Ancient Eastern practices, one of them being yoga, gain more and more traction in today’s world and serve as a solid substitution, or a complement to, of modern medicine, which does not seem to find the remedies to address some of the common things both athletes and sports lovers encounter.
Today, we are going to unveil the benefits of yoga in professional sports, recreational activities, and daily life. This article will give us a deeper look at yoga as a tool utilised by famous athletes for both performance enhancement and improving the quality of their lives. Yogic applications may yield profoundly advantageous results in various spheres of life, from the exact way of your placing a bet using the aviator app download link, for example, to having high-quality sleep that you have long craved for.
Joe Johnson: “Yoga is therapy for my muscles”
Seven-time NBA All-Star and one of the most prominent and highest-paid players Joe Johnson claims yoga being his most essential training routine. This basketball celebrity is only one supporter of this practice among numerous others. There are more and more professionals such as LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin Love, Dwayne Wade, and others integrating the Hindu discipline into their workout and openly admit the apparent benefits heavily impacted by yoga.
What is more, followers of the eastern mind and body way of training highlight that yoga is as good of a workout as other commonly known physical exercises. Thus, Blake Griffin, the Los Clippers’ 6-foot-10, 250-pound power forward is assured that sticking to the practice helps to boost and equilibrate his mental and physical, which is especially critical in staying sane and sound in high-stakes settings.
Let us see how exactly yoga serves sports professionals.
Evan Longoria, baseball player
One of the examples of professional athletes incorporating yoga into their lifestyle is Evan Longoria, American baseball player. According to one of Evan’s interviews, yoga is highly instrumental in developing stability and concentration, which is pivotal in baseball. Hitting requires the activation of micro muscles we do not usually engage in training while yoga helps to stimulate them and make them work when there is the right moment. Additionally, yogic practices greatly contribute to the overall fitness regime due to its positive effects on the immune system.
Vernon Davis, American football
Vernon Davis exemplifies how yoga is even more about mental health rather than physical training although the latter definitely adds to the table. During one training session, Devis was reprimanded by his coach for his inappropriate attitude. Since then, Devis has incorporated yoga into his daily routine, which has significantly improved his situation. The athlete is sure that all the achievements should only be attributed to consistent Bikram yoga practices.
Kevin Love, basketball player
Kevin Love is a huge supporter of yoga as he has been sticking to the practice for over 10 years now. No wonder that his NBA career and self-demeanor is a sure sign of how yoga helped Love maintain a high level of inner peace and athletic abilities.
Dirk Nowitzki, basketball player
Another well-known athlete who is famous for his continuous yogic practices is Dirk Nowitzki. He claims that yoga has been revolutionary in his life as an athlete, celebrity, and everyday person.
Yoga as an Injury Prevention Mechanism
Research suggests that yoga has long-lasting health benefits, which are rooted in alleviating tightness, strengthening movement patterns, addressing muscle imbalances, and increasing oxygen flow. In 2020, there was a study conducted to analyse the exact mechanisms that yoga minimises injury. The findings show that it is the muscles and joints that get strengthened, which is why the body is able to handle any injuries.
Surprisingly, yoga as a stress reduction tool also aids in injury prevention. Those athletes who reported depression and anxiety symptoms had a greater chance of getting injured, almost twice as much, compared to those not experiencing stress and mental fatigue, according to a 2020 study.
Yoga Helps to Manage Stress and Improves Focus
As evidenced by what yoga practitioners show in sports competitions, yoga is undoubtedly beneficial for stress management and staying focused. This can be attributed to the meditative nature of yoga, which is most certainly advantageous for professional sports.
Apart from concentration-related outcomes, yoga increases body awareness, which is also fundamental in any sport. Meditation is the biggest contributor to that. Centering your mind and focusing on one thing while slowing down your breathing, the attention span trains to scan the body and its direct connection to the mind and nervous system.
Yoga allows for body awareness. Slowing down your breathing and entering into a parasympathetic ‘rest and digest’ state increases the flow of oxygen. Breathing centres your mind as each pose centres your body. It’s a mind-body workout that relaxes your nervous system.
Yoga as a Means for Well-Being
Although many people disregard yoga as something game-changing, its benefits extend to many parts of our life. It gets more and more practiced by sports professionals to improve not only their performance but their day-to-day life, as well. Well, why not we emulate their path?
