If you’re a cyclist who spends hours at a time on a bike than you’ve probably felt some tightness running down the sides of your legs and quickly assumed your IT bands were all knotted up. And as most of us do, the first thing you do is either start stretching or rolling away on that foam roller.
If this sounds familiar check out today’s coaching because I’m going to show you how to make that tightness disappear by using a completely different approach to dealing with this problem.
THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM
Here’s something you probably didn’t realize. All that tightness you’re feeling down the side of you leg is not only caused by tight glutes, but also from weakness in your inner thighs, specifically the tissue that causes your leg to rotate externally. So if you want to finally rid yourself of that dreaded IT band tightness and pain start doing this exercise ASAP.
EQUIPMENT NEEDED
The only equipment you’re going to need is something similar to a toothbrush holder. It’s about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch think, so other options would be a thick magic marker or one of those massage rolling sticks.
The purpose of the object is to teach you how to disassociate your lower back from your hips. When you go to stretch your glutes, we usually allow our lumbar spine to flex or round. If we eliminate the lower back from coming to the party we get to isolate the hip and only the hip. I’ll show you more in the video above.
HOW TO PROGRAM
I would suggest doing this up to 3 times per week. Start out with 3 rounds of 5 reps for each leg. Progress to rounds of 10, 15, and 20 reps. Each week your range of motion will be increasing as well so that’s another way that you’re progressing.
BULLETPROOF YOUR BODY
If you enjoyed this exercise, I would definitely recommend checking out the link below where I share my Sticky Hips Cheatsheet that will show you how to pinpoint where your tight, sticky hips are coming from and where any weaknesses may be lurking. This is the first step to finally relieving aches, pains and tightness so check it out!
ABOUT COACH MATT PIPPIN
Matt is a Strength and Mobility Coach with over 15 years experience in his field and has coached over a thousand professional, collegiate and everyday athletes with the goal to help them move, feel and perform at their highest level. He's incredibly passionate about bringing simple and effective online mobility training programs to everyone who wants to take control of their self care and make lasting change. CLICK HERE to learn more.
Certifications:
NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Level 3: Fascial Stretch Specialist
Level 1: Institute of Motion Health Coach
Certified FRC Mobility Specialist (FRCms)
Level 1 Kinstretch Instructor
Weck Method Qualified