5 Yoga Poses to Help You Be a Better Cyclist
Many cyclists rave about the yin and yang that yoga can bring into one’s training or riding routine. Although it may seem that that yoga and cycling are two opposing forces, melding these two activities can actually create a happy balance.
As we gear up and get excited for our 2018 Summer Tuscany Yoga Bike Tour, we thought we’d share our five favorite yoga poses. If you haven’t tried it yet, adding yoga to your cycling “practice” can bring about not only health in the body, but the peace of mind that comes from mixing the aerobic movement of cycling with strength, stretching, and breath control.
With more and more cyclists incorporating yoga into their weekly training schedules, it’s now known that the benefits are worth the time invested–even if it’s time off the bike! Here are a few perks of yoga for cyclists.
- Yoga helps you create a body that is pain free.
- Cycling keeps your body in a linear motion whereas yoga is about twisting.
- In cycling, you use your big muscles and sympathetic nervous system; in yoga, you use small muscles and your parasympathetic system, which controls rest and digestion.
- Yoga helps you learn diaphragmatic breathing (it’s something I learned through yoga and it helps me on and off the bike–you breathe deep into the bottom of your lungs rather than taking shallow breaths).
- As a cyclist, you need to strengthen your glutes and core and yoga can help you do that. Strengthening your core allows you to hold a forward-leaning position for longer.
Our 5 Favorite Yoga Poses for Cyclists
PIGEON
Although cycling does build strength in your hips, it does not flex or stretch your hips and can make them feel tighter. Stress is also a major contributor to tight hips, as we tend to hold tension in this area. In this pose, your hands are shoulder width apart. Hips are squared and your spine is long. Step your left foot forward into a lunge and then lower the knee to the left, keeping your hips square and placing a folded blanked or towel underneath your hips to avoid over stretching the knee, if needed. Stretch your right leg back, coming up to the ball of your right foot. You can keep the foot flexed or lower your foot so the top of your foot faces the ground. Keep the left foot flexed to support the knee. Variations: Walk hands forward to deepen the stretch, keeping the hips square by flexing the inner thighs together. This pose benefits the hips, hamstring, and quads.
CAT/COW
The cat-cow pose stretches and strengthens your spine to help improve your posture and balance. Cat pose often is combined with cow pose to lengthen and open up your spine. Cat and cow are good ways to warm up your back for further spinal stretches. Move between cat and cow as a “”vinyasa”” flow, which means to synchronize your movement with your breath.
Come onto all fours. Stack your knees over your hips, shoulders over your wrists. Spread your fingers wide and press into your finger pads to protect your wrists. Arch your spine up and down, moving with your breath. Variation: Move your spine in a circle around to the right, then to the left. This pose is wonderful for the back
UPWARD-FACING DOG
Lower yourself onto your stomach and engage your armpits to push up to lift your chest. Keep your shoulders relaxed and your neck long. Moving into upward-facing dog from a lower push up position targets the upper back, shoulders, and arms for strength but also stretches the front of the body from the hip flexors to the muscles of your upper chest. Studies have shown yoga improves respiratory breathing capacity by increasing chest wall expansion and forced expiratory lung volumes—an added benefit for cyclists.
DOWNWARD-FACING DOG
Downward-facing dog often follows upward facing dog and is a great stretch for the hips, calves and hamstrings. It’s also another strength pose for the arms, shoulders, and upper back. Downward-facing dog is usually held for five breaths before moving into the next pose. Variation: From downward-facing dog, move your chest and hips forward, pushing up into upward-facing dog (above).
Bridge pose is typically one of the last poses you do, as it helps you move forward into relaxation and prepares you to enter shavasana, the final pose of a yoga practice. It’s a great counterbalance to being on the bike, and it’s an uplifting and energizing posture if you’re feeling tired before or after your ride. In this pose, you keep your feet hip-width apart. Press into the four corners of your feet, relax your glutes, and engage your inner thighs. Keep your knees and ankles stacked and arms are by your side. Variation: Interlace your hands behind your back, being mindful of pressure on your neck. This benefits your back, chest, and shoulders.
Bonus Book Tip: Check out this informative manual called Yoga For Cyclists by Lexie Williamson.
A note about the illustration artist: Bill Koeb is an American painter, illustrator, and sequential artist whose work includes illustrations for Washington City Paper, The Village Voice, and Bill Graham Presents. His paintings have been exhibited in shows in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. He has illustrated stories for Marvel, Vertigo, and other publishers. He has written and drawn stories for Vanguard Publishing’s Tales From The Edge anthology and created the artwork for the character Sarah in the film The Crow, City Of Angels. He is currently painting and teaching in North Carolina. These prints were made with ink and wash. To learn more about Bill, check out: www.koeb.com.
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