Need increased athletic performance? Just add yoga
Rachel Horn
Issue date: 3/1/06 Section: Sports
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It is no surprise that yoga is now being incorporated into the nation's professional and collegiate athletic programs. Harvard University has their own yoga instructor, who customizes her workouts for a number of the Division I teams. Professional athletes from Ian Thorpe and Jenny Thompson to the Philadelphia Eagles and the Los Angeles Lakers have taken up the discipline as a major part of their training. But why yoga?
"For athletes in particular, people are often very well trained in a particular movement style, so they're using particular muscles and not usually their core," Rossi said. "Yoga programs can be used to supplement what an athlete is already doing and counter the negative effects."
Yoga can better an athlete's game in more ways than one. According to Rossi, the physical benefits are what draw most athletes to roll out their mats. But she stresses that the mental aspects are also beneficial to the competitive nature of sports. "Ultimately yoga is about becoming focused. It's a tool for becoming more connected to whatever you are doing. When you watch the Olympics, the people who are getting gold medals are the people who are focused that day," Rossi said.
Rossi generally has a lot of student athletes enrolled in her Yoga I course, which is offered as an elective through the dance department. The introductory course is a popular choice for athletes as a way to supplement their sport's practice and fine-tune their focus, breathing, and physical skills. "I see a lot of athletes in class. One semester I had half the baseball team… the feedback I get is that [athletes] enjoy getting the full-spectrum of yoga, so they understand why they are doing each pose and how it will benefit them in their sport."
To many athletes, adding yoga to their busy schedules has been worth the extra time. "I challenged my body in such a different way than swimming laps or weight training could," said junior swimmer and former student of Rossi, Morgan Finley. "An hour and a half yoga class was probably one of the most difficult workouts of my life. Yoga is unlike any other physical activity because it can not only strengthen your body but it can also sharpen your mind."
Senior tennis player Mike Chan found yoga a beneficial supplement to his practice schedule. "Yoga helped me a lot with my flexibility for tennis. The class was right before tennis practice too, so I was able to come to practice really limber and stretched. It was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be, but it was worth it," Chan said, proving that the benefits of yoga are beyond mat work.
One of the greatest benefits of yoga for athletes is yoga's ability to increase core strength, something Rossi says is often lacking in an athlete's routine. "What I've noticed the most with athletes in general is that they are given a lot of 'buffin' up' exercises, where external muscles are being used but not the core. Yoga is great for the core," Rossi said.
On a more individual level, yoga techniques can prevent injury and help bring balance to an athlete's performance. For swimmers, the tendency is to round the shoulders and many poses in yoga are designed to open the chest and work on strengthening muscles that are key to good posture. For baseball, tennis and crew-which involve asymmetrical movements-it is best to twist from the opposite direction and use the other arm to balance the body. In every sport there are postures that can benefit an athlete's physical techniques and mental focus.
LMU does not have a specific yoga program for athletes; however, there are two ways a program could be put into effect. According to Rossi, a class could be added specifically for athletes for academic credit, like the already existing class "Yoga for Dancers" or through the LMU Athletic Department. "There are a lot of different ways it could be done," Rossi said. "It would ultimately come down to money, and who wants to sponsor it."
Athletes are not the only ones who can, and should, take up the discipline. There are many ways to take up yoga on and nearby campus. Students can take Rossi's course, yoga classes offered at the Burns Rec Center or an introductory course at any of LA's local studios. Rossi suggested these three studios for students who are interested in yoga outside of the LMU campus:
Exhale Sacred Movement
Located in Venice, this studio offers a four-week yoga for beginners course on the basics of yogic breathing and postures. A single session is $16. More information can be found on the website www.exhalespa.com or at (310) 450-7676.
Yoga Works
With its closest location in Santa Monica, Yoga Works offers free orientations to beginners with their very own Intro to Yoga course. For more information, see www.yogaworks.com or call (310) 393-5150.
Bikram Studio
This type of yoga is done in a room heated to 105 degrees at about 40 percent humidity and includes a series of difficult back bends that a beginner should not attempt right away. For more information, see the www.bikramyoga.com website or call (310) 854-5800.
Anyone interested in a yoga program should begin with an introductory course in order to grasp the main concepts in the physical as well as the mental practices of yoga. Jumping right in to a Bikram practice is probably not the greatest idea, so take it slow and remember to breathe!
Original drawings by Anthony Mai