Yoga for cyclists: Belly twist pose by Total Women’s Cycling a Road Cycling video by Total Women’s Cycling
The belly twist pose is a good first pose to do in your stretching sequence. It gives a mild twist to the spine and gently stretches the outer hips and abdominals.
How to do the Belly twist pose:
- Start the pose by lying on your back
- Bend both knees up over the chest and hug the knees in
- Take the arms out in line with the shoulders, palms facing down
- As you exhale, drop the knees over to the floor on the right side of the body
- Turn the head to look along the left arm
- Relax the back of the shoulders towards the floor and allow the legs to completely release
- Stay here for 5 breaths
- As you inhale bring the head to centre then the knees to centre
- On an exhale drop the knees to the other side and again turn to look along the opposite arm
- Repeat 2 or 3 times.
Variations:
- To deepen the pose cross the right leg over the left leg and drop the knees over to the left side
- Change legs and repeat taking the knees over to the right side.
What to watch for:
- If it feels too strong try starting off with the knees bent and the feet flat on the floor and do the twist from there
- You can then try bending the knees up over the chest and twisting.
Our instructor is Polly Clark; yoga teacher and founder of Mountain Yoga Breaks who offer weekends combining mountain biking and yoga in the beautiful Welsh countryside.
