Muscle-Building Yoga Poses To Boost Performance In These 3 Sports

Also, feel free to throw mountain pose or a forward bend into the mix for constructive rest. If you remember to use your breath as your guide, these sport-specific practices should take about 30 minutes. Insert a sport-specific routine once every two weeks into your yoga mix, and you won't believe the kind of good sport you'll turn into.

Legs, hips, and back primarily. Don't forget to breathe—runners depend on it.

Start on all fours, hands positioned under your shoulders, hips, and knees at right angles. Tuck your toes. Pull your heels off the floor, which places your weight on your flexed toes. Press into your hands and start straightening your legs so you form an upside-down V.

Start with your left foot at the base of a chair, toes pointing forward. Step wide with your right foot and align your right arch with your left heel. Maintain this nice heel-arch alignment, and imagine there's a wall behind you, keeping you plumb. With your straight back against the "wall," lower your left shoulder downward as if there's a hinge at your waist. The rest of your upper torso will follow.

Lie on your back. In this stretch, you're essentially going to raise both legs up to 12 o'clock, then slowly lower them back down to the floor at 9 o'clock.

Position your right ankle over your left knee. Flex your right foot: It protects your knee. To go further, take your right hand through the opening your bent shin and thigh form, and reach with both arms to hold your left thigh. Repeat on the other leg.

Make sure your lower back—your sacrum—is on the floor.

Hamstrings, pelvis, and shoulders. Breathing's important in cycling, too. Spinning your wheels and going nowhere is OK if it's savasana.

Lie on your belly. Drag your hands back toward your body until your elbows are directly beneath your shoulders. Palms are on the floor. Lift your torso and head up while keeping your elbows on the floor. The tops of your feet should be flush against the floor, and don't curl your toes.

Sit on the floor and position the soles of your feet together, hips splayed out to each side. As the crown of your head reaches toward the ceiling, drop your shoulders down.

Start on all fours, hands positioned under your shoulders, hips, and knees at right angles. Tuck your toes. Pull your heels off the floor, which places your weight on your flexed toes. Press into your hands and start straightening your legs so you form an upside-down V.

Position your right ankle over your left knee. Flex your right foot: It protects your knee. To go further, take your right hand through the opening your bent shin and thigh form and reach with both arms to hold your left thigh. Repeat on the other leg.

Shoulders, arms, back, and legs. We throw you in the deep end. Feel free to finish with legs up the wall—way more restful than the dead man's float.

Place your thumb on one nostril and your ring finger on the other. Block one nostril with your thumb and inhale through the other nostril. Then block that nostril with your ring finger and unblock the other nostril and breathe out and then in. Switch nostrils with your hand again. You'll get the hang of it. Basically, you're breathing out and in on one nostril, then out and in on the other. Do four cycles of this, nice and slow.

Sit on the floor, legs out in front of you. Lengthen your spine and reach with the crown of your head for the ceiling. You can take a block, squeeze it between your hands, and hold it out in front of you, arms straight and outstretched for a moment. Keep your arms straight, until your arms are next to your ears.

Assume the same belly-to-floor position as the sphinx. Bring your arms back toward your feet and clasp your hands behind your back. With arms stretching back, see if you can raise them a little higher over your back while lifting your chest off the floor. Hold for a few yoga breaths and then lower yourself back down to the floor.

Start on all fours, hands positioned under your shoulders, hips, and knees at right angles. Tuck your toes. Pull your heels off the floor, which places your weight on your flexed toes. Press into your hands and start straightening your legs so you form an upside-down V.

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