Hitting the mat after spinning class helps your body recover and repair. Plus, mixing yoga with your workout calms and centers, so you leave the gym not just buff but mellow.

With the prep pose below, you’ll prime your muscles to produce more spinning power; afterward, use the post pose to capitalize on the pliability of your muscles to stretch and restore. Both the warm-up and cool-down take 5 minutes or less so they won’t cut into your workout.

Your Machine: Spinning
Our prep pose will release your upper back, shoulders, and neck to prepare for a ride, says Rudy Peirce, a yoga teacher and trainer at the Kripalu Center in Lenox, Massachusetts. Another imperative for cyclists, says Bruce Mitchell, a Denver yoga instructor who teaches at Mindful Cycling's camps, is "to offset rounding of the lower back, which leads to pain and tightness from head to toe." The Camel, our post pose here, will strengthen your back while improving your posture to counter that riding position. It will also bring down your heart rate and give your legs their stability back so you can walk, not wobble, out of the spin studio.

Prep Pose: Standing Yoga Mudra


Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart. Interlace your hands down behind your back. Inhale deeply, and as you exhale begin to fold forward from your hips, bringing your hands and arms up and as far forward as you comfortably can. At first your knees can be bent, but as the body loosens, your legs can straighten and your hands may press farther forward. Shake your head a few times back and forth to make sure you are completely releasing any tension. Hold for 3 to 5 breaths or longer. To release, inhale as you lift the torso and lower the hands behind your back. Exhale and release the hands.

Post Pose: Camel


Stand on your knees so your torso is perpendicular to the floor. Bring your hands to your sacrum, fingers pointed down. Your little fingers should be as close together as possible. "The key here is to keep your quads and hips pushed forward," Mitchell says. Drop your head back. In the beginner version, just continue to reach your quads and hips forward. When that is comfortable, try dropping your hands back down to your heels. If you can't quite reach them, go up on the balls of your feet. Hold for 5 to 15 breaths.


More for Cyclists:
Spin, Doctored
Yoga Cross-Training for Cyclists
Yoga on Two Wheels