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Stretching properly before biking can significantly increase performance and prevent injury. When you don't stretch before going out to bike you end up creating resistance to your own movement. Shortened muscles are not able to perform at their full capacity and when they don't move freely the opposing muscles have to strain against them to move.

Biking is a highly repetitive movement and small changes in body mechanics can have a large effect over time. Shortened muscles will have profound effects on how your body moves. When these shortened muscles restrict the movement of your joints other areas of your body have to compensate, further decreasing efficiency. Problems from lack of range can show up on short workouts and can really ruin a long bike tour.

For example, if your hip doesn't flex easily while pedaling your pelvis will raise up on that side causing extra movement in your low back. This is not only wastes energy, but it can set you up for back pain and postural changes that can affect your other activities.

Another example is when your calf muscles are tight you don't have the full range of your ankle. This causes your other leg muscles to work harder and you lose that extra press of the calf at end of the stroke. Some problems that can show up are shin splints because the anterior muscles of the lower leg are working against the tight posterior calf muscles. This calf tightness can also create plantar fascitis, which shows up as pain in the heel or the bottom of the foot.

We have just mentioned a few problems that can occur while biking and these might seem complex. Fortunately stretching is easy to understand and safe if you pay attention to your body and you don't force anything. There are different kinds of stretching that have different purposes and can influence your biking experience in different ways.

The muscle is only one part of the equation. There is a tissue called fascia that surrounds and covers the muscle. In fact this tissue surrounds almost every cell in your body. It is more organized around the muscles and is bundled into tendons at the ends of the muscles which attach to the bone. Restrictions in this tissue are often missed and can profoundly change your biking form.

This tissue is normally elastic and hydrated. When our body sustains an injury from either direct trauma or overuse this tissue can loose its elasticity and dry out. This tissue has a 2000 pound tensile strength and can severely restrict movement and even cause pain.

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