| And now for a helpful word from Ride for the Reserve sponsor Laren Rusin, PT dust off those hamstrings and join us October 13! Days remain to register here. |  |
Stretching before and after you ride
Stretching can be beneficial pre and post-ride, but you want to approach each differently. Performing a series of dynamic stretches before you ride allows you to warm up your muscles and start the blood flowing, and check in with your body to see how everything feels. You work through your available or “active” range of motion, not stressing out your joints, or overstretching muscle fibers which can then inhibit performance.
Some of my favorite examples of dynamic stretches to try pre-ride (you may have to start with shorter sessions of each):
 | -Lunge walking, working through gradual increase in range of motion. Step forward then lunge down, dropping your hips down, not forward. Keep your front knee over your toes. Repeat for 2-3 minutes |
| Trunk rotation in lunge position and side bending: in a kneeling lunge position, start by gently twisting your trunk side to side, gently and slowly increasing the range of motion. Perform for a minute, switching which leg is forward halfway through. Then perform a sidebend and reach, to the left then to the right. Same thing, switch which leg is forward halfway through. |  |
-Downward dog to upward dog: Working out your spine gently, start in a downward dog position, then slowly transition to an upward dog or cobra position. You can alternate bending your knees in the downward dog as a variation. Perform for a minute.
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Stay tuned for those post-ride stretches!
