Yoga - Is It Good for Athletes?
The foam roll drills and stretches need to facilitate increased mobility. The nutritional plans need to provide the essential nutrients, energy and hydration. And the training plans need to fit the needs, goals and abilities of the individual doing the work.
So I'm always curious as to why people go to yoga?
A quick google search lead me to healthyyoga.com with the Top 10 Benefits of Yoga. Their list includes:
1. Stress Relief 2. Pain Relief 3. Better Breathing 4. Flexibility 5. Increased Strength 6. Weight Management 7. Improved Circulation 8. Cardiovascular Conditioning 9. Focus on the Present 10. Inner Peace
***I'll look at 4,5 & 8 below. The rest are fairly subjective and therefore difficult to measure.***
There is no doubt that a number of people practice yoga but I'm always curious as to their reasons? I look at everything that our clients do as being beneficial and purposeful.
And yoga has me perplexed.
Because I hear constantly of the purported benefits of yoga. And especially the benefits it lends to sports performance.
In fact there is power yoga which sounds like it would be perfectly suited to athletes that are seeking more power and to move more quickly.
But power is the definition of the amount of work done per unit time. And work is equal to a force applied over a distance. So you need to move a substantial force quickly over some distance to train for power. Holding bodyweight poses for extended periods of time hardly meets the criteria for power development.
Case in point India has one, count it one, individual gold medal in the history of the Olympics. Ever. And by the way that gold medal came in air rifle. Hardly a sport requiring power. Well, a powerful gun maybe :)
In a similar sense to the lack of power development afforded by yoga a similar example can be made for the strength benefits. For these purposes we can think of strength as the ability to develop force. And within strength training there is something called the SAID Principle which stands for specific adaptations to imposed demands. In other words the body will adapt accordingly to the demands placed on it. Lift a heavy weight and the body gets stronger to handle the weight.
The problem becomes that with yoga there is no external load. So the body does not need to become stronger to overcome an external resistance. Further, the load is maintained in a isometric contraction during a pose. In other words the muscles are not shortening and lengthing as they would in running, jumping, throwing or basically in sports.
[caption id="attachment_2988" align="alignleft" width="300"] Athletes need muscles that change length and generate high levels of force. Sorry yoga :(
So for someone to say they practice yoga for strength and power benefits it lends to sports just doesn't make sense.
But let's carry on.
Maybe it's not for sports performance that someone practices yoga. Yogis love to share the benefits related to flexibity. If the goal is flexibility is this something that is ok to do?
It depends.
I have some concerns about some of the hyper-mobile positions of the body in certain poses. We ascribe to the joint-by-joint approach to training and understand that our structure dictates our function.
For example the lumbar vertebrae have a unique structure and very different function than, say for example, the thoracic vertebrae. The lower segments have a primary function associated with stability and are not meant to move very much, if at all. The upper thoracic segments are more important for mobility and are vital for upper back and shoulder health and function.
Apart from the hyper-mobility that can result from some forms of yoga I'm not entirely sold on the concept of hot yoga. Don't get me wrong I enjoy a good steam room as much as the next person. But let's use the right tool for the right job. If increased mobility is sought use the best tools to achieve this. The increased extensibility that is achieved from sitting in a hot room is not necessarily maintained after when returned to a moderate temperature room. There should also be concerns of athletes that may become dehydrated from hot yoga as 2% dehydration impairs sports performance.
To read more about some of the potential injuries that may result from yoga check out this article from the New York Times about one of the top yoga instructors in the US who has given up the practice due to his own injuries and these risks.
So if there are minimal training benefits for athletes and potential harm to key joints at the low back, knee, shoulder and neck why is yoga so popular?
Well part of it has to do with the fact it is easy.
Now I am defining easy as something that does not require high levels of strength, power or well developed energy systems. I've already covered the limits regarding strength and power development and with respect to energy system development the cells of the body become adapted to the type of activity. To improve your energy systems for cycling you need to cycle. Lance Armstrong won 7 Tour de France races but finished in the middle of the pack during the New York Marathon. He probably didn't dope for the marathon, right?
So holding static postures is not going to develop the necessary energy systems for hockey, soccer, basketball, football (insert any other sport here) unless your sport is yoga. Then, specificity of training is achieved. And although today when I write this yoga is not an Olympic sport I don't like the way the IOC is going and I may end up eating my words.
Does this mean I am totally against someone practicing yoga. Definitely not. If they go because they enjoy it I'm ok with that. If they find it relaxing or meditative then go. If they are like some of younger male athletes who seem to have figured out girls like yoga I'm also ok with it. Basically we as a society are under enough stress (sympathetic) and sometimes the thing we need most is to rest, digest and recover (parasympathetic). I'm sure for some of our athletes and clients, yoga serves this purpose just fine.
However if an individual is seeking to get stronger, more powerful, develop their energy systems, move better and become a better athlete yoga is not their best option.
What it comes down to is why are you practicing yoga? If someone can easily answer this and yoga is their best option they should carry on. But when you examine what the best tools are for athletic development yoga may not be one of them.
Namaste,
Chris
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Comments 31
Guest - Harshad Jeff Thomlinson
(website) on Thursday, 21 February 2013 13:50
Hi Chris-
I hope your new facility is going well.
My wife, Sonya forwarded me this blog post, as I am about to get a little more involved in the yoga community, and she encouraged me to speak up. As you know, I run a small studio, and a teacher training program (200-hour Spring YYT begins in March). No big letters after my name, but lots of experience, about 32 years in yoga, 22 teaching.
I have seen this discussion before, in the larger yoga community worldwide. Lots of passion! This is good, and good for you for courageously offering your post. I like how you spoke, and responded, within your scope of practice. This is all I can really comment from as well. There is a plethora of info. out there right now around yoga benefits and contraindications. Some common sense, some well sourced, and some just 'out there'. I will address just a couple of points, and not try and get out there too much.
You opened the discussion by mentioning the 'top 10'. I would offer that the other areas not in your scope are absolutely relevant. I guess I would offer that the whole person practices yoga. To address the physical body is a start, but we must address breath and 'self-awareness'. That might sound ‘out there’, but the science shows that an individual can be in a stress response and practice the physical postures perfectly. Someone can be in a pain cycle, and drive right through it. Someone can simply be trying to keep up with the instructor, and have no body awareness. I have seen and continue to see the long term effects of the above.
If a person is not present, and self-aware in the practice, driven by the external form, they could be in trouble. Especially an athlete, who has a high pain tolerance, and can easily ignore the pain response. The pain response was described well in the recent book by local physio Neil Pearson.
This is an issue because a driven student will eventually work to the end of the muscle and move in to the joint space, moving beyond tensile strength and release, and into critical joint spaces (compression). Even tricking the mechanoreceptors with heat. This is a big problem, the long term effects of joint space de-stability won’t show for a long time, and when it fails, it is not usually in a controlled yoga environment. (I know of a relatively famous Ashtanga yoga teacher, many years, who just had a major ACL, meniscus tear while ‘simply skiing on a Blue run, and the knee turned'). I realize this is subjective. That is all I have. The real data will take time, and commitment, as William Broad noted in his book.
Lastly, I will mention a much more important part of this elephant in the room. The mental/emotional body. Our society is obviously struggling, externalization, body obsession, body enhancement, etc. That plays directly in to the ‘distraction’ of the physically oriented power practices. People basically don’t want to feel. Having worked with many folks who are suffering, including professional athletes,
I can say this is an epidemic. Look at the severe dysfunction in professional athletics, suicide, depression, anxiety, and drug use. That is a mirror of our society. I am interested in offering the athletes and society an exploration of less unhealthy stress, with honest self-awareness.
All this said, I appreciate the discussion. I am open to feedback with you or anyone in this forum.
Best to you,
Jeff Thomlinson
Trinity Yoga Center
Guest - Chris
on Thursday, 21 February 2013 18:19
Hi Jeff: Thanks for weighing in. And thanks for bringing up the concepts of pain, mind and body awareness. Your perspective will benefit your students and help bridge the gap between traditional strength and conditioning with other training modalities such as yoga.
All the best,
Chris
Guest - Matt
on Thursday, 21 February 2013 15:13
Wow! So enlightening to see such diverse and interesting comments. As Tim "The Toolman" Taylor once said back in the 90's: "It's important to choose the right tool for the job" - So is the goal power? Is it strength? Is it speed? Is it flexibility? Is it relaxation? Undeniably, yoga has its benefits, however as an athlete I choose to build my off-season strength with progressive resistance training, and not by doing the "downward dog"
Guest - Leanne
on Thursday, 21 February 2013 21:10
Love seeing all the different and similar views on here!
As a high level athlete, I've tried a lot of types of training and combinations of things. Yoga for me has very little to do with my physical self. Yes the amazing instructor that I get to see when I'm back home does a lot of mobility work for my thoracic spine and shoulders (I'm a paddler) but it's her way of speaking and interacting that makes me feel like the world has been lifted off my shoulders at least for a little while. No matter what has gone on in my day or week or months since I've been away, when I leave Ellen's studio, I remember to take a step back and enjoy the life I have and the people in it.
Having Type 1 Diabetes has helped with my body awareness so that hasn't been an issue since I was diagnosed in 2006. I'm keenly aware of how different foods, different types of exercise and training and of course sleep affect not only my blood sugar but my body as a whole.
Unfortunately I'm yet to find a yoga instructor here in the Kelowna area that makes me feel the same way, so until then I stick with my personal mindfulness exercises (I'm lucky to have colleagues that are psychologists) and leave my physical training and recovery in the amazing hands of my coaches (Chris, Megan and Matt at OPP), physios (Eric and Greg at Wave), Chiro (Travis at Health in Hand) and massage therapists (Wes and Sandra at Mission Massage).
Guest - Chris
on Friday, 22 February 2013 13:01
Hi Leanne: You truly do exemplify the concept of developing your team. And the success you've had on the water reflects this.
It's great to hear how the yoga instructor you go to helps you with mobility at the shoulders and thoracic spine.
Keep training hard and best of luck,
Chris
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