Stretch Your Ride: Yoga Moves for Mountain Bikers

I may be biased, but I believe that yoga can help you excel at any performance sport. From climbing to skiing to mountain biking to simply living my life, there has never been a time where I implemented yoga in some capacity and didn’t feel better for it. 

As an athlete and yoga teacher, I’d love to share with you 5 stretches that can help support and supplement your mountain biking experience. We use explosive muscles, test our endurance, and our body usually pays the price. These simple postures when done before, during, or after a ride can help you feel more prepared and can assist with recovery after a big day on the trails. Moreso, yoga can help us remain present while we’re simply enjoying the outdoors with friends or trying a challenging, new line. Yoga is a practice that teaches us patience and self-compassion, which I believe are traits that not only help us become better mountain bikers, but have more fun on the trails. 

I always preface the physical practice of yoga with: YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE FLEXIBLE TO DO YOGA. What matters here is that you can deepen your breath and experience the sensations in your body. As you explore these simple postures, notice your breath. Observe where there’s resistance and make adjustments as needed. Seeing as you’re the only one who knows what these poses feel like, make sure they feel good!

1. Side Body Stretch & Cactus: During most of our rides, we’re leaning forward. These poses can help undo some of that compression in the chest and sides.

   1. From standing, inhale and reach your arms out wide and up overhead. Interlace your hands but release your pointer fingers. Keep your shoulder blades soft and away from your ears. Breath in to reach tall, exhale to bend to the right. Inhale into your left lung and feel a big opening through the left side body. Stay for an exhale. Inhale your way back through center, follow the exhale to the other side.

   2. From center, exhale and bend your elbows like goal posts. Feel your chest open and let your gaze travel upward. Breath into the center of your chest, and exhale while you bend your knees and feel your collarbones broaden even more.

   
   

2. Forward Fold (option for shoulder expansion): This pose also helps support the undoing of compression in the spine and shoulders that comes with both climbing and descending.

   1. From a tall standing position, bend your knees and fold over your legs. Bend your knees as deeply as you need to allow your spine to pour over your legs. You can explore bending and straightening one leg and then the other, or find stillness. On an inhale, bring your hands to your shins, lift your spine halfway up and reach the top of your head forward, then fold again as you exhale. Repeat this breath / movement pattern as many times as you want.

   2. Come to a tall standing position with your shoulders together and down your back. Interlace your knuckles at your low back and press them down to the ground. Feel this open your chest, take a breath in, then bend your knees and maintain the clasp of your hands while you fold over your legs. Breath into the expansion and sensations in the shoulders. Keep a generous bend in your knees while you fold to help release the spine. Take 5 - 10 deep breaths.

   

   
   

3. Malasana Squat: This deep hip opening stretch can help release tension from the inner thighs and outer hips.

   1. Walk your feet out wider than your hips with your toes pointing out and heels pointing in. Bend your knees to lower your hips. You may not lower very far down and that’s ok! Squat as low as is comfortable. Breath into the sensations in your hips. If you want to, you can bring your palms together while you press your elbows into your knees. This will help lift your heart and lengthen your spine. Take 5-10 deep breaths.

      

4. Low Lunge: Pedaling requires great effort from our hip flexors and quads. Forward lunging can help open the fronts of our legs and the muscles that cross the hip joint.

   1. Step one foot behind you and place that knee on the ground. Bring your hands to the top of your front thigh. Your back toes can be tucked or untucked. Notice the opening in the front of the leg that’s extended back. Breath into your hip flexors and quads. Take 5 - 10 deep breaths then switch sides

      

      
      

5. Half Splits: Our hamstrings also work hard during our climbs so opening them in conjunction with the fronts of the legs is super beneficial for our low back.

   1. From your lunge, keep your knee on the ground but shift your hips back. Your front leg is now straight-ish (we love a little or a lot of bend behind the knee!). Inhale to lift through the chest, exhale to fold a little deeper. Keep your foot flexing towards your shin and experience the stretch through the hamstrings. 

      

6. Standing Figure 4: Our hips and glutes work so hard during rides. Undo some of that effort with this pose that targets our outer hips. 

   1. From standing, lift one leg and cross your ankle over the opposite thigh so your legs are shaped like the number 4. Keep your lifted foot and ankle flexed and maintain a bend in your standing leg. Notice sensations in the outer hip and glutes. Take 10 deep breaths then switch sides.

We’re so lucky to inhabit healthy and capable bodies that allow us to ride bikes, climb mountains, and shred back down them. Basic stretches like these can help with longevity and injury prevention. Whether you’re brand new to yoga or a seasoned practitioner, the benefits of this incredible practice are boundless and it’s an honor to share them with you. 

You can find me teaching at Yoga Olas in Salida, CO. I also offer virtual classes and would love to connect online or in person. 

@kelsofosta

fosterk09@gmail.com

Malasana