Yoga isn't just for your bendy buddy and Buddha wannabes. In fact, taking a single weekly yoga class or doing 15 minutes of yoga poses after every bike ride will make you a stronger, faster cyclist. "Yoga is the single best cross-training tool," says Prisca Boris an instructor at Yoga for Athletes in Vail, Colorado. "It gives you everything you want while you're on your bike: Strength, flexibility, power, and stamina." Yoga also makes you less injury-prone, promotes speedier recovery, reduces stress, and lengthens muscles to give you a longer, more powerful pedal stroke. Need more reasons to start? Here are five.

1. Reduce day-after soreness
When you finish a ride the first thing on your mind probably isn't yoga. But before you shower or eat, doing at least 5 minutes of post-ride yoga poses will open your hips, back, and shoulders and release lactic acid from your muscles to reduce soreness, says Baxter Bell, M.D., a family practitioner, yoga instructor, and cyclist in Oakland, California. Stiff muscles are dry muscles, so lubricating them by stretching increases recovery speed. It will also increase your stamina during training and guard against next-day saddle-soreness.

Do triangle pose (trikonasana)
Start with one to five rounds of sun salutations (surya namaskara) to help yourself switch gears. Then stand with your legs about 4 feet apart. Raise your arms to shoulder height, and reach them out parallel to the floor with your palms facing down. Turn your left foot in about 45 degrees, and your right foot out 90 degrees. Your front heel should be aligned with the arch your back foot. Bending from your hips, extend your torso out to the right then down over your right leg, placing your right hand on a block to the outside of your right foot. Stretch your left arm up toward the ceiling, keeping your shoulders stacked in a straight line away from your ears. Stay in this pose for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Inhale to come up slowly. Reverse the feet and switch sides.