Benefits of Yoga For Athletes

More and more athletes are turning to yoga as a
supplementary exercise routine to fix the imbalance in
their body and to improve their performance in their chosen
field of sport.  Whether you are a golfer, basketball,
tennis, or football player, the mind body connection in
yoga is an important element in producing peak performance.

Although proper breathing technique is the foundation of
many sports, it is often ignored by many athletes.  Yoga
will help fix this lack of breathing skill and develop the
correct breathing technique that is very much required in
any game of sport.  The integration of mind and body
through correct breathing patterns helps to build stamina
and endurance in an athlete.  Proper breathing techniques
also bring more focus and attention to the mind and
sharpens one's intuition.  This gives the athlete an
advantage over his rivals.

The various poses in yoga helps to build a strong
mid-section and the different types of contractions of
these poses and movements act as a form of resistance
training to the typical gym-based workouts.  But unlike in
a gym, you can practice yoga outdoors without having to
bring heavy equipment.  Imagine doing yoga exercises by a
windy beach with the sound of waves in the background, on a
hill top with a great view and fresh air, or in a zen
garden.

Frequent yoga practice increases flexibility and range of
motion and the slow movements is perfect for athletes.
Many athletes are already using yoga movements as a warm up
and warm down routines in their sport.  Athletes in sports
field such as tennis and golf will notice improvements in
their swing as a result of this flexibility of the muscles
and joints.  In any given sport, the addition of yoga as a
supplementary routine training has been known to improve
the performance of the athletes.

Most athletes are involved in some form of weight training
and other resistance training that uses repetitive motions
that only develop certain muscle groups, while ignoring
others.  That creates imbalance in the body. Yoga is able
to fix this imbalance and help to develop the muscles that
have been ignored through the contraction of these muscles
in the various poses.

Yoga is also a good workout to relieve boredom in athletes
who perform the same types of exercises year in year out by
adding variety.  It is also an important element in
recovering the body from hard aerobic and strength
workouts. The numerous poses in yoga can be done in a low
or high intensity workout according to the athlete's needs.
 Overall, yoga is not only important in bringing in more
strength, balance and flexibility to an athlete, but also
brings more alertness, attention and focus that is so much
needed by athletes in their very competitive world.

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Azmi Adnan is a writer and a yoga practitioner. Subscribe
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website http://www.power-to-live.com/yoga.htm