Runners tend to avoid practice yoga in their running routine. The main reason is that they are not flexible enough. This make the runners reluctant to try yoga as they felt embarrassed if they strike a few poses in a yoga class.
Do you know that if you incorporate yoga in your running routine, it will definitely give you an Om in your running. The best thing about yoga is, it fits everyone’s fitness routine.
Breathing
Breathing is one of the most important keys for runners. It can help you to concentrate your breathing by practicing the guide of asana (posture) practice. Remember to breathe slow, deep inhalation and long exhalation instead of quick and shallow inhalation and exhalation.
You must make sure that your upper, middle and lower lungs are working on it as well. The better the lung capacity is, the better the oxygen circulated in your body system.
Reduce The Risk of Injury
Injuries or overused muscles always happened to runners. It will prevent runners to perform better in their running. Yoga is the best solution for the runners if they encounter injuries during their fitness routine.
The nagging aches and pain that you wish it could go away, yoga can prevent and heal injuries. It also can help restore your body balance especially muscular imbalances that often lead to injury. Runners, who does yoga practices can discover the strengths and weaknesses on your left or right side of your body.
Posture
Posture is the main foundation in running. If your posture is poor, it will not give you the efficiency to perform better in your running. Yoga can correct your alignment and elongate the spine without tension.
There are a few of poses such as mountain pose, tree pose, cat cow pose, cobra pose and etc. Runner can practice the poses, so it can improve your spine alignment as you grow taller and stronger.
Strength
Poses that held in yoga require strength and stability. It helps strengthen your quads, core and hamstrings and hip flexors. For example, if you have weak hamstrings. You will get injury easily.
As a result, your running pace will be slower. To increase the strength of your body, runners can practice “flow yoga” to help strengthen and achieve stability during running.
Flexibility
With stretching and bending in yoga poses, it gives benefits to your body to loosens up the tight muscles to prevent any injury during running. Especially hamstring muscles, if you open up the hips which helps relieve tension in hip flexors and hamstring.
Poses like downward facing dog, triangle, half splits will help focus and improve flexibility to hamstring muscles. As this makes running more efficient without any injury.
So what are you waiting for runners? Let’s do some bending before the race starts!
