Here is one of the emails I have received recently:

“I have got my own personal experience over 20 years that clearly shows that I recover far quicker when I stretch than when I do not but perhaps that is just my particular physiological make-up?”

It’s clear that it is impossible for me to say what is right and wrong here. If your personal experience is that stretching really helps you (and you really don’t want to change your habits) then there is no need to read further.

So why isn’t stretching a part of my general advice?

First of all, it’s a short article with five practical tips you can use to optimize your recovery after training and cycling races. And these tips are time effective, too. No extra work by implementing these tips in your post-exercise routine.

Stretching your muscles take a while and from a point of time effectiveness, your overall performance would improve more with additional training and/or cool down pedalling.

Secondly, stretching is very undocumented. Actually there has recently been a comprehensive Cochrane review that concluded that there is no evidence that stretching reduce muscle soreness.

Ok, let’s take a look at why this article about effects of stretching is worth a read.

Well, a Cochrane Review is a database of systematic reviews and meta-analyses which summarize and interpret the results of medical research. The Cochrane Library aims to make the results of well-conducted controlled trials readily available and is a key resource in evidence-based medicine (reference: Wikipedia).

In this review the aim was to determine effects of stretching before or after exercise on the development of delayed-onset muscle soreness. Please notice that delayed-onset muscle soreness should be differentiated from the soreness that occurs immediately after exercise due to fatique.

Many riders stretch before or after (or before and after) road cycling. Usually the purpose is to reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness, optimize performance (flexibility) and/or reduce the risk of injury.

So how do you experience delayed-onset muscle soreness? In my younger days when I played badminton, it was almost sure that my legs were painful in the initial days following the first training session each season. It also happened in the first week or so after my first (and probably last…) marathon. My legs were stiff and walking down stairs was a night mare.

But I have almost never experienced this phenomenon following regular cycling training.

Why? Delayed-onset muscle soreness is usually caused by unaccustomed exercise – especially in physical activity that includes eccentric muscle contractions. So that explains why the initial weight lifting sessions always hit your legs like a train (Eccentric muscle contraction happens e.g. during lowering phase of squat or landing phase of running.)

Typically your legs begin to be sore within the first day after severe eccentric muscle work and peaks in intensity at around 48 hours.

Therefore, if you are a dedicated cyclist you will very likely discover this phenomenon if you switch to intensive running from one day to another or if you begin to lift weights. But if you are accustomed to running, e.g. a triathlete, you will not discover delayed onset muscle soreness unless you run at extreme distances.

But what really cause delayed-onset muscle soreness are only partly known

Micro-trauma on the muscle fibres result in local inflammatory activity and that is the most obvious part of the explanation. But there is probably also a neural component involved in this process. I believe this neural component can partly explain why triathletes are able to run without experiencing delayed muscle soreness like cycling-only athletes would.

Some riders stretch before riding as part of their warm-up routine. Most riders stretch after training sessions and cycling races to reduce muscle pain and speed up the recovery process.

There are different ways to stretch muscles:

• Traditional sustained stretch for 15 seconds or more (up to 90 seconds)
• Newer techniques where a strong musle contraction is followed by a short break and then a sustained stretch.

The best available evidence indicates that stretching does not reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness.

The biggest study included in the Cochrane Review showed a very small reduction (four points out of 100) in muscle soreness 48 hours after exercise. The other 11 studies were not able to provide any support for stretching to prevent sore muscles.

So the conclusion was that stretching does not reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness. And I would say that even if there was a very small pain reduction, like four points out of 100, it is still so small that in a mirror of time effectiveness, instead, you should focus on other parts of your training routine to optimize your performance.

Practical advice about stretching for cyclists

So yes, you can avoid running and weight lifting, and just say no when your friends ask you for help with relocation, gardening etc. And then there is no need to be worried about delayed-onset muscle soreness.

However, there are a few other practices you can benefit from. E.g. many riders experience that stretching (and/or massage) may give a transient relief of soreness IF delayed-onset muscle soreness eventually does occur. Also there may be arguments to implement stretching to reduce risk of injury. I believe very few cyclists should implement stretching just to optimize their cycling performance (only if flexibility limits their performance).

Many riders and triathletes do stretching as a ritual after exercise because they have been doing so for many years.

You may think “I have my own personal experience over 20 years that clearly shows that I recover far quicker when I stretch…”

Here is my advice to you:
If you believe you have a winning training routine: don’t fix it.

Though, the current evidence does not support any positive or negative effect of stretching on risk of injury, performance or well-being.

Finally, I have a little experiment for you to provide more knowledge about stretching: Try stretching your left leg and NOT the right leg after next hard training session. Did you notice any difference?

Please leave your comments and experiences below, thank you.

Reference: Stretching to prevent or reduce muscle soreness after exercise (Cochrane Review)
Herbert RD, de Noronha M, Kamper SJ

Overtraining is the result of your body’s inability to cope with the total amount of stress. Several symptoms are associated with the overtraining syndrome: Decreased performance, mood changes, weight loss, decreased appetite, muscle soreness, reduced motivation and fatigue.

I guess most cyclists have experienced at least one or more of these symptoms, but that doesn’t mean that most cyclists have been overtraining.

Understanding the term overreaching

Distinguishing overtraining from overreaching is important, because overreaching is a very natural process when we train. If you take a look at one of my training programs, you will see that it is based on three weeks with overreaching followed by one recovery week.

When you get to the third week, you will not feel stronger than you were in the first week, but after a recovery week with super compensation, you will be stronger than you were when you entered the program. Using a training program structure like this is what I call ‘controlled overtraining’.

Overtraining doesn’t happen overnight

Many riders use the term ‘overtraining’ for both overreaching and overtraining and I guess that is why many riders diagnose themselves as overtrained.

The problem is that if you are really in an overtraining situation, it can take several months before your performance is back at 100%. If you have overreached in a period, a week or two is normally enough to get you back on track.

This principle is often used in tapering protocols, where training volume is reduced the last two or three weeks before a big event. Overtraining syndrome doesn´t happen over a night or week. It takes 6 to 8 weeks or even longer to develop.

The cure is recovery

The cure for overtraining syndrome is often a significantly reduced training volume and intensity. Your body needs time to fully recover from the total accumulated stress in the past months.

When you are overtrained, you have probably forgotten about basic principles of recovery. A differential diagnosis could also be that you have reached a training plateau, which is also a very natural thing, still frustrating though. I covered that topic in two posts – Dealing with training vacuum – Part one and two.

Theories about overtraining

Our understanding of what overtraining really is relies on theories that are not yet proved. Sympathetic and parasympathetic overtraining is often discussed, referring to the autonomic nervous system. In this model the symptoms are caused by an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system. This theory was made back in 1958, but still one of the most referred theories about overtraining.

Minimize the risk

As we don’t know what overtraining exactly is, we should try to use our knowledge about basic exercise physiology to prevent development of overtraining.

A good strategy is to write a training diary. When you notice some of the symptoms mentioned above, then consider whether that is caused by an insufficient recovery from the past training. In this way it is possible to minimize the risk of overtraining, because a training diary implies you to react early.

What is your main strategy to prevent overtraining?

It has long been known that warm-up before physical exercise can improve your performance significantly. In many of my training programs, I actually recommend you to perform an incremental warm-up before interval training really starts.

Physiological benefits of warm-up

• Metabolic processes are temperature-dependent, thus many enzymes perform better at higher temperatures.
• Oxygen transport from blood to tissue is more rapid.
• Faster transmissions of nerve impulses.

Bottom line is that your body is better prepared for severe exercise after doing a proper warm-up.

In my opinion it’s an easy decision whether you should warm-up or not before important events. If you want to deliver the best performance in cycling races e.g. time trials then you should definitely learn how to warm-up. The best place to figure out what is the best warm-up protocol for you is when you perform difficult intervals.

Use the Trial and Error principle for Warm-Ups

It might sound a bit pragmatic but the best way to make a personal warm-up protocol is to use the principle trial and error. If you do difficult, intensive intervals sessions, it’s almost perfect test material to see how your warm-up protocol works. Yes, there are circumstances that are different at races. Since I expect you to perform regular interval training at least twice per week there should be lots of chances to try different setups…

Basic principles of warm-up before endurance events

• Start at low workloads. If you begin at a high workload, you spend too much anaerobic power too early due to oxygen dept. It’s demotivating and might decrease your performance.
• Make small increments in workload. When you’ve started your warm-up your oxygen consumption will go up. If you make small steps in workload during the warm-up, you will to a large degree avoid oxygen dept. That will prepare your body for the most important part of your training session: The interval training.

Example: Quick, effective warm-up before interval training (~15min)

1. Begin easy pedalling, ~100Watts.

2. Every 2min, increase workload ~35-50Watts depending on fitness level.

3. When you hit the lower limit of your heart rate target zone, take a short break.

4. Easy pedalling 3 to 5 minutes (if you are in a hurry, please skip this step)

5. Begin your interval training

Enough theory, take action!

This article is a guest post from Shim Ravalia who studies a master in sports rehabilitation at the University of Kent (Gillingham, Medway). In this article she outlines the current knowledge on how we can optimize our recovery by choosing the right recovery drink after training.

If cyclists do not recover properly straight after exercise there is no point to their training. Without the proper nutrients to refuel the body such as Carbohydrates and proteins, the performance of the individual will drop.

Timing is absolutely important because the muscle cells in the body are highly insulin receptive after exercise. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that regulates the level of glucose. Insulin is in charge of transporting glucose and the essential amino acids to the cells. This speed up muscle repairs and reduces the breakdown of protein. It is best to consume a recovery drink 30 to 45 minutes straight after exercise. If this window of opportunity to recover is missed then the muscles will no longer be insulin receptive.

Depending on the intensity of training, cyclists should be aware of the types of recovery drinks to consume. Working in the gym environment, I often see many people just pick a bottle of drink after exercise without looking at the contents of the beverage. Some drinks contain too much sugar which can be distressful for the gut to absorb quickly.

Below are the some examples of the types of drinks:

1. Cyclists who perform low to moderate intensity training, they should
   consume Carbohydrates and Proteins on a ratio of 2:1 (Carbs:PRO).
   For example: approximately 450ml – 600ml of semi skimmed milk with 1 tablespoon of syrup or powder (any flavour). This should contain up to 25g of Protein; up to 48g of Carbohydrates and up to 1g of fat.
2. Cyclists who undergo moderate to high intensity training, they should consume Carbohydrates and Proteins on a 3:1 ratio (Carbs:PRO).
   For example: 350ml to 600ml of chocolate milk which contains approximately up to14 g of Protein and 35g of Carbohydrates. You can also buy ‘ready to drink’ milk based drinks which contain more Carbohydrates for higher intensity training such as Goodness Shakes, Nestle’s Nesquik.

Remember, the higher the intensity of your training, the more carbohydrates and proteins your body needs. Therefore, the amount and contents of your recovery drink should relate to this. There shouldn’t be an excuse not to recover properly. Cyclists who are lactose intolerant or does not like cow’s milk, soy milk is also an option as a recovery drink.

As a medical doctor I like to see proof that something actually works. Show me the facts. Perform a test on an ergometer bike and show me the numbers. Hard facts. I like it.

Cycling performance tests can provide insightful information about your current fitness level. These tests can be used to evaluate and optimize training programs.

Since my early start as a cycling coach I have tested my riders on ergometer bikes with power outputs or even better on their own bikes equipped with SRM crank systems. Optimized their training programs again and again based on my empiric data stream…

Here are my 5 basic principles that can help you to benefit from cycling performance tests:

1. Watts

Get a power meter or use an ergometer bike. It’s essential to know how many watts you put in the pedals. If you use an ergometer bike, make sure it’s callibrated correctly every time you use it for performance tests. Please note that heart rate is interesting, but definitively not the major concern in a cycling performance test. We want to know the power output in Watts (or even better Watts per Kilogram).

2. Support

Don’t do physical tests on your own. Have an assistant to guide you through the test. It could be your cycling coach, cycling buddie or just a friend or member of your family.

3. Specificity

Make the performance test as specific as possible. There is no test that provide answers to all questions. A performance test must be designed to measure the physical parameter you want to test. If you want to test your anaerobic endurance, perform a test designed for that skill, e.g. 60sec max power. If anaerobic endurance is your major concern, it doesn’t make sense to do tests that are not focused on anaerobic endurance.

4. Test Protocol

Write down (or rather get your assistant to write down) every details about your test. Get all the numbers written down: Body weight, watts, heart rate data etc. Also worth to notice weather conditions if you make outdoor performance tests.

5. Evaluate

After performing a physical test it’s important to evaluate and discuss your results. Use your results to optimize your training routine and let the performance test inspire you to train even harder.