Why Yoga is Harder Than Former Athletes May Think

And why it is a great form of exercise after sports retirement

Ok badass former athletes…I see you.  I know you are all about things that are challenging and push you to get better.  You worked super hard to be your best at your sport.  You pushed your body to the limit to reach your goals, probably experiencing pain, exhaustion and injury along the way.  And you might still pride yourself on being tough and strong, deservedly so.  So when you hear about and see yoga as a form of exercise, maybe you're like “What?  How hard could it be to do some sitting and stretching?  I need a challenging workout to help me maintain my strength” Or you could be saying “Yoga? That’s for hippies and spiritual girls burning incense and drinking green juice.”

I’m here to tell you a few things about that…

First of all, yoga can be a challenging physical practice that helps you build strength…and often resulting in a serious sweat.  There are so many types of yoga and you can choose a physically demanding practice or one that is more restorative and healing...ummm….which is also a good thing!  You don’t have to constantly kick your own ass anymore!  Yoga taps into muscles and parts of the body that retired athletes may have never paid attention to before.  Just take it from the former pro athletes here.  Athletes become very good at the specific skills required by their sport.  Yoga tends to spread the love around more, working on a variety of physical skills.  I’ll break it down further.

Yoga can provide a challenging physical workout for retired athletes.

Strength and endurance

Many yoga poses work on strengthening the core, arms, legs and back.  A challenging vinyasa class will do just that!  Moving through a vinyasa is a full body workout.  Do it 10-20 times during a yoga practice and you are going to feel it the next day, for sure.  Yoga is full of body weight movement and resistance training.  In addition, moving slowly and with intention during transitions between poses can be even more of a challenge than the poses themselves.  It requires slow and controlled movement.  Once you are in a challenging pose, holding it for at least 5 slow breaths is a physical and mental challenge that will work on endurance in a different way than running a mile.  Holding a pose, or isometric exercise, can help build stability around a joint, which can be very useful for athletes who have instability in a joint due to lingering or past injuries.

Yoga poses help build strength and endurance in various muscle groups.

Flexibility and range of motion

Retired athletes may have varying flexibility and range of motion, depending on their sport and injuries they may have suffered.  Throughout a yoga practice, there will be poses that require flexibility and joint mobility. I have seen many athletes who go into a yoga practice fully expecting to be able to get deep into a certain pose only to find out that they currently don’t have the flexibility to do so.  They may also discover that they are able to do a pose well on one side and then have to back way off or modify the pose when doing it on the other side.  These can be humbling experiences for the former athlete but also give insight into where they can improve in areas they weren’t even aware of. 

A regular practice will help address flexibility, range of motion and imbalances over time. Fortunately, you can go at your own pace, paying attention to how your body is responding during each practice.  So if you have tight joints, yoga will help decrease this tightness and increase your range of motion.  If you already have a good amount of flexibility in the joints, yoga will help you maintain this.  If you have restricted mobility or an imbalance between the sides of the body, practicing yoga can help increase your flexibility or bring your range of motion between your right and your left closer together to create more balance within the body.

Yoga improves flexibility and range of motion, addressing imbalances and limitations.

Balance

In general, athletes are likely to have better balance using both feet than non-athletes due to their training.  Yoga challenges you to balance in different ways that may not have been a part of your training.  For example, balancing on one foot while shifting the position of the upper body and other leg (think Dancer pose or Half Moon pose) are often part of a yoga practice.  This can be a whole new balance experience for an athlete, depending on their sport.  There is also balancing on the hands (Crow pose) or one arm and one foot (Side Plank) that, unless you were a gymnast, cheerleader or dancer, may not have been a part of your sport.

Balance is important, especially as we age, to help prevent injury and maintain joint stability.  Regularly practicing balance, especially in a new way, can have big benefits in the long run.

Alignment

Athletes spend a lot of time doing repetitive stress motions.  This is defined as actions that are repeated, generally with impact, that cause motions, vibrations or compressions to the musculoskeletal system or nervous system. These motions can affect our joints and cause injuries from overuse, imbalances and inaccurate alignment.  It’s common to have some slight misalignments but when repetitive stress motions are done frequently, over time they can be exacerbated in the body.  Practicing yoga with correct alignment can help train the body to correct these misalignments so that they do not continue to worsen.  This can be a challenge for the former athlete who has relied on muscle memory and consistency of movement in their sport.  However, this challenge will have a big payoff in the future when the body maintains correct alignment over time.

In addition to the challenging physical aspects of a yoga practice, it is mentally challenging too.  Being an athlete also requires mental strength and discipline.  So does yoga, but in a different way. One of the important parts of a yoga practice is learning to have present moment awareness of the body and the breath.  Learning how to quiet the mind takes time and practice.  While this may have been part of your training in your sport, it was probably for a different purpose….performing to your optimal ability.  In yoga, present moment awareness is practiced in order to learn about the body and how it is in that moment so that one can do what the body wants and needs, not what we want it to do.

Yoga cultivates mental strength and present moment awareness.

In the practice of mindfulness, a major part of yoga, you learn to pay attention to your thoughts and feelings without judgment or attachment.  Learning how to observe your thoughts as just thoughts, or little products of the mind, rather than facts and truths, is something that takes practice and time.  But when we can start to do this regularly, you can live more freely and according to your true values, rather than restricted by your thoughts and “rules” you have established for yourself.

Yoga is not a quick fix or a one-time activity. It is a lifelong practice that requires dedication and commitment. As your body changes and ages, your yoga practice will also evolve, and you will need to continue to challenge yourself and learn new skills. This can be both challenging and rewarding, but it requires a willingness to embrace change and continue learning.

Ok, badass athlete….have I caught your attention?  Are you willing to open your mind to some new ways of being good to your body and your mind?  You can still get a great workout and refine or develop your skills, all while learning how to be more compassionate to your body.

If you want to start diving into a regular yoga practice, follow me on Instagram @vintage.athlete for tips on how to get started.  Want to check out a yoga practice designed for former athletes? Join The Vintage Athlete Awakening for FREE to access my yoga class that focuses on strength and flexibility for athletes who have retired from their sport.