do any of you do specific gym exercises for hip flexors? in the same way as there is a potential benefit to doing other movements, i’m thinking hip flexor work may improve the pulling up fatigue or movement if done properly.
open for advice as a 52 yr old with not great strength but good cycling fitness
I personally (I am a PT) think this is a waste of your time. Main drivers are glutes/quads/calves. You shouldn’t be pulling up on the pedal stroke - the other leg is push down to cause the opposite pedal to come up. I don’t care what people say - biking is about pushing down on pedals - not pulling up. You shouldn’t have to think at all - just about effort and how hard your pushing.
Do some squats/lunges/leg press if you want to get stronger on the bike.
so fatigue in the hip flexors won’t affect performance? even if you aren’t actively pulling up on the pedal, is there no assistance in just getting the pedal back over top dead center? i’m already on the squat and press train.
Again this is my opinion - no.
Do they hurt when you ride?
If you want strong hip flexors (and a strong body), then start doing squats. All else is just secondary / accessory movements.
Depends on the type of cyclist you are. With track cyclists I would say it’s a must. There is a definate pull and pushing and it will allow you to pedal at a higher cadence more efficently (140rpm+).
If you are aiming to climb at a cadence in the 80’s then it doesn’t help a lot, but if you are a crit racer and pedal in the 100rpm’s then I still think it helps a lot with smoothing out your pedal stroke.
no they don’t hurt. they can/do feel fatigued between sessions though, where my quads don’t really. the question is, does this affect my ability to maintain higher cadence when power is at or above ftp?
@cagiva_wmx125 Strength work is critical whether on or off the bike for the 50+ crowd but also I would recommend regular yoga sessions as well.
I do the Abi Carver videos as she has a lot of cyclists specific content. You can find her on YouTube (try searching for Abi Carver Hip Flexor), her website yoga15 or check out the links on PinkBike: Abi Carver Articles - Pinkbike
Wait, what? That sounds like a bike setup/fit issue. Not sure how your quads can’t feel fatigued/sore.
If I had to guess that’s more bike fit. Only time my hip flexors bug me is if my seat falls too low.
If you want to train your hip flexors in any way isolated leg training on your bike is probably the least controversial type of training to do. Still, try it and you will find that your hip flexors will fatigue within minutes indicating they are not a major concern as you probably can ride for hours without any hip flexor fatigue?
The reason pros pedal so fluid is because the have developed their timing applying power at the correct point in the revolution. This come from hours upon hours of pedaling and mindful drills to extend the comfortable cadence range.
Edit: This is a somewhat useful article about which muscles are active, when they are and to what degree whey are contributing to the force generation:
its relative. low level fatigue of the hip flexors in the hours/ days, post training.
My hip flexors get tight because I sit at a desk too much.
My lower body / core routine: Deadlifts, squats, planks, flutter kicks.
Upper body is pull ups, push ups, rows, front raises, biceps, triceps, shoulder rotators, and battle rope.
That basically covers it for me. May add in a little more stability work, a rip row, and some of the kneesovertoesguy knee work going forward though.
i do enjoy a little kneesovertoesguy work!
Yeah, all about time though. I’ve been having a hard time sticking to lifting with all of the training I’ve been doing, so that’s for the offseason.
Hip Flexors - if you throw in the planks and especially flutter kicks, those do help with hip flexors and are good from a general core perspective. I just do 3 sets of 60s planks, 30s flutter kicks incorporated into other lifting sessions. And then daily easy stretching as needed. Basically a deep lunge with your leg straight out behind you can stretch them out pretty good.
As somebody over 50, I wish I had started yoga way sooner.
I’ve always kept up with some amount of strength training to help cycling but it’s become more important now.
Abi is good for yogi. There’s good yoga instructor on YouTube, Adriene, who has tons of good content.
I don’t do any specific exercises for hip flexors but I do stretch them, primarily using the couch stretch. When my hip flexors get tight it really makes my lower back hurt, especially when standing. It can get almost debilitating if I don’t take care of it. Regular couch stretches keeps that back pain at bey for me.
Cycling definitely makes my hip flexors tight (spending all day in a chair probably doesn’t help either). But I feel it in my back. The hip flexors themselves never hurt - that is until I stretch them, then it is instantly obvious that they are f’ed up!
I’m a rank amateur educated by Google and wild ass guesses so take this with a grain of salt - in terms of strengthening the hip flexors, my hunch is my issue is more of an imbalance where the opposing muscles are the weak link. Often, its weakness in other areas that let a particular muscle do too much so making that particular muscle stronger while ignoring the counter muscles can actually make things worse, not better.
Stretching hip flexor is always a great idea - especially in terms of back pain and if they are painful they can inhibit your glutes (look up length-tension relationship of muscles). And you DEFINITELY need your glutes in cycling.
When I’ve had hip flexor pain with riding I do wonder if it sometimes glute fatigue causing an overuse of my hip flexors (but I am not a biomechanisist nor a bike fitter)
Under the banner of it’s all connected, I have found mobilizing hip flexors to be useful. I sit alot at work too and for other hobbies (playing guitar). As others say, squats and planks can do wonders. The band work I do lateral/front-back steps, glute bridges, as well as bird dogs I feel do a nice job of activating/stretching/mobilizing flexors along with glutes, hamstrings, low back. My problem areas for tightness/weakness/cramping are hamstrings and calves. That’s what I mean all connected - doing the exercises I mentioned hit the flexors but also the whole system.
Back squat
Bulgarian Squat
Hip thrusters
Stretching with mobility/yoga type of movements.