Hockey players can use yoga as part of their regular flexibility training as long as it is a well designed and compilable practice.

Peter Twist, the author of Complete Conditioning for Hockey, says:

"To gain the freedom of movement that hockey players seldom achieve, a mix of static stretching, joint mobility, and myofascial release can help get the job done." 

The yoga practice that players participate in should be designed to enhance on ice performance and be focused on injury prevention. To do that the practice must be designed to target areas of the body that are being stressed on the ice along with having strong focus on functional movement. 

The timing of a yoga practice is also extremely important. If a player is using a yoga sequence as part of their warm-up the practice needs to be focused on dynamic mobility so the player's body is ready to engage in a practice or game. If a player is using a yoga sequence after an on ice session or game static stretching is an appropriate means of increasing mobility.

If a player is participating in a yoga class separate from their other training sessions to increase their mobility and recover from different forms of training or games a combination of both dynamic and static stretching is appropriate.

One of the most important areas to target for hockey players is hip mobility. The pose shown below is one of the best poses to open up through the hips and can be done in both a dynamic or static manner.

I have also included a short 10 minute sequence that is focused on increasing a player's hip mobility.

I would love to hear your feedback after reading this article and watching the video. If you would like to share thoughts I encourage you to post them in the comments section below.

The Following Is Based On A Talk I Gave To A MEC Running Clinic On February 1st.

Common running injuries include:

• Runner's Knee (Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome)
• Achilles Tendonitis
• Hamstring Issues
• Plantar Fasciitis
• Shin Splints
• Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS)
• Stress Fractures

*A great article from Runner's World outlines these potential injuries in more detail

Why should a runner start a yoga practice?

Yoga is an incredible supplemental tool for a runner to add into their training program for several reasons.

My top seven include:

1. Mobility
2. Strength
3. Body Awareness
4. Movement with Ease
5. Recovery
6. The Mental Game

And injury prevention. Why I left injury prevention out of the main list is because if you gain the other six benefits from a yoga practice you will be providing your body with what it needs to prevent injury.

*Read my article on SwimSwam entitled '7 Reasons Why Swimmers Should Do Yoga'. Although the target audience are swimmers it these 7 reasons are applicable to any sport.

I have included two videos below that will help you prevent running injuries. The first is a short sequence for your knees and the second outlines three poses you can use to enhance your recovery.

The Difference Between Stretching Before A Run And After A Run

It is an excellent idea to include mobility work in your routines both before and after a run, but there are some important differences between the components in each of these routines.

Pre-Run:

• Should include body awareness
• Should include balance 
• Should include muscular engagement
• Should include mobility in a more dynamic manner
• Should include elements that increase heart rate

​
Post-Run:

• Should include body awareness
• Should include mobility in both a static and dynamic way
• Should include elements that decreases the heart rate

 Below I have included a pre-run yoga inspired warm-up video and a cool down audio sequence.

* I would also include doing a few running drills after the yoga inspired warm-up. I have included a video that describe appropriate drills.

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Runner's knee is a term that is used to describe general knee pain which can be caused by several different things. Some include:

• IT Band tightness
• Misalignment 
• Foot problems
• Overuse
• Weak quadriceps

Often when diagnosing runners knee it is a challenge for medical professionals to determine exactly what is causing the pain. Below are four yoga poses that can help with the most common causes of runner's knee.  

IT Band tightness

A great pose or stretch used in yoga to help with IT band problems is a forward fold with alternate knee bends.

Forward Fold with Alternate Knee Bends

Come into a forward fold ensuring that you have a slight knee bend in both legs and are folding from the hips with a tight core leading with the chest. 

Once in a forward fold on an inhale bend both knees, on an exhale bring one leg towards straight and keep the other knee bent.

You should feel a stretch in the area of the IT band and possibly the calve. 

At the start of a practice I like to peddle the knees on one breath by the end of the practice I like holding the stretch on each leg for up to ten breaths.

Misalignment

The simplest way to correct this is to focus on postural alignment. Mountain pose, which is the most foundational pose in yoga, can help correct this issue.

 

Mountain Pose with a Block

It may seem a little too simple, but most of us have poor postural alignment and never bring awareness to the issue. Practicing alignment is a valuable use of time.

Place a block (you can use a dictionary, if you still have one!) in between your thighs. First focus on the feet, feel the four corners of the feet firmly on the ground, big toe, little toe and the inner and outer sides of the heel. 

Align the knees to point forward externally rotating the hips feeling the back of the thighs press into the block. This aligns the femur which is a huge factor in the alignment of the knee.

Bring the pelvis to neutral, keep the core tight, the shoulders back and down and the neck long. 

Hold this pose for 10 breaths release and repeat.

Foot Problems

Become aware of your feet! This is simple, but once again we do not take the time to do this very often. Most of the time we are in shoes that do not allow for keen awareness. Using a tennis ball, lacrosse ball or dowl on the bottom of the foot can have great benefits in realigning the structure of the foot as well as increasing awareness.

You can once again use mountain pose for this issue. Focus on the four corners of the feet and actively press into the ground. Feel the outside of the feet heavy and the inside of the feet light. Feel the arch lift which will work the muscles in the arch and strengthen the foot.

Overuse

A great way to combat overuse is through using restorative yoga. This style of yoga uses many different props such as bolsters, blocks, straps and blankets. The intent of using these props is to be able to come into a pose with little effort, which in turn allows you to let go and lets the body completely relax and release. 

An example of this is supported deer.

Supported Deer

You can use a bolster or pillows placing them at 90 degree angle at the left hip. Bring the left knee to the 45 degree angle. Bring the right knee to a 45 degree angle with the foot behind you. Place the left foot on the right thigh.

First bring the upper body upright on an inhale and on an exhale twist to the left and lay the body down on the bolster.

Weak Quadriceps

The quadriceps help extend the knee, by strengthening these muscles you will correct possible imbalances in strength which can cause a variety of problems. A great pose to strengthen the quadriceps, which has many other benefits including core strength is chair pose.

Many times when looking at designing a yoga class for leg dominated sports such as cycling there is a tendency to forget about the demands that are put on the upper body in those specific sports. 

Two of the most common areas for cyclists to suffer stiffness and soreness is in the neck and shoulders. 

Here are two simple poses you can use to help release tension that can build up in the both the neck and shoulders:

Interlace your fingers behind your head and place your thumbs at the base of the skull. Push your hands into your head and your head into your hands which will cause your to neck lengthen. 

Keeping that length in your neck and continuing to hold a strong core bring your elbows back to open the chest.

You can do this pose kneeling, sitting or standing. 

Place your left hand on the right side of your head and extend your right arm along your side. Bring your left ear towards your left shoulder to stretch through the right side of the neck and the traps. Perform this pose on both sides.

*Allow the weight of your hand and arm to guide your ear towards your shoulder. The key is to allow the stretch and release to happen do not try to force a stretch.

*If you want to get more intensity in this pose keep your torso in the same position and walk the fingers of your right hand away from the body.

You can do this pose kneeling, sitting or standing. 

As with all yoga poses ensure that you are focusing on your breath. One way you can use your breath to create a more effective release is to bring awareness into an area of tightness on your inhale and use the exhale to intentionally release and relax that same area.

Yoga for Cycling classes are held at the Hollyburn Country Club on Tuesdays (11:20 am), Wednesdays (5:35 pm) and Fridays (12:50 pm) following Urban Indoor Cycling classes led by Arimo. Each of these classes are 30 minutes in length.

The complete Urban Indoor Cycling schedule can be found here.

If you are not a member at Hollyburn and are interested in creating or starting a sport specific yoga class please let us know!

A common complaint that cyclists and spin class participants have is hand and wrist pain. Changing hand positioning and grip will often solve this problem, but sometimes you may need a little more. 

Two common injuries may occur if the pain persists are:

1.     Handlebar Palsy
2.    Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Handlebar palsy is caused from direct pressure being put on the ulnar nerve in the hand.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is caused when too much pressure is applied to the median nerve in the hand.

Both injuries can result in numbness, weakness and pain. The area of the hand most affected by handlebar palsy is the between the ring and little finger while carpal tunnel syndrome affects the area between the thumb to the ring finger.


There is a simple yoga pose that can help prevent and treat both injuries.

Taking a tabletop position you gently turn your fingers towards the knees. You may not have the mobility to point the fingers straight back, which is not uncommon, but position them in that direction. 

If more intensity is needed to effectively stretch the forearms you can keep the hands in the same position while lower your seat back towards your heels.

This pose will stretch the muscles in the forearms that can relieve pressure on the nerves in your wrist.

In a Yoga for Cycling class this pose is commonly used in sequences that also involve strengthening the core, improving shoulder stability and increasing mobility in the hip extensors.

Yoga for Cycling classes are held at Hollyburn Country Club on Tuesdays (11:20 am), Wednesdays (5:35 pm) and Fridays (12:50 pm) following Urban Indoor Cycling classes led by Arimo. 

The complete Urban Indoor Cycling schedule can be found here.

I wrote this blog over a year ago for a friend's website, betteryourbest.ca. After having a similar conversation with myself yesterday when I was out for a trail run I thought it would be something I would like to share once again.

Enjoy!
...

I was waffling on whether I was going to run or just hike the Quarry Rock trail.

The plan for this day was to hike up once, run down, run up and hike down, it had been the plan since the start of the week.

I woke up at 7:30 am, got prepped, headed out and arrived at the trail head at 8:30 am. It was a perfect day, the trail was uncrowded and I was feeling good. All reasons to stick to the plan.

I started on the trail with my dog, Huxley, there is no waffling in his mind it was a run.

The little guy is decisive!

When the hike began, my quads hurt, my toe hurt (broke my baby toe a week or two ago running on the same trail), my head hurt and I had no energy.

That is when the voice in my head started.

“You were out with friends last night and ate like crap, don’t worry about it you need to have a crappy morning every once in a while, just hike it.”

“You only got five and a half hours of sleep, don’t worry just go easy.”

“You have to pick up a friend’s dog at 10 am, if you do it twice you might be late.”

“You’re tired, listen to your body, just go one lap.”

Why couldn’t I have just followed Huxley’s lead!

Time to use something I had taught in my coaching career time and time again; I needed to adjust my self talk.

Strategy one – Redirect

I had gotten more than enough sleep during the two nights before last.

Yesterday was a rest day, as far as running went.

My body was healthy and I knew that any pain I was feeling wasn’t destructive.

And if I ran at the speed I usually do there is no way I would be late.

So I decided to stick to the plan; phew strategy one worked, “I love it when a plan comes together!”

I spoke way too soon! As usual that damn voice kept chirping, as I got to the top of one hill, as the lactate built up in my legs and as my head pounded from a little too much beer the night before, the voice never stopped giving me reasons why I shouldn’t run.

Strategy two – Thought Stopping (or as I like to put it, tell your voice to shut the !@#$ up!!)

Tune it out, tell it off and literally tell it to shut up!!

After I started on my way back up the trail, I felt great, I felt strong, I felt motivated and when I finished the run I couldn’t have been happier with the decision and the process.

…

Self talk is something we all do, almost every minute of every day, being able to direct that voice in our head is a learned skill. This is something that athletes work on everyday and is one of the reasons why they train as hard as they do.

It is deliberate practice, they know when the time comes to perform that they will have a voice chirping in their ear, but what have they trained it to say? For some they will have developed a voice of confidence and support. For others they will have to confront doubt and use strategies they have practiced in training to defeat that doubt.

This is a skill that helps many to achieve success. Like any other skill it takes practice to develop.

I challenge you to bring a little more awareness to your own self talk, to practice the skill of adjusting and directing it in deliberate ways so that when you are faced with a much more important challenge than whether to walk or run a forest trail, you will have the proficiency to use it to your advantage.

How is a yoga for cycling class different than a typical yoga class?

The difference between the two is the intent. 

When planning and structuring a sport specific yoga class the unique needs of a sport are taken into consideration. Such things as the major muscle groups used, injury prevention and the physiological demands.

The intent of a sport specific class is to provide participants with a way they can recover from and improve their performance in a chosen sport.


1. Focus on the Specific Muscle Groups Used in Cycling 

There are two phases in the pedal stroke; the power phase and the recovery phase. 

In the power phase you are using muscles that create a pushing motion. The major muscles used to achieve this include the gluts, quads and calf muscles.

In the recovery phases you are using muscles that create a pulling motion. The major muscles used in this action include the hamstrings, hip flexors and the tibialis anterior.

In a class that is focused on cycling the priority is to target the muscles used in the power phase and then those in the recovery phase.

2. Focus on Recovery

When participating in a sport or fitness class most people know and focus on the hard work it takes to achieve their fitness or performance goals. One area that is often not addressed is recovery.

By including yoga in your fitness routine it will help ensure that you are addressing your recovery. Sport specific yoga is focused on allowing you to improve your fitness and performance more efficiently which will also reduce the amount of muscle stiffness that can be created.

3. Heart Rate Control

When cycling your heart will elevate as your intensity elevates, when the intensity is reduced you want to be able to have your heart lower to allow for recovery.

In a sport specific yoga class  you are taught breathing techniques that can be used to have better control of your heart rate which will allow you to recovery more effectively both during and after a cycling session.