Yoga For Runners
Yoga is a fantastic complement to running. If you’ve been putting in some pretty heavy mileage, your body is taking a beating. Getting involved with a regular yoga practice can help make your stretching time more impactful, while helping you develop flexibility in the areas that most runners have issues with.
What is Yoga?
Yoga is an ancient practice that brings your body and your mind together to promote relaxation and health. You may think yoga is simply a set of guided stretches and body postures, but the origins of the practice are much deeper than that. It includes breath work and mediation in addition to developing strength and flexibility.
The guided stretches are important. But they’re only one aspect of the practice, with the rest of the practice incorporating many different activities and meditative aspects that are meant to bring balance to your entire mind and body.
How Does Yoga Help Runners?
Stretching is critical for any runner that wants to keep running. Undoubtedly you already have a stretching routine that you follow before and after each run.
Practicing yoga as a complement to that routine will help keep you flexible and loose in between your runs. When you go to a yoga class, the instructor will take you through a sequence of positions and breathing techniques that will stretch your sore muscles and help you recover from your training. You will also get guidance on how to hold the positions in their optimal stances. This kind of feedback is important to ensure you are getting the most out of your practice.
In addition to the stretching and the planned sequences of activities, you will also get the benefit of relaxation and calm that a yoga experience can bring.
Which Yoga Poses are Best for Runners?
Many runners will assume that the classic Downward Facing Dog position is the most important for runners, where your feet and hands are on the ground and your hips are lifted high into the air. This pose does bring a good stretch to the legs, especially the hamstrings. But this pose is really an upper body movement, allowing you to ease into your arms and shoulders.
For runners, any yoga position that focuses on your hips and legs will have a delightful impact on your flexibility. Lunges, spinal twists, and the Pigeon pose are all great for runners.
Go To Class In Person
If you’re just starting out in yoga, we recommend you go to a class in person, if you are able to do so. There are a plethora of YouTube videos and other applications you can use to follow along with yoga classes in your home. These are great resources, but the benefits you get from an instructor-led class far outweigh the benefits of being able to stay at home. An instructor can look at how you are holding the poses and offer corrections and guidance to make sure you’re on the right track towards progress. Having other students in the class also brings a level of community that runners sometimes lack, as we spend a lot of time running on our own.