Exercises???

Just wondering if any of y’all do any particular stetches or exercises before unicycling, or to enhance your abilities on a unicycle?

I mostly just do lots of (different types of) riding. Whatever it is I’m trying to do, as long as it’s sufficiently interesting I eventually find I’ve built up strength and endurance in doing it.

I’ve heard that running can be good cross training for uni (uses slightly different leg muscle groups, so keeps things balanced)

I’ve found doing a lot of exercises to increase the strength and endurance of my core to be very benefitial. Legs help a bit too. I can ride longer w/o UPD’s, fewer and safer UPD’s, and I can ride challenging terrain more smoothly.

Some exercises I like to do:
single leg lifts
double leg lifts
side twists (lie on back w/ arms out to your sides and legs up, bent at 90 degrees and twist your hips so your knees are 4" above the ground. Go side to side. DO NOT push down w/ your hands, could put stress on your back)
supermans.

A lot of yoga and pilaties exersizes are good.

Staying flexible is important, allows wider range of movement and prevents injury.
I also do weight training to build up the muscular endurance of my legs (quads and hamstrings) plus I skip to improve CV endurance and to strength my calves.
As mentioned above core strength is very important and it helps towards improving balance so exercises listed above and another favourite known as “the plank” are very good.

Jason

P.S. Depending on the style of riding you are doing, I would recommend increase strength in your back. It’s good for stability but also very important in trials as seat out hopping engages the muscles at the top of the back.

what are some exercises to work out your back…
is that why my back is sore after some rides or is that bad form?

Warming up before riding is extremely important. I don‘t like stretching before riding, cause it relax the muscles instead of filling them with blood, and that‘s necessary for the muscles to work well.

I start just riding forwards and backwards for a few minutes. Then I begin trying some tricks, but not the heavy ones. Those are in the mid part of the section. And that‘s important: our bodies usually loose the capability to learn new things when we are tired, so it‘d be good to try those hard tricks only while you‘re feeling good and ready, cause by the end of the section it becomes dangerous.

And after practicing I like stretching, but for relaxation and not for gaining amplitude. that should be done on a separate time, just for that. And as said before, it‘s extremely important not just for performance matters, but for preventing injuries.

Finally, for back issues muscles around the abdominal area are the most important thing. There‘s a technic called pilates, and it gives amazing resoults.

I hope that could help, but it‘s just what I do, so keep researching…

Some good balance poses:
one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
eleven
twelve
thirteen
fourteen
This one w/ your girlfriend
fifteen

If you don’t quite have the flexibility for these, most have easier, less flexible variations.

-Swimming. Lie on your back, extend your arms and legs and do a flutter kick motion with your legs and arms, looks like swimming.
-Side twists. See above. Advanced variation: extend your legs streight.

I noticed when I’m riding really challenging terrain I bend over forward, it works my lower back and sometimes gets sore, esp. if I’ve been slacking off on my core exercises. As I improve I ride the same terrain more upright and don’t get this issue.

This is the bigest area where I noticed benefits: can ride longer at the peak of my skill.

Yeah, Pilates is better for core strength (the best I’ve found) and yoga is good for that but also balance and consentration.

Edit

so in simpler terms…
do yoga…pilates…all that great stuff…
do all sorts of swimming things…
try not to lean forward too much…
stretch and warm up…
watch my diet…i just got to eat less…i only weigh 120lbs and is 5’6"…
get back in good shape…work out core,legs,get more flexible again and cross train quite possibly…dont forget cardiovascular too…
I think alot of people forget about stretching after a ride too…it helps you not be so sore…

I just got over a case of whiplash from a UPD after a rolling hop up a simple curb. So I’m going to try to strengthen my neck and upper back muscles to keep that from happening again. I just recently started going to a yoga class with my wife and that is really helping my flexibility and balance.

I saw a video of Kris Holm talking about how he does slack line and climbing. Those seem like really good complimentary exercises.

I’ve felt strain in my lower back, so that may be my problem too. I’ve found that running doesn’t help all that much, as I run cross country and both track seasons at school and I’m not terribly fast or strong. Sprinting up steep hills or running up really long, inclined hills helps though. After I started (almost) sprinting up every short hill in cross country, I found that I could do the equivalent with my unicycle.