Man, I have never had any trouble with pulling muscles like I am now. I am having a tough time. I started riding a bicycle quite a bit last year and this year really got into it. I also run on off days. Now I am back into doing some sprint work. The first day, I pulled my hamstring. Thank goodness it wasn’t that bad and I was back in order in a little over a week. Now I just pulled a groin a bit. I am not stretching much, but I never have had to before. I am thinking that my bicycling really changed my legs. I ride 50+ hilly miles on a regular basis. My legs are bigger than ever. I wonder if this just means I need to stretch more? Maybe it is too obvious.
I am not stretching much, but I never have had to before.
Well u have to now because without doing this u are shure to run into more injuries due to the nature of sprinting. Do a thorough warm up (some laps or run until ur body gets heated/warm), do some dynamic stretches, then do some sprint specific activity(ies) before actually starting ur sprint work.
Make sure especially after your workouts that you get a good static stretch. You are warm then and get good flexibility gains most at that point (in my experience). Like Daniel said, make sure your pre-workout warmup is thourough, especially in your case with pre-existing injuries. Ever thought about treatment? ART? Massage?
I have heard (though i don’t know if this is really true - can someone fill me in) that cycling reduces flexability in your hamstrings because they never work through the full ROM. If you were doing a lot of cycling you may need to stretch them to compensate for this.
For many reasons your injuries can be caused by cycling especially with the volume you mentioned.
Your IT-band becoming very tight and the muscles on the outside of your quad which in turn shut off the inside quad muscles. For this same reason you could have pulled your groin. I think its called VMO wasting. Shorter ROM leading to muscle imbalance issues.
You can fix some of these problems with static stretching but you should go see a sports doctor or physiotherapist immediately. Search my name with cycling or cardio and you can read my horror stories.
I agree with what TC and Super… have said, i.e., hamstrings not working in the full R of M and ITB problmes.
Also, you need stretching the hip area even more so now, as you are in a flexed position for quite some time and under tension, which tends to make things worse!
You are working concentricly in cycling to a much greater extent vs. running’s eccentric nature, too!
Increase/advance your strething and follow a thorough warm up before attempting running!
Wow, what great responses. I will read more on this and I am considering getting some help with it from someone. I am really short of cash right now however.
It is amazing how big of a difference is now that I have cycled so much. I am starting to run more now since cycling season is about over due to how dark it is after work.
Might the problems be the result of poor strength balance as opposed to flexability? How flexable are you in the key areas? (Best tested with static stretches and dynamic stretches such as leg swings, is there any over large resistance where there shouldn’t be).
To me the problems you have had, hamstring and groin, maybe indicates lack of strength/structural integrity in these areas if the muscles have been wasting due to cycling, which is likely. Quads and glutes being overly strong, in comparison, and over working the weaker muscles during the sprints.
If flexability is ample then a slower progression into sprinting, over a number of weeks depending on level of performance, would be required to allow the muscles to balance out and also to condition them to the much higher forces, especially eccentrically.
This is true but more importantly, I think is the nature of the cycling you’re doing is the biggest issue. The effort due to the terrain can be considered medium intensity. This causes unfavourable fibre conversion (I’ve seen this a lot with Hockey). For cycling from now on choose less hilly terrain and ride in a lower gear to keep the effort lower, which will conflict less with the demands of sprinting.
There was a study that was in Supertraining that stated that lots of cycling actually shortens the hamstrings HMMMMM. Charlie I think you are right on. Hockey guys spend way too much time on the bike!!
Once again, it is nice to hear from people that are so in tune with the human body. I think, like most problems that there is a combination of things at work here. Certainly I am less flexible due to cycling and I would believe that I may have an imbalance of muscle growth working against me. I have decided to start a strong running program and finish with sprints. Of course there will be lots of stretching before, during and after these workouts.
Interesting that you brought this up. I ride very hill terrain to say the least and I also push a very big gear. I am doing the opposite of your recommendation.
When I go places I usually cycle, at least to the gym. This could be about 10, maybe 20 miles a week. I also usually cant help it but sprint on the bike in top gear maybe once or twice on the trip.
a) is 10-20 miles a week of mostly low intensity cycling bad?
b) are those few bike sprints a big deal?