Corrective Exercises for Cyclists

Corrective exercise plays an important role in any athlete's exercise regimen as it is employed to help fix muscle imbalances caused by repetitive movement. In the case of a recreational or competitive cyclists, it's prudent to employ corrective exercise strategies that alleviate some of the aches and pains that come with being hunched over on a bike for several hours a week. With cyclists, you are typically going to see muscular and functional deviations such as limited hip mobility, protracted shoulders and extremely lengthened low back and glute muscles. These imbalances are a recipe for low back pain and limited functional mobility in the frontal (side to side) and transverse (rotational) planes of motion. Therefore, I recommend these simple corrective exercises for cyclists:

Prone Cobra

Lay face down your arms by your side, palms facing the floor and your thumbs pointed away from your body. Keeping your head in a neutral position, contract your glutes, low back and middle back muscles to perform a trunk lift off the floor. Tighten your glues so that your feet and legs are lifted of the ground along with your trunk and arms. Hold this position for 15 seconds to start and repeat for three sets. As you improve, build up to between 30-45 seconds of an isometric hold. Perform this exercise daily as it will help strengthen the muscles in your posterior chain that are lengthened the entire time you are on a bike.

Lateral Lunge

From a standing position take a large lateral step to the right side of your body. Shifting your hips and body weight over your left heel, drop into a lunge position while keeping your left leg fully extended and planted on the floor. Drop as deep as you can without losing your balance and try to keep your torso as vertical as possible. Drive out of the lunge by pushing through your heel and return to the starting position. Repeat this move the other direction and alternate back and forth for a set of 15-20 if you are using just your body weight. Try two to four sets of this exercise twice a week to help improve hip mobility, loosen up your IT band and to get some movement in the frontal plane.

Lunge with Hip Flexor Stretch

As part of a daily dynamic warm up, perform two sets of 20 walking lunges with an arm raise to stretch out the hip flexors and quadriceps. Take a large forward step and drop down into a 90 degree lunge with your body weight distributed evenly between your base. Make sure you back knee and front knee are both bent at about 90 degrees, keep your back knee 1-2 inches from the ground and raise the arm on the side of your downward facing knee. Hold for a short one or two count at the bottom of the lunge and drive your hips forward a bit. Step up and out of one lunge into the next, alternating legs and the arm that is raised. This exercise will help loosen up the hip flexor muscles that get tight from being in a seated position while on the bike.