3 Game-changing Ways Yoga Boosts Athletic Performance
Linebackers and point guards. Probably not who comes to your mind when you think of the average yoga practitioner–but they should be. Sure, many people who do yoga Birkenstock-wearing crystal and astrology stans. But don’t let the full moon ceremonies fool you. Yoga practice has a profound impact on athletic performance.
To be clear, I’m not hating on sound baths and lavender-scented eye pillows. They’re great for nervous system regulation and some serious deep relaxation. Both are amazing, health-enhancing things. But yoga is vast–it’s a discipline, a spiritual tradition, a philosophy, and a canon of practices, among other things.
And for me, some of yoga’s best kept secrets are the not-so-obvious ways it can significantly enhance an athlete's abilities. So I’m gonna let the secret out. Here are three key ways in which yoga practice can take your athletic performance to new heights.
1. Yoga Elevates Anaerobic Capacity
Whether you’re trying to beat Micahel Phelp’s record for the 200m free, or juking out a defender to sink a Stephen Curry-like three-pointer, aerobic capacity is a weapon you want in your athletic arsenal. Anaerobic activity powers short bursts of intense effort. It’s what makes you reach the gridiron goal line a millisecond sooner or slam that baseball a millimeter further.
Yoga ups your anaerobic capacity with major techniques: breath work (prānāyāma) and postural practices (āsana).
Pranayama such as Kapalabhati (skull shining breath) and Bhastrikā (bellows breath) oxygenates the body, improves CO2 tolerance, and enhances the body's ability to buffer lactic acid buildup. This means you’ll be able to go harder, farther, faster, and not feel it as much the next day.
When it comes to the bendy shape part of yoga practice, integrating yoga postures that involve isometric contractions and sustained holds mimic the demands of anaerobic exercise. Fundamental postures like Utkatāsana (Chair Posture) and Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II) require you to engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously, promoting strength, power, and endurance.
Breath work and postural practice also increase proprioception and body awareness, so you can extend your leg at the exact angle needed to block that puck from scoring the game-winning goal. Refining your alignment and kinesthetic sense through yoga practice gives you the precision and efficiency you need to ace that last serve.
Whether there’s seconds left on the clock or you’re headed to overtime, that winning comes down to who has the anaerobic capacity to sustain high-intensity performance the longest. Having an established yoga practice can help you make sure you’re the one who takes home that W.
2. Yoga Facilitates Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation
Injuries happen. They are an unavoidable consequence of athletic endeavor, especially at the elite level. But here’s the good news: an established yoga practice both aids in injury rehabilitation and prevents injuries from happening in the first place.
Yoga's mindful and precise approach to movement and stretching makes it an ideal practice for injury rehabilitation. Whether you’re recovering from a sprained ankle, a strained hamstring, or a shoulder impingement, yoga provides a diverse array of modifiable postures and breath and meditation techniques that promote healing while avoiding further damage.
Physical yoga practice also addresses the root causes of many common sports injuries, such as muscular imbalances, tightness, and poor biomechanics. By practicing sport-specific, position-specific, and personalized yoga sequences designed by highly-qualified instructors, you can correct structural deficiencies, reduce the risk of overuse injuries, and optimize your biomechanical efficiency.
Also, yoga—like sport—is just as much about mentality as it is physicality. At it’s core, yoga is a practice of awareness. The more aware you are of your body and being, the more empowered you are to catch early warning signs of potential injury and take proactive measures to address them.
Whether it’s noticing fatigue settling in the last 10 minutes of regulation time, or that your stride has shifted in mile five, tuning into your bodies' signals allows you to do what’s best for your body when you need it most. Knowing how to nip potential injuries in the bud before they escalate into more significant problems is as powerful a skill as a killer serve.
Plus, yoga cultivates resilience and adaptability, qualities that are essential for injury prevention and recovery. By teaching you to embrace change and navigate setbacks with grace, yoga equips you with the mental fortitude to overcome an ACL tear and emerge stronger than before.
Incorporating yoga into your training routine both accelerates the rehabilitation process and fortifies your body against future injuries, so you can perform at your peak and prolong your career like Tom Brady, LeBron James, and Simone Biles.
3. Yoga Optimizes Recovery and Sleep
Recovery is often the unsung hero of performance optimization. While training intensity and volume get all the glory, quality rest and optimized sleep can often be the real difference maker come game time.
Yoga's calming effect on the nervous system can significantly improve sleep quality and quantity. By engaging in gentle, restorative yoga practices before bedtime, you can promote relaxation, reduce stress levels, and prepare your body and mind for the restful sleep you’ll need to show up as the MVP.
Established yoga practice also enhances circulation and lymphatic drainage, facilitating the removal of metabolic waste products from muscles and tissues. This improved circulation accelerates the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to recovering muscles, hastening the repair process and reducing post-exercise soreness.
Plus, sometimes the most important part of the recovery process isn’t physical at all. It can be about getting your mind right after a disappointing loss, or dealing with the rollercoaster of emotions of having your best game ever.
Yoga fosters a holistic approach to recovery by addressing not only the physical but also the mental and emotional aspects of well-being. An established yoga practice can help you reduce mental chatter, alleviate anxiety, and cultivate a sense of inner peace, so you can let go of whatever did or didn’t happen and be ready to be your best the nest time you jump in the pool, step on the gridiron, or walk on the court.
So, yes, yoga is Becky with the good hair’s favorite fitness trend. But yoga is also a multi-faceted and deeply diverse, personalizable practice.
And for athletes, the boost in anaerobic capacity, facilitation of injury prevention and rehabilitation, and optimization of sleep quality and recovery, yoga offers makes it a unique, healthy, and essential tool for enhancing performance. If you’re ready to step into the fullness of your athletic potential, resilience, and well-being, exploring yoga with a highly-qualified professional may be the key to elevating your performance on and off the field.
Hello, I’m Daniela
I’m am LA-based yoga nerd and Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT-500) who specializes in private instruction, injury prevention and management, and optimizing athletic performance. When I’m not re-reading Patañjali’s Yogasūtra on the beach, you can find me conducting qualitative reproductive justice research as a PhD student at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, belting out Shakira at karaoke night, or loudly cheering on the Chargers and Lakers.