Yoga for Runners/Athletes

Hey guys, I'm back but this time my focus is on all those runners and athletes out there. When reading this section of Everyone Try Yoga: Finding Your Yoga Fit, I immediately thought of my 8th grade year. The goal of the author in this section was to show yoga's benefits in supporting athletes. Whether it is helping them become more fit or helping them become less prone to injuries. That's the part that caught my attention. If I'd read this earlier during my 8th grade year, I wouldn't have had any difficulties with my knee. Besides, I was a runner for six years and having gone to state and won second place, my runner side of me urged me to read on.


Yoga is apparently something many athletes practice. "Tennis players for example, benefit greatly from the yoga mentality of letting go of outcome and staying focused on composure in action" (Woodhall and Sattin 80). For runners, "Yoga improves mobility, strength, and posture for injury prevention and efficient running" (Woodhall and Sattin 81). Another fact to know is "In yoga we use all planes of motion and movement types-forward bending, side bending, rotation, flexion, extension, abduction, and adduction....Few sports offer such variety" (Woodhall and Sattin 82). Now that you know some of the benefits of yoga, let's get into ways you can practice it.


One important pose is called the dynamic lunge. As explained by Victoria and Jonathan "Dynamic flow and strength poses cultivate alignment, strength and stability in the legs-especially the knees- which are often injury-prone" (Woodhall and Sattin 84). What was explained there would have been helpful information for me to know when suffering from my knee injury. The dynamic lunge is similar to the tree pose except instead of bringing your left leg to the side of your body, you will bring it in front of you. This pose is helpful "..for identifying any imbalances and correcting them" (Woodhall and Sattin 84). Overall, dynamic lunges are great for balance and strength (Woodhall and Sattin 84).

Dynamic Lunge

Another yoga pose called the standing pigeon or "figure 4" pose is perfect for a before and after sport stretch. To do this "Cross one ankle over the opposite thigh, near the knee. Bring your palms together at your chest and fold forward from the hips, with a long spine, drawing your chin slightly in and resting your elbows above the knee and ankle" (Woodhall and Sattin 85). Below is an example of me trying this out.

Standing Pigeon



Being an athlete can be tough, especially when suffering with an injury. One way to make your sports experience more easier is to practice some yoga poses that focus on strength, balance and pace, as shown by me, before or after practice. This way you have a slighter chance of being injured. Even if your off season, yoga can help you prevent loss of fitness (Woodhall and Sattin 80). These yoga poses will be very beneficial for me and also towards my sports performance because they truly work. Hope this inspires some athletes!


Question:
What sport do you play or wish to play? And would proper balance and pace decrease the sports difficulty? Why?


Citation:

Woodhall, Victoria and Sattin, Jonathan. Everyone Try Yoga: Finding Your Yoga Fit. London: Kyle Books, 2013. Print.