Thursday, December 6, 2012

Yoga? for Triathlon?

Yea...so that looks a little uncomfortable...
 

I've started incorporating yoga into my off-season training schedule.  I'm usually the most uncoordinated person in these classes, but have found some significant improvement after just few weeks.  There are a number of "regular" poses that instructors include during their sessions and once you master them you can begin to explore the tougher ones with greater confidence.  Nevertheless, I'm constantly admiring the ability of the more experienced yoga-goers to contort their bodies into unbelievable positions.   

With a eye towards "how will this help my triathlon performance?" I've come up with a few areas that I think are applicable. 

Thus far, I've noticed 3 areas:
  • Strength/Balance--Many of these poses are damn tough and if you don't have the right amount of strength you are forced to do modified versions.  Personally, I have a weaker upper body and this is definitely brought to light during certain poses.  While a super strong body isn't particularly required for triathlon, stronger shoulders and arms will help in swimming.  Poses such warrior 1 and 2, bridge, triangle and chair really focus on your legs and core, especially when held for extended periods of time.  Many of your smaller stabilizers muscles also get a great workout. 
  • Flexibility/Stretching--While there may be some debate about flexibility and its direct impact on triathlon, I still think there is something to be said about the deep stretches you get from many of the yoga poses (e.g. downward dog and warrior poses are great for legs and back).  Keeping your muscles limber will go a long way to feeling good off the bike.      
  • Breathing--The instructors are always telling you to focus on your breathing.  Frankly, during the first few weeks I was so focused on trying to do the poses that I completely ignored this step.  Don't get me wrong I did breath, but as I've become more comfortable doing the poses I've tried to focus more on inhaling during certain phases of the movement and exhaling during others.  This practice lends itself to a greater ability to control your breathing, which in race situations can be very important.  Also, learning how to do the deep diaphragmatic breathing will go a long way in future training.           
Hope you guys will give yoga a try, it's definitely something that I think will improve my swim/bike/run for next season.  When in doubt try "corpse pose" - it won't disapppoint, I promise!

 

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