If you want to have a great ride, a solid warm-up is your best friend. Doing a quick warm-up before every ride is an important way to ensure you feel better both during and afterwards, and doing them consistently also helps avoid aches or injuries before they start.
“Incorporating a dedicated warm-up will result in a much more enjoyable start to your ride.”
But here’s the thing — who really has that kind of time? I often feel like I don’t, and some days it’s hard enough to find time to get a ride in, let alone adding warm-up time on top of that.
Additionally, sometimes the thought of adding another step to getting ready to roll can just feel like too much, becoming a barrier to getting on the bike. It’s easy to understand the temptation to just skip it, kit up, and head out the door. Besides, you’ll roll easy for the first few kilometres, and that should count for something, right?
READ MORE 6 Essential Cyclist Stretches
Wrong. We all know why warming up is important, and yet, most of us fail to do it properly most of the time. But a proper warm-up benefits the body by preparing our muscles and joints for optimal performance. “You’re priming your body as a preventive measure, not just a performance measure,” says personal trainer Chris Howell. I couldn’t agree more.
But beyond the performance benefits, what’s arguably even more important is that a solid cycling-specific warm-up will also make riding more fun. After all, an aching lower back after the first ten kms has never made a ride better for anyone.
“Incorporating a dedicated warm-up will result in a much more enjoyable start to your ride,” says Kristen Gohr, a certified indoor cycling instructor who would regularly kick my ass in her classes. “An appropriate warm-up increases blood flow, which raises your body temperature and facilitates increases in the range of motion in your joints. Once warmed up, muscles will feel less stiff and pedal strokes become more fluid.”
The good news is that doing some targeted preride stretches that provide an effective warm-up doesn’t have to be a grand production that takes a long time. In fact, it can happen in just three minutes. (Yes, three!) Keeping it simple and relatively quick is how I make sure I do a warm-up, because I really can’t convince myself that I don’t have three minutes to spare. All my excuses are nullified.
And so here I share with you my “I don’t have time to warm up”. With these three targeted muscle activation and mobility moves in your training toolbox, you can permanently retire the “I don’t have time for a warm-up” excuse.
How to Use This List
Perform each move below for one minute total prior to your ride (although often, once I start doing these moves, I end up doing them for longer because they feel great — especially the first mobility move on the list, low lunge with a twist.) Each exercise is demonstrated by Lindsey Clayton, certified personal trainer, so you can learn the proper form.
Warm-up 1. Low Lunge With Twist
How to do it: Start in a high plank position, with hands directly under your shoulders and your core engaged. Draw left foot to left hand. Hold here for a second or two to stretch the front of your right hip and inner thigh. Then rotate your upper body and extend the left hand up to the ceiling, focusing the rotation in your upper back while keeping your hips square. Hold here for three seconds, then repeat on the other side. Continue to alternate for one minute.
Why you should do it: This exercise hits several different areas of the body, and especially addresses thoracic mobility, the mobility of your upper back. While increasing back mobility might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a cycling warm-up, it has a big impact on performance and comfort.
“Thoracic spine mobility is important for athletes across many sports,” says Christopher Herb, a physical therapist. “If there is not adequate thoracic spine mobility for the demands of a specific activity, it’s possible that this stress can fall on surrounding joints in the neck, shoulders, or lower back.”
Beyond sparing us from a sore neck and strained lower back, thoracic mobility also improves your capacity to breathe.
“Lack of thoracic mobility will typically present as a more rounded spine in the cyclists riding position, which can adversely impact the ribs’ ability to expand, impeding optimal respiratory function,” says Gohr. “Improving thoracic mobility can enhance posture on the bike, which allows the cyclist to breathe more freely. This should substantially improve cycling performance and enjoyment.”
In addition to mobilizing your back, this move activates the rest of your body as well. “It primes your body for your posture on the bike, helping it not get locked up in this fixed position,” says Howell. “You’re unilaterally waking up your body and activating the hip flexors.”
Warm-up 2. Supine Heel Tap
How to do it:
Lie faceup, then bend both knees and position them directly above your hips so shins are parallel to the floor. Slowly lower one heel to tap the floor then raise it back up to the starting position and repeat on the other side. Keep your lower back pressed into the floor; do not let it arch. Use a slow and controlled three-count tempo when raising and lowering each leg. Perform 10 reps then repeat with the other leg.
Why you should do it: This exercise kicks your core into gear. A strong, activated core provides you with a whole host of benefits including improved stability and bike-handling capabilities. “Core musculature is important for athletes because it serves as the foundation for movements of the limbs,” says Herb. “For cyclists, in particular, control and coordination of core musculature are essential for maintaining an efficient pedal stroke while on the bike.”
Warm-up 3. Glute Bridge With Resistance Band
How to do it: Start by lying faceup with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Make sure your feet are hip-distance apart, and your heels are about six inches in front of your glutes. Contract your glutes and push your hips straight up. Hold here for three seconds while actively squeezing your glutes, before slowly lowering back down to the starting position. Continue to repeat for one minute.
Why you should do it: As the name suggests, this move fires up your glutes. “Glutes are the powerhouse of the body,” says Howell. “Especially when you’re out of the saddle and trying to generate maximum power, you want this muscle to be primed for that explosive movement on the bike.”
Powering up your glutes before a ride will not only help you climb better and add speed to your sprint, but it can also prevent or address low back soreness due to a limited range of motion.
“The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the body and is a primary hip extensor, so they are critical to cycling,” says Herb. “In certain individuals, limitations at the glutes can lead to increased lumbar extension as compensation to accomplish hip extension.”
