Do you suffer from pain in between the shoulder blades and tightness in the upper back, neck and shoulders?
ARTICLES ON MTB TRAINING AND PERFORMANCE
Deepen your understanding of the causes, biomechanics and solutions for your MTB-related aches and pains. Which muscles do you need to stretch? Which joints should you stabilise? Where could you benefit from increasing your range of motion? And learn the yoga skills—balance, core strength, breathwork and meditation—that you can incorporate into your MTB training to enhance your physical and mental performance.
PAIN RELIEF
Mountain bikers are prone to hand pain from vibration, gripping, maintaining the same upper body position for long periods.
Unfortunately, MTB low back pain is rampant. Luckily, this is where yoga excels, according to a paper published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Neck pain after mountain biking can drain your energy, lead to tension headaches and make you more vulnerable to injury.
MOBILITY
Restoring natural range of motion in all sections of the spine is crucial to relieving back pain.
Weak ankles and limited ankle mobility can be a serious hindrance for mountain bikers. Yoga can help to improve ankle stability and mobility.
In this article, I’m going to cover shoulder mobility (also referred to as shoulder flexibility) in each available range of motion.
If you're active or you sit too much, you probably have tight hips. And if you're a mountain biker, you almost certainly have tight hips.
FLEXIBILITY
Tight hamstrings do not, unfortunately, usually have just one simple root cause and solution.
A tight IT band and TFL can be painful and result in more serious conditions, including iliotibial band syndrome and cyclist's knee.
STRENGTH
One factor commonly at play in lower back pain is a lack of stability in the core—the muscles that work together to support the lumbar spine.
The gluteus muscles—maximus, medium and minimus—are responsible for generating forward movement and stabilising the pelvis.
YOGA SKILLS
In this article, I’m going to shift my focus to mtb mental training. I’ll take you through a guided meditation and breathing technique.
Yin yoga is one of the most effective, and least well-known, styles of yoga that athletes can incorporate into their recovery program.