Flexibility is a major consideration for cycling performance as well as weighted exercise.  Increased flexibility on the bike means that you can get into a more ‘aero’ position and hold it for longer, apply force to the pedals more effectively and simply have a greater variety of bikes to choose from.

Some bikes are more of an aggressive fit, such as a bike you would see in pro-level races. Others a more relaxed or ‘endurance’ fit, that you would typically use for more of an upright position that doesn’t load the lower back and shoulders as much. Alternatively, there are bikes that allow the most aerodynamic position possible, such as time trial or triathlon bikes.

Here's some examples of bike positions, look at the differences in back angles, therefore hip mobility (front & back)...

One of the reasons endurance bikes were developed is due to lack of flexibility by the general population. That doesn’t have to be the case, and there are a number of things that you can do to increase your flexibility to improve performance, or just be more comfortable on the bike for longer periods of time. Hopefully this also spills over into making daily tasks easier, too.

In terms of weight training, having good flexibility when using weights is advantageous for a number of reasons.  The main one’s in my experience are to increase the number of exercise options available to you and importantly to use the correct muscle groups throughout the full range of motion that a joint is capable of.

Typically, cyclists struggle with flexibility around the front of the hips (known as hip flexors muscle group) and around the ankle (known as calf muscle group). This is because of spending lots of time in a flexed hip position (knees towards chest). Added to that is sitting to work on a computer, drive a car or just relax in a chair. 

All of these can alter the resting length of the hip flexors and causing the opposite muscles of the hip, particularly the glutes and hamstring muscles to be put on more of a constant stretch (longer than their resting length should be).

In terms of frame options, the more aggressive a frame’s geometry becomes, the more flexibility (and strength, actually) is required to ride it for any length of time. The typical issue areas are within the lumbar spine (lower back) and neck in order to hold an effective position on the hoods or the drops without developing pain and also to look where you’re going. 

Pain normally manifests within the lower back, neck or shoulders, but that doesn’t necessarily mean these are the areas which are injured. These are just the outlet points – the weakest link in the chain that has broken down first. By fixing hip flexibility, pain in the lower back can be resolved. By fixing thoracic and shoulder mobility, neck and wrist pain can be resolved.

I’ll look at pain in more detail in another post. For now, I’m interested in flexibility, and inflexibility causing limited exercise or bike options. You can still pick up some useful tips related to pain within this post, so read on to learn more…

I mentioned earlier about completing movement ‘effectively’ because of flexibility.  There’s no doubt that beginning a weight training programme is going to see your strength increase quickly (see article on adaption and overload to understand why), but lack of flexibility is often the cause of a low ceiling to performance improvement. 

By increasing your ability to be flexible in the necessary areas, you are giving yourself a greater chance of increasing the strength ceiling. This is important because it means improvements are easier to develop in the beginning and also as your experience grows. Equally, you will be producing force more effectively and also reducing injury likelihood at the same time. 

If you think of training for a cycling event at any level (amateur to pro), if you stay healthy throughout the period and have more days to train and recover, the more prepared for the event you’re likely to be.  This is a key concept for professional athletes. Avoid injury, recover well and therefore train more often. 

Now that I’ve provided an overview, the other articles in this series cover flexibility assessment and what you can do for the most common complaints.

~ JC