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Yoga for Runners

women-doing-yoga-by-pool As runners many of us are resigned to feeling tight and sore after our workouts.

We know we should stretch. That inflexibility can lead to injuries and muscle imbalance. The dilemma is how to fit it all in.

There's the running, strength training, drills, stretching, icing, cross training, recovery, massage, visualization...and that's just your training. It doesn't leave many hours for the rest of your life.

Photos Courtesy of judepics

So what if you could combine a few of these in one workout. Yoga for runners maybe the answer.

Sprinter Maryline Roux has been practicing yoga for eight years and teaching it for three. She runs for the Athena Track Club and was part of their relay team that recently set a World Masters W40-49 Indoor Record in the 4x400. She's also competed in gymnastics, Tae-Kwando and triathlons.

Maryline blends her yoga with her running and believes that yoga for runners can increase flexibility, range of motion, focus and concentration. Here's Maryline...

Yoga and the Modern Runner

By Maryline Roux

Yoga was born in India five thousand years ago. In the past twenty years, and especially at the dawn of the new Millennium, yoga’s popularity has risen and numerous runners practice it weekly.

1. Yoga for Runners

All runners, in the course of their training cycle, experience periods of intense training. One of the negative results of that intensity is a shortening and tightening of connective tissue. By losing elasticity, runners lose the full range of motion in their strides.

With a regular yoga practice, your running will benefit from flexible quadriceps and hip flexors by letting the recovery leg swing through a wider arc and by decreasing the energy cost of running.

side-angle-yoga-pose

2. What it takes . . .

Yoga is a technical practice that involves mastering body alignment, understanding breathing and concentration techniques, and stretching areas of your body in the deepest form that exists.

Photos Courtesy of Patrick Roux
Side angle: inner thighs stretch and
shoulder opener.

If you are new to yoga, in a couple of months, you will begin to experience the benefits of a regular yoga practice. Aches and pains you may have suffered for years should ease and eventually disappear. In any given pose, body alignment is the key of a complete and adequate stretch.

Breathing is an unconscious act, however, when practicing yoga, you need to control your inhalations and exhalations. By breathing strictly through your nose, your body increases warmth, bringing more oxygen to your muscles, and allowing them to complete a better stretch.

Focus and concentration are skills runners master during training and racing. Through regular yoga practice, you will develop a natural ability to block external distractions, keeping your focus on your body and your goals on race day.

The following will allow you to remain centered during your yoga practice:

Listen to the rhythm of your breathing
Focus on the tissues you are stretching
Regulate the flow of your movements

It's very important to follow a yoga routine that fits your training plan and its different cycles. If you are new to yoga, I'd recommend starting a regular practice during your off-season or when you start your base training.

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Also, during the pre-competition training phase, make sure to reduce your practice. Over stretching can be counter-productive for runners, especially for sprinters. Instead, practice restorative yoga, meditation (race visualization) and breathing exercises.

For more details on how to complement your specific running training with yoga, I highly recommend my friend’s book: “The Athlete’s Guide to Yoga”, by Sage Rountree.

Finally, when starting the practice of yoga, listen to your body and its limitations. Yoga is not about splits and headstands. It’s an individual response of your body deciding when to hold, when to back off, when to deepen, and when to come out of the posture.

Below are some examples of yoga for runners poses:

reverse-warrior-yoga-pose

Reverse warrior: shoulder opener.

Seated forward fold:
spine lengthening.

Triangle: lateral stretch and
shoulder opener.

Warrior II: standing pose which builds strength, confidence and balance. Strengthens the legs, knees, ankles and feet, and, above all, is a wonderful hip opener.

Warrior: improves balance, equalizes hips and strengthens quadriceps.

Tree pose: improves balance and opens hips.

Namaste . . .

Maryline Roux

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