that's no bad thing.

    Okay, so it's a bit useless if you're after an immediate post-ride fix, but if inserted between Go For It days, it works rather well.
    Mangeur
  • ianspeare
    ianspeare Posts: 110
    Yoga is great. It improves your core and balance. If that's not good for cycling, I don't know what is. I don't get all this rubbish about not going to the gym. Your core and upper body (shoulders, back muscles) are important for efficient cycling and it would be hard to develop these by just riding mile after mile
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  • pipipi
    pipipi Posts: 332
    Sorry but any recommended links for how to use foam rollers after cycling (specifically) ?

    Cheers
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  • danlikesbikes
    danlikesbikes Posts: 3,898
    Youtube has plenty of videos -
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVYch0Ah7xM
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE5na0zvVMg
    http://www.coreperformance.com/foam-roll/?path=/video
    Pain hurts much less if its topped off with beating your mates to top of a climb.
  • tomstickland
    tomstickland Posts: 402
    Foam rollers - brilliant.
    I started going to see a sports therapist a year ago.
    I now do yoga every day, go to classes every week, go to pilates every week too. I've been using a foam roller at home for a few months. Oh yeah, and a bit of acupuncture from when the therapist got bored with pumelling me.

    It all seems to be beneficial. I recommend Pilates if you want a physical conditioning routine. I like yoga for the spiritual stuff.
  • jane90
    jane90 Posts: 149
    +1 for Pilates.

    I found it invaluable when I was running 800m and 1500m and I find it equally useful now for cycling.
  • alihisgreat
    alihisgreat Posts: 3,872
    What I found a while ago was that the stretching that I thought I was doing correctly and effectively.. was actually extremely ineffective...

    the key is to find the right stretches and do them correctly.

    Yoga is good though, anything that helps keep the body balanced if you're only cycling and not doing other activities is useful .
  • Grill
    Grill Posts: 5,610
    Yes. I'm a big fan of yoga and do both fitness yoga and hot yoga. Does a great job of stretching me out as well as working the core.
    English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg
  • Marcryan206
    Marcryan206 Posts: 116
    jane90 wrote:
    +1 for Pilates.

    I found it invaluable when I was running 800m and 1500m and I find it equally useful now for cycling.

    What are Pilates?
  • prhymeate
    prhymeate Posts: 795
    Marcryan206 wrote:
    I do stretch and foam rollers after my rides but I still find my legs are really tight.

    Do you only use the roller after riding? If so, I'd recommend using it before riding as well.
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    Marcryan206 wrote:
    What are Pilates?

    they're the ones who sit in the front of the plane...
  • Marcryan206
    Marcryan206 Posts: 116
    Prhymeate wrote:
    Marcryan206 wrote:
    I do stretch and foam rollers after my rides but I still find my legs are really tight.

    Do you only use the roller after riding? If so, I'd recommend using it before riding as well.

    Yes just after! Not really thought about doing it before! Are you meant do rollers on cold muscles? A you not meant to stretch when your muscles haven't been used if that makes sense?
    Imposter wrote:
    Marcryan206 wrote:
    What are Pilates?

    they're the ones who sit in the front of the plane...

    Always wondered who they were :wink:
  • djhermer
    djhermer Posts: 328
    Yoga's good but if feckin' hurts. I've made a vow to keep up yoga on a dozen occasions. I start dreading it more than a hard turbo session.

    I have recently seen the light with regard to ice baths. Filling your own bath with ice isn't practical, so recently i've just been filling it with cold water (better in the winter obviously) and sitting in it with legs submerged for 15 mins.

    It seriously works for reducing muscle tightness - and doesn't hurt like yoga, pilates, stretching etc.
  • prhymeate
    prhymeate Posts: 795
    Marcryan206 wrote:
    Prhymeate wrote:
    Do you only use the roller after riding? If so, I'd recommend using it before riding as well.

    Yes just after! Not really thought about doing it before! Are you meant do rollers on cold muscles? A you not meant to stretch when your muscles haven't been used if that makes sense?

    I'm no expert but I remember reading an article when I first got my foam roller that said definitely roll before and roll afterwards if you feel like it. I often mix some stretches with rolling before I go on a ride and it works for me.

    I just found the article if it helps http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/fi ... rkout.html

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