Physical fitness means more than great endurance, speed or powerful muscles. Physical fitness is multidimensional and also involves suppleness, cardio fitness, power and endurance.
In order to be an effective cyclist, all these elements must be balanced.
To achieve a great performance, there must also be a balance between powerful muscles and suppleness. A lack of suppleness could lead to some movements being inhibited and/or less efficient.
In scientific literature, very little attention is paid to stretching and suppleness when it comes to competitive cyclists. This is due to the fact that stretches offer little in terms of effective prevention, in relation to cycling.
In general, stretching exercises have limited value in preventing sporting injuries for cyclists; they are, however, effective for the treatment of specific complaints. This concerns specific stretching programmes, however, and not general exercises. For these reasons, we will not focus on general stretching exercises for cyclists.
