Behind every great rider, there’s a great soigneur. The right hand man, the go-to guy, who tends every whim of his rider, feeding, watering, mending and massaging. Behind the humble Velominatus Regularus, however, there’s a string of injuries, tight muscles, bad posture and aching guns. We are our own soigneurs, and if you’re like me, that’s not a great thing.
Heading towards a half century on the earth and most of that on two wheels, you’d think an old dog would pick up plenty of tricks along the way. Basics like stretching and self-massage, drinking plenty of water, and not as much beer are learned early, but virtually ignored totally. I never stretch; no matter how many times I’ve been advised to, I just seem to lack whatever disciplinary gene that encourages me to put aside half an hour after a ride or whenever I feel tight (ie always) to roll around on the floor and pull a few limbs into strange positions. After particularly long or hard rides, I might give the hammys a cursory tweak in the shower or rub the legs a bit once out. I have one of those trigger-point rollers, but it hardly sees out from under the bed. It feels good and no doubt helps, but it’s just way too easy to flop on the couch with a beer and zone out on the idiot box.
As I increasingly find it harder to get out of bed, or walk up the stairs (there’s about a hundred to my house) it seems the only time I’m comfortable is when I’m on the bike. As soon as I dismount, I’m like a foal with a hunchback trying to take its first steps. But it’s about time to get real and help prolong an injury-free riding life. I see guys my age or even younger nursing injuries and think maybe I’m just lucky, and surely my time will come if I continue my lax routine. The same care that goes into my bikes needs to go into myself. Stretching every day, maybe some core exercises, self massage after rides, might even try some yoga.
And my own swanny.
My friend Josh, a recently graduated massage therapist, has offered to try and ‘sort me out’ with a round of treatments over the next month or so. When he asked what area needed work, I replied ‘everywhere’. As he’s been gently reminding me for years that I need to stretch, he knows what sort of state I’m in and what I put myself through on the bike. It’ll be interesting to see what regular massage can do for a regular Cyclist, even if it’s once a week rather than the everyday luxury of the Pro. And if nothing else, I hear there are some pretty good looking women at the yoga place…
I’ll keep you posted over the next few weeks as to my progress. What sort of self-soigneur techniques do you all employ, if any?
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During a long ride I usually stop about every 40km or so and stretch my legs for a minute. Just a quick stretch of quads, calves, and hamstrings can make these old legs feel a lot stronger and makes a world of difference. This is, of course, much easier to do when riding solo as opposed to with a group but well worth the stop IMO.
The Stretching and yoga part I am pretty good at, but paying money for a massage, I can't wrap my head around it. I am way to poor for that. Ice bath, Hell no I suffer enough on the bike.
That's why I've sent my VMH to massage therapy school. She'll be licensed in a few months. In the meantime, I'm her practice body.
Regular stretching, foam roller for the ITB and occasional visits to the same Josh.
As a long-term sufferer of lower back pain, to the extent that my glutes had basically "turned off", I can't recommend massage from a skilled practitioner highly enough. After a few visits to Josh, my glutes were firing again and I was back to my climbing speed of a few years ago. Admittedly that still isn't exceptionally fast, but it's better than the embarrassingly slow pace I was dropping to. Then there is the improved sleep, no more leg pain when driving long distances, etc...
If you can find a local massage therapist, please give it a go. If they happen to also have strong cycling knowledge, even better.
This is going to sound weird but lying on your bed, on your back, with your lower legs hanging off the edge is brilliant. Tilts the pelvis in the opposite way it's been positioned while you were riding, lightly stretches the quads and hip flexors, and takes a bit of the pressure off the lower back.
Stretching and visits to physio/massage are like flossing and visits to the dentist.
You know you should do the preventative measures every day but you don't.
This makes it less likely you make the appointment because if you just ignore it there's no problem anyone can tell you about.
Finally it gets to the stage you can't ignore and you have to endure the extra pain, expense and guilt caused by your willful ignorance and inattention, but you go away full of the best intentions to invest the few moments per day it will take.
And repeat.
I a am a firm believer in yoga. I do 3 to 4 1 hour sessions a week. I love yoga for many reasons, one of them being that it makes me a much better cyclist. I could go on ad infinitum but that would be boring. Gorgeous women in tight yoga clothes bending into provocative poses all around doesn't hurt.
Just so happens my favorite yoga teachers know I'm a cyclist and will tailor design a class to soothe the worst that 100 plus k can dish out. As Velominati we take the utmost care of our machines . The consequences of not doing so can be grave. Pun intended. IMO we must take the same immaculate care of our bodies. Really, what good are our steeds if we can not ride them . If you don't do yoga you are missing out.
Yes we can , and do ride without yoga, but it provides such an amazing opportunity to be comfortable on and off the bike.
I don't mean to preach but for me it's very simple. When I don't do yoga and ride my bike regularly, I wake up every day feeling just that much older. When I do yoga and ride regularly, I wake up each day feeling a little younger. And at a few months away from 45 I have had enough of this feeling old shit.
I find regular visits to my Physio help a lot. helps that they're in my building at work. After a back injury from avoiding running over my mate's face and the self inflicted pain from TTing, the Physio's work and helped my lower back big time. I've also gained knowledge about posture for gym work.
I've now got a fistful of stretches and strengthening exercises targeted for my issues.
Also did a Pilates course with them that helps, although some of the conversations go "release the tension". Me "I am". Physio "really?"
a Physio that works with Chris Hoy also told me I'm one of most inflexible people who has come across for a while.
Good news is that my daughter has just started her Physio course at Uni.
I need to be careful wording this.......
Before/after long rides I use one of those electronic personal massage machines. Makes it much easier to self-soigneur but on balance probably best not used in the shower. Really helps my recovery and pre-ride prep.
Probably best used at home as I was in a hostel during a 2 stage mtb marathon some years ago. Lying on my back "working my inner thigh" - from the guffaws outside all they could see through the window was two legs in the air and this thing "working" in between........
I worked my way through Tom Danielson's "Core Advantage... ". Now I do one of his routines or a variation 2-3 times a week. No more back pain for me, I feel stronger on the bike, more conscious of my posture and generally more "solid". Good for riding, good for life off the bike.