Why Slowing Down Is As Important As Amping Up
It’s happened to all of us.
You work out, stick to your plan, see results, and then you hit a plateau.
You may find yourself thinking: What’s the deal?
You’re eating well, taking supplements, and sticking to your routine so why is your body not responding the same?
Well, ask yourself this: How is your recovery?
I’m not talking about rest days; I’m talking about recovery as consistent as your workout.
If you don’t have an answer, I do - you need yoga, at least once a week.
Why Even the Strongest Athletes Need Yoga
Plateauing and burnout are real things.
While your mantra “no pain, no gain,” drives you to achieve your physical goals and concepts like form, concentric contraction, eccentric contractions, reps, sets, blocks, and supersets are at your ready, how are your concepts of softness, surrender and release?
Many people hit a wall, and the occasional rest day is just not enough.
Don’t get me wrong, recovery days are extremely important, but actual recovery is a much more difficult concept for the goal-minded athlete.
Burnout can get you mentally, or physically, unless you make time for the healing of the body found in yoga.
Yoga is a practice that combines physical posture, breathwork, and meditation. It’s the perfect supplement to every exercise routine.
But I Do Stretch!: Active Stretching (Dynamic vs. Static) vs. Passive Stretching (Static)
Dynamic active stretches are exactly as they sound. Performing kinetic movements of muscles to maintain range of motion in the joints.
For example, high knee pulls to find and maintain the range of motion of the glutes.
Static active stretches use the active contraction of one muscle to stretch its antagonist, or opposing, muscle.
For instance, in a quad stretch pulling your heel to your glute is fine, but when you squeeze your glute actively, the quad releases and takes on the stretch.
Static passive stretches assume extended positions and maintains them using support (block, wall, chair).
Think about a forward fold using blocks to support your upper body with straight legs.
You actively stretch before and during activity – high knees, knee pulls, butt kicks; you use static-active stretch after activity – standing quad stretch or runner’s lunge. These stretches maintain a healthy range of motion and muscle elongation respectively.
But to get the most out of your workout, you must dive deeper into recovery!
5 Ways Yoga Helps Repair The Body
Promotes Muscle Recovery
Blood flow is a key component to muscle recovery. The specialized movements of yoga encourage the flow of blood driving nutrients to muscle cells to aid in recovery by repairing muscle damage and decreasing soreness.
Without adequate recovery, you can weaken the muscle and increase potential for overuse stress and ultimately injury. (source)
Brings Your Body And Mind Back To Balance (homeostasis)
Yoga has been proven to activate the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS), also known as the “rest and digest” system. Activating this system induces muscle relaxation, returning the body and mind to balance.
Vigorous activity ignites the Autonomic Nervous System, the “fight or flight” mechanism of the body. That’s great for lifting heavy or running a race, but for true recovery to occur, the PNS needs to activate.
Once muscles are relaxed, flexibility can be addressed.
Promotes Long-Term Flexibility
The practice of yoga, the balance of activation and release, not only increases range of motion but done consistently over time can increase the functional length in muscles.
The marriage of flexibility and stability are crucial to the health of tissues and joints.
Exercise routines, especially strength training and high-intensity workouts, focus on building muscle and cardiovascular endurance. These workouts done exclusively can lead to tightness and stiffness in the muscles and joints.
Yoga can improve flexibility by stretching the muscles and joints and increasing their range of motion. This can prevent injuries and improve overall performance in other arenas.
“A high level of flexibility means improved mobility, which is an important attribute in each part of a successful lift. Flexibility ensures that different parts of the body are working together for optimum performance.”
{Source: International Weightlifting Federation (Dec 12, 2017)}
Brings You In Tune With Your Body
The focus and attention required for the practice of yoga increases mind-body awareness bringing you more in tune with your body. Focusing on the breath and the movements of the body develops a deeper understanding of the body’s signals which is a primary aspect of effective recovery and can aid in the prevention of overuse, overtraining, poor form, and inadequate recovery time.
This deeper connection, introduced and facilitated by the movements and breathwork that is a focus of yoga, helps athletes manage stress, improve mental focus and overall performance.
Gives Mental Release You Might Not Even Know You Need
It is not just the body that needs recovery. The mind needs time to reset as well. The meditative focus on movement and breath allows your mind to relax and release in the ebb and flow of the postures.
During yoga you will begin to move intuitively into postures while your mind continues its focus on breath allowing a meditative mental release. This release aids a more restful sleep, relieves stress and sharpens concentration. And who couldn’t use a little more of that?
Yoga becomes your one-stop shop for mental peace, body awareness, flexibility, balance, and muscle recovery.
In short, it’s a release of the garbage in your muscles and in your mind.
So, prioritize taking out your garbage!
Check the schedule for the next Starr Power Yoga or Starr Fusion class to take a yoga class with Marla. Or message Marla to schedule a private yoga session that best fits your schedule!
