It’s no secret that hunching over handlebars and pedaling with the same muscles all day long will make you sore and stiff. Doing yoga regularly will not only help you to feel good after a long ride, but it will also help prevent injuries. After you get back from a ride and properly store your bike in a bike rack, take a few extra minutes to do a few yoga poses.
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Why should bikers practice yoga?
- It helps loosen your muscles and allows you full range of motion.
- Yoga strengthens your core muscles, which are important for biking endurance.
- Doing yoga will help prevent injuries. Stretching your muscles helps prevent tears. If you crash, you will probably fall on your hips or shoulders, so strengthening those areas will be good for you.
- Yoga improves balance, so you can stay on your bike if something unexpected comes up in the road.
- Yoga is also good for you mentally. It helps you to feel more put together and relaxed.
Where do you start? You might not be very excited to start practicing a new sport in addition to the sport you already do. The key here is not to treat it as something you have to do, but something that will just be somewhat beneficial to your biking experience. You don’t have to learn every pose and become super flexible. Just learn a few poses, and do them when you’re feeling sore.
- Try doing a few yoga videos on YouTube. You don’t have to memorize every pose. Just pick your favorites that you think help the most. Learning yoga poses will be easier if you’re actually watching someone else do them, as opposed to reading descriptions and trying to figure out how it’s supposed to go.
- Learn some poses that stretch your legs and back. Those areas get worked pretty hard while you’re biking.
- Don’t beat yourself up about doing yoga every day. You don’t HAVE to do it every day. Just do it when you feel like it.
- Downward facing dog. It strengthens your arms muscles and stretches your back and legs.
- Cat/cow pose. It stretches out every vertebrae of your back.
- Pyramid pose. It’s good for your calves and hamstrings.
- Warrior pose. It’s good for endurance and building leg muscles.
- Pigeon pose. It helps stretch out your hip muscles.
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