For a healthy and happy lifestyle, you may consider the combination of Yoga and run. From thoughtful running to gaining stronger muscles, you will gain several advantages by practicing the two. Yoga has multiple mental and physical benefits like better balance, reduced stress, greater flexibility, and more strength. Running sways your ligaments, joints, tendons, and muscles in a great way. This means that you can experience imbalance and injury when running for exercise. Yoga will increase your motion range helping you to gain endurance, mobility, and mental focus.
Is it Ok to do Yoga and Run
Absolutely! There are many advantages you can gain as a yogi by running. These two exercises go hand in hand and combining them will do wonders on your lifestyle. As a yoga enthusiast, you require running since it will boost your cardiovascular fitness. You can as well take yoga practices when running to ensure efficiency and mental focus. You will enjoy running as a yogi since it will give you the aspect of meditation and calmness.
Major benefits of Yoga for Runners
- Strengthening Your Entire Muscles
Running tends to be a repetitive exercise involving using the same muscles each day. On the other hand, different types of yoga allow you to stretch the entire muscles of your body. Practicing yoga will help develop stability while strengthening your hips and trunk. This is very essential for runners since it can lengthen some of your chronically short body tissues.
As a typical runner, your muscles can be tightened and stressed over time. For this reason, you need opposing movements to compensate for the exercise. Your body might exert further stress on your skeleton system. With this, imbalanced muscles become weak and vulnerable to chronic pain or injury. Running involves forward movements alone while yoga will force your body along varying planes: back, top-to-bottom, side-to-side, and forward.
- Yoga Improves Running
Yoga can be a good exercise to improve your running performance. With the gained core strength, your body achieves stability as well as strength in abdominal muscles and lower back. This is a good way to take your running form to a different level. Although yoga is good in strengthen the muscles of your entire body, how most of its poses emphasize the stability of the hip area ensures better running.
To be at the top of your game, you should take yoga classes targeted to improve running. These classes focus on the lower extremity, trunk flexibility, and pelvis. Yoga can help you relax and elongate your upper trunk since in most cases running involves contractions in the upper body as you breathe deeply pump your arms. You can access yoga classes from various platforms. The best thing is that you do not have to go out to look for masters to train yoga. You can download yoga apps from your App store and start practicing today. With these apps, you will get helpful information that will aid you in doing yoga.
- With Yoga, You Will Know How to Use the Breath to Your Advantage
You will find most trainers referring to yoga and running as a ‘perfect combo’. This is because in both of them your breath plays a major role. Though most individuals think of the physical posture (asana) when they hear the term yoga, there is a lot of breathwork involved in the practice. This gives the runner a greater advantage since they will know how to use breath as a running tool. As a runner, you can also gain a lot with the mindfulness meditation and the pranayama (breath) practices. It does not have to be complicated as it may sound. All that is required for you are minding your breath while exercising. This will help you in reducing tension. Conscious breathing practices help soothe your parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system. One you stay tuned to your breath, you can minimize anxiety before pre-race jitters or long run. You will also beware of how to conserve and use your energy.
- Flexibility
Stretching plays a crucial part when running. You need to indulge in yoga practices to get recovery afterward. You will be more flexible with this improving your speed and stride length. Find a suitable post-run yoga that will help in elongating your body tissues and muscles. However, you should be keen and avoid overstretching before running. Though most runners depend on yoga to gain flexibility, strength matters more when it comes to running.
- Resting to Recover
Muscle imbalances can be the main cause you experience injuries related to running. The best thing with yoga is that it will teach you the importance of resting to enjoy quicker recoveries. The fact that it also helps in improving body stability, practicing yoga will make you injury-free. All yoga exercises focus more on muscle, therefore, helping runners to identify weak spots on their bodies to combat the chances of injuries.
If you are dealing with injuries, yoga can offer you a great way of recovering as you remain active. You will enjoy the calmness as you learn the advantage of taking it easy at all times. Depending on your injury, an expert instructor can offer you a gentle yoga rehab. With better breathing skills and lower body stretching, you can prevent injuries and improve your running performance.
As much as most injuries will require you to rest for a speedy recovery, restorative yoga, meditation, and breathing will be beneficial in your healing process. Apart from that, you will get rid of any emotional issues with the injury. The best way to go about the problem is through strengthening activities of yoga as your tissues heal.
- Training Mind
Besides being physically strong, yoga can help you increase your mental focus. With this, you will be able to deal with unexpected distractions and negative thoughts while running. Competitive running is more of a mind game. Your body and mind might be directing you to stop but you should continue to stay ahead of your competitors. Yoga practices help you develop better concentration and focus. This can help you when running as you focus on your surrounding environment and body vibrations. You can control extraneous thoughts without any emotional reaction. By this, you turn you’re running to meditation. Although it will take you a lot of practice and time, it is very effective.
While running, you can use yoga in paying attention and developing intuition to your bodily signals. With yoga, you will also be able to distinguish true pain resulted from injury and distresses caused by normal workout straining.
- You Can Customize Yoga to Your Running Style
There are several studios, teachers, and style options for yoga practice. The best thing is familiarizing yourself with as many options as you can and determine the one that suits your preferred running style. If you are dealing with challenging workouts, try out gentle or restorative yoga sessions. However, for casual joggers, more intense and regular vinyasa workouts will be great. Yoga and run will help you in enjoying a healthier lifestyle.
Best Yoga Types for Runners
Most runners are enthusiasts of tight muscles, therefore, opt for more stretching. For this reason, they turn to practice yoga as a cross-train or to stretch before running. There are many benefits you will enjoy by observing yoga as a runner. With the many types of yoga, some will work best for you as a runner.
Common Yoga Types for Runners
- Hatha Yoga
If you are a beginner in running, this type of yoga can be perfect for you. With hatha yoga classes, you will learn more about physical postures. Compared to other types of yoga, you will learn hatha yoga at a slower pace and thus perfect in introducing you to this wonderful practice.
- Ashtanga Yoga
This yoga practice is good for runners looking for more rigorous practice. Expect more intense strength workouts in ashtanga classes. It is the best practice for cross-training. It involves a faster pace and works well in tightening your core muscles. If you are a runner, you probably know the importance of core strength. Moves like chaturanga, plank, and boat pose will aid you the best in this. Yogis believe that pine flexibility determines your most physical practices.
- Vinyasa Yoga (Vinyasa Flow)
This is the best yoga focusing on incorporating movement and breath therefore good for runners. It includes smooth shifts between various postures. You will learn more about mindfulness as you will gain more train in keeping your mind to the present moments.
- Kundalini Yoga
Kundalini yoga incorporates both physical and spiritual practices. You will achieve this by combining chanting, breathing exercises, physical movements, meditation, and mantra repetition. This ensures the release of your kundalini energy. Whether you do not believe anything to do with this type of energy, this practice is good for core workouts.
Yoga and Run – Conclusion
Yoga and run plays a role in leady healthy lifestyles. There are multiple benefits you can gain through practicing yoga and running. Apart from being mindful and avoiding any distraction while running in the morning, it is also a good way of gaining physical strength. You have multiple types of yoga to choose from. With the best instructor, you can do yoga and run for a complete wonderful feeling.