Cycling: Quick warm up for the lower back & hips

The Importance of Warming Up and Stretching Before Cycling
Cycling, whether it is a leisurely ride or an intense competitive race, many people enjoy the great outdoors. However, most of us forego stretching and warming up before we head out. It is importance to include some form of warming up and/or stretching before hopping on your bike. These pre-cycling activities are paramount for injury prevention and maximizing performance.
Warming up before cycling helps to prepare your body for the physical demands of the exercise. Getting some of the common stiff regions of your body moving and warmed up will not only get blood flow to the right areas, but will give you access to motion where you need it and reduce motion where you don’t.

A quick warm-up/stretch session helps to improve your joint range of motion, which in turn provides a more fluid and comfortable pedaling motion and better posture for your neck and back. Tight muscles, particularly in the hips, hamstrings, and quadriceps, can lead to inefficient biomechanics and increased stress on your joints. Incorporating dynamic stretches can loosen up these muscle groups, reducing the chance of strain or overuse injuries.

A properly warmed-up body enables you to generate more power, maintain better technique, and achieve a faster pace. Whether you are a recreational cyclist or an elite athlete, a well-executed warm-up and stretching routine can translate into improved endurance, speed, and overall efficiency during your ride.

A pre-cycling ritual not only prepares you physically, it gets you ready mentally. Taking the time to warm up and stretch allows you to focus and mentally prepare for the ride ahead. It provides an opportunity to clear your mind, set goals, and mentally rehearse your cycling technique. This mental preparation is important to bring yourself down to a more restful state if you cycle later in the day or increase your mental state as you wake up for the early risers.

Here is an example of a warm up that I like to incorperate before I ride: