Yoga Benefits for Athletes

Yoga is beneficial for virtually everyone if done properly, but the yoga benefits for athletes are often overlooked. Athletes tend to have exercise and training routines that are firmly established, and adding yoga practice into the picture is sometimes thought to be unable to improve one's condition. The truth is, the benefits of yoga enhance many athlete's goals.

There are several good things that come from regular yoga practice. While you don't have to head to the studio every day to reap these benefits, regular practice is recommended in order to maximize the beneficial outcomes of yoga:

• Muscle toning: especially of the core muscles
• Increased flexibility
• Detoxification
• Lowered blood pressure
• Improved posture
• Decreased rate of breathing

In addition, some benefits of yoga increase when the yoga practitioner is already in top shape because of being an athlete. Athletes reap both the long-term and the short-term benefits of yoga.

For athletes, whether of a related sport, such as dancing, or an unrelated sport, such as hockey or tennis, the benefits of yoga go above and beyond the beneficial results enjoyed by all yoga practitioners.

Athletes sometimes overwork certain muscle groups and underwork other muscle groups. For these athletes, one of the great things about yoga is that it can stretch and tone virtually all muscle groups if one's practice includes a variety of postures. Overworked muscles can be relaxed and stretched by doing the right yoga poses; for example, yoga poses for tight hamstrings are a great addition to a runner's exercise regime. Not only will you get relief from the tight hamstrings, but you will also lengthen your muscles and have a leaner leg instead of the bulkier lower leg that many runners develop.

Because yoga works all muscle groups, it can tone areas of the body that the athlete's sport leaves behind. It is much healthier for the body, and you will perform better at your chosen sport, if the muscle groups of the body are more evenly trained. For this reason, the overall strength enhancement of yoga is beneficial to athletes.

Yoga is also great because of the specific breathing technique. Athletes need superior oxygen flow in the body in order to feed muscles that are working so hard during extreme sports. Slow, steady, deep breathing in yoga not only improves oxygen flow in the body's tissues, it can also lower blood pressure and decrease one's rate of breathing.

Another yoga benefit for athletes is increased balance. All athletes need to have superior balancing skills, whether you ride a bike, skate or run. Increased ability to balance enhances one's agility, improves reaction time, and reduces the likelihood of injuring oneself. These benefits of enhanced balance are fantastic for athletes.

Whether you are looking to relax overworked muscles, enjoy overall stress reduction, or increase your balance and flexibility, yoga is a great way to achieve all of these things, and more. These benefits are enjoyed by all practitioners, but can be especially appreciated by athletes who may have sustained injuries or who are in need of an additional type of physical movement.

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