Why are runners advised to do yoga and how will it help improve performance?

Answers by hatha yoga instructor.

It would seem that running and yoga are not interrelated, but it turns out that it is useful to combine them. Why? So you can double your results and significantly improve the quality and safety of running. Let’s explain how it works.

Dean of the Faculty of Sports Industry at Synergy University, international hatha yoga instructor

These two practices complement each other perfectly, expanding the possibilities in running. With the help of yoga, you can significantly strengthen your muscles and increase their endurance, thus reducing the number of injuries in training.

Why is yoga beneficial for runners?

The amplitude of movements is increased

Running is a repetitive and rather monotonous movement. This aerobic type of exercise can lead to strain on the leg muscles and reduce the amplitude of their movements. If you purposefully work these muscle groups and ligaments with the help of asanas, you can increase this amplitude. And this, in turn, will allow you to run long distances and minimize the effort required for running.

Breathing improves

Anastasia: Breathing is very important for runners. If control over breathing is lost, control over running is also lost. In yoga there are special breathing exercises – pranayama. The techniques are not complicated, they can be mastered independently with the help of various applications. Such training gives a more relaxed mode of breathing during running and significantly improves the activity itself. Practicing yoga asanas, you also constantly work with breathing.

Muscular strength and endurance are improved

When your muscles are in poor shape or tired, the chances of getting injured increase. With the help of yoga, you can significantly strengthen your muscles and increase their endurance, thereby reducing running injuries.

When to do yoga – before or after running?

Anastasia: Yoga is ideal both before and after running. But they should be different complexes. The purpose of practicing before a run is to warm up and prepare. Prolonged static stretching should be avoided, as overstretching muscles can lead to injury. Before the run, you can perform joint exercises and sun salutation complex. And after running, you should focus on holding poses for longer periods of time.

Perhaps no athletes need yoga as much as runners. It helps to effectively release tension in the points that are most stressed and prepare the body for a long run.

In the next article, together with an expert, we will compile for you a set of asanas that runners should include in their workout.