Yoga for skiers

Hi guys!

It’s ski season and my husband is preparing for his cross-country ski trip. Since he’s been practicing yoga for a few months now and he starts to see how much it helps him as a complement to the sports he’s practicing, as well as a single practice, he asked me to prepare a short flow as a cool down after ski session.

As you probably know, some of the things ski requires are strength, endurance, balance and coordination. Besides the muscles involved, ski has a particular action on the joints, the main action being on the knee joint, followed by ankle joint, wrists, thumbs and shoulder girdle. The knee injury is the one of the most common in this sport.

Many injuries can be prevented by simple and effective techniques like stretching. Despite the fact that stretching is an amazing tool to stay away from injuries, it is unfortunately one of the most underutilized techniques for improving athletic performance. Luckily more and more athletes start to see how important stretching is and implement it in their workouts. One of the nicest articles I recently read was about athletes that train for the Olympics who  practice yoga. They claim that it helps them on a mental level, as well as physical. It also helps to relax thus improving your life quality. As an athlete you put  a lot of stress on the body and I’m sure you know how important rest is in order to recover and increase efficiency.

Yoga works with opposing group of muscles: strengthening – stretching poses. Among the many benefits that this practice has, yoga improves balance, coordination and focus. It strengthens the joints and improves flexibility.

In the video below you can see some of the poses Unfold Your Mat proposes in order to stay away from sport injuries, release muscle tension and increase efficiency in your workouts.

Happy skiing! Stay safe!

Lavinia

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