About six months ago Jenny stumbled upon a series of yoga podcasts by an American called Sage Rountree which seemed to deliver something a bit more focussed on athletes than many of the more generally available sources. Just before Christmas, Velo Press published a book written by Rountree called The Athlete's Guide to Yoga and for the last six weeks or so she has been field testing the material. The 250 pages deliver a very clear explanation of each of the poses and all the variations and there's a companion sampler DVD - unfortunately we haven't managed to get hold of the full DVD yet.

So, how is this work more relevant to a triathlete than any other yoga book? Part of the answer has to be in the fact that Rountree is herself a triathlete and has competed at distances up to half Ironman. The other part of the answer is that the routines are presented as part of an overall triathlon training programme and included in all the phases right up to pre-race techniques for calming yourself down in the holding pen.

Triathletes who often find coaching from a book a less than satisfying experience because of the complexity of the text and examples will be pleasantly surprised by the clarity of both the text and the illustrations - in common with many of Velo Press's books, the attention to detail is excellent. And the ability to get access to the content both from the book and the DVD or to be able to take it to the gym with you as a podcast on your MP3 player means that you are able to get constant updates on your technique.

You may just think of yoga as a meditation system or something that slightly hippy people do - in which case you'll be missing the point. As Rountree's book shows, yoga is a serious physical exercise that can help you with your core stabilty, can provide essential stretching routines and aid with mental focus. This certainly isn't the only yoga book out there but it's definitely one of the best we have come across for those with a multisport focus.

The Athlete's Guide to Yoga by Sage Rountree is published by Velo Press. ISBN-10: 193403004X. Available at Amazon, through decent booksellers and even a few enlightened bike and triathlon shops!