Many people are mistaken in thinking that yoga is little more than stretching. While it’s true that yoga can improve our flexibility and mobility, as a practice, it goes far beyond stretching. It’s an exercise that can form a perfect foundation for active recovery, helping you to become a better athlete and improve your overall fitness.
How Does Yoga Benefit Other Sports?
Better Breathing
Yoga extends beyond the physical, but it can still be useful for other types of sport. For example, pranayama in yoga helps us to learn to control our breathing which offers many advantages for running, swimming and other sports where controlled breath can be helpful, such as when you’re practicing your golf swing.
Stress Relief
Visualization or dhyana is a meditative practice that can help us in challenging situations too, such as sports tournaments and competitions. Athletes who can gain control of their stress are more likely to perform better in their chosen sport. Lower stress also has a knock-on effect in other areas too, such as better sleep, faster recovery times, and greater endurance.
Prevents Muscle Tightness
A slow-flowing yoga session also keeps oxygen and nutrients flowing to sore and tired muscles. Increased circulation is essential for helping the body get rid of waste and toxins that build up when we exercise, to improve your performance over time and prevent cramps and muscle tightness.
Avoid Future Injuries
Another benefit of yoga for active rest is preventing injuries so you can continue to enjoy your favorite activities, whether it’s dancing, swimming or weightlifting. If we push our bodies too far, we’ll pay in the form of a torn muscle, joint issues or a trapped nerve which could result in us having to skip workouts for several weeks or more. Mindful active recovery that’s gentle on the body but helps us maintain flexibility will keep us mobile and healthy for as long as possible.
Stronger Movement Patterns
Certain yoga poses can mirror the types of motion you’ll make in your favorite sport. For example, leg extension lifts resemble the kicking motion you’ll do in a football game, while also improving joint flexibility and balance. Yoga is renowned for its ability to improve our posture and core strength, which can help with creating a stronger body for weightlifting. Similarly, yoga flows also promote fluid movements from one pose to another which helps to build endurance and stamina that can aid you in any sport, but especially the likes of races and competitions.
Which Type of Yoga is Best Suited to Active Recovery?
Yoga comes in many styles, but if the goal is faster recovery and efficient muscle healing, you want to choose a restorative style. Also known as Yin yoga, restorative yoga is ideal for muscle recovery because it’s gentle on the body but prioritizes holding poses for longer periods. It’s a wonderful stress-reliever and a mindful form of yoga, championing relaxation and calming breathing patterns.
You can easily incorporate props into your yoga flow, such as bolsters and blocks, to support the body and move into positions more deeply for a greater impact. As a slower, gentler form of yoga, it’s well suited to those who are new to this exercise too. So, if you’ve ever said you’re not flexible enough to try yoga, Yin yoga is the best introduction to this incredible practice.
Using Yoga on Your Active Rest Days
Active recovery is defined as low intensity exercise that encourages circulation and promotes blood flow to the muscles to encourage faster healing. So, depending on the exercises you typically do each week, you may want to focus on increasing mobility in the joints, boosting cardiovascular health, preparing your body for the next training session, or learning how to stick to certain heart rate zones when you’re working out. Yoga is a great tool for all of this and more.
The following poses are particularly helpful for incorporating into a gentle but impactful flow that can help your body recover and heal, ready for your next workout.
Downward facing dog: This pose is great for relieving lower back pain and stretching the muscles in the backs of the legs. Hold this pose for 30 seconds to feel a deep stretch in the lower body and encourage blood flow to the back and legs.
Mountain pose: With feet together, this pose asks you to distribute your weight equally between both feet and breathe in deeply while keeping your spine long and straight. It helps to enhance the posture, encourages controlled breathing, and can help relieve sciatica pain.
Warrior 2: This pose works the quads in the front leg and lengthens the muscles in the groin and calf of your back leg. It’s an active stretch that can be perfect for runners and cyclists especially to soothe the legs after an intense training session and prevent stiffness.
Supine spinal twist: This much-loved exercise works the chest, back, glutes and quad muscles, so it’s ideal for any athlete. You’ll start on your back and inhale gently while bringing your right knee towards your chest. On the exhale, slowly roll to your left while letting your knee fall to the left side and placing your arms in a ‘T’ position to stabilize the body. Then repeat on the other side.
As a low-impact, bodyweight exercise, yoga is the perfect option for active rest days. There are so many styles and poses to choose from allowing you to create unique workouts every week to keep things interesting. Remember to work different areas of the body to prevent injury by boosting circulation and flexibility, perform better in your chosen sport, and avoid burnout.