Muscle soreness after a ride isn’t inherently a bad thing. It means we worked hard! However, if that soreness is pervasive or to the point of pain, doesn’t go away after 48 hours, or is uneven from right to left, then we know we need to investigate further. In this blog, we’ll talk about the most common mistakes I see people make that results in sore hamstrings after cycling.
We’re going to cover bike fit, biomechanics, and why it may not be your hamstrings at all that are actually sore.

First, a quick anatomy lesson:

Your hamstring muscle is actually made up of 4 muscles: the semitendinosus, semimembranosus, and the lon and short heads of the biceps femoris. They connect at the ischium of your pelvis and below your knee at the tibia and fibular, respectively. Its job is to extend the hip, bend the knee, and rotate the knee joint. It is what helps us powerfully pull up on our pedal stroke on the bike.

Now let’s talk about the main reasons you may be experiencing sore hamstrings after cycling:

Bike Fit

Poor bike fit is one of the biggest culprits when it comes to hamstring soreness on the bike. Certain bike fit positions can place your hamstrings at a disadvantaged position. This will cause them to have to work harder for a certain work output, and cause them to get sore. There are several spots on the bike that can put your hamstrings in a disadvantaged position.

Here are two of the biggest bike fit culprits that can lead to sore hamstrings after cycling:

1.  Saddle too far back. If your saddle is set too far backward, it puts excessive strain on the top of the hamstrings. Make sure your saddle is in a position in which your knee is at about a 145-155 degree angle. Download my essential bike fit guide here to hit the 5 most important parts you need to address on your fit to feel good on your bike.

2.  Saddle too tall. If the saddle is too tall, it requires the hamstrings to work at their end range, which can cause them to tire easily and become sore. Along with maintaining the 145-155 knee angle, other ways to spot if your saddle is too high is if your hips rock a lot when you pedal, or if you have to point your toe down a lot at the bottom of your pedal stroke. (If you didn’t above, download my free essential bike fit guide here to ensure you’re hitting the right parameters on your bike)

Biomechanics

There are several strategies our body implements that can lead to over-using the hamstrings and causing them to get sore.

Poor hip stability: We need stable hips to drive power throughout the pedal stroke. If the hips aren’t stable, the body will utilize the hamstrings to try to stabilize the pelvis. When the hamstrings have to do two jobs (stabilize the pelvis AND power the pedal stroke), they will tighten up and get sore after riding. Improve your hip stability with this exercise below:

Tight calves: The hamstrings and the big calf muscle (the gastrocnemius) cross over the knee joint and perform knee flexion. If the calves are tight, they will resist the hamstring’s ability to bend the knee, causing the hamstrings to have to work harder. Check out this exercise to improve your calf mobility:

Decreased core strength: Just like hip stability, we need core stability to drive force through our legs. (think of it like trying to shoot a cannonball out of a canoe – if our core isn’t strong, it’s hard to generate any sort of force). Because the hamstrings are a big muscle group, they will try to stabilize the pelvis from below if the core can’t do it from above. This again leads to overuse of the hamstrings and soreness after your ride. Try one of my favorite core exercises for cyclists below:

Lastly, what if it’s not the hamstrings?

One other quick anatomy lesson – directly underneath the hamstrings runs the sciatic nerve, which is a huge nerve that runs from our back all the way to the bottom of our foot. Due to our flexed-hip and back position on the bike, the sciatic nerve can be put on too much tension for our body to handle. Because the sciatic nerve runs directly under  the hamstrings, tension on the nerve itself can often feel like hamstring soreness. However, nerves, unlike muscles, do NOT like to get stretched. In fact, stretching will make them feel worse instead of better. Instead, nerves like to glide and move. If you’ve been stretching your sore hamstrings and it makes them feel worse, try this instead:

My next steps for you:

1. Download my bike fit guide to ensure it’s not the fit that’s causing your sore hamstrings after cycling below👇 👇

2. Read more about the relationship between tight hamstrings and saddle height here.

3. Read more about why it may not be your hamstrings that are tight, and what to do about it here.