Let’s get one thing out of the way first ..

I took up Yoga because they do cool stuff like that forearm handstand and you all know I love my *tricks*

Incidentally we did this pose in last nights class, I can’t perform it so I watched my friend Hannah (who does Ludus too – all the girls want to be like Hannah when we grow up) 😉 anyway I am learning the dolphin pose pictured below.  It will strengthen my shoulder girdle enabling me to do the forearm handstand one day – cool huh!

Photo from www.yogakat.com

Inversions are my fav part of any yoga class!

BUT that isn’t the only reason and don’t worry I won’t become a yogi at the sake of every other sport in my life I see it as the perfect complimentary training to what we do in the arena.

I think the biggest positive comes from developing a better sense of where your body is in space.  Your body uses things called “proprioceptors” to do this task.  These little things tell you when your arms are fully extended, when you’ve reached the bottom of a squat and they dull over time with lack of use.  Yoga gives you the time and the space to retune back into your reception.

The movements we  do in the arena require a similar awareness and you have a lot less room for error.

Box jumps are far easier with good proprioceptive skills (which is what Yoga teaches you) because you know where your knees and feet are and where they’re going to be. (Incidentally yesterday when I was talking about the box I jumped on – it was the smaller of the two in the photo above – but as my friend Reina said “it’s all about proportion” and I do have short legs 😉 )

I’m also hoping that with better flexibility and training all those tiny stabilizer muscle during all the balancing poses in Yoga will allow me to train without injury this year .. now that would be a change!

Oh and honestly I need the stretch after all this RPM .. far out my legs are sore, which is why my burpees look so shite today .. but you know I did them and that’s what counts in a challenge ..

Till next time