Glutes Stretching: Questions..questions

Triathlon Forum
1

I’ve noticed now in my new bike set up, after a lot of aero riding, my gluteus medius, that thin outside hip flexor, gets knotted up, like a fiend, after riding. I’ved tried all the pretzel streches, the bent leg over knee, piriformis stretch—all of them, don’t seem to work. These are all of the “safe” correct, suggested stretches for the gluteus medius.

However, they don’t seem to do the trick. About the best one, is one you shouldn’t do, which is the cross leg under the other, while standing, and then touch your toes.

I can really isolate that muscle in that way, big time. But I don’t do it, because all the physiologists say, all you are doing is causing your hip flexors, hamstrings, and other muscles to contract. It’s not stretching anything.

It sure feels like it is, though. If that’s a contraction, then all of my stretches, whether lying on the floor using a rope, they are all dealing with contractions.

How do I know if I’m ever contracting a muscle, then, as opposed to stretching it.

Can you stretch a hip flexor, or do you just contract them?

2

There are stretches for this, but I let my massage therapist, Sandra Papiez, do them for me while I’m on the table. I am headed over there in 35 minutes for a post-race massage that will included light stretching to loosen up my back and gluteal muscles so I can do some training this evening.

I find I am better off if someone helps me stretch. I generally don;t do it on my own.

3

Is this what you are looking for?
http://www.yogabasics.com/asana/postures/pigeon.html

4

Tom, let me ask you this.

In a comfortable, correct aero position, what’s the goal to shoot for as to which leg muscles, get the grief: quads or hamstrings.

The more aero I get, the more I use my hamstrings, and glutes. Is that a common transition muscle for people using an aero position on the bike?

I had no problem getting off my old bike, and running. Now it takes me quite some time, to get going off the bike, in the run, after being aero. I go faster on the bike, however at the price, hamstring and outer glute tightness, and lower back, too. I guess this takes getting used to.

5

What is your seat angle?

Personally, I get sore in the hips (mainly psoas) and hamstrings but I also live on the coastal plains, not a hill anywhere. In the past I’ve had my saddle a little too high and that has aggravated the situation. In addition I am as flexible as a 2x4. I’ve been working on flexibility for quite some time now and I feel much better while at race speeds.

For my first 2 seasons I ran about 10’ off of almost every bike ride I did. Doing this will probably help you more than anything else. It sounds like you should do some more of this and also work on flexibility.

6

Stretching ain’t gonna do it. You need to go after it with a ball or something. I go to a massage therapist once a month, and use a ball in between.

7

Pidgeon definitely works real well - also reverse triangle pose.

8

i have the same problem. It is called piriformis syndrome. Look it up on the web for the symptoms and how to treat it. basically, stretching is key. I’ve found the pretzle stretch to be the best. But also, massage helps a lot and may actually be necessary for full recovery, especially if you have scar tissue built up in there. “getting used to it” is not the solution. It will keep getting worse until you start treating it.

working extra hard on running after riding your aero bike will do nothing for you while you still have the condition, and may be harmful. better to back off on the aero bike and hard running until you are on your way to normal piriformis.

i have found that my piriformis tightness to be directly related to a lower saddle position on my TT bike. Raising the saddle height has been helping, along with lots of stretching and massage.