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Any ideas on how to loosen muscles without strenuous stretching?

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joe.ironhorse

Question:

Any ideas on how to loosen muscles without strenuous stretching?

apparently i have ridiculousy tight calf n thighs, and have been told to stretch more, i was hoping someone could maybe point me in the right direction as to which stretches to do without injuring myself futher, any help much appreciated, thank you.

Asked by joe.ironhorse - 9 answers - 30 weeks 3 days ago

Patrick13

Hello

Before giving you any advise about stretching techniques, you should take a look on your body and think why these muscles are so tight! Maybe there's a muscle imbalance which creates a bad position of your hips which then puts lots of tensions on the tight and the calves.
Stretching wise, I recommend in your case PNF-Stretching. For this you need a partner. Your partner stretches the muscles for about 10-15 seconds then you contrat the same muscle for about 10-15 seconds. Repeat this 3-4 times. Your partners should try to stretch further with every repetition.
Maybe you have also some trigger points which make your muscles very tight. Take a foam roaller or if you don't have one a tennis ball and roll over the tight points. This might helps you.

Pat

Submitted 30 weeks 3 days ago by Patrick13

joe.ironhorse

hi pat, thankyou very much, and the muscle imbalance might be the problem , as in cycling , the gearing mi using uses thighs more than calfs and my startin leg bein my right one would make it stronger than my left, if thats what your suggesting, ill give ll your suggestions a try, thanks again.Joe

Submitted 30 weeks 2 days ago by joe.ironhorse

toughern

Hello Joe.ironhorse,
As with any sport most pratitioners are imbalanced because of their sport. A person is a strong as the weakest part of their body,so that is a big possibility,which would need to be rectified by resistance (weight) training and that of the whole body, not just the legs.
But another thing to consider is, your possible lack of minerals i.e. Magnesium,Potassium,Calcium.
One other thing you seem to be adverse to stretching by the sound of your question. Really anyone who wants to advance in their sport needs to stretch.

Regards toughern

Submitted 30 weeks 2 days ago by toughern

AlexWolf

Most cyclists have tight calves due to the nature of the sport, not necessarily anything to do with imbalances, weaknesses or nutritional deficencies.

The ankle needs to remain in a fairly fixed position throughout the motion of cycling. Too much flexion and extension of the ankle will leak energy which will result in less energy being used to push the pedal and a greater energy consumption and a reduced cycling efficiency. Keeping the ankle fixed is termed stiffness. This stiffness allows you to effectively transfer force and energy from the powerful quads without it being lost in the ankle and push the pedal. So effectively, ankle stiffness is necessary for you to be a good cyclist. To keep the ankle stiff, the calf complex needs to remain stiff so there is not excessive ankle movement. This stiffness will eventually have long term adaptations to the calf complex - making them tight for the purpose of efficiency while cycling.

So the question is, what will happen if you reduce the tightness. By reducing tightness, you may have a negative impact on your cycling performance by subsequently allowing more movement in the ankle. This can increase the energy expenditure and reduce cycling efficiency. Sprinters also try to create stiffness in the lower leg for the same reason. Think carefully before you make changes. Also, tight calves do not necessarily increase the risk of injury around that area. Seek professional advise from practitioners who have worked with cycling and understand the mechanics and the implications of these on musculoskeletal tissues.

Submitted 29 weeks 5 days ago by AlexWolf

Annie Colbern

I suffer from a similar problem and my physio recommended that I wear supportive knee braces during warm-up and training sessions to reduce joint and muscle strain. I struggled to find the right supports but the best are knee body bands from thermomedic therapy garments. They use bio-ceramic thermal technology to warm, support and improve circulation which means I can warm-up without pain and joint stress. You can find out more info from http://www.thermomedic.com I really hope this information helps you because I know how painful injury can be.

Submitted 28 weeks 3 days ago by Annie Colbern

joe.ironhorse

thanks everyone for your contributions, without making this sound too odd, i am trying all the answers ive received, and at the moment im using tougherns idea of the weight training, nothing major, few dumbells and sit-ups that sort of thing really and it seems to be working, thanks again everyone. joe.

Submitted 28 weeks 3 days ago by joe.ironhorse

mbaerg

Have you tried Massage Therapy??? You may simply have a build up of scar tissue either from injury or 'wear and tear'. This will affect the muscles physiology, and ability to lengthen. Could also be fascial/myofascial restrictions. Also, has anyone looked at your alignment eg. leg length difference, pelvic level etc??? A sport massage therapist may be able to shed some light (can also help with trigger points, PNF stretching etc).

Good luck.

Submitted 27 weeks 6 days ago by mbaerg

joe.ironhorse

yeah i tried massage but my muscles are to tight for deep tissue massage therefore its unsuccesful thanks anyway, joe

Submitted 27 weeks 1 day ago by joe.ironhorse

Annie Colbern

Just read a really good article on treating arthritis, here's the link if you're looking for pain relief http://www.thermomedic.com/arthritis-treatments.html I know it has really helped me with my poor old knees & finger joints!!! Keep up the hard work.

Submitted 26 weeks 3 days ago by Annie Colbern