Watch again: yoga for cyclists
Yoga for cyclists: Spine, neck and lower back
As part of the Women’s Festival of Cycling 2021 Cycling UK offered a series of exciting yoga classes for cyclists of all ages and abilities. This is the first of four sessions and will focus on the spine, neck, lower and middle back. Whether you’re a roadie or an off-road mountain biker your body is forced into an unnatural unusual position. After spending so much time in the same hunched position the neck, back and chest can all start to feel very tight. As a result of dropped handlebars, the attack position and peering up under your helmet, these areas of the body are often in need of some attention.
Yoga for cyclists: Shoulders and wrists
This is the second session in our four-part yoga series and focuses on the all-important shoulders and wrists. Cycling on and off-raid puts pressure and strain through these areas of the body. The more saddle time you get in the more niggles you’re likely to feel, whether that's stiffness and tightness or reduced flexibility. This session focuses on building strength and stability to carry you through an active season of bike related fun.
Yoga for cyclists: Hips, hip flexors and glutes
The repetitive nature of pushing power through the pedals in an unusual bent over position towards the handlebars isn’t natural for the body. This position can commonly cause tightness all around the hip area. Session three focused on the hips, hip flexors and glutes. As riders we are all too familiar with tight hips and hip associated pain such as ‘sciatica’. We focused on increasing mobility and flexibility to release pain and discomfort whilst cycling. This should also help reduce the chance of future injuries.
Yoga for cyclists: Quads and hamstrings
This is the last in our four-part series. Whether on-road or off-road, whilst cycling, your legs are constantly engaged. The repetitive movements through the legs can lead to tightness and imbalances as we often all have one preferred leg to lead with. Session four focused on the quads and hamstrings, for every cracking descent there’s a challenging climb and thus tight quads muscles and hammies! We focused on flexibility to unravel knotty muscles post ride.