Sport Specific Yoga

Try a sport specific yoga class and see if you have more range of motion, more flexibility and less injuries while playing your sport. Have an open mind and tune in to your body to see if you gained any benefit, during the practice and after. Many professional athletes practice yoga – maybe you should too.

The flexibility and the core strength that yoga provides can help with all sports. Many people are tight in the shoulders – especially athletes. More flexibility means more safe range of motion. Runners are usually tight in the hamstrings and calves. With any sport ~ as it is for any person ~ yoga promotes muscle recovery. We always feel better after we stretch out those sore muscles.

Practicing sport specific yoga can really tune in to specific imbalances created by repetitive movements. Do you play baseball or softball? Those explosive runs can be hard on your body. Again, swinging the bat in the same direction and throwing with the same arm over and over. Are you the catcher? You need some core strength to squat down and up so many times. You think about the leg strength but if you don’t have core strength you are not taking care of your lower back.

Are you a runner or a biker? Your continually work the front side of your body but the back side is left out. Usually runners are tight in the hamstrings and sometimes in the calves. You need to stretch those body parts out to bring some balance back into your body. For a sport specific yoga program for runners click here.

Do you golf? Then you are probably out of balance from swinging that golf club the same way all the time. Yoga can help with lower back strengthening. Repetitive motion of swinging the same way all day puts your body out of balance. Balancing poses help to correct that imbalance, as do the standing poses. Side stretching and twisting (both ways) also helps with the imbalance while keeping your torso flexible enough to follow through with your swing.

There are a few yoga programs you can purchase online that are sports specific to golf. I will research them and recommend some for you soon. In the meantime I found this Pilates for Golfers program that will help with core strength and flexibility also. See my Pilates and Yoga page for more information on the combined benefits of both practices.

Tennis? Side to side, explosive reaction; one shoulder gets more repetition. Volleyball? Jumping; explosive running short distances.

There are plenty of options to enhance your performance in any sport. Sport specific yoga will focus on the imbalances that are common to your sport.

Are you open to trying something that will enhance your sport? Any yoga class will bring some balance into your body so you could always start with a gently yoga practice and see if you feel looser and have more range of motion. If you love the flexibility and lightness the class provides and you are serious about your sport, try a sport specific class.

For other (non-yoga) options of sports enhancement workouts Click Here!.