At Muddy Race, we are more than familiar with the aches and pains that can occur from regular and constant training.
When looking to train for an obstacle race, a large part of any good plan will revolve around running, with perhaps a fair amount of strength work thrown in for climbs and crawls, putting your whole body through its paces. Perhaps the most underrated and oft-neglected aspect of fitness is balance and flexibility when it comes to progression and injury-prevention. The best way to improve balance and flexibility? Of course it’s Yoga.
Luckily for us, our friends at Ekhart Yoga are on hand to talk you through exactly why yoga should be an integral part of your training plan.
Running regularly can often lead to people having to deal with injuries or problems with the knees, shins, hips or lower back. While running does not necessarily cause all these problems, the imbalance that running brings to the body can lead to them from the pounding of one singular movement that you repeat for the length of your run. Really it’s a repetitive strain.
The imbalances in your body that running brings to the body can lead to injuries, Yoga can help prevent this.
Performing yoga to warm up before running can help prepare your muscles, making the body warm and balanced before you start. Your run will no doubt be more pleasant, and you will be less likely to injure yourself.
Tip #1 – Warm Up with Yoga Movements
A yoga-based warm up should complement your running, which means if you follow a fairly intense training and work schedule, you should stick with the relaxing side of yoga — doing mostly opening and softening postures, working on stretching the body. When the training schedule eases, you can get more into the ‘workout’ part of yoga to balance this out. This would include poses that focus on strengthening the body, increasing your fitness levels, and working the core.
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Tip #2 Synchronise Movement and Breathing to Relax
Beyond the physical aspects, yoga also balances and calms the mind, moving the body into relaxation mode. This in turn has a positive effect on how you feel day-to-day.
Studies have shown that yoga:
- Relieves stress
- Improves flexibility and posture
- Eases aches and pains
- Increases all round fitness levels
- Strengthens body and core
- Increases happiness
- Improves the immune system
- Increases energy
So, basically, yoga promotes balance in your body and mind. While running has many of the same benefits, the repetitive singular movement can lack the balance of yoga.
Tip #3 – Cool Down with Yoga too
Cooling down with a yoga routine after a workout balances and evens out the actions you took during the session. You can notice and stretch out any tight areas, eg. your calves, strengthen what feel might be weak, eg. your core, and soften areas that may have tensed up, eg. hips, hamstrings, upper back, etc. You will feel so much more relaxed and loose afterwards.
Tip #4 - If Your Training is Intense, use Yoga to Relax
A good option for maintaining an even workout plan can be to run one day and perform a full yoga session the next. Your body will be in a much happier place from the rest you have provided and your running experience will improve.
Incorporating yoga into your running routine should even increase your running endurance, because tight and stiff areas of your body will be more open, and more able to perform.
Prevent Injuries
Runners are often faced with injuries to the knees, Achilles tendon, hamstrings, IT band, hips, and lower back. When looking at the knees for an example, tight calves or quadriceps pull on the knees, compromising the alignment and potentially starting trouble. Loosening the muscles through yoga can help to combat these typical problems — or even better, if you have no issues already then keeping them loose can avert injury.
A general yoga class will focus on all areas of the body; it has twists, forward bends, backbends, side bends, hip openers, core strengthening, and more. Yoga aims to give you an overall balanced workout for mind and body, increasing your awareness of what is tight and make you aware of your posture - where you might require more stability and strength, leaving you running with more awareness of your body as a result!
Try it! It won’t hurt and you can decide for yourself whether it’s worth it.
20 Minute Yoga Video
Want to feel the benefits for yourself? All you need is 20 minutes to follow this video:
To find out more information, and for warm up/cool down ideas visit Ekhart Yoga’s Introduction to Yoga.