Cycling Mobility - Supercharge your off season with a neurological update

Thanks for unlocking access to this neuro-training program for cyclists. A couple things before we get started:

You'll want to update your Flash Player because all the videos will use it.There's a lot in this program -- conservatively it's 55 pages of written information plus the videos. You don't have to read through the whole thing if you don't want to. An alternative way to move through the program is to skip to the videos and try them out, figure out which ones interest you -- this might mean which videos are more challenging or give you trouble on one side or the other -- and then refer back to the text to add more context and detail to the how, why, and how of the exercises.To this end, below I've included a small table of contents to the exercises so that you can jump back and forth through them easier.Towel RollSelf HugsCrossed 1st RibBiceps StretchNerve GlidesWrist Weight-BearingElbow PushupTurkish Squat to Hamstring StretchPrayer to Reach ThroughPigeonPike to Push-UpHip TwistCouch to Hip FlexorLunge to PillowMost cyclists have issues on the bike.  Some very lucky individuals have very few or very minor problems that don't drastically impact their riding from day to day, but most of us aren't so fortunate.  Many of us have one or multiple nagging issues that rear their head intermittently (or constantly) and can take a wonderful ride and turn it mediocre or even nightmare-ish.Because the vast majority of cyclists have some foible or deficit that negatively affects the way they fit their bike, I've always made it my goal to provide not only bike fit solutions (change saddle height, move the cleats, etc)  but also off-the-bike remedies that usually include customized exercise programs.  As a physical therapist and bike fitter for about 20 years I've seen thousands of cyclists for fittings and tens of thousands of clients in my PT practice.  As a result of this huge pool of test subjects I've seen which movement problems keep coming up and which exercises and bike fit fixes address them the best.In this module I present the fruits of this two decades of work.  These are a compilation of the best and most effective exercises I've come up with over the years to combat the most common movement problems that lead to the most pervasive bike fit issues.Cycling is a sport of extremes, and how it creates an unbalanced body is just one example of this extreme nature.  Cyclists can be among some of the most poorly balanced and restricted athletes on the planet because the act of cycling can facilitate these restrictions in mobility.  This is why there'll be a predominant focus on mobility in this module.

What do I mean by 'mobility'?

This module won't be simply be about stretching.  In fact, there are many resources out there that are adequate "how-to's" on how to simply go through a stretching routine.  Stretching routines have always struck me as a very general way to improve your body because it's just one dimension of fixing the movement problem.  In this module I want to go beyond a generic, one-size-fits-all athletic stretching program and give cyclists a solid resource on how to fix problems, so you'll notice that most of the exercises will focus on more than just stretching or flexibility.This module is entirely geared towards cyclists and the issues that we face every day on and off the bike, so the exercises will be specifically built for cyclists and their particular issues.  You'll find that for the most part these won't be the typical exercises you're used to seeing.  Everything about them is purpose built to address the flexibility, stability, and motor control requirements of the bike.This might be a good time to lay down some vocabulary terms before we go any further.Flexibility: the quality of bending easily without breaking.  the ability to be easily modified.  willingness to change or compromise.Mobility:  the ability to move or be moved freely and easily.Stability: firmness, solidity, steadiness, strength, security, safetyAt first glance, flexibility and mobility seem to be pretty much the same thing, but there is a distinct difference.  Flexibility is how much freedom of movement or range of motion do you have at each joint.  This has directly to do with the muscles and ligaments surrounding the joint.  Mobility is special because it's about the ability 'to move or be moved' and carries an element of stability and strength with it, because we also need to have joint stability in order for the body to easily and efficiently move through its range.This is why mobility is affected by more than stretching.  I see mobility as the combination of flexibility and stability since one allows the other.Likewise, stability is more complex than just 'strength'.  There is an aspect of coordination involved  since the muscles need to work in sequence and at the proper time in order to do their job.  Strength and power have more to do with being able to push weight around; strength has to do with how much weight a muscle can push, and power is how fast we can push a given weight.It's not hard to see why these terms are misused in the tangled web of relationships between these three terms of flexibility, mobility and stability.  Some basic truths to consider:

• To have mobility you must have some flexibility.
• You can be flexible but still not mobile if you don't have stability to allow the correct movement and resist the movements you don't want.
• And finally, you can be very stable and yet have little mobility or flexibility: inflexible and immobile people tend to be stable -- to a fault.

In an ideal world we'd want to have enough flexibility to go slightly beyond the maximum range of motion requirements of our sport (but not necessarily much more than that), and have plenty of stability to move smoothly and evenly.One final point is that stability comes from active and passive sources.  Passive stability can come from the tightness in the ligaments that surround our joints as well as the orientation of our skeleton and how this causes our joints to be positioned at different stages of movement.  Active stability come mostly from our muscles; specifically when and how much they fire in order to control a given motion.  It's feasible that we could be decreasing our passive stability as we work on some flexibility exercises while at the same time increasing our active stability with some neuro-muscular exercises.  In the short term this may seem like a "wash" as far as stability goes, but it likely will result in more (and better) mobility since the muscles are now better able to guide proper movement further into our range.This is why we're not simply working on stretches.  We don't want to only improve flexibility, we want better mobility.

What about the "Neuro System"? How's that fit in?

Things are always more complicated than they seem. As I mentioned, this program is a lot more than just stretching. These training exercises are all focused on changing the structure and function of the muscles and joints, but they're specifically chosen because they provide  opportunities to re-build the system from the ground up by hitting the nervous system. In fact we can accelerate our progress by thinking about the nervous system and making it a priority in our training plan.Here's what I mean.Certain exercises will provide a bigger punch to our central nervous system. Those requiring many finely controlled movements done in proper order, that naturally take us through many functional postures are the ones that will be capable of making the biggest impact on our balance and symmetry.My favorite is the first exercise I'll present here -- the Turkish Get-Up (TGU). It's a unique exercise because it can be just as useful when done with heavy weight in an effort to improve gross power, or with little to no weight at all and done merely to retrain basic motor patterns. Because it moves through so many postures I see it as a great way to "restore us to factory default" status. What I mean by this is that as we develop unbalanced or sub-optimal movement patterns as a result of our everyday life, we can use the TGU to help us reset and find our more normal and healthy movement pattern again. More on that in a bit, but first I want to dig into why it's so important to

The Unique Biomechanical Example of the Bicycle

Cycling has very specific mechanical requirements, and from a flexibility and mobility standpoint they're actually pretty limited.  It doesn't require a lot of motion from any of the joints in the body.  The shoulders only need to be able to flex to roughly 90°, the elbows just need to be able to straighten fully, and the wrists need some ability to extend.  None of these requirements is very extreme, so why is it necessary to work on mobility in the upper extremity?  A couple reasons:First, we're attached to this machine at our hands, our butt, and our feet.  This causes a lot of effects from one body part to another.  This is called regional interdependence, and it's important in all human movement, but especially so on the bike."Regional Interdependence:   the concept that seemingly unrelated impairments in a remote anatomical region may contribute to, or be associated with, the patient's primary complaint."Or more simply: that a motion at one joint will change or affect the movement at all the joints, even those that are distant.  The ankle can affect the shoulder, and vice versa.If I have a sore toe, I might turn my foot out to the side when I walk so I don't put weight on it.  I'll have to rotate my hip out to do this, which will twist my lower spine, which in turn will require a counter-twist from the upper spine.  This then leads to one shoulder blade moving in which will make my arm swing uneven as I walk.  All are relatively small adjustments that run up and down the body.  This applies to an even greater degree on the bike because we're attached to the bike at so many more spots that there ends up being a greater number of 'push/pull' scenarios.With our hands attached to the handlebars, a small restriction in the wrist can cause the elbow to sit at angle slightly different than the other side, but since both arms need to reach the handlebars and both sides of the pelvis need to contact the saddle, this small elbow position difference will lead to a difference in the shoulder and shoulder blade posture, which causes an unevenness in the spine, and often leads to the pelvis sitting skewed on the saddle -- so that one sit bone actually rests further forward than the other on the seat.This small wrist issue now has the potential to create a much larger problem with the rider's saddle discomfort.  This kinetic sequence where forces pinball up and down the body won't usually stop there -- having one side of the pelvis further forward can cause the hips and knees to track unevenly through the pedal stroke as well as the feet and ankles to move in different patterns on each side.Having three distinct areas of weight-bearing presents other issues as well, more associated with simply the act of taking the weight through multiple joints at the same time.  It introduces a large requirement on the trunk muscles to provide more stability so that our arms and legs can push and pull more effectively.Additionally bearing weight through a joint, like those of the arms, requires those joints to be in a posture that allows their muscles to be most effective.  Muscles are strongest in the middle of their range, so a limitation in a joint can create a narrower range that the joint is effective in.  A weak/unbalanced group of muscles or a restricted joint -- both scenarios can decrease the margin of error we have with the setup of our bike, which only increases the likelihood of bike fit problems.

Where do these problems come from?

An important question to answer is how do all these problems arise?  If we know where they originated from then perhaps we'll have a better idea of how to fix them in certain scenarios or possibly keep them from occurring in others.Unfortunately for many, full and complete correction isn't feasible --  we've already come too far and the idea of preventing them from happening in the first place is an idea whose ship has sailed.  We began to develop these problems during puberty, and sometimes even earlier, and have only reinforced them in adulthood.  Some relate to habits, which we'll get to in a minute, but others may have begun with some insult or injury.  For instance, if you had a habit of spraining an ankle in sports, this can lead to poor balance on that leg.  One-leg, or unilateral balance is a major requirement of a normal and balanced running stride, so a balance impairment may cause you to spend more time on the ground with that foot which makes your stride uneven.  This unevenness of stride can lead to imbalances in hamstrings, hip flexors, and abductors among other muscles and will bleed into other movements.

Habits

The single largest cause is our own bad habits.  Specifically our movement habits.  This comes down to very small details in our every day life.These tiny details are the most influential, but they're also the toughest to correct.  They are unconscious movements and as such can get ingrained into our daily routine without us ever being aware.  What hand do we eat with?  What foot do we use most often to lead with going up and down stairs?  When we stand do we tend to shift our weight to one leg more than the other?  Which armrest do we lean on when driving?All of these tiny details when added up over time lead to preferential movement patterns and eventually differences in strength, coordination, flexibility, stability etc on one side or in one limb or in one muscle group.It is a bit of a "chicken or the egg" scenario with these habits.  Do they cause our movement limitations?  Or are they the result of our movement limitations?  In many circumstances it's impossible to know for sure, and on some level it doesn't matter that much.  We know that they should be addressed when possible to minimize problems moving forward.When trying to correct them, it can help to think of these small tendencies as existing in two groups -- tonic and phasic tendencies.  We likely do both of them unconsciously, but they exist on different levels.  I'm not referring to tonic and phasic muscles in this case, but you can make a case that more phasic muscles are involved in our phasic tendencies and vice versa.  I use this terminology to refer to the tendencies that we do at a low amplitude but for a long time (tonic) versus those that we do at a much higher amplitude for short periods (phasic).Leaning more on the right armrest in the car?  Tonic tendency.Always picking up heavy objects with your left arm underneath them?  Phasic tendency.Sitting on the couch with your left leg tucked underneath you?  Tonic.Managing a large step always with your right leg?  Phasic.The phasic tendencies are also difficult to correct but at least they're easier to see.Another movement habit that is increasingly becoming a problem is our lack of movement.  The sedentary-ness of our lifestyles, even among the athletic ones among us is quickly creating of the issues that I see every day in my fit studio.  Many of us work in jobs that foster or demand an environment where we sit for many hours a day.  This isn't news to anyone and neither are the results of this lifestyle:  Weak hips, abdominals, and upper back muscles.  Tight hip flexors, hamstrings, pectorals.Cycling doesn't punish these deficiencies in  the same way as other physical activities, because it causes many of the same patterns -- trunk flexion, hip flexion, rounded shoulders -- leading to the same problems.  So the detriment here is that cycling perpetuates this unathletic posture and makes us even more susceptible to injury because it doubles down on our movement imbalance.  This is why, in my experience the desk jockey that continually adds mileage and intensity in training without addressing their deficits in some way is almost assured of breaking down on the bike at some point.If you're here you probably don't need to be convinced to do something about these movement foibles.  The question is what should we do?Some people choose to do nothing about it and roll the dice.  Actually most people choose this option.We could also take the shotgun approach and just throw a bunch of random exercises at the problem.  The random route may actually improve some issues.   After people who do nothing, this is what the next biggest group does.  But doing this wastes a lot of time and it doesn't fix much which results in people dropping the random exercises altogether at some point and joining the "do nothing" party.So we need to stay focused on the main problems that we have.  But there's another problem that needs to be overcome -- many times we may be doing an exercise that addresses the main problem, but it doesn't do so in the right way.  For instance, if there is a problem with hip abductor effectiveness and the exercise(s) in place may work on strength but they don't enhance the coordination or improve the motor plan of that muscle group, you may never get the benefit of that increased hip strength.  This is where we start to see the shortcomings of the "usual" exercises.The usual exercises don't cut it for cyclists because as a group we develop very particular movement problems, and cycling has very specific requirements compared to other sports.  Having an exercise tailored to our problem AND our sport is critical.So without further pretense, we can jump into:

The Upper Back Series

The upper back is an oft forgotten area especially among cyclists, but it's acutely affected by our habitual movements and postures.When we consider cycling from a biomechanical standpoint, leg motion predominates, but there's a lot going on through the neck and upper back on the bike despite things looking pretty stationary.As you might guess, the upper body has a lot of stabilization duties, but mobility and flexibility play an important role.  For instance, the pro cyclist's aggressive riding posture has more than an aerodynamic reasoning behind it.  The longer and lower hand position places the torso in a mechanically advantageous position so that the hip extensors (gluteal muscles) can  exert more force during the pedal stroke.  But, the big caveat from a bike fitting perspective is whether the rider has the strength through the torso and upper body, as well as enough mobility to make this a viable position.  If the demands of the position for stability and mobility exceed what the rider is capable of then the position won't be powerful or efficient, and is likely to cause a lot of pain as well.  This is the pickle that many recreational cyclists get themselves into when they try to set their bike up like their favorite pro.The cornerstone of this upper body is the shoulder blade.  For many years I have noted the shoulder blade, AKA scapula, as the most important link in the chain of the upper body.  If there are problems with the position or movement of the scapula, then there will be more problems with the rest of the bike fit -- especially at the handlebars and the seat.Looking at the scapula and the upper back as a region we not only have to consider all the muscles that attach to the scapula (rhomboids, trapezius, levator scap, serratus anterior, all of the rotator cuff, etc etc), but also the paraspinals that run along the thoracic spine, the muscles at the front of the neck and chest as well.All of these areas are connected -- remember our regional interdependence rule -- and even though there isn't a lot of overt movement through the upper body, one area relies on the other.  As mentioned earlier, cycling reinforces some of the same poor postures we have during sitting and desk work.  Because of this the upper body can fall very quickly into a passive position on the bike and develop weaknesses and habits that'll create discomfort and inefficiency on the bike.There is a cascade of effects when we sit or slouch that encompasses the entire upper body from the mid back to the base of the skull and into the front of the chest.  Common examples of these cascades:Keyboarding and desk work can lead to,

• Weak scapular muscles and subsequently tight pectoral (chest) muscles, which creates
  • Tight neck/cervical muscles, which can lead to
    • poor rib mobility, which leads to
      • compromised breathing strategies

• Poor shoulder blade mobility leads to
  • compromised rotator cuff muscles, causing
    • the shoulders to be most stable in elevation (shrugged up by your ears), which on the bike causes
      • neck discomfort and makes it more difficult to properly stabilize through the abdominals

• Poor shoulder blade stability or control can lead to
  • rigid arms with straight elbows, which causes
    • more vibration to run through the hands and arms, leading to
      • neck and shoulder discomfort, hand numbness and (again) compromised trunk stability

These are not small problems.  These are large, very common issues that many of us face every day on our bikes, and they need to be addressed if we want to avoid a lot of negative symptoms on the bike.Why might you need this series?There are dozens or perhaps hundreds of on-the-bike symptoms that can stem directly from upper body mechanics.  All the usual aches and pains you might think of in that part of the body are the easy low hanging fruit -- numb hands, neck discomfort, back pain.  But there's a very real possibility that your saddle or lower body problems can, in direct and indirect ways, be exacerbated by the upper body.I'd like to clear up something about the nature of cycling and what's expected as far as discomfort.  Many riders incorrectly assume that most aches and pains are just to be expected when riding the bike.  That they're some form of "tough guy" dues every cyclist has to pay.  While it's true that we shouldn't expect riding a bike to be as comfortable as sitting in a lounge chair, what many cyclists perceive as normal is actually avoidable.So what's normal?If you've been locked in the same position on a climb for 45 minutes and haven't moved, I would expect that you'd have some saddle discomfort or hand numbness for starters.  This is just the result of poor posture management since small position changes every 10 minutes or so is expected.  By slightly altering hand position or standing up off the saddle to pedal for a few strokes, symptoms should be kept at pretty much "zero".  But if we do these position changes and the symptoms keep occurring, then we have a real problem.Nothing too earth shattering or controversial about this, right?But there are more subtle problems that a huge number of cyclists experience (and usually dismiss) that result from faulty mechanics of the upper body.  Here are a few questions to discern whether you might be one of these cyclists:Does your bike get slightly less comfortable on long rides?  Not in a standard fatigue sort of way, but almost like the top tube is slowly getting longer, making the reach to the handlebar just a tiny bit tougher late in a ride?Do you only have problems on the bike after riding for one hour? Two?  Three or more?  A bike tht feel's great for an hour and then beins to slowly digresses is a problem.  It's one thing to have this discomfort at hour two when you haven't ridden this long with any consistency.  But when it keeps happening ride after ride....Feel okay during the ride and then have aches and pains afterwards?  This can be any consistent soreness (independent of fitness level), but having unilateral (one-sided) discomfort the hours or days after a ride is a very telling sign.Does your bike handle poorly especially when descending?  Does it have a "speed wobble"?  Do you have difficulty smoothly moving it into the apex of a turn?Do you catch yourself having to continually scoot back on the saddle because your hips slowly drift forward?Many cyclists will recognize more than one of these scenarios and not see it as a problem that can be fixed.  Often these problems are just considered normal -- but they shouldn't be.  There is a solution.  These exercises will solve even the hidden or less obvious issues.Next, we'll go through all the exercises in detail, videos included.*****Do you experience hand numbness?  We're often trying new gloves, bar tape, carbon handlebars, gel padding and more to fix this, but often the real problem lies within the rider themselves.  All the equipment and position changes in the won't remedy all the hand numbness.  In fact, I don't find new gloves or tape to be particularly effective.  A good bike fit can remedy many instances, but often dedicated body work is necessary.pre-existing injury -- shoulder, upper back, CTS,desk job at work -- upper crossed syndrome; tight pecs and anterior neck muscles; fwd head, rounded shouldersCyclists who experience neck and shoulder pain especially will want to work on this portion.  Nagging pain in the muscles just to the side of the spine near the should blade is very common and definitely would benefit from this group of exercises.Many of the cyclists I see also have headaches or have difficulty turning their head to look behind them on the bike.*****

Some of these exercises might look familiar to you.  But I guarantee most will have a twist that makes them more focused or specific to a particular cycling limitation.

Turkish Get-Up (TGU)

Despite the fact that this isn't strictly an upper body exercise, I want to include it first because I find it to be extremely useful. There's a lot of bang for your buck with this movement, and while it's not simple, it's also pretty easy to learn with a bit of practice. Through it's series of movements the lats and scapular stabilizers are used, as well as the gluteals, and abdominals. And each of these areas is used multiple times in different planes and circumstances for a pretty varied effort.I find the TGU to be especially useful because it can be done with weights, but also doing it with little or no weight can still be effective for different reasons. What could we be accomplishing without weight? As I mentioned previously, the sequence of movements in a TGU is excellent at hitting the "reset" button on our movement patterns. Taking care and moving purposefully through all the movements reinforces certain muscles and patterns to work which can improve our overall motor plan and posture. I've found the TGU to be useful in this way after I've been working on my mobility and stability through the exercises in this program. After an exercise session I'll finish with a few lightly weighted TGUs and this seems to help me to hang on to the gains in posture and mobility that the work has done.

Towel Roll

There are two separate variants here that have different goals in mind.  The transverse version, where the roll is oriented perpendicular to the spine, is mostly about thoracic mobility.  The ability of the thoracic spine to move freely is closely tied withthe scapula's ability to protract and retract.  Holding on to the handlebars requires something from each of these structures in concert.  If a rider struggles to move their thoracic spine into and out of flexion then either more movement will be required from the scapula or the reach to the handlebars will be more challenging.The longitudinal variant is more layered.  Thoracic mobility is still one of the effects, however there's much more important end goal that involves scapular mobility and control, and upper trunk stabilization.Password: towelroll2https://vimeo.com/197302304

Transverse:

Begin with a foam roll or just a rolled up towel -- something firm and about three to four inches in diameter and at least 15 inches long.  Place it even with the bottom of the shoulder blade, perpendicular to the spine, and allow your body to settle onto the roll.  The thoracic spine will pivot at the point where it contacts the roll and you may feel pressure as it mobilizes this segment.  You can support your head and neck with a small pillow if needed, but simply try to lay there and breathe deeply which will further enhance the mobilization.Then move your arms along the ground until they're straight out at your side in the "T" position and repeat your breathing work.Finally bring the arm directly overhead and repeat.  This position is generally more challenging to relax and feel the stretch of the roll, but stick with it and try to breathe as relaxed as possible.This entire breathing and arm position sequence should be repeated with the roll at different places along the spine, so move the roll up slightly and go again.  It's a good idea to work through three to five different spots along the spine and some spots will elicit more symptoms, the most common being a sharp, but tolerable ache in the spine that fluctuates as you breath.

Longitudinal:

In this version, the roll will be right along the spine running from the top of the shoulder blade down.  First lay on it with your arms at your sides and your head resting on the floor (or if it's too far to the floor, support  the head on a shallow pillow).  You should feel the roll lifting the spine and the shoulder blades drop down toward the ground, and in some cases they might contact the roll as they gently pinch closer together.Next slide the arms slowly along the ground until you're in a "T" position -- you might feel the shoulder blades move or pinch closer together.Let this stretch settle for about 10-15 seconds, and then, keeping both arms straight, lift them off the ground and toward the ceiling.  As you do so, lift the shoulder blades and round the shoulders (this is called protraction of the shoulder blades) as your hands reach for the ceiling at shoulder width.  You will notice your abdominals and pec muscles contract to lift and hold you in this position.  Focus on holding your hands and arms in a manner similar to how you would address the handlebars on your bike.  Hold for anywhere from 5-10 seconds and then lower the shoulder blades first, and un-round your shoulders until the scapulas are  retracted back toward the roll.  Then lower the arms back to the ground. Doing the shoulder blade motion first will enhance motor control learning for the reaching posture.After doing these from the "T" position, move the arms overhead and again first allow the shoulder blades to settle down toward the ground and as close to the roll as possible.  Do the best you can to keep the shoulder blades depressed -- unshrug your shoulders to keep them from your ears.  Only then should you begin to lift your arms toward the ceiling and protract the shoulders.  It's important to fully settle into this starting position first so that we get the benefit of the full range of motion of the shoulder blades and thoracic spine.Do anywhere from 5-15 repetitions from each position, depending on your toleranceIf your roll is shallow and your shoulder blades contact the ground or you're having trouble feeling them retract toward the roll in the starting position, you may want to increase the size of the roll to suit your needs better.This exercise does particularly good job of mobilizing the thoracic spine and shoulder blades, while allowing the shoulder blades to move through their greatest available range of motion (in the process informing you how this "feels") and begin to teach you how to stabilize the whole system through this motion.  Because we have such little movement of the arms and upper body on the bike, we don't get a lot of feedback from the muscles and joints.  This feedback is critical for motor control and stabilization, so cyclists tend to get "lazy upper bodies" the more we ride.  We lose the sense and feel of controlling these joints and tissues and can fall into bad patterns and habits that cause numb hands, neck and shoulder pain, and even saddle problems.

Self Hugs:

Now that you can feel your shoulder blade movement we can take advantage of that new ability and get more out of the rest of these exercises.  The self-hugs are a great example.  Without prior sense of how the scapulas move this exercise would be one dimensional.  Now it can be an exercise that stretches the shoulder, scapula, cervical and thoracic spine.Because cyclists have to reach for the handlebars, the more and the easier our scapular motion is, the better we're able to reach without affecting other joints -- for instance by pulling through the spine and moving the pelvis forward on the seat.  Essentially, the more pure movement we have at the required joint, the less we're pulled out of position through other joints.This is a relatively simple exercise that, once you get some practice with the starting position, can be leveraged into an effective stretch of the important muscles that attach the shoulder blades to the spine.  It's a rare opportunity because these are very difficult muscles to move sometimes.Password: selfhug3https://vimeo.com/197295712This exercise is done in sitting -- you can use a chair, but I prefer to sit cross-legged on the floor as it provides an added layer of challenge to my trunk muscles.  Begin by gently moving the shoulder and shoulder blades gently back and forth, as you round and arch your upper back.  Pinch them together and then reach in front of you, crossing the arms reaching with each hand for the back of the  opposite shoulder.  Once you have hold, you can try to "walk" the hands further back in order to get a slightly better grip.  It should look as if you're giving yourself a hug.From here, breathe deeply to expand the chest and ribs and feel the movement in the center of the upper back.  Next, rotate through the spine turning your upper body to one side and then the other slowly.  You should be simply trying to turn your upper body to one side and then the other.  After moving through a couple rotations this way you can begin to change the stretch to try and rotate your shoulder toward the opposite knee -- this will add in a flexion component along with the rotation and might stretch the tissues on the lower end of the shoulder blade.Try to hold each rotation anywhere for 5-20 seconds depending on your tolerance.Continue to try to reach with your hands further towards the back of your shoulders (again, by walking the hands back) to more aggressively stretch these inter-scapular muscles.

Cross 1st rib exercise

Ever get a "kink" in your neck and have trouble turning toward one side?  Or maybe have some aching or pain in the muscles behind one shoulder at the base of the neck?Often, even though we may attribute this to "neck" or "shoulder" pain, the culprit can often be our first or uppermost rib.  It's a bit of an unknown quantity to most because it lives directly at the base of the neck, buried under the upper trap muscle, but it's involved with movement from shoulder, scapula, cervical and thoracic spine.  When it gets "stuck" it can affect all of these joints.I'm going to show a simple mobilization as well as one that's a bit more advanced.Password: 1stribhttps://vimeo.com/197225776

Simple

Begin in sitting, again I prefer sitting cross-legged on the ground, but a chair will work fine.  Stretch both arms out to your sides in a "T" position, and bend the right elbow to 90°, palm facing forward and then rotate your head towards the left arm.  Hold about 10-20 seconds and then slowly reverse the position so that you then have your head turned toward the right arm, which should now be straight, and bend the left elbow to 90°.  Move slowly back and forth between these two opposing postures, making sure that you keep your torso upright and your shoulders back -- don't slouch.  Repeat this 3-10 times to each side.  Remember to move slowly and pause at the extremes of the motion.

Advanced

This version can be done in either the side plank or lateral star position.Get into side plank by laying on the ground on one side, then lean on one elbow, bent to 90 and lift your whole body up so that only the arm and the outside of your foot and ankle are contacting the ground.Lateral star position is similar to side plank except that now only the hand and outside of the foot should be contacting the ground; elbow straight.I prefer the lateral star as I get a better stretch with it.  Assume either position and make sure that you have a strong posture through the shoulder blades -- don't allow them to get lazy and retract toward the spine.  Once stable, slowly turn your head to one side and then the other.  Move slowly and pause at the extreme of each motion (again 10-20 seconds) to maximize the stretch, but don't force your neck into any contortions.  Most people are going to be limited in how long they can hold these positions, not by how many times they can turn their head, and your form and posture is important.  You'll want to stop and take a break before you fatigue too much and your form suffers.These can be effective when you have a "kink" in the neck, and even if you don't experience this often I find most athletes, cyclist or not, can benefit from this exercise  Specifically though, looking over the shoulder for traffic while on the bike is very challenging for many riders so there's a lot to be gained in comfort and safety with improving this mobility.

Biceps Stretch:

The biceps is a muscle that we don't give a lot of thought to as cyclists. Velo-athletes aren't exactly known for their huge arms and often only flex their biceps when joking around.But the biceps is a deceptively important muscle.  In rehabilitation arenas it's known as an additional rotator cuff muscle and it plays a larger role on the bike.  It has to have the proper length (or flexibility) and stability in order to coordinate with the other shoulder muscles to stabilize the shoulder whike at the same time be able to open up enough to allow the elbow to straighten adequately. Notice that I didn't say that the elbow has to straighten fully -- in fact we don't want the elbow straight and that's where the importance with the biceps comes from.  The elbow should remain flexed a few degrees when we're hanging on to the handlebars but also relaxed.  The only way for this to happen is if the shoulder is stable enough to act as an adequate platform.  Since the biceps is one of the few muscles to cross the shoulder and elbow joint, it has special responsibilities in making this happen.If the biceps doesn't have enough flexibility this can cause the shoulder an scapula to elevate (trying to establish some passive stability through the upper extremity) causing us to sit for longs periods on the bike with our shoulders scrunched up by our ears.  Biceps problems can lead to a number of symptoms on the bike including neck and upper back discomfort, hand numbness, shoulder pain and even a bike that handles poorly.  Poor bike handling often surprises people as an effect, but by not having proper suppleness or mobility through the upper body we lose the ability to quickly and smoothly make small changes of pressure on the handlebars.  Small changes are what's required for subtle and intuitive handling.Password: biceps1https://vimeo.com/197222582How To:  Start on the ground in long sitting -- legs straight out in front of you and feet together.  Keeping your arms straight, place your hands behind your hips, palms on the floor and fingers facing behind you.  You can either walk your hands back further behind you and keep your hips stationary, or walk the hips forward and keep the hands in place.  Either way, you're trying to get your hands further behind your hips while keeping the arms and torso straight.  The goal is to make close to a 90° angle with your torso and arm, but special attention needs to be paid to keeping the elbows and back straight -- don't let the spine slump or slouch or the elbows bend.As you move further into this position you should feel a stretch along the biceps up to the front of the shoulder.  The biceps muscles crosses both the shoulder and elbow joints so feeling the pull up into the shoulder is ideal.  Hold the stretch for 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on your tolerance and repeat at least three times.

Nerve Glides:

I'm guessing that nerves aren't the first tissue that you think of when I mention mobility and flexibility on the bike.  They seem static and unchanging as they simply do their job if transmitting impulses from the brain to the body.  In fact, they are subject to many of the same forces that muscles, tendons and other soft tissues are.  I won't be going into an in depth exploration if the anatomy of the nervous system, but you need to understand a few things about them.First, nerves move.  They don't stretch like muscles but they do have to slide within the protective tube that they run in.  Poor posture, habit and injury can lead to kinks in this tubing that pinch down on the nerve.  Additionally the nerve can get "stuck" to the inside lining of the tube.  This is a dramatic oversimplification of the process but it's descriptive enough to give you the idea of what's going on.With strategic stretching (or mobilization, which is often the preferred term) we can free up the nerve from these entanglements and get it moving again.  Doing this will decrease the intensity, frequency or duration of any numbness, shooting pain, or "buzzing" symptoms we may experience on the bike.Another important point is that nerves have tremendous "memory".  I don't mean literal memory, but rather that a nerve that's irritated or pinched for a period of time will continue to send these signals of discomfort even after the irritation has been removed.For instance, a number if years ago I was re-roofing my house by myself and for 2 weeks, a few hours a day I was squatting down to pull and replace decking, sheeting, and shingles.  In squatting this way I was putting pressure on a nerve that runs just on the outside of my knee and supplies the outside of my calf with sensation.  I only noticed towards the end of the two weeks that I was numb in a small patch on the outside of the calf.  Even though I had only done this for periods over the course of two weeks that numbness persisted for more than three months!The last thing to understand about nerves is that while one area of nerve irritation will cause "X" amount of symptoms, if there are two areas of irritation then the symptoms don't simply grow to "2X" but sometimes can be much higher.  This is called the double crush phenomenon.  For instance, a cyclist may have an element of carpal tunnel at the wrist pinching down on the median nerve, causing numbness on the first three or four fingers.  If this cyclist also has some arthritis in the neck, with some nerve root irritation, even if the neck pinch is barely enough to cause symptoms on it's own, these two areas can combine to cause much more severe hand issues.Hand symptoms are what we most often think about in the bike when numbness and tingling are discussed.  And we often look locally for the problem -- at the hands and wrists themselves.  But it's critical to realize that while, yes, often we have some degree of nerve impingement in the wrists (carpal tunnel exists in degrees and because we keyboard so much these days many of us have some amount if it) there can easily be impingement at the elbow, the shoulder or neck that's providing a second source of irritation.Had a shoulder injury or surgery?  Any neck arthritis?  Tennis or golfer's elbow?  These problems can just as likely be causing your numb, tingling hands as much as anything happening at the wrist.Due to all of these factors we want to mobilize the nerve along its entire length to give ourselves the best chance of getting the symptoms into submission.Password: nnglidehttps://vimeo.com/197293018How To: Lie on your back  on a bed or table with one side close to the edge.  With the arm straight, raise it out to the side off the bed and let it drop slightly below the bed.Note: If you have difficulty tolerating the arm dropping to far down in this way, you may need to have someone help you support the arm (or just arrange a chair or pillows to support it) so it can't drop down toward the ground excessively before you continue.Next, pull  the shoulder back into the bed (moving the shoulder blade into retraction, make an extra effort to fully straighten the elbow and slowly and gently extend the wrist until you feel a pull, stretch or "buzzing" sensation somewhere in the arm.  The most likely places for these sensations are the palm, the wrist, in the crease of the elbow, in the bicep or front of the shoulder.  We're distinctly going for more than the feel of a muscular stretch -- the sensation with mobilizing a nerve can range from a mild buzzing to an uncomfortable, achey twangey feeling.  In many instances it can feel distasteful, but there is no reason that this should be a horrible, painful discomfort.  Move mildly and gingerly into the wrist extension.It can also be a good idea to test out different portions of the nerve, which is a lot easier than it might sound.  If you want to move it more through the wrist, then ease up on how low you drop the arm toward the ground and how high up you abduct the should (how high it moves toward your head) and increase the amount of wrist extension.  Want to test it further up the arm?  Increase the abduction and how close to the ground it gets and ease up on the wrist extension.A more advanced iteration involves testing the nerve closer to the root of the nerve where it exits the spine.  Do this by slowly turning and tilting your head and neck away from the arm you're stretching.We want to oscillate in and out of the stretch slowly rather than performing one prolonged hold.  So move the wrist (or neck) slowly and gingerly on a 5-count and bring it back to neutral on a 5-count and repeat this 5-10 times to complete 1 set.  Bring the entire arm out of the stretch before doing another set.  Do 3-5 sets total.

Wrist Weight-Bearing:

This set of exercises may seem antithetical to what I just got done explaining about nerves and how the wrist shouldn't be the sole focus when it comes to hand issues on the bike.  But we need to focus on it some because there are still major gains to be had myFollowing the common theme of tissues or motions that we don't often think about -- wrist motion is in that same boat.  Specifically how much we can flex and extend the wrists while weight bearing on them is off most cyclists radar, but it ends up being extremely important to our hand health in the bike.The following wrist exercises won't be easy, comfortable, nor are they likely to work quickly.  We're dealing with tissues, namely ligaments around the wrist, that can be exceptionally strong and tight due to all the aforementioned work we do in a daily basis with our hands, like driving, keyboarding, and holding on to our handlebars.  It will take time and patience, but there are large gains possible.Fixing bodies can be difficult work, and we often have to cause some of the very symptoms we're trying to get rid of, in a controlled way, in order to improve.  Any cyclists out there who experience hand issues, these exercises will cause some buzzing, tingling, and/or numbness in the early stages, but there's tremendous upside in progressively doing this.  By being consistent we can create more room in the wrist and decrease pressure on the nerves running through it to the hand.  We are increasing the margin of error for the wrist and hand.  If we rest on the bike with our wrist in 20° of wrist extension, but we only have 37° of wrist extension then our position on the bike has us more than halfway through our available range.  But with stretching if we can improve our extension to 50°, now we're only 40% into out total motion, which is much less likely to see the wrist ligaments tighten as much which would then put less pressure on all the tendons and nerves that run inside that wrist joint.There are four variations of this exercise -- none necessarily more advanced than any of the others, just different mobilizations -- and all can be done in kneeling.The four variations are: palms down fingers forward, palms down fingers back, palms up fingers forward, and palms up fingers back.Password: wristwbhttps://vimeo.com/197303485How To:  As you could have guessed, with the first version begin on your knees with palms on the ground, fingers spread and facing forward or out in front of you.  Start with your shoulders and elbow behind the hands.  Keeping the elbows straight, lean forward, bearing more weight o the hands and wrists while at the same time extending the wrists.  Lean into this stretching, weight-bearing posture gently and steadily for about 5 seconds and then relax.  Do this 5-10 times before moving on to the next movement.Next, keeping the palms flat on the floor, rotate the shoulders so that your fingers are now pointing towards you.  This time the shoulders should start in front of the hands and by leaning back a stretch will be created on the forearms and wrist.Rinse and repeat for the final two positions.  With the backs of the hands on the ground and the palms up extra focus needs to be placed on keeping the elbows straight, but all the same rules apply.  Fingers pointed toward you, lean back to elicit the stretch, fingers away, lean forward.This series should be taken slowly especially if you have any medical history at the wrist or hand.  Carpal tunnel syndrome, previous wrist or forearm fractures aren't necessarily reasons to skip these altogether but they are good reasons to proceed cautiously.  Play it safe and take your time, and chances are good that you can do these effectively.

Elbow push-ups

In actuality this exercise would technically be called "prone on elbows scapular protraction/retraction" but that doesn't really roll off the tongue.  Plus, Elbow Push-ups is more visually descriptive.This is yet another method of creating stability through the upper back and shoulder blades.  At the risk of beating a dead horse, if there's better recognition of scapular posture and control on (and off) the bike we minimize bike fit problems like hand numbness, shoulder and neck discomfort, and saddle issues, among others.  Because there is significant weight bearing through the arms in this exercise, it correlates very effectively with on-the-bike mechanics, creating a lot of carry-over into cycling posture.Just like push-ups these can be modified to make them accessible to all strength levels:Password: elbowpushup1https://vimeo.com/197230651How To:  The easiest iteration starts face down on the floor with elbows propped underneath the shoulders.  Allow the chest to drop down toward the ground which involves pinching the shoulder blades together.  Next, pushing the forearms into the ground, round your shoulders to create an arch through your upper back -- this will protract the shoulder blades.  Focus on tightening the muscles under your armpits and through the pecs -- which will help activate the lats, serratus anterior, and subscapularis -- as you hold this position for 5-15 seconds.   Don't just allow the chest to fall back down toward the ground -- it's important to  lower the torso slowly and control the descent using all those same muscles.  Perform anywhere from 10-30 repetitions, depending on your tolerance.To advance this exercise one step further, begin with only the forearms and knees in contact with the floor and repeat the same motion through the upper body.  More weight will be placed through the arms in this position, increasing the difficulty and more range of movement will also be required through the shoulder blades in order to push up and lower down without allowing the rest of the body to touch the ground.Make it even one step more difficult by contacting through the forearms  and the toes -- essentially a plank position.  All the same rules apply though as even more weight is put through the arms.It's important to not advance to the harder positions too quickly since there are many ways to compensate -- which is a nice way of saying "cheat" -- and this leads to a less effective result for the scapular muscles.  It's all too easy to be working very hard and hardly working the desired muscles at all.

Where do we start?

As I mentioned, I want this module to be more than just a generic exercise program.  After tailoring the exercises specifically to cycling and ferreting out the most common problems I've seen over the last 20 years, now I want to provide you with the tools to figure out how to choose the exercises that will give you the best return on your investment.  You could simply go through all of the exercises on a regular basis, but there are likely to be exercises in this series that, although they're not bad for you, there are others which could benefit from having more time alotted to them.  In my physical therapy practice I don't take the shotgun approach and load up clients with 40 minutes of daily movements to complete, for the simple reason that the longer the program gets, the less likely they're going to do it.  A focused approach will get us further.I like to apply the 80/20 analysis in these situations -- this is a theory that can be applied to just about any facet of our lives and refers to the idea that usually 20% of inputs usually produce 80% of the outcomes.  For example, it was originally discussed in the plant world when an economist with a green thumb noticed that 20% of the pea pods in his garden accounted for 80% of the harvest.So in our context: which 20% of the movements will get us 80% of the benefit?  There are some things that can help you narrow down your focus on and address only the movements that'll give you the most bang for your buck.

You have to do something....

Think of trying to improve your mobility and fix imbalances and weaknesses as a war.  You can't win a war without fighting, right?  So doing something is better than doing nothing.  Doing some form of mobility work, no matter what you do, is probably better than nothing.That said, if you go to war with a plan - a set of rules - your outcome will be much more likely.  If "A" happens then we'll attack "B" - but if "C" happens then we're better off doing "D".  You get the idea.It's no different with mobility.  For instance if you have a shoulder surgery in your past, you spend a lot of time in the computer at work and the biggest complaint on the bike is numb hands, then certainly focusing in the mobility work of the shoulder with the roll stretches, the nerve glides, and the wrist weight-bearing mobility exercises might be where you spend a lot of your time.The known problems are generally easy to tease out -- they're the low hanging fruit -- so they're a good place to start.But you're likely to have some limitations that you don't even know about.  In fact, this is the more common scenario.The best way to combat this, and find your unknown limitations is to simply go through all the exercises.  I know I just said that we don't want to rely on going through all the exercises, but this is a short-term proposition.  Doing this for just a few days will give us a tremendous amount of feedback because while these movements are effective exercises, they also serve very well as tests that make weaknesses apparent.  I recommend you set aside a little extra time the first couple days of using this module and begin by going through all the exercises.The first run-through will be mostly about familiarity, but you'll still see which movements give you the most trouble.  Generally your biggest limitations will be apparent first.On the second, third (or even fourth) full run-through you'll find new (and usually smaller) areas of difficulty.  Don't worry too much about trying to name the problem -- it's not strictly necessary that you know that the median nerve is adhesed at the elbow -- just knowing that you get a lot of pins and needles sensations when your elbow, wrist, and shoulder are in a certain position during the Nerve Glide exercise can be enough.  This just tells you that you need to work more often in this position.  This becomes an exercise that makes the cut into your daily routine.Here are some pain points -- a checklist of sorts -- for each exercise.  These questions might help you figure out if this exercise presents a big enough problem to include it in your daily routine:Towel Roll Transverse -- Is there a segment that's really difficult to breathe through -- nearly takes your breath away?  Any popping or cracking in the spine as you breath into the stretch?  Is it difficult to keep the arms flat on the ground in the "T" and overhead position without shoulder or chest pain?Towel Roll Longitudinal -- Difficult to keep the arms flat on the ground in the "T" and overhead position without shoulder or chest pain?  Can't pinch the shoulder blades together and contact the roll?  Can't "feel" or not sure if you're moving the shoulder blades forward as you reach toward the ceiling?Self-Hugs -- Can't get any part of either hand to hold onto the back of the shoulder?Biceps Stretch -- Can't make more than a 60° angle with your torso and arm?  Struggle to keep your elbows straight as you stretch?  Can't keep from rounding your back (slumping)?Nerve Glides -- Arm barely falling below parallel with the ground before having symptoms?  Do small amounts of wrist extension elicit symptoms?  Struggle to keep your elbow straight?Elbow Push-Ups -- Can't "feel" shoulder blade movement or not sure you're moving them enough?  Having trouble with slowly lowering back to the retracted shoulder position?  Can't do 5 reps of the version on the knees?Wrist Weight-Bearing -- Get hand or finger numbness with multiple positions?  Struggle to keep your elbows straight?  Can't get your shoulders over your hands in any position?

IFTTT (IF This...Then That)

So we know that we'll choose exercises based on previous injuries or common trouble areas and which exercises give us the most trouble based on the questions in the previous section.  Another way to determine which exercises to do is to take on-the-bike symptoms and correlate these to the exercises that are most likely to help.  While I can't provide a comprehensive "If this...then that.." table of which exercises to focus on for scenario, here are a few of the more common ones:Numb Hands -- Wrist Weight-Bearing, Nerve Glides, Biceps StretchShoulder/Neck/Upper Back Discomfort -- Towel Roll, Self-Hugs, Elbow Push-upsGeneral Saddle Discomfort -- Pike to Push-up (see Lower exercises), Elbow push-ups, Towel Roll, Self-HugsElbows are locked straight -- Towel Roll, Elbow Push-Ups, Biceps, StretchSliding forward on the saddle and have to routinely scoot back -- Pike to Push-Up, Self-Hugs, Towel RollA realistic goal is to aim for 10 minutes of work on 5 days a week or more.  More is better, but I prefer to start realistic and  the expectation of just 10 minutes a day is pretty palatable for most people.  This will allow you to get through anywhere from 3-5 exercises -- and remember these are our most critical, most effective movements.  One truth I've discovered over the years of prescribing exercise is that once a client establishes a habit of doing just 5-10 minutes of exercise a day, after a few weeks it becomes easy to move that time to 15 or even 20 minutes.  But try to start at 20 minutes per day and the likelihood of the client dropping the exercises altogether goes up exponentially.

Lower Body:  Hips and Low Back

While there are certainly other areas to focus on when addressing the lower body of a cyclist we can get a lot of mileage out of the hips and low back.  Primarily because this is the area that we require the most of during the pedaling cycle.The hips and low back are often the location of the crux if issues for problems in the bike because more is required of the hips and low back compared to the upper body.  We are even more likely to develop restrictions and limitations in the lower quarter due to our habits.It may look like the hips and knees are just flexing and extending, but there is a lot of choreography between the muscles of the trunk, hips and thigh.  Pedaling a bike is one of the fastest repetitive tasks we perform -- many cyclists pedal at 80-95 rpm which means there is a lot going on in a very short period of time.We need the ability to flex the hip, knee and spine as well as some pelvic mobility, which links together the hip and lumbar movement.Just as important we need specific elements of stability, control, and coordination as we move through the pedal stroke.In less than three-quarters of one second (the time a typical pedal stroke takes), the following has to happen:Starting with the power phase, the gluteals and quadriceps have to work together to begin to push down on the pedals, with some help from the latissumus muscles of the back to stabilize the pelvis and spine.  At the same time though the hip rotators and adductors also work in sequence to keep the knee tracking on it's most efficient path.  The hamstrings get more active as they are lengthening toward the bottom of the pedal stroke and they coordinate with the ankle muscles to usher the leg past the dead-bottom-center point smoothly.  Then with a combination of ankle dorsiflexors, hip flexors, pelvic and trunk stabilizers, the leg is able to move through the back side of the pedal stroke (the recovery phase).Keep in mind this is a drastically over-simplified version of all that's going on, but it's no less amazing that this happens in such a short period of time.

What is the "Lower Body"?

When we're addressing the "lower body" it can begin to get difficult to decide where to draw the line regarding what constitutes the lower body.  In this module I will consider anything below the ribs to be lower body.  Why break it up this way?  There are too many instances where the lower body relies on trunk stabilizers to ignore, so our definition of lower body will be fairly broad.As I mentioned before, the effect of regional interdependence is exceptionally impactful on the lower body as it is in much of cycling.  The idea that a small change in one segment of the body can have a profound effect on another more distant segment can be particularly complex and difficult to tease out in the lower body.One very common sequence is a small restriction in the lumbar spine limits rotation to one side, which causes the pelvis to sit crooked on the saddle, which leads to one hip sitting further into abduction, drawing that knee out to the side during the pedal stroke.  Of course this is one of many scenarios.  The effects can be felt from the top down as this one was originating in the spine and transmitting down through to the hips and knees, but it ca also work from the bottom up as well.  In many circumstances I've seen an issue originating in the muscles of the hip and causing effects in the spine (and beyond).Why you might need this series?Lower body symptoms -- like sore knees, numb toes, saddle trouble -- are what is more commonly associated with cycling.  But there's a very real possibility that your saddle or lower body problems can, in direct and indirect ways, be exacerbated by the upper body and vice versa.  We need to address the lower body to solve lower body problems, but we may also have to tackle the upper body as well.I'd like to clear up something about the nature of cycling and what's expected as far as discomfort.  Many riders incorrectly assume that most aches and pains are just to be expected when riding the bike.  That they're some form of "tough guy" dues every cyclist has to pay.  While it's true that we shouldn't expect riding a bike to be as comfortable as sitting in a lounge chair, what many cyclists perceive as normal is actually avoidable.So what's normal?If you've been locked in the same position on a climb for 45 minutes and haven't moved, I would expect that you'd have some saddle discomfort or hand numbness for starters.  This is just the result of poor posture management since small position changes every 10 minutes or so is expected.  By standing up off the saddle to pedal for a few strokes, symptoms should be kept at pretty much "zero".  But if we do these position changes and the symptoms keep occurring, then we have a real problem.Nothing too earth shattering or controversial about this, right?There are more subtle problems that a huge number of cyclists experience (and usually dismiss) that result from faulty mechanics.  Here are a few questions to discern whether you might be one of these cyclists:Does your bike get slightly less comfortable on long rides?  Not in a standard fatigue sort of way, but almost like the top tube is slowly getting longer, making the reach to the handlebar just a tiny bit tougher late in a ride?Do you only have problems on the bike after riding for one hour? Two?  Three or more?  A bike tht feel's great for an hour and then beins to slowly digresses is a problem.  It's one thing to have this discomfort at hour two when you haven't ridden this long with any consistency.  But when it keeps happening ride after ride....Feel okay during the ride and then have aches and pains afterwards?  This can be any consistent soreness (independent of fitness level), but having unilateral (one-sided) discomfort in the hours or days after a ride is a very telling sign.Does your bike handle poorly especially when descending?  Does it have a "speed wobble"?  Do you have difficulty smoothly moving it into the apex of a turn?Do you catch yourself having to continually scoot back on the saddle because your hips slowly drift forward?Many cyclists will recognize more than one of these scenarios and not see it as a problem that can be fixed.  Often these problems are just considered normal -- but they shouldn't be.  There is a solution.  These exercises will solve even the hidden or less obvious issues.Just performing a generic stretching routine won't cut it because of all the requirements listed above.  While working on and improving flexibility, developing a proper motor plan through stability and coordination is critical if we're to make any real sustainable progress.  I see many athletes work somewhat blindly on flexibility but fail to be able to take advantage of it because they haven't trained their body to use this motion in an effective way on the bike.  We may think of cycling as simple, but it requires power, stability, and coordination from numerous areas of the body which makes for a  complex motor plan.  We need to approach our off-the-bike work from this standpoint -- that we address all aspects of this motor plan.So let's go through all the exercises in detail, videos included.***

Turkish squat to HS stretch

Many of you may be familiar with the Turkish get-up.  It's a great multi-dimensional lifting movement, but this Turkish exercise has a different lineage.  The Turkish squat element comes from the Turkish toilet, which if you're unfamiliar, is basically a hole in the ground with a pole in front of it.  The idea is that you hold onto the pole, lean back and squat over the hole and do your business.  As primitive as this sounds to those of us in the West, for much of the world this is their plumbing.  And in some respects they may be better off with it:The rate of hip osteo-arthritis in many developing nations is a fraction of what it is in the US and the West in general.  Why?  Because we use chairs too much.  The logic goes that because they have to squat at least once a day into full hip flexion, this opens up the most inferior part of the hip's joint capsule delivering synovial fluid to it, keeping that part of the joint healthy.  We are rarely forced into this motion so this part of our hip joint is more prone to breaking down.This ends up being a side benefit of the exercise presented here because the main focus is on just being able to properly squat as deep as we're able and then in turn control pelvic motion to stretch the hamstrings once coming out of the squat position.Password: turk1https://vimeo.com/196359313How To: Find a sturdy pole or post to hang onto.  Anything stable will work -- one of the machines at the gym, a fence post or railing at home, whatever's handy.  Hold with both hands about waist high.  Leaning back slightly descend into as full a squat as you can, trying to get your butt to touch your heels.  It's okay if you can't do that, and some of you may really feel like you're pulling hard on the post and this is probably because you have tight heel cords.  That's okay, just try to hold this deep squat for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.  After the deep squat stretch, focus on tightening your rear end muscles first and begin to lift your hips up as your upper body continues to tip forward.  Continue to raise the hips and lower the shoulders until you find yourself in a standing forward bend type of hamstring stretch.  Hold this stretch for about 1 minute before returning to the squat position.This exercise creates full hip flexion range of motion and a hamstring stretch with gluteal activation in the middle.  Many cyclists are limited in their bike fit because they are limited in their maximum amount of smooth hip flexion and they can't initiate their gluteal muscles well enough when they're at the top of the pedal stroke.  By focusing on initiating the gluteal muscles while in a full squat, we're challenging that muscles group to work more at its end range.  If it can work at its end range then it'll be able to work more throughout the range, which means more power through the pedals.

Prayer to reach thru 

Trunk or spinal rotation is one of those deceptive motions  that doesn't seem like would be that important on the bike, but in fact the opposite is true.  Again, the weight-bearing nature of cycling, where hands, feet, and rear end are attached to the bike, a difference in range of motion or a fixed rotation through the spine will quickly transmit down the kinetic chain and create many different issues:Skewed sitting of the pelvis on the saddle, knee drift, poor hip control, excess weight on one hand, neck and shoulder discomfort....  The list goes on and on.Doing this exercise often makes it very clear when you have a one-sided, or unilateral, restriction.  But for many of you, it may just be difficult in both directions.  Re-establishing this motion will make you more supple on the bike, allow for greater of freedom of movement through the shoulder blades and can help decrease weight-bearing stress on our hands and butt alike.  By loosening up the middle link in the chain of movement from our hips to hands, we can create better movement throughout.Password: prayer4https://vimeo.com/194739895How To: On your knees sitting on your heels.  Lean forward and place your arms out in front of you on the ground trying to keep your torso as close to the ground as possible in what we call a prayer stretch.  Then take your right arm, and while keeping the left hand in contact with the ground reach through toward the left side trying to get the back of your right shoulder in contact with the ground as well.  Hold this for 30 seconds to 1 minute and repeat on the other side.As I mentioned, many of you will notice it's considerably harder to reach as far on one side -- this is the side you want to focus your practice on.

Pigeon/cross-legged sitting

The largest range of motion requirement in cycling is in the amount of hip and knee flexion.  At the top of the pedal stroke, we flex these two joint a significant amount.  How significant?  Enough that the complimentary motions of hip rotation and adduction/abduction, which we aren't overtly obvious become important enough where small limitations in them can affect the path our leg takes heading into and out of the top of the pedal stroke.Many times I will have a client with restriction in hip internal or external rotation on one side which at the top of the pedal stroke can force that hip into external rotation  and abduction which pushes the knee outboard setting it up poorly for the transition into the power phase of the pedal stroke.  It can even occur in situations where the rider has fair to good quantity of movement into hip internal and external rotation, but the quality of movement is poor -- their range isn't smooth and predictable but rather it has extra resistance and friction in it.  This scenario too can result in uneven or aberrant hip motion.As with all flexibility and mobility work, I believe that the distance between normal and abnormal for most cyclists is pretty narrow.  I don't recommend that cyclists completely trash their daily schedule and dedicate hours to this type of work.  Often just spending a few minutes a day can have the desired effect....provided we focus that effort on only the most important aspects.  And this motion is a prime example of that.  For most athletes, making a tiny improvement has a huge payoff.Password: pigeonhttps://vimeo.com/196509691How To: There are two versions for this exercise, a beginner and an advanced.Beginner: Sitting in a  chair that puts your hips at or near 90°, lean back slightly and cross one ankle over the opposite knee.  With one hand on the ankle and the other on the knee of the crossed leg, just sit up as straight as possible and even try to arch your low back.  You may feel a stretch into the hip of the crossed leg.  If the stretch at this point is moderate to strong, or if you have difficulty sitting up entirely straight, then you have your stretch for the time being.  If the stretch in the hip is only mild then you can (while keeping your low back "arched") lean forward through the hips until you feel a stronger stretch.  Any of these versions should be held for at least 1 minute and they should be done on both sides.If you're at the stage where you can effectively lean forward to add more stretch then you should also be able to spend some time in the advanced stretch.Advanced - Pigeon: Begin on your hands and knees, and bring one foot forward and cross it in front of you so that the foot and ankle are to the outside of you opposite leg.  Try to get the crossed leg positioned such that the knee is as close to the ground as possible.  Now straighten the uncrossed leg behind you as much as possible.  Then lift your torso upright and try to lean into your back leg.  You should feel a stretch in the crossed leg's hip and at the front of the hip on the uncrossed leg.  Again, hold this for at least 1 minute.

Pike to push-up

As I mentioned before, stability is critical on the bike, but we have to have the requisite mobility in order to be able to move evenly and smoothly.  It may seem obvious but it bears mentioning that because the legs are doing most of the work, the torso and upper body must provide more than their share of stability.  There are too many muscles involved to list but some of the most important ones are the lats, the abdominal muscles (transverse abdominus especially), anterior serratus, rotator cuff, and pec muscles.Since upper extremity weight-bearing is part of cycling it makes sense that we should train the muscles in a similar way.Planks are very popular but I think they fall short because they're not dynamic and only train the tissues in one position.  This is why I prefer the downward dog to push-up sequence.  It forces the abdominals, lats, pecs, etc to work through multiple lengths and because we're focusing on finishing in downward dog they also have to provide for exceptional pelvic stability to maintain posture and create a hamstring/posterior chain stretch.Password: pike3https://vimeo.com/196500333How To: In push-up position, tighten your abs slightly to make your hips stable, and cast your gaze towards the floor so that you don't strain your neck into extension.  Hold this posture for 10-20 seconds.  Then initiate the move into pike (or downward dog) by thinking about pushing your hands forward and lifting your hips up by tightening your lower abdominals further.  I like to use the visual of pinching a tablecloth and lifting it off the table, making a conical or triangle profile.  Think about the lower abdominals being that initiating force so that this movement comes from our hips or what ends up being the apex of the triangle once we're in the downward dog position.Move smoothly into the pike by keeping your knees and arms straight and maintaining the same pelvic posture which will feel like you're trying to tilt your hips/pelvis forward.  Focusing on tilting the pelvis forward will keep the spine straight and when you maintain this straight legs-straight spine posture, you're likely to feel a stretch, pull or buzzing sensation anywhere from the hips to the feet, and it may even be difficult to keep the knees straight or keep the heels on the floor.  This downward dog posture, stretches through the hamstrings, calves, and into the Achilles.Hold the pike posture for 10-30 seconds before using the lower abdominals to lower you back to the push-up position.  Back in the push-up position, focus again on the abdominals as a whole as well as the lats and lower scapular muscles to keep the shoulders down.  Repeat this sequence anywhere from 3-15 times depending on your tolerance.

Hip Twist

The most under-rated motion on the bike has to be hip internal rotation.  It's so often over-looked and marginalized but it seems to have the narrowest margin of error of just about any part of cycling mechanics.  If you don't have enough of it on one side; it can certainly become a problem on the bike.Also, symmetry matters a great deal here.  I have had clients that have fair motion on both sides (meaning the total motion they have is adequate but wouldn't be graded as "good" or anywhere above average), but one side is slightly more restricted than the other.  Keep in mind that the restricted side is still within the normal range, but because it lags behind the other side it creates a movement imbalance on the bike.We use hip internal rotation on the back side of the pedal stroke (from 9 o'clock to 12 o'clock) as we bring the leg back to the top of the pedal stroke and it remains relevant into the beginning of the power phase of the pedal stroke (near 1-2 o'clock).  It may not look like the leg is moving into internal rotation because it's a compensatory movement for the pelvic motion occurring.  As a normal part of the pedal stroke, our pelvis tips slightly to one side and rotates.  The hip and knee are kept on a straight path with the compensatory hip adduction and internal rotation.Password: hiptwist2https://vimeo.com/197224947How To: Lie on your back and bend one knee so the foot is flat on the ground.  Slide your foot out to the side about 12 inches and allow the knee to fall toward the other leg, keeping the foot on the ground.  The farther down the knee goes, the further the foot should slide out to the side.  Try to keep the glute (rear end) muscles in contact with the ground but it's okay if the hips lifts some.  Our main goal is to elicit as much true hip internal rotation as we can, but we don't want to compensate through the lumbar spine and lift the hip off the ground significantly.  If you experience any sharp pinching sensations deep in the hip or groin, first try to back off the stretch and re-adjust the position of your foot and see if this helps.  If it persists and you simply can't complete the stretch without severe sharp discomfort you may need to hold off on this exercise.Hold this stretch for 30 seconds to 1 minute and repeat 2-3 times on each side.

Couch to Hip flexor

Knee pain is one of the most common complaints among cyclists.  A lot of focus is on the quads, IT band, and the internal structures of the knee (ACL etc) but it often surprises my clients to learn that the rectus femoris is their culprit.  It often gets ignored even though it plays a major role in the movement of the kneecap.We can't treat the rectus femoris (RF) like all the other quadricep muscles because in addition to affecting knee motion it also crosses the hip joint and plays a role in its mechanics.  Because it originates from the top of the pelvis we have to take steps to stretch it effectively.  The RF attaches very directly to the kneecap, so any restriction or imbalance in it can effect the path the kneecap takes as we flex and extend the knee.  This becomes very important especially at the top of the pedal stroke where our hip and knee are not only flexed to a significant degree but loading of the pedal (and therefore the knee) begins.  Coupling this extreme flexion posture of the hip and knee with increased load can create problems for the knee and surrounding tissue as an imbalanced RF drives aberrant through the kneecap and joint.The hip flexor is not  a new problem area for most cyclists, as most have at some time or another heard about issues arising from it.  The causes for restrictions aren't new either -- we can pin much of the blame on the prevalence of sitting in our culture as discussed before.What often isn't well understood, is what tissues we're referring to when we say "hip flexor".  There are a number of muscles that can fall technically into being able to perform the motion of hip flexion.  The largest and most commonly known are the psoas major and minor and the iliacus all three of which reside in the abdomen and within the pelvis.   These aren't muscles that we make contact with or interact with directly that often.  The psoas muscles are also notoriously difficult to stretch in a meaningful way.  Physical manipulation is sometimes the best or only way to do so, but this requires a skilled practitioner to execute  so is well beyond the scope of this module.But there are other muscles that perform hip flexion, but since they aren't the primary muscles for this movement, when we do use them it is often with an aberrant motor pattern.  The rectus femoris is one such muscle.  It can help with hip flexion but we don't really want it to do a lot of this work because it's just not suited to it.  A small muscle on the front of the hip called the tensor fascia latae is another.When we have true hip flexor (psoas group and iliacus) dysfunction -- maybe these muscles are shortened/tight or perhaps they just don't activate very well -- our body will begin to rely on these secondary and less effective muscles for the act of hip flexion.  By mobilizing the front of the hip we increase our chances of getting the true hip flexors back  doing the work they're supposed to.A significant number of cyclists have restriction through the rectus femoris and hip flexor -- I don't see many in my practice that couldn't benefit from this movement.Password: couch2https://vimeo.com/196498868How To: In half kneeling with a chair or other low surface behind you, place one knee at the base of the chair and the foot on the chair's seat.  Once the foot is in place, raise the torso as high and straight as you can, so that you're torso and thigh of the leg you're stretching make a straight line.  You should feel a stretch in the front of your thigh.  Hold this stretch for 30 seconds to a minute, and then lean forward, scoot your front foot forward, slide your foot off the chair.  Move immediately into a lunge position keeping your torso upright again until you feel a stretch at the front of your hip.  Hold this stretch an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Repeat this sequence 3 times for each leg.If, after attempting the stretch with a chair or couch, it's too uncomfortable to perform, then you can lower the position of the foot perhaps by propping it up on pillows or other lower surface.You are likely to notice that one leg is more restricted for these movements.  Usually this all happens unilaterally -- meaning the hip flexor and rectus femoris are limited on the same leg.  But it's possible to have the problems on opposite sides.

Lunge to pillow 

Knee tracking is controlled by balance.  The hip muscles need to work in concert and have the correct amount of mobility -- all of this needs to be in balance -- in order to have the knee track in a straight line.  One of the best ways to train any muscle system when proper coordination is necessary is to challenge the balance of that system.  Making it react to the body's own weight against gravity in a compromised position of stability will cause the supporting and coordinating muscles work repetitively and quickly which is the best way to train them to be better at their intended purpose.There is more to knee tracking than simply the aesthetics of having a beautiful pedal stroke.  Simple physics dictates that it's also about power.  The more direct path our leg takes through the pedal stroke, the more force we can place on the pedals.  It's more the rule than the exception that the most efficient and powerful cyclists on the planet have beautiful pedal strokes.Knee tracking is the result of four broad categories:

1.  the symmetry and health of all the joint surfaces
2.  the flexibility of the muscles surrounding the hip, knee, and pelvis
3.  the coordination and balance of the motor plan, and
4.  bike fit factors like whether the pelvis is sitting square on the saddle

Number one, joint symmetry, refers mainly to long term and often irreversible processes like osteo-arthritis.  We can only do so much about that and usually actions are limited to minimizing the progression of the problem.Much of this module deals with number two -- of course mobility has been a major focus.Bike fit issues should be addressed, but that's for another module (coming soon).This lunge exercise is addressing number three.  By improving the muscular coordination and control we can positively impact the path of the knee.Password: pillowhttps://vimeo.com/196649896How to:  Using a balance board, cushion or  simply a piece of foam on the floor, place one foot on it and move the other foot back, but in line with the front foot.  Move slowly into a lunge position, making sure to keep your torso upright and your eyes forward.  You may notice that the front leg wobbles since the cushion provides a challenge to your balance, and this is exactly what what we want to see.  If you need further challenge to your balance, you can move into the lunge further, make the cushion larger/softer, or simply oscillate slightly up and down in the lunge.  Controlling the knee wobble is the responsibility of he hip muscles and these are the same ones that will help control the path of the knee during the pedal stroke.

Where do we start?

As I mentioned, I want this module to be more than just a generic exercise program.  After tailoring the exercises specifically to cycling and ferreting out the most common problems I've seen over the last 20 years, now I want to provide you with the tools to figure out how to choose the exercises that will give you the best return on your investment.  You could simply go through all of the exercises on a regular basis, but there are likely to be exercises in this series that, although they're not bad for you, there are others which could benefit from having more time allotted to them.  As I mentioned earlier, the shotgun approach is less than ideal because it takes a lot of time.  In my physical therapy practice I don't take load up clients with 40 minutes of daily movements, for the simple reason that the longer the program gets, the less likely they're going to do it.  A focused approach will get us further, even after we've narrowed down the movements this much.I like to apply the 80/20 analysis in these situations -- this is a theory that can be applied to just about any facet of our lives and refers to the idea that usually 20% of inputs usually produce 80% of the outcomes.  For example, it was originally discussed in the plant world when an economist with a green thumb noticed that 20% of the pea pods in his garden accounted for 80% of the harvest.So in our context: which 20% of the movements will get us 80% of the benefit?  There are some things that can help you narrow down your focus on and address only the movements that'll give you the most bang for your buck.

You have to do something....

Think of trying to improve your mobility and fix imbalances and weaknesses as a war.  You can't win a war without fighting, right?  So doing something is better than doing nothing.  Doing some form of mobility work, no matter what you do, is probably better than nothing.That said, if you go to war with a plan - a set of rules - your outcome will be much more likely.  If "A" happens then we'll attack "B" - but if "C" happens then we're better off doing "D".  You get the idea.It's no different with mobility.  For instance if you have a shoulder surgery in your past, you spend a lot of time in the computer at work and the biggest complaint on the bike is numb hands, then certainly focusing in the mobility work of the shoulder with the roll stretches, the nerve glides, and the wrist weight-bearing mobility exercises might be where you spend a lot of your time.  These "known" deficitsThe known problems are generally easy to tease out -- they're the low hanging fruit -- so they're a good place to start.But you're likely to have some limitations that you don't even know about.  In fact, this is the more common scenario.The best way to combat this, and find your unknown limitations is to simply go through all the exercises.  I know I just said that we don't want to rely on going through all the exercises, but this is a short-term proposition.  Doing this for just a few days will give us a tremendous amount of feedback because while these movements are effective exercises, they also serve very well as tests that make weaknesses apparent.  I recommend you set aside a little extra time the first couple days of using this module and begin by going through all the exercises.The first run-through will be mostly about familiarity, but you'll still see which movements give you the most trouble.  Generally your biggest limitations will be apparent first.On the second, third (or even fourth) full run-through you'll find new (and usually smaller) areas of difficulty.  Don't worry too much about trying to name the problem -- it's not strictly necessary that you know that the iliofemoral ligament in the hip capsule is restricted -- just knowing that you have a pinching feeling in the hip when you perform the Hip Internal Rotation movement is enough.  This just tells you that you need to work more often in this position.  This becomes an exercise that makes the cut into your daily routine.

Pain Points: Questions to ask yourself

Here are some pain points -- a checklist of sorts -- for each exercise.  These questions might help you figure out if this exercise presents a big enough problem to include it in your daily routine:Turkish Squat to Hamstring -- Is it a struggle to descend into a full squat with your butt nearly on your heels?  Do you feel a pull through the back and shoulders moving in and out of the squat position?  Is it difficult to get the knees straight when you move to the hamstring stretch portion?Prayer to Reach Through -- Can't rotate as far in one direction?  Feel discomfort or an ache through the mid-back on either side?Pigeon/Cross-legged Sitting -- Can't sit up straight in the cross-legged position?  TIn cross-legged is the knee on the crossed leg well above its ankle (so that the line of the knee and ankle make with the ground can't get down to 30° or less)?  In pigeon, is it a struggle to get the calf of the forward leg (actually more like the outside of the leg from the foot to the knee) flat on the ground?  Do you experience any knee pain?Pike to Push-up -- Do you get shakey holding the push-up position after just a couple repetitions?  Do you struggle to keep your knees straight or your heels on the ground in the downward dog position?Supine Hip Internal Rotation -- Is it difficult to keep your hip from raising up too much when dropping your knee towards the ground?  Do you feel a "kink" or pinch in the hip?  Does one side go further than the other?Couch to Hip Flexor -- Do you struggle to bring your torso upright with either movement?  Do you have to modify the couch portion and start with your foot lower?Lunge to Pillow -- Do you need to hold onto something for balance?  Have trouble keeping your feet in line with one another?

If This Then That

To further enhance the focus of the program it will be of benefit to correlate information from on-the-bike symptoms.  While I can't provide a comprehensive "If this...then that.." table of which exercises to focus on for scenario, here are a few of the more common ones:Sitting more on one sit bone (evidenced by one-sided saddle sore or abrasions on shorts) -- Prayer to Reach Through, Pigeon/Cross-Legged Sitting, Supine Hip Internal Rotation, Couch to Hip FlexorOne knee drifting in or out-- Hip Internal Rotation, Lunge to Pillow, Couch to Hip FlexorBoth knees drift in/out -- Hip Internal Rotation, Lunge to Pillow, Couch to Hip FlexorNumbness in feet/toes -- Pike to Push-Up, Turkish Squat to Hamstring StretchFront of the knee pain -- Couch to Hip Flexor, Turkish Squat to Hamstring Stretch, Pigeon/Cross-Legged Sitting, Lunge to PillowBack of the knee pain -- Turkish Squat to Hamstring, Pigeon/Cross-Legged Sitting, Pike to Push-UpLateral (outside) knee pain -- Couch to Hip Flexor, Turkish Squat to Hamstring Stretch, Pigeon/Cross-Legged Sitting, Lunge to PillowSliding forward on the saddle and have to routinely scoot back -- Pike to Push-Up, Self-Hugs, Towel RollA realistic goal is to aim for 10 minutes of work on 5 days a week or more.  More is better, but I prefer to start realistic and  the expectation of just 10 minutes a day is pretty palatable for most people.  This will allow you to get through anywhere from 3-5 exercises -- and remember these are our most critical, most effective movements.  One truth I've discovered over the years of prescribing exercise is that once a client establishes a habit of doing just 5-10 minutes of exercise a day, after a few weeks it becomes easy to move that time to 15 or even 20 minutes.  But try to start at 20 minutes per day and the likelihood of the client dropping the exercises altogether goes up exponentially.

Wrap Up

Hopefully you now have a better idea of what mobility, stability, and strength mean on the bike.  You have a better diea of what limitations you might have, how they develop, and what problems they might cause on the bike.  Finally you have dedicated exercises purpose-built for cyclists to solve these problemsSo that's about it.  By going through this module and sticking with the exercises you'll begin to solve some of the problems you might be having on the bike or they might simply allow you to fit your bike better even in the absence of discomfort.Will this completely solve every problem you've ever have had or will have?  Of course not.  Many of you will exceptionally well with this module alone -- it can help you solve many problems and can certainly increase the comfort and joy with which you ride your bike, but, if desired, there's always more gains to be had.  Often learning about your limitations and how to solve the first tier of them just brings about more questions and quests for further information.  That's okay and it's very much the point.I want this to be the most direct and effective resource for you to approach these problems and I'll always be looking for ways to improve the content I deliver here.  So if you have any suggestions for revision or addition, let me know -- it will be very much appreciated.