Runners, Well ALL Athletes, Should Do Yoga
I feel like I’m doing the Late Show with David Letterman, he’s always doing “The Top 10 Reasons” for something or other. (If only I could be as funny.) Here are some of the easy, commonsense reasons, why any athlete should be doing yoga. In fact, I give these to all the athletes I train, to convince them to at least try yoga.
Flexibility: Yoga emphasizes flexibility. When it comes to running, flexibility may mean just the ability to touch your toes, but the increased flexibility you get from yoga also helps with the number two reason for athletes to do yoga: injury prevention.
Injury Prevention: As with all things yoga, when you are working one area of your body, you are also working others. So when you are improving your flexibility, you are also working on injury prevention and when it comes to injury prevention, nothing is better than body awareness.
Body Awareness: I always use yoga to gauge how my own body and the bodies of the athletes I train are holding up under the stress of preparing for competition.
Aches and Relief: With body awareness, comes reduction in the aches and pains that accompany most sports, especially running. If you are a runner you know what I’m talking about! Your feet hurt, your lower back aches, your legs hurt, sometimes to the point of barely being able to walk – but of course you can still run. I feel your pain.
Increased Strength: I know when you think of an athlete, you don’t think they need to work on strength but they do. For example runners have strong legs but don’t necessarily have upper body strength, so yoga helps balance out their bodies and in the end makes them a better athlete. Yoga also builds core strength, and in sports everything starts with the core because it’s your center of power, whether you are running, jumping or swimming.
Lung Capacity: Focusing on the breath in yoga helps all athletes to become more aware of how they are breathing. This not only helps with training but also helps an athlete stay calm before a race, which of course leads to one of the main reasons people in general do yoga: stress relief!
Stress Relief: There is nothing more calming to your nervous system than a yoga class. Since training and competing can increase stress, not only on your body but also your mind set, it’s important to be able to perform/compete/race in a way that does not feel stressful to be “in the zone.”
Focus, aka In the Zone: When you think of being “in the zone” in sports, you might not be thinking samadhi, aka yoga bliss, but it is a similar feeling. There is nothing better than being in the zone when you are participating in a sport, it’s when the mind and the body align, which is similar to the meditative feeling in yoga. This leads me to the next reason – inner peace, the meditative aspect of yoga.
Inner Peace: Hmm, I’m sure you are thinking that it’s a “stretch” when it comes to athletes doing yoga but the inner calmness you get from doing yoga is actually an asset to athletes. Most athletes are what we call “Type-A” personalities; we are not the calmest group of people.
Better Performance: Everything listed above will help athletes to perform better. When it comes to athletes, it’s all about performance. Here are some of my top five yoga poses for athletes. I’m only giving five because if you are an athlete, I know there is only some much time in a day. I would rather you do some yoga than none at all.
Forward Bend Pose
Why: Stretches and lengthens the muscles of the whole back of your legs, hamstrings, calf muscles and lower back.
Hint: Try to keep your feet from rolling in or out, keep them in a neutral position, to help with tight IT (iliotibial) bands.
How: Sit on the ground and bring your legs together with the sides of the feet touching; sit up tall and take a deep breath as you reach up and on your exhale, hinge forward from your hips and try to reach for your toes. If you can’t reach your toes use a towel, strap or even a T-shirt. Keep your back long rather than rounding your low back so you are stretching the backs of your legs. Hold for 60 seconds. Make sure you breathe into any tightness in your body.
Seated Tree Pose
Seated Tree Pose (Pictured, Above)
Why: Releases tightness in your outer hip and lower back.
Hint: If your knee is up in the air, then bring the foot of your bent leg closer to your knee or calf.
How: Sit up straight like you did in forward bend and bring your right foot to the inside of your left thigh. Take a deep breath in and on your exhalation, hinge forward and try to grab your foot. If you can’t reach your foot, then use your towel. As the area around your outer hip stretches, your knee will start to fall to the floor. Make sure the back of the straight leg is on the mat, you are still working on lengthening and stretching the hamstring muscles on the outstretched straight leg. Repeat on other side. A key component of yoga is body awareness, so notice if there is a difference between one side and the other.
Cobbler Pose
Why: Stretches your lower back, your inner hips and thighs.
Hint: Let your head go. Allow it to hang forward, using the weight of your head to help you sink deeper into the pose.
How: Bring the soles of your feet together with knees wide apart. Sit up tall; take a deep breath in and on your exhale hinge forward. Try to bring your “nose towards your toes.” (Don’t worry if your nose can’t touch your toes at this point.) If this is an easy pose for you then walk your hands out in front of you. If your knees are way up in the air, move your feet a little further from your body or use your elbows to push your knees down, gently! This is a great pose for runners and cyclists.
Reclining Pigeon Pose
Why: All athletes have issues with tight hips. This is a safe and effective way to create more flexibility in your hips without putting pressure on your knees. If you only have the time to do one of these poses, this is the one to do.
Hint: If you cannot reach your shin than just grab the back of your thigh. Keep your neck relaxed. Use a folded towel under your head if your head is lifted off the mat or your neck is tight.
How: From cobbler’s pose, bring your knees together then roll down so you are lying on your back on your mat. Hug your knees into your chest and then bring your right foot on top of your left thigh. Bring your right arm through on the inside of your leg and the left arm on the outside. Lace you hands around your left shin and bring your knee towards your chest. Repeat on other sides. Try to hold this pose for at least one minute on each side. Make sure you take a moment and notice if there was a difference between your right and left hip. If you do have one side that is a lot tighter than the other, I would suggest holding this pose longer on the tight side, to help balance out your body.
Bridge Pose
Why: Stretches your chest, hips and quadriceps while it strengthens the muscles of your lower back.
Hint: Try to bring your chest to your chin and raise your hips high by pressing into your heels.
How: After reclining pigeon, hug your knees into your chest and rock side to side. Take a deep breath in and on your exhale let your feet come to the mat with your knees bent. Reach down with your finger tips and see if you can reach your heels, if not, then walk your feet a little closer to your body. Press your feet and palms into the mat to lift your hips up. Interlace your hands underneath you if you can, then try to roll your shoulder blades together. Try to get you chest to your chin and your hips to the ceiling. Hold for 30 seconds, remember to breath, then release your arms and slowly roll down to the mat. Repeat this two more times, then hug your knees into your chest and rock side to side. Release everything to the mat for corpse pose.
Corpse Pose
Why: To let the benefits of your yoga poses settle into your body before you “run off.”
Hint: This can be the hardest pose of all because you have to “just relax.” If you want you can use this time to visualize: you can use techniques that help connect you with performance, such as crossing the finish line with your best time ever.
How: Lie flat on your back, arms out by your sides with palms up. Take one deep breath in through your nose and let it out through your mouth. On your next exhale let every muscle go, just relax into your mat. Stay here a minute or two if you can. From here roll onto your side and use your hands to come up to an easy cross-legged position. Take a moment to see how you feel, I’m sure your body will thank you!
Kimberly Fowler is a major athlete herself and has competed in triathlons and marathon all over the world. She is the author of the upcoming book, The No OM Zone, the founder of YAS Fitness Centers and the creator of Yoga for Athletes®. Find her on the Web at: go2yas.com.
By Kimberly Fowler
