Being a yoga instructor, I am fully aware that saying “yoga for athletes” is somewhat redundant or unnecessary, even illogical in a way. Yoga for _______. Yoga is for everything … you could fill in the blank with really anything. The amazing benefits of yoga cross over to anyone, no matter their lifestyle. So it is not technically necessary to say Yoga for Athletes.

BUT, the thing is, yoga IS a phenomenal tool in the proverbial toolbox for sports people – no matter their level, sport or age.

pigeon pose is a deep hip opener releasing tight flexors

Yoga Benefits
The demands of sport and therefore sports training are very specific. Strength, flexibility and fitness need to be developed to make you more successful at your chosen sport. Adding yoga to this very focused approach to training will improve your sporting performance and can result in increased flexibility and strength, and even alleviate nervous system imbalances. Yoga can help rebalance the body by addressing the shortfalls of  training.

Yoga Poses for Sports
According to author and ex-professional wrestler Diamond Dallas Page in his book “Yoga for Regular Guys”, the standing poses are particularly useful for developing lower body balance, strength and flexibility. Warrior one and two, the triangle, downward facing dog, chair pose and tree pose being especially beneficial. Seated poses are very good for developing flexibility as they allow you to relax into progressively deeper stretches and then hold these positions for extended periods of time without becoming fatigued. Lying poses such as corpse pose and child pose are very calming and provide an ideal opportunity to focus on your breathing and practice meditation and stress control.

tree pose fosters greater balance, concentration and body awareness

Adaptations for Sportspeople
Years of high-intensity sports training may make performing many of the poses in yoga very difficult and quite possibly dangerous. You should never force a yoga pose as this may result in injury. Many poses can be adapted to suit your individual requirements. You can use props such as foam blocks and rollers, webbing straps and bolsters/cushions to adapt most yoga poses so they are safe, comfortable — achieving proper alignment. As you become more proficient with the poses, you may be able to reduce your reliance on these until you can do the full pose without modification although this may take years of consistent practice. And, bottom line: using props is fine. The correct form and alignment is the important part.

using a yoga strap can ensure correct alignment and therefore optimal benefit, here in reclined big toe pose

Adding Yoga to Your Schedule
Most athletes already have very full – and tiring – training schedules and the idea of fitting more activity into an already packed and exhausting week may be daunting. If this is the case, one of the best ways to introduce yoga is to perform a few poses each day as part of your warm up and cool down. More active poses, such as the sun salutation sequences – or modified versions of it – are ideally suited for warming up before your normal training and the seated and lying poses work nicely as part of your cool down. AND, because yoga puts back into your body what sports training takes out and can be very restorative, yoga practice can also be performed on your rest days without any worry of it affecting the recovery process.

See you on the mat.