Yoga for Athletes: Two Hour Workshop coming on Saturday, April 2nd

See if one of these scenarios resonates for you:

1) You drive to boathouse row, run the loop, grab some water and maybe a calf stretch on the wall, then hop back in your car.

2) You dash out of your house for a quick 30 minute run (or ride), come home and head right into the shower. You would stretch but you're late already.

3) You go to the gym, lift weights, maybe some cardio, sit down to stretch and realize you're doing the same 4 stretches that you've been doing since you were on the high school basketball team.

Maybe this is you, maybe you are doing a slightly better job at balancing the intensity of endurance training, or maybe you are already taking weekly yoga classes. I am offering a workshop on April 2nd, Yoga for Athletes, to teach athletes how to use yoga for a post-workout "cool-down." This is more than stretching! Implementing a yoga routine that is 15-30 minutes long following your workout will enable you to develop core and upper body strength, recover faster, ease aches and pains, improve posture, neutralize muscular imbalances, help prevent injury, and of course, increase flexibility.

Here is a look at the agenda:

• 30 minutes of interval training. Yes, we are actually going to workout first! Runners can run. Cyclists can ride. We'll be creative with others! All levels welcome.
• The Athlete's Sun Salutation. When we first hit the mat, we'll work on a sun salutation tweaked for athletes to build core and upper body strength, and to open the hips, hamstrings, chest and spine. My intention is to repeat this enough times that you will have some facility with it when you are alone. I will also bring a cheat sheet that you can put at the top of your mat!
• Deep openers, or stretches, for the IT bands, glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, hip flexors, calves, chest, etc. In the workshop, we will have time to learn and practice them all. When you do these by yourself after a workout, you might pick the one or two where you feel tightest on that particular day.
• Inversions. Getting upside down in a great way for athletes to speed recovery by improving circulation and activating the body's relaxation response. We will learn simple ways to invert. I'm not teaching headstands or handstands. More along the lines of legs up the wall, shoulderstand, and supported shoulderstand.
• Deep relaxation. We will work together on progressive muscular relaxation and breathing to calm the nervous system and restore the body.

Details...

Yoga for Athletes at Yoga on the Ridge

Saturday, April 2nd

12-2 pm

$25

To register for this workshop, visit the website of Yoga on the Ridge. The studio is in Roxborough, about 5 minutes from the Falls Bridge at the end of Kelly Drive.