We’ve talked a lot about regular yoga practice, and the various types like Yin yoga and dynamic stretching. Yoga captivates both the mind and body. It’s a holistic practice encompassing physical postures, breathing exercises, and meditation.
When integrated into your workout routine, yoga can enhance your overall fitness journey. But if you’re trying to incorporate it into your routine, should you do yoga before or after a workout ?
While some styles of yoga are a workout in and of themselves, you can prepare sequences that are perfect to mix into your daily routine, before or after a workout.
The Benefits of Yoga After A Workout
After completing an intense workout session that pushes your limits, like weight lifting or a HIIT workout, your body is ready to be in a state of recovery. Adding yoga to your post-workout routine enhances this recovery process by promoting relaxation, reducing muscle tension, and helping your body transition into repair mode.
Optimal Time to Improve Flexibility
Incorporating yoga at this stage can enhance flexibility, which can benefit your overall performance and reduce the likelihood of injury. Yoga for static stretching is best done after a workout, particularly after using circuit training equipment. This is because you can target all of the areas you just used with a yoga pose and really stretch all of the muscles that you just worked.
Effective Exercise Recovery
Restorative yoga poses will help ease muscle soreness and allow your body to recover faster, and cool down. They can also aid in bringing your heart rate back down in order to make you mindful again. This is great especially if you have trouble sleeping after a workout!
Including yoga in your post-workout routine is particularly helpful after lifting heavy weights, running long distances, or completing intense gym sessions. It reduces post-exercise soreness by encouraging blood flow to fatigued muscles, helping them heal and rebuild more efficiently. Yoga also lowers the risk of injury after a workout by improving mobility and allowing your body to recover from the strain of intense workouts.
An Opportunity for Mental Cool-Down
Practicing yoga after exercise also offers a calming way to finish your fitness session, leaving you feeling refreshed and balanced. A yoga session provides the perfect opportunity to focus on relaxation, helping you let go of any lingering stress from your workout or daily life. By emphasizing deep breathing and mindfulness, you can feel more centered and grounded as your body transitions into recovery mode. This calming practice not only reduces tension but also allows you to carry a sense of peace and focus into the rest of your day.
Post-Workout Yoga Poses
After an intense gym session, restorative yoga poses are the best way to cool down, stretch out tired muscles, and begin recovery. Here are some ideal post-workout poses to add to your routine:
- Child’s Pose: A restorative yoga staple, this pose gently stretches your back and hips, making it perfect after running or a cardio workout at the gym. Simply rest on your mat and let your body relax.
- Legs-Up-The-Wall: This is one of the best poses for recovery, helping to reduce muscle soreness after weight lifting or other high-intensity activities. It promotes blood flow and calms your nervous system.
- Seated Forward Fold: Ideal for stretching the hamstrings and calves after running or cardio, this pose also helps ease tension in the lower back. Sit on your mat, reach forward, and relax into the stretch.
Adding these poses into your routine can help improve flexibility, reduce soreness, and support overall recovery.
The Benefits of a Yoga Session Before a Workout
Though yoga does seem to be more beneficial after a workout, or as it’s own workout, you can also use it as a warm-up! Yoga can help you mentally ease into exercise while warming up your body, ensuring both your mind and muscles are ready for the activity ahead.
Grounding Mental Preparation
Yoga is an excellent way to center your thoughts and prepare mentally for the challenges of a workout. By adding in mindful breathing techniques and meditation, yoga can help you focus, reducing distractions and stress that might otherwise derail your fitness goals. It fosters a sense of clarity, allowing you to enter your workout with greater intention and motivation. This mental grounding can improve performance by helping you stay present during your exercise routine. Additionally, a few minutes of yoga before working out can help combat pre-workout nerves, giving you the confidence to tackle your fitness session with purpose.
Physical Pre-Workout Prep
Practicing yoga before a workout can be a powerful warm-up, preparing your body and mind. In order to take advantage of yoga before a workout, make sure that you are using dynamic stretching like the ones in the video below. Avoid poses like Shavasana which will be more likely to make you want to snooze than to take on the treadmill. Dynamic stretching gets your heart rate pumping and warms up your muscles, preparing you for the workout ahead. Overall, pre workout yoga will help you improve flexibility, making your body more limber and agile. As you move through yoga poses, gently stretch your muscles to release any tension that might hinder your workout performance.
Pre-Workout Yoga Poses
Starting your workout with the right yoga poses can help activate your body, improve mobility, and set the stage for a safe and effective exercise session. Here are a few poses to consider:
- Cat-Cow Pose: A great way to start, this pose gently warms up the spine and promotes flexibility in your back and neck.
- Downward Dog: This pose stretches your hamstrings, calves, and shoulders, helping to prevent tightness and improve range of motion.
- Warrior I: Ideal for engaging your legs and core, this option builds strength and stability while opening up the hips.
Choose these poses for your warm-up to help prevent injuries and get you ready to tackle your workout.
Can Yoga Be Its Own Workout?
So, is yoga a workout on its own? The answer is yes! While we’ve discussed incorporating yoga before or after workout sessions, it can be an invigorating workout experience itself. It offers a unique blend of strength, flexibility, and mindfulness.
Practicing yoga has the benefit of building strength. Some yoga techniques help in building strong muscles, particularly your abdominal muscles. From balancing poses that work your core to standing poses that strengthen your legs, each contributes to building a stronger and more resilient body.
Check out the video below for a sequence that you can use before a workout routine, after a workout, or even as its own workout routine! All you have to do is continue the poses for a little longer and this little video can take over a whole workout session. So whether you’re planning for a full yoga session or using it before and after working out, it’s incredibly powerful and beneficial for the body and mind.
Do you love practicing yoga? Let us know your favorite form of practice in the comments below! Or, if you’re new to the craft, discover top yoga stretches for beginners to get started today.
Reviewed By:
Ani is the Vice President of Fitness at Chuze Fitness and oversees the group fitness and team training departments. She’s had a 25+ year career in club management, personal training, group exercise and instructor training. Ani lives with her husband and son in San Diego, CA and loves hot yoga, snowboarding and all things wellness.
Sources:
- “Yoga Before Or After Workout: When Is Zenning Out More Beneficial?” Better Me. Updated December 30, 2021. https://betterme.world/articles/yoga-before-or-after-workout/
- “Should you practice yoga before or after a workout?” EOS Fitness. 22 April, 2021. https://eosfitness.com/blog/yoga-before-or-after-a-workout/
- Isaac, Robertson. “Yoga Before Or After a Workout? (Which is Better).” Total Shape. 1 November, 2021. https://totalshape.com/fitness/yoga-before-or-after-a-workout/
- Torres, Abel. “Is Yoga Better Before or After Workout?” Fitness Life Advisor. https://fitnesslifeadvisor.com/is-yoga-better-before-or-after-workout/