Thursday, March 18, 2010

Yoga+Running= NO INJURIES and MORE MILES!!

After running so much, I begin to complain about my aches and pains throughout my body.
My lower back and shoulders start to feel sore and my calve muscles start to tighten up because of the build-up of lactic acid, pounding from the pavement and shortening of my muscles. I usually pop a few Motrins before a long run to reduce inflammation in my muscles after and stretch longer than usual, but thats not enough to avoid chronic discomfort and future injuries.

What I want to concentrate on maintaining a balance between is Yoga and Running

These two physical elements sit on opposite ends of the exercise spectrum, but they work great hand-in-hand.
Running creates imbalances, whereas Yoga will help maintain balance.
Runners primarily work certain muscles, mainly in the legs and core. Yoga, which utilizes all of the body's muscle, makes the runner stronger and better functioning as a whole.

Runners tend to look at running as a mission, challenging physical limitations and meeting personal expectations. Runners stay in touch with their abilities, developing discipline and self control. The whole body and mind connection that yoga provides improves a runner's ability to achieve goals and exceed past performance levels.
Overall, Yoga can improve a runners capabilities and make them enjoy running so much more and avoid injuries.
Heres a quick Yoga video that can avoid IT band injuries from RunnersWorld.com

2 comments:

Megan said...

AWESOME post. I couldn't agree with you more. I used to hate running because my mind was so negative "you can't do this" "this is too hard" etc. Yoga's helped get rid of all the negative clutter and I have more mental clarity.

I ripped out an ad from one of the Runner's world mags you gave me and it has a girl running on the top and then doing the eagle's pose on the bottom. In the middle it says "It's okay to go both ways" and on the bottom it says "Yoga. Love. Run. Peace"

L. Nguyen said...

We really gotta run and do yoga together! Megan too!! No one shares this passion of mine except you two! :)

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