6 Reasons Yoga is Essential for Youth Athletes
Kids often begin competitive athletics around 5 or 6 years old. Those who demonstrate high aptitude typically follow a track of intensive training that spans childhood, adolescence, and sometimes early adulthood. Those with mid-range skill sets frequently enter a cycle of two-a-days, weekend competitions, and tryouts for higher leagues. The multi-faceted practice of yoga provides the perfect toolset to balance both intense emotional pressure and intense physical demands. Let’s look at the specific benefits of yoga for youth athletes:
Yoga Facilitates Muscle Recovery
Most athletes revitalize sore, overused muscles through rest and hydration. Rest gives muscles time to rebuild and fortify damaged fibers. Hydration flushes out toxins and other waste materials including lactic acid (though the verdict is out on whether lactic acid plays as major role in muscle fatigue, as previously hypothesized). Both processes can be expedited with yoga:
• Asana (posturing): Dynamic and sustained stretches lengthen muscles and improve the blood flow that distributes muscle-building nutrients. Asana such as inversions (when the hips are elevated in the same plane or above the head) can also counterbalance normal blood flow patterns and thus redistribute nutrients to areas of the body in need of restoration.
• Pranayama (breathwork): The intentional practice of breathing — with an emphasis on extending exhalation — delivers oxygen to muscles, thus supporting the circulation and elimination of metabolic by-products.Yoga Strengthens Underused Muscles
Most sports involve the repetitive movement of specific muscle groups. Many sports reinforce left- or right-side dominance — think of baseball, where most batters are either lefties or righties, or snowboarding, where athletes either lead with the right foot or board “goofy” (left-foot forward). In both cases, this results in overdeveloped muscles and underdeveloped muscles. It also catalyzes the body’s natural compensation faculties — tension in one area will typically be diffused to another area until an athlete develops an injury or systemic pain.
A well-balanced asana practice, incorporating all types of postures with all types of attributes — twists, bends, inversions, balances, and binds — minds all the muscles, big and small. By strengthening and lengthening all the body’s muscles, yoga disrupts the compensation-injury cycle and enables better performance for longer time frames.Yoga Strengthens Core Muscles
When you think of a core, what comes to mind? Most children and student athletes will hear the word and think of an apple. It’s a great visual metaphor for their own bodies. An apple core gives the fruit its structure. The core is typically comprised of hard, strong fibers. It extends from the base of the apple through its stem. It contains the seeds that create new life. The human core is similar: a strong core should consist of hard, strong muscle fibers. The core is not only the “six pack” or superficial muscles, but also the muscles surrounding the low back, hips, and spine. The stronger our core, the more vital and vibrant our athletic performance.
The vast majority of sports emphasize the rectus abdominis — the muscles of the “six pack.” These muscles girdle the abdomen, spanning the anterior abdominal wall to protect our internal organs. They fire almost every time we move, from the moment we sit up in bed in the morning, to the moment we lay down at night (it’s basically a sit-up to start and end the day!) The downside is that overemphasis on the rectus abdominis de-emphasizes the muscles of the deep core and can ultimately lead to issues of instability, imbalance, and injury. Yoga develops all the muscles of the core — not just the superficial layers.Yoga Prevents Injuries
Yoga is particularly effective at stemming injuries from insufficient warm-up, overuse, joint stress, muscle imbalance, and lack of flexibility. Short muscles surrounded by weak connective tissue are easy victims of season-ending strains, sprains, and tears. Asana not only lengthens muscles, which gives the body more range of motion and resilience, but also builds connective tissues, equipping joints to absorb sudden, explosive movements. Since most sports emphasize the repetitive use of specific muscle groups, most sports cultivate serious imbalances. Asana can counteract these imbalances by improving both right-to-left strength and head-to-toe muscle usage.Yoga Sharpens Mental Strength
The practice of yoga stimulates the production of stress-relieving hormones while suppressing the production of stress hormones, including cortisol. This improves mental clarity and takes the edge off performance-related pressure. Several facets of a holistic yoga practice (i.e. asana, prana, meditation, and mantras) point the mind in a fixed direction while isolating distractions and disruptions. By encouraging focused consciousness in the present moment, yoga equips athletes with the lucidity needed when they toe the line.Yoga Promotes Productive and Recuperative Sleep
Athletes commonly experience competition-induced insomnia. Yoga can relieve insomnia by equipping the body to relax and release in response to specific stimuli. While asana stimulates the release of relaxation hormones, pranayama activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the body’s autonomic, or “rest and digest” functions. Practices such as restricted breathing decrease the heart rate, slow respiration, calm the mind, and catalyze the physiological processes that restore energy, repair cells, and reduce inflammation.
Have you brought yoga to your student athletes yet? Our Children’s Yoga Teacher Training has certified dozens of P.E. teachers across the country (and abroad) in the practice of children’s yoga. In the words of on Chicago-based high-school P.E. teacher: “Being able to offer my students a year-long class in yoga with a connection with SEL (Social Emotional Learning) will teach students how to use yoga to improve behavior and enhance their academic performance.” Check out our CYTT today!