One of the reasons many people don’t ride their bikes as much as they would like to is because of “sore muscles.” Their problems really start before they even get on the bike—most newbies forget to stretch before they ride. They often add to their pain by having their saddle at the wrong height and when they get home they are too tired to stretch after the ride, let alone pay attention to eating the proper food for recovery. If you don’t properly recover from a bike ride one day you really don’t feel riding the next.
An important part of anyone’s recovery after a long ride is muscle massage. If you stretch after a ride you can delay and/or prevent muscles stiffness and if you can massage the muscles you can help break down lactic acid in your legs which will get you back on the bike a sooner.
After a long ride I like to spend a few minutes massaging my calves, quadriceps and hamstring muscles. Muscle massage is a lot easier if you use a good massage oil. I recently started using the Five Seed Warm-Cool Muscle Rub and am very happy with it. This product has oils that both warm and cool the muscles, but it does not have the harsh smell of products like Tiger Balm. When you first rub this on your skin you will feel the ginger begin to warm up a bit (but not too much). After the massage is finished you can feel the peppermint, eucalyptus and rosemary oils gently cool things down. In addition to the ingredients already mentioned, this rub contains olive oil, arnica, chamomile, cocoa butter, and beeswax.
The Five Seed Warm-Cool Muscle Rub comes in a reusable 1-ounce metal tin and retails for $8.80. The price is in line with products like Tiger Balm, but I think you will like this muscle rub a lot more (and you won’t smell like a medicine cabinet either). Five Seed has the most reasonable shipping rates I’ve ever seen, so look at some of their other products before you place your order and you can save some money in the process.
Five Seed
August 26, 2011 at 1:44 PM
Wow, I am so thrilled you like it!! Thank you so very much for this wonderful review. I appreciate it so much – especially coming from a fellow cyclist! Many, many thanks!
lovethybike
August 27, 2011 at 12:01 PM
Sounds like just the stuff my boyfriend needs after the intensive Haute route ride over the French alps!