When I was in college I had a major ACL injury that should have kept me out of competitive basketball for 10–12 months. However, I discovered that doing yoga could help me recover faster. During the summer our basketball team would do yoga once a week. I’m a huge believer that yoga is a great way for athletes to get stronger, faster, more flexible, and reduce the risk of injury. If you are serious about being a great athlete, want to stay healthy, and continue to have success I highly recommend doing yoga.
And I’m not the only professional basketball player that does yoga. Check out this video by Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xm7QP4IAhI
There was a great article in Sports illustrated on the huge movement with yoga in the NBA. The best of the best in the NBA and NFL do yoga to help them stay healthy and clear their minds.
Five Reasons to do Yoga
1. Improved Strength: With all the stretching and balancing you do during yoga your muscles lengthen out and improve in strength. The poses in yoga improve your posture and balance, which translates to greater strength during your performance.
2. Improved Balance: This means you will have more control over your body and the more control you have the better you will be able to move your body. The improved balance will allow you to change directions faster and react faster to certain situations. The better balance the easier it will be to have control over your body.
3. Improved Flexibility: Yoga improves joint and muscular flexibility. This flexibility leads to greater range of motion in the body, which decreases the chances of getting hurt. The improvement in flexibility increases body movement and strengthens the muscles and joints in your body. Yoga is a great way to reduce the risk of injury.
4. Improved Breathing: During yoga you learn to breath properly and you learn to use your breath to help you move better and hold positions longer. When you learn to control your breathing this can be a huge advantage during the heat of competition. Learning to breath can help you maintain a high performance during the heat of the moment.
5. Improved mental strength: During yoga you learn to stay in the moment and you learn to stay grounded and focus on your breathing. When a person can learn to stay in the present and maximize each moment they will learn the true meaning of happiness and success will follow.
Yoga is a growing trend among professional athletes and there are plenty of great resources available to athletes. The Athlete’s Guide to Yoga is a great book that can help get you started on your journey to becoming a better athlete through yoga.
From a professional athlete to an everyday athlete yoga can be beneficial to the body, mind, and spirit! Yoga is something everyone should consider to help improve their health and clear their minds and learn to stay in the present and maximize each moment!
If you want to know more about how to eat healthy, be healthy, and stay healthy as an athlete check out www.athletesguide5.com
Have a healthy and happy day!
Originally published at medium.com