Can you use yoga poses to transform your athleticism? Yes, yoga has incredible benefits unlike any other area of training. The connection of a healthy mind and body working in sync with one another promotes self-healing, improves mental focus and concentration, and creates an overall wholesome life. Yoga helps to promote a balance between mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. As yoga has the power to change your entire life, the focus here is to determine which poses (most people have the ability to do) have the greatest benefit to athletic performance. There are many yoga poses to transform your athleticism.  However, these 9 poses will provide the best results with the shortest amount of time.

 

The Connection Between Yoga and Athleticism

 

• • • • Expands flexibility
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      • Muscle strength and tone
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      • Injury prevention
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      • Improves breathing
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      • Vitality
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      • Increases energy
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      • Manages stress
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      • Reduces anxiety and depression
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      • Boosts immunity
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      • Improve circulation
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      • Protects your spine
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      • Perfects posture
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      • Makes you happier
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      • Takes you out into nature to quiet the mind and enjoy wonderful views

 

 

 

The goal of yoga is to quiet the mind while increasing the body’s flexibility, help to relieve aches and pains, prevent injury, improve metabolism, and strengthen muscles. It is crucial to increase your range of motion in your muscles and ligaments to reduce injuries from overstretching. Certainly, the improvement of flexibility has a profound impact on preventing injuries. All things considered, less injuries equates to more training time and an increase in athletic performance.

Another key point is the role of hydration in addition to a yoga routine. Hydration plays just as big of a role as yoga with the prevention of injuries. The role of hydration is to lubricate the muscle and ligaments to prevent fibers from adhering to one another. Fiber adherence leads to injury. As shown above, you must increase your water consumption with the implementation of any yoga routine.

Yoga is an intensive strength training workout. Different poses put the body in unique positions forcing the body to balance and stabilize. Yoga helps to create functional strength by enhancing smaller, stabilizing muscles, often missed with traditional weightlifting. Given these points, here are the nine best yoga poses to transform your athleticism.

 

9 Best Yoga Poses to Transform Your Athleticism

 

1. Tree Pose

 

How to Perform: Begin in mountain pose with your arms down by your sides. Distribute your weight evenly across both feet. Slowly, shift your weight to your left foot. Bend your right knee while bringing your right foot to your inner left thigh. Your right foot can rest above or below the left knee. Center your pelvis above your left foot. Bring your arms up and press both hands into the praying position at chest level. Inhale, extend your arms overhead and hold the pose for 1 minute. To release, lower your arms down and step into mountain pose. Repeat for opposite side.

 

Regions of Body Worked: The tree pose works to improve balance and coordination of the entire body. The pose promotes stretching of the torso, thighs, groin, and shoulders. Tree pose can improve flat feet and ankle instability with the strengthening of the ankles, calves, and abdominal muscles.

 

 

2. Wide-Legged Standing Forward Bend Pose

 

How to Perform: Begin in mountain pose. Bring each hand to your hips, while creating a stance several feet apart. Turn each foot slightly inward while aligning both heels. Slowly, bend your torso and reach for the ground. Bring each hand to your toes on both sides, along with keeping your elbows slightly bent. Shift your weight forward to the front of your feet. Walk your hands back to your heels bringing your elbows directly above your wrists. Your head should come down towards the ground, resting on the floor if possible. Hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute. To release, inhale and lift upward from the floor, lengthening your torso upward and back into mountain pose.

 

Regions of Body Worked: The wide-legged forward bend loosens up your hips, hamstrings, and calves. In addition, you open up your shoulders. Overall, you are able to enhance your mid-line stability and spine protection.

 

 

3. Chair Pose

 

How to Perform: Stand with your feet together to create a stable platform for a deep squat. Keep your weight evenly distributed between each leg and foot. Exhale and bend your knees, bringing your buttocks down into a seated position. Stop at a level in which you are able to maintain your balance. Gently press your legs inward towards your mid-line. Raise your arms overhead, with palms facing each other. Try to avoid overarching your back. Spread your upper back, while externally rotating your shoulders and widening your chest. Hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute, before pushing through your feet upward and lowering your arms back down to your side.

 

Regions of Body Worked: The chair pose works to stimulate the diaphragm, improve your ankle stability, and tone your abdominal muscles. On the whole, the majority of the strength in this pose comes from the quads.

 

 

4. Warrior Pose

 

How to Perform: Begin in mountain pose with your feet hip-distance apart and your arms down by your side. Exhale while spreading your feet wide apart. Turn your right foot and hip 90 degrees. Pivot your left foot 45 degrees inward. Align your front heel with the arch of your back foot. Press your weight through your left heel while bending your right knee over the ankle. Reach your arms up, lengthen sides of your waist, and lift through your chest. Gently tilt head back, gaze up at palms, and press shoulder blades firmly inward. Hold for up to 1 minute.  To release, straighten your front leg and lower your arms. Repeat with your opposite side.

 

Regions of the Body Worked: The warrior pose works to strengthen the back, legs, and ankles. The pose is great for the toning of the abdominal muscles and arches of both feet. In addition, the pose improves lung capacity, balance, and coordination.

 

 

5. Dolphin Pose

 

How to Perform: Start on the floor with your hands and knees touching the ground. Set your knees apart. Then, move your knees below your hips while moving your forearms to the ground. Exhale, lift bent knees from the floor, and lengthen your spine. Shift your pelvic area upward. Hold your head between your upper arms. Notably, straighten your legs as much as possible. With attention to the prevention of a rounded back, otherwise keep your knees slightly bent. Hold the pose for 30 seconds to 1 minute. To release, bring your knees to the floor with an exhale.

 

Regions of the Body Worked: The dolphin pose focuses on stretching the hamstrings, calves, and the spine. In addition, the pose works to strengthen the abdominal muscles, arms, legs, and shoulders. In fact, this pose can be a useful regimen for relieving headaches, nausea, and insomnia.

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Yoga will make you a much better athlete. Start doing these nine yoga poses to transform your athleticism. Performance is important for maintaining your safety while out on an adventure. Incorporating these 9 poses into your daily or weekly training regimen will increase your flexibility, power, endurance, focus, balance, and proprioception. Yoga has the power to enhance your training recovery and prevent injuries. The combination of these amazing benefits is critical to success while out on a long day in the mountains.

In addition to the athletic benefits, yoga releases endorphins that play an important role in mood stabilization. Yoga ensures to enhance vitality, one of the leading fundamentals behind happiness and optimism. Live life with passion and excitement, fully experiencing every moment in your adventure through life. Yoga will transform your mental and physical well-being, to assist you with incorporating more adventure into your life.

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