Stretching the limits

You’ve heard of yoga, you’ve heard that top pro cyclists do it, and if you’ve ever had a bike fit, you’ll know what an important role flexibility and symmetry play on your bike. You’ll have an even better idea if you can’t help remaining hunched over for 10 minutes after a long ride.

But when touching your toes seems an unachievable dream, and sitting down crosslegged but a distant memory from primary school, then contorting yourself into the sorts of poses typically seen in yoga manuals seems highly unappealing and more likely to do harm than good.

But inflexibility is not inevitable, and yoga is a progressive practice so there’s no need to throw yourself in at the deep end. Start with some gentle stretching and build up gradually. There are more benefits to yoga than just flexibility, though. Regular yoga can help shield you from cycling-related injuries because it makes you aware of which areas of your body are tight, weak or out of balance, and it will help make your joints stronger and increase their range of motion.

As well as making you more flexible, yoga can benefit the cyclist in many more ways, promoting core strength, tension release,