“The way that joints maintain health is through movement. Make sure you move all of your joints to their fullest capacity, frequently.” Dr Andreo Spina
Body maintenanceWhen clients first come to see me, I’m still sometimes shocked to see how locked up they are, especially in the hips, upper back and shoulders. They look so fit and athletic on the surface, but underneath they’re dealing with unbearably tight joints and recurring pains that all too often they’ve come to accept as inevitable. If this is you, you don’t have to accept it. But you do need to start doing something about it before it's too late.
Luckily that’s where recovery techniques such as yoga, stretching, foam rolling, massage and manual therapy come in. I’ve designed this easy 15-minute video, to help you start loosening up tight joints and shift some of those niggling aches and pains, that let’s be honest, aren’t getting any better on their own.
How did you get tight in the first place?If you suffer from tightness, inflexibility or chronic pain in any part of your body, your daily activities are not taking you through sufficient range of motion to keep your muscles and joints healthy and in proper alignment. Most likely, you sit too much. Add to that the sheer physicality of your sport and an inadequate or non-existent recovery strategy and you have the perfect storm for poor posture, dysfunction, and pain.
The primary joint issues we need to address are:
- Stiff thoracic spine and rotator cuff injuries which lead to neck and shoulder pain
- Tight hips which cause lower back pain
What difference will mobility training make to your riding?If you’re consistent and commit to spending at least 15 minutes a day, 3-7 days a week working on your mobility, you can expect to:
- Feel more loose on the bike
- Increase your power and explosiveness
- Speed up your recovery time
- Increase your endurance
- Reduce pain in the lower back, neck, and shoulders
- Improve the effectiveness of your breathing
- Decrease your risk of injury
- Ride with more style
- Increase your longevity in the sport
What makes yoga so effective at improving joint mobility?Yoga works on a number of different levels, affecting both your physiology and your central nervous system.
- Slow and controlled movement through full range of motion loosens up tight joints.
- Static stretching – holding poses – releases muscular tension and helps to correct postural imbalances.
- Yoga follows a sequence of forward bends, backbends, sidebends, and twists to flex, extend and move your joints through all planes of motion.
- Deep, diaphragmatic breathing calms the nervous system, which allows your body to let go of tension.
- Practicing yoga increases body awareness without which it’s impossible to bring about meaningful structural change.
Tips to get the most out of this video- Try to relax. This is a recovery session not a workout. You have to be relaxed for the routine to be effective.
- Consciously slow down your breathing. As you inhale, fill your ribcage front, back and sides. And make your exhalations as long and slow as you can.
- Try not to drift off into thoughts. Stay present, focussing on your breath and the sensations in your body, throughout the sequence.
- You can do this restorative sequence any time of day but in the evening before bed is best. Repeat it as many times a week as is necessary and appropriate for you.
This video comes from my
Relaxation series – 15 x 15-minute beginner videos designed to increase flexibility, loosen up tight joints and promote athletic recovery.
Get in touchIt’s been more than 18 months since I posted my first article on Pinkbike and I know at least some of you must be doing the videos because they’ve been watched over half a million times! I’d love to hear if any of you can touch your toes yet and if you can’t, how I can help you get there.
Previous Yoga with Abi:
How To Release Tight Quads And Increase Your PowerHow To Release Chronically Tight HamstringsA Challenging One-Hour Yoga Flow ClassTake Control of Your Mind and Push Your Personal LimitsYoga To Relieve Pain In Between The Shoulder Blades15-Minute Routine To Unlock Tight Hips15-Minute Yoga Routine To Build Core StrengthShort Yoga Routine To Help With Lower Back Pain in Bikers15-Minute Yoga Routine To Enhance Balance and Agilityl15-Minute Post-Ride Yoga Routine8 Quick Yoga Stretches To Do At Work
MENTIONS:
@yoga15app
Photo credit:
Samuel Costin, Bingin Beach, Bali
I'm happy that you're enjoying having a constant flow of new vids. There's over 100 for you to try so you've got your work cut out!
I have to do these yoga poses (that last video for hips) and other things that help like a foam roller and it helps me get the flexibility back in my hips. I love riding, but it really limits my hip mobility now that I can't do other sports.
Thanks.
www.yoga15.com/blog/restorative-sequence-for-athletic-recovery
Especially, Supported Bridge, Knees To Chest, Reclining Hand To Toe, Dead Pigeon, Reclining Butterfly and Pigeon if it't not too intense.
Let me know how you get on.
If you can put the stigma of yoga aside you will be a better athlete, longer into life.
I had 5 dislocations over as many years and finally went for the operation, it's been nearly ten years now and I've never had an issue since (touch wood!). I've had a few falls on it and it's held up really well.
Physio can help tighten things up but if you take a hit while the muscles are relaxed, you're always at increased risk of another dislocation.
It was a few months off the bike and about a year to recover full strength and mobility but well worth it!
I always focussed on strength after shoulder injuries and was able to get things "tight" again, but without elasticity - flexibility - they were prone to reinjury and propagated tension issues to my neck and upper back.
Think of a rubber band. Stretching maintains the and builds the elasticity that helps the band return to its dormant length. Strengthening the joint is like doubling up that rubber band. Not stretching is like leaving that rubber band out in the sun... it's only a matter of time until you stretch it and it will tear, no matter how thick (strong) it is.
Also, not a PT... but I've torn and injured both shoulders countless times, until I started to work n flexibility as part of strength training programs.
I do appreciate you providing direction and advice to us cyclists.
If you can't do it though, having bent knees is better than using way to much lower back.
With some of the poses I can either do the full movement for a short time or hold a slightly more relaxed pose for the full 3 minutes. Which do you think is more beneficial? Holding the correct pose and gradually increasing the time, or the other way round?
Thanks in advance!
www.yoga15.com/pigeon
www.yoga15.com/dead-pigeon
I'll write more about this style of yoga next month.
I can ride a bike, walk and sit with zero pain, but if stand in one place for more than a minute it starts hurting really bad. I have tried rolling it, stretching my quads, hamstrings and IT band to no avail. Naproxen does nothing to help.
www.yoga15.com/blog/the-10-poses-you-need-to-ease-lower-back-pain
Foundation Training is awesome for strengthening the posterior chain. Here is the link:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BOTvaRaDjI
1) I've had knee trouble on-and-off for the last couple of years that was diagnosed as anterior knee pain. After stretching (not nearly enough!) my knees can feel worse. Is more this likely to be because I stretched them too far or just a sign to stretch them more?
2) I've got terrible upper body strength and find that my shoulders and back ache after some of the positions; am I best to build strength in these areas with weights and coming back to the routines, or concentrate on doing the back routines before coming back to the others?
Any help would be great!
As a yoga teacher unfortunately I am not qualified to answer your first question. It would be best if you could see a good physio.
If your shoulders and back ache, you need to reduce the intensity and build up to more intense yoga workouts. There's nothing wrong with going to the gym but you can build strength with yoga if you'd prefer. The Relaxation series would be a great place to start and then move to Strength. Here are the links:
vimeo.com/ondemand/yogarelaxationchallenge
vimeo.com/ondemand/yogastrengthchallenge
HELL, I can spend 30 seconds a evening pouring and drinking a glass of 78% Absinthe and have the loosest and mobile joints of the day.....
www.pinkbike.com/u/yoga15app/blog/a-short-yoga-routine-to-fix-lower-back-pain-in-bikers2.html
Drop me an email me at abi@yoga15.com if you have any questions.
I do have over 100 x 15-min vids for you to work through – all if which could be applicable depending on your goals and skill level. Here is the link to the full series:
www.yoga15.com/vimeo
If it was a $12,000 mountain bike there instead of Abi, could it then be called a money shot?
So many friggin' trolls on these Abi Carver articles.