The Benefits of Yoga for Athletes
Hockey Yoga - Photo from lululemon.com
Many athletes have heard that they should do yoga and that it is “good for them” but they may not be aware of why or what the benefits are. Most people think of yoga for stretching and relaxation but the benefits extend much further than that.
Yoga postures are performed in a very controlled manner with focus on form and breathing. This allows the student to become more aware of their body and its movement – and this increased awareness can pay off on in your sport, possibly leading to greater accuracy or reduced risk of injury.
Breathing exercises as also commonly used in yoga. These help expand the lungs, belly, and ribcage so that you are able to breathe more effectively. More effective breathing increases the amount of oxygen to your muscles, allowing them to work more efficiently. Awareness of the breath and breathing exercises can also be used to calm jittery nerves and increase focus before a big game or event.
There are many different styles of yoga, but typically the postures are held for anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. Holding still in a posture causes the muscles to work isometrically (the muscles are contracted but not moving) which helps increase muscular strength and endurance.
Yoga can also help address muscular imbalances and asymmetry. As Dr. Kersten, a chiropractor, strength and conditioning specialist, and former competitive athlete notes, many athletes develop asymmetry from using one arm or leg more than the other in their sport (think of volleyball where you always use the same arm to serve, or soccer where you’re usually kicking with the same foot, etc.). Yoga postures can help even out these imbalances between the left and right sides of the body. And even if a sport uses both sides of the body evenly, such as in running and swimming, muscular imbalances are often present (ie. hamstrings stronger than quads or biceps stronger than triceps). Yoga can help even these imbalances out as well since muscles on both sides of a joint are active. Furthermore, yoga is great for cross training since yoga uses muscles throughout the body, not just the ones that are dominant in your specific sport.
Additionally, the postures require muscles on both sides of a joint to contract to maintain stability; this helps stiffen and stabilize the joint and balance is improved. These are very important features to help control joint movement and prevent injury.
As you can see, yoga is great for athletes since it helps create a more balanced body, improve performance, and reduce injury risk. And, with increased awareness of the body and breath, yoga can help you identify any areas in the body that are sore and under excess strain (allowing you to work with a coach or therapist early before a major injury occurs).
Take care, good luck, and stay injury-free!
Lisa Fox Bail is a Certified Kinesiologist and yoga instructor, specializing in rehab and prenatal issues. She can be found at the Perfect Harmony building (72 Victoria Ave Chatham) where she works with a multi-disciplinary team of yoga instructors, a massage therapist, and chiropractor/strength and conditioning specialist. You can also find Lisa online at http://www.healthappeal.ca/ or follow her on Twitter @HealthAppeal.