Add this 5-minute Foam Roller Exercises for Cyclists program to your post-ride routine to revitalize your muscle recovery.
Foam rolling is a self-massage stretching technique that provides multiple benefits with a minimal investment in time and money. Foam rolling improves flexibility, muscle recovery, relaxes overworked muscles, and modulates pain in a few minutes a day with these Foam Roller Exercises for Cyclists .
Poor posture, repetitive motion, dysfunctional movement patterns, and muscle imbalance negatively affect the neural and fascial systems of the body. The cumulative stress creates a cycle of inflammation, muscle spasms, and soft tissue adhesions.
The adhesions interfere with muscle and soft tissue elasticity and, when untreated, may cause lasting adverse effects. Performing foam roll techniques to the adhesions, commonly called “trigger points” or “knots, ” restores optimal elasticity, flexibility, and performance.
Foam Roller Exercises for Cyclists is an effective way to warm up your muscles before training or an event. Take five to ten minutes rolling the major muscles groups that feel tight or sore to prepare your body to perform. Or you can roll after training to accentuate the recovery process. You can even do both! Either way, consistency is key if you want to see lasting benefits.
When you sustain your body’s pressure against the foam roller on the trigger point, it inhibits or turns off the increased nervous input causing the knot, allowing the muscle fibers to relax and stretch. Slowly roll your muscles until you find a tender trigger point. Hold on that spot for 30 to 90-seconds while relaxing, and the pain melts away.
Make The ZOM Foam Roller Exercises for Cyclists program an essential part of your post-ride stretching and recovery routine. Here’s the routine I use!
Glutes and Piriformis
Start by sitting on a foam roll and cross your affected leg on top of your other knee as shown. Lean slightly towards your affected side. Next, using your arms and unaffected leg, roll forward and back across your buttock area.
Hamstring
Start by sitting with a foam roll under your target thigh. Next, using your arms, roll forward and back across your hamstring area.
Calves
Start by sitting with the foam roll under your target calf and cross your other leg on top.
Next, lift your body up with your arms and roll forward and back across your calf area.
Spine
Start by lying on your back with a foam roll under your back. Place your hands on your stomach and then slowly roll forward and back across your back using your legs as shown.
Iliotibial Band
Start on your side with a foam roll under your bottom thigh. Next, using your arms and unaffected leg, roll up and down on the foam roll along your lateral thigh.
Quadricep
Start by lying face down with a foam roll under the top of your target thigh. Cross your other leg over the top of your target leg as shown. Next, using your arms propped on your elbows, roll forward and back across this area.
Groin
Lie face down with a foam roll diagonally under your targeted inner thigh. Use your arms to roll up and down your leg.
Click here for a written description of The ZOM Foam Roller Exercises for Cyclists post-ride comprehensive stretching program.
For more ways to actively treat your cycling-related aches and pains check out the Virtual Case Studies page of The ZOM!
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Semi-retired after more than 20 years as the owner and director of a private Orthopedic Physical Therapy practice, Chris now enjoys the freedom to dedicate himself to his passions—virtual cycling and writing.
Driven to give back to the sport that has enriched his life with countless experiences and relationships, he founded a non-profit organization, TheDIRTDadFund. In the summer of 2022, he rode 3,900 miles from San Francisco to his “Gain Cave” on Long Island, New York, raising support for his charity.
His passion for cycling shines through in his writing, which has been featured in prominent publications like Cycling Weekly, Cycling News, road.cc, Zwift Insider, Endurance.biz, and Bicycling. In 2024, he was on-site in Abu Dhabi, covering the first live, in-person UCI Cycling Esports World Championship.
His contributions to cycling esports have not gone unnoticed, with his work cited in multiple research papers exploring this evolving discipline. He sits alongside esteemed esports scientists as a member of the Virtual Sports Research Network and contributes to groundbreaking research exploring the new frontier of virtual physical sport. Chris co-hosts The Virtual Velo Podcast, too.
