Are You A Cyclist Or Endurance Athlete? Having suffered an injury while cycling can be life-altering; to successfully cope with injury requires knowing how to navigate all of its nuances and manage its forceful consequences.
Cycling athletes need to incorporate active recovery practices into their weekly schedule if they hope to remain at top form. But how are professionals managing this aspect of training?
Sleep
Sleep is at the core of all cycling recovery, which explains why professional cyclists prioritize it in their training plans and prioritise it over any other element.
While cycling, your muscles are being torn apart and only when resting can they repair and become stronger again. By covering more miles without giving yourself adequate recovery, your muscles won’t ever develop at their maximum strength and speed.
Sleep can help to restore energy levels and enhance mental function – two vitally important skills when riding in packs or racing for position.
As cyclists need a regular and consistent sleep schedule, caffeine and alcohol should be avoided as these substances can interfere with hormone regulation and interfere with quality restful slumber. Furthermore, cycling enthusiasts would benefit from doing an extended warm up/cool down prior to bed; this allows blood vessels in legs to expand and relax more freely after exercise so oxygen-rich blood reaches muscles more easily after physical exertion.
Sleep is one of the key ways cyclists can improve their performance on the bike – even more than training harder! Achieve quality restful nights is crucial if they wish to enhance their riding capabilities.
Stretching
Stretching is one of the best ways to improve cycling posture and relieve lower back pain, and stretch regularly to achieve results. Tight muscles pull on bones, leading to misalignments that affect performance as well as increase risk. Incorporating dynamic and static stretching exercises into your routine will allow the muscles that have become chronically tight to lengthen gradually, unlocking more of your cycling power more efficiently.
Competition cyclists typically incorporate dynamic stretching as part of their general warm up regimen and after each ride or race to prevent soreness and speed recovery. Even recreational cyclists can benefit from stretching after any length ride to keep muscles flexible and avoid injury.
Stretching can help relieve not only physical but also mental and emotional tension, which in turn often leads to better performance on a bike. Stretching can also increase range of motion around joints, helping prevent tightness and ensure that pedal stroke power and upper body relaxation is maximized.
Compression Tights
Ask any seasoned cyclist and they’ll tell you it is great for the heart and body, yet wearing on legs is considerable. Sore muscles and fatigue may seem inevitable in cycling but many riders are discovering a secret weapon in compression tights that helps combat these ailments: compression tights.
CW-X, Skins and 2XU are among the many companies producing tights, socks and sleeves that claim to assist recovery by increasing oxygen delivery and blood flow. While scientific evidence has yet to support such garments having any tangible benefit on performance, many amateur and professional athletes swear by them.
University of North Carolina researchers investigated the effect of compression hosiery on an hour-long bike time trial, with no significant impact on performance but showing some reduction in post-exercise muscle soreness due to compression limiting muscle movement and decreasing vibration levels.
Economy Class Syndrome, or the symptoms that accompany long flights, are another use for gradient compression tights. While evidence for their use remains weaker, several studies have concluded that wearing gradient compression tights during these flights can reduce ankle oedema while improving energy levels, sleep quality and alertness upon landing.
Read also: Why Cycling Can Be Bad For Your Bones
Massage
Cyclists commonly complain of hip, knee and buttock discomfort due to inflexible muscles surrounding these joints. Regular sports massage therapy sessions can help loosen tightened muscles to increase mobility while alleviating pain and preventing injuries in the long term.
On a cycling session, leg muscles undergo repeated contractions that require them to work hard in order to generate sufficient power for propelling the bike forward. This can lead to buildups of lactic acid in muscles and an overall fatigued feeling in cyclists; professional massage therapy can help recovery by increasing blood circulation in muscles and dissolving any buildups of lactic acid in them.
Sports massage can do more than simply soothe tired muscles: it can also prevent injury and improve performance. Many cycling injuries can be avoided through an effective recovery program including sports massage, stretching and hydration. An therapist can identify problem areas while suggesting exercises designed to increase flexibility and avoid future injuries.
If you’re considering receiving a sports massage, ask other cyclists for recommendations of providers they use. Or search online for machines which use percussion therapy to penetrate deeper into muscles faster and speed up healing times.
