When not in the saddle, I sat in front of a laptop (sound like you?). I started developing shoulder and neck strain and strange, crunchy knees - even though, as knee guru Andy Pruitt says, cycling's gentle motion is your friend.
I consulted experts and videoblogged my consult with Pruitt. Turns out that cycling, laptopping, walking, driving, eating, cooking, knitting, swimming, hiking, watching TV ... are all "1-dimensional" activities. That is, movement is in a restricted, front-to-back plane.
Unless you're a dancer, surfer, gymnast or pro-snowboarder doing plenty of lateral movements, we mostly move in this front-to-back plane. And anything that relies on muscles and bones rather than steel tracks to stay in place is a candidate for misalignment. Good alignment and a strong core - as offered by yoga - help counter imbalance.
Below, why cyclists need yoga! | link to movie
Track by Straight Drive Bluegrass
After practicing yoga wherever I've lived and worked around the world for 20 years, I completed my Vinyasa yoga teacher certification at Joschi Yoga Institute, NYC, a rigorous course which emphasizes movement and anatomy.
I've since developed a thorough, patient, beginner class catering to the needs of cyclists and the rest of us.
My interests and involvement in related areas include Feldenkrais, Transcendental Meditation, Vipassana meditation, The Landmark Forum, the Hoffman Process, and I studied ballet for many years. My yoga is for the rest of us who weren't born to do the splits.
If you'd like me to teach you or your group yoga, contact me galfromdownunder at gmail dot com, phone 541-513-7711 (USA)where I teach / experiencetop
Currently teaching at Yoganesh (see schedule).
past Mar 2010 - May 2011 (14 months) - CHELSEA RECREATION CENTER, Easy Yoga, Tue 6-7pm Chelsea Parks and Recreation Center
, 25th bet 9th & 10th Ave, NYC. A ShapeUpNYC program.
Jan 2011 - May 2011 (4 months): YOGA/PILATES FOR CYCLISTS, Mondays 6.30-8 pm A combo-class in collaboration with Karin Fantus (Pilates)
Visit our blog.
Susan Notorangelo, PACTOUR: Lynette taught yoga each day during our 53-mile/day 2010 Arizona Cycling Camp Week 3. She did a fantastic job of introducing yoga to new participants, as well as teaching more difficult yoga to the more advanced enthusiasts. The yoga gave our entire group a calming effect. We look forward to having her back as an ongoing instructor.
Susan Notorangelo, Principal www.pactour.com |
notorangelo@pactour.com |
office 262-736-2453
Yehudit Moch, Hudson Guild Community CenterWe are grateful that Lynette proactively stepped up to offer a weekly yoga class to our senior members at the Hudson Guild Chelsea Community Center. She even organized her community to donate yoga equipment that we did not have. With the constant threat of funding cuts to senior centers, we strive to maintain quality services for our members, and the generosity of volunteers like Lynette really help us "keep on keeping on". Read the story Yehudit Moch
Director of Activities Hudson Guild Fulton House Community Center
119 9th Avenue, New York, NY 10011
Tel (212) 924-6710
Monika Werner, Joschi Yoga Institute
Lynette received her 200-hour certification at our Spring 2009 course, where she topped the anatomy curriculum. We appreciated her passion to create an interesting, themed class addressing the needs of cyclists, for which our movement-focussed training was a perfect foundation.
Bike Fit with Andy PruittI get the full kneedown with biomechanics guru Andy Pruitt and his team
If you're a cyclist, read this: An excellent article, Yoga for Cyclists written by Baron Baptiste and Kathleen Finn Mendola, from Yogajournal.com. It so beautifully summarizes the issues of cycling that I include a snippet here, with gratitude to the authors. UPDATE: This article has since been removed, but there seems to be a copy saved here (thank you YogaLaura.com).
As a bicyclist travels through one plane, he or she repeatedly overtaxes some muscles and underutilizes others. Watch a cyclist coming toward you, and you can read the imbalances. Rocking side to side signals that one hip is compensating for the other's weakness or inflexibility. Hips are the core of movement for the cyclist. If the core is weak, then the upper body has to work harder, and this can lead to back strain.
Likewise, if a thigh or knee flares out from the bicycle seat due to weakness or chronic tightness, that side of the body is doing less work. The hips, thighs, knees, and ankles should all be on one track-pointing straight ahead. If these body parts are off track, cyclists run the risk of wearing down ligaments and tendons, and developing imbalanced muscle groups. And in cyclists, the quadriceps are often overdeveloped. To compensate for this, the hamstrings shorten, tighten, and thus weaken.
The posture a cyclist conforms to astride a bike also contributes to muscle tension and imbalance: A bicyclist's spine is in a constant state of flexion, hunched over the handlebars. In order to achieve overall flexibility and balanced muscle groups, a biker needs to incorporate balancing, counteracting movements - for example, backbends, which stretch and elongate oft - used hip flexors and quadriceps. A yoga practice can help restore balance, first by taking the alignment principles of yoga and transferring them to how you sit on your bike.
Yehudit Moch, 
Monika Werner, Joschi Yoga Institute