Be LYMBR, Spin More

Be LYMBR, Spin More

As our Hamptons studio at the SoulCycle BARN gets busier with riders, we’re helping more and more clients get more out of every class, and participate in more rides.

Spinning has become a dominant force in the fitness industry. As its popularity increases, so does the necessity for understanding spinning’s impact on the body. These classes provide a great way to sweat, burn calories, and have fun while doing it. Yet as more time is spent on the bike, more pressure is put on the muscles tasked to complete the pedaling action. The muscles most affected by the repetitive motion, also happen to be some of the largest in the human body; your quads, glutes, and upper back musculature. 

QUADS

The quads are broken up into four muscles, hence the name “quad”. The quad muscles assist with the extension of the knee and are used for activities like walking, running, and other physical activities like spinning. With the high intensity demands of spinning classes, extra strain can be placed on the quad and the various points at which they insert or attach. This increases the possibility of strain and injury in the knee, hip, and low back. As the quads become tight they are unable to extend the knee fully, placing greater strain on the knee, hip, and low back to complete the motion. Tight quads will also pull your pelvis down, creating a pelvic tilt. This will throw your low back out of alignment and produce low back pain. A great way to avoid these injuries is by getting stretched. LYMBR therapists can reset a pelvic tilt in less than 3 minutes, and our quad stretches restore mobility and function to the quadriceps. By creating greater function, we allow the muscles to better assist with the extension of the knee, thus removing stress on the knee, the pelvis and therefore the low back.

GLUTES

The glutes are made up of three muscles: The glute maximus, the glute medius, and the glute minimus. Each muscle serves an important purpose in spinning, primarily dealing with extension at the hip, or the downward “push” of your stride. The glute max is one of the primary movers in spinning and creates the “push” off the pedal. The glute medius serves as a pelvic stabilizer during dynamic movements. As the spinner lifts one foot up and drives the other down, glute medius holds the pelvis in a neutral position. This lessens the chance of a low back or pelvic injury. Glute medius can be especially tight for females due to women having anatomically wider pelvis. The glute minimus helps shift your body weight to keep you balanced while pedaling. To ensure the glutes are performing all of these tasks, it’s important to stretch and take your glutes through their full range of motion. Keeping the glutes loose will keep the pelvis stable while you ride, assist with balance, and will ensure that you are not compensating with other muscles to complete the hip extension.

UPPER BACK AND SHOULDERS

Although they’re certainly not as common, upper back and shoulder injuries can also occur from spinning classes. The upper back, specifically your traps, lats, and rear delts (shoulders), are responsible for holding your body upright as well as stabilizing the shoulder through dynamic movement. When people spin, they often get into the habit of hunching over the handlebars and tensing up their shoulders. What this does is lengthen these muscles to the point where they are no longer able to function. Since these muscles do so much to facilitate posture, as their function begins to waver, so will your posture. Your chest will begin to tighten as well as your core, your pelvis will tilt, and your shoulders will lose stability. By stretching out your chest, core, shoulders, and neck we can restore proper length to shortened muscles and therefore take pressure off your back and rear shoulders. This will help reaffirm correct posture and make your experience on the bike much more comfortable. 

Spinning is a fantastic form of exercise. You can burn calories, exercise your heart, increase endurance, lower body fat, all while being a part of a larger community of people trying to improve themselves. Like any activity, however, it’s best to start slow, and always listen to your body. We all have activities we love to do. If spinning is yours, then why not make sure your body is in its most mobile, functional state so you can make the most of every class. 

Written by Conner Fritchley, Stretch Therapist in our Darien studio.

Stretching for the Equestrian Community

Stretching for the Equestrian Community

            “You’re not a rider unless you’ve fallen off seven times.” This is one of many proven mantras in the Equestrian community.  Equestrians are some of the toughest and strongest athletes I have come to know during my lifetime.  Over time, we riders learn numerous aids, cues, and body positions to influence and support a horse’s movement. A full day of schooling, showing, and barn chores can leave us aching and exhausted. As hopeful lifelong equestrians, we need to start thinking about how our own body’s health and flexibility affect the flexibility we strive for in our four legged partners. 

How can LYMBR help improve your riding?

         I have been an avid horse-lover, rider, and competitor since the age of 5. Spending hours in the saddle can really take a toll on your body, and it wasn’t until coming to LYMBR after a fall that I started to connect some dots. Equestrians tend to be creatures of habit. We mount, dismount, tack up, and connect with our horses through groundwork, always on the left side. It’s a repetitive lifestyle, and constantly performing the same movements over and over again creates muscle imbalances in our body. Imbalances lead to discomfort and often times pain. No matter their discipline, most equestrians struggle with tightness and sore muscles in the hips, adductors, glutes, calves, spine, chest, shoulders, and neck. We spend a lot of time and effort caring for our horses and honing in on our connection in the saddle;why don’t we spend as much time and effort on our own bodies? 

            As a therapist and a client, LYMBR has helped me understand both the individual functions of muscles and how they work together while in motion. Because each LYMBR session is completely personalized, everything is catered to reach your goals. With therapists experienced in a wide variety of sports and exercise modalities LYMBR is able target those tense muscles through an intricate series of stretches.  Learning how to target and lengthen those muscles while strengthening their counterparts has enhanced my riding enormously. Remember, for every working muscle, there is anopposing muscle working in the other direction. Also because I have become more open and available through stretching my connection to my horse feels stronger.

Lets go deeper…

         The pelvis and lower back are irritated in practically every rider. Riding can actually promote and enhance stiffness that leads to poor riding posture. It can block aids and movements from you to the horse creating a domino effect. Our hips are another point of interest, while riding, they are in constant flexion, leaving our hamstrings lengthened. Often when a rider is swinging their legs or cannot keep their legs in alignment, it is because our hamstrings are not as strong as our hips. We strive for symmetry in our horses and our own posture; we want to make it look like riding is easy! If we are dealing with discrepancies in our bodies, it will affect the way your horse responds while under saddle. This is why these issues can and should be addressed out of the saddle.

Whether you are a new rider who wants to help recover those newly hard-working muscles or a seasoned competitor hoping to improve for this upcoming show season, better mobility, flexibility and range of motion that comes from proper stretching will help take your riding to the next level.

Written by Samantha Fabrikant, LYMBR Stretch Therapist and Equestrian.