1 Damarrell Alexander Three-Sided Assignment Ms.

Ingram

3-Sided Assignment
Shirley Archer a Yoga instructor out of West Palm Beach, Florida believes that there are many good reasons why athletes should participate in the practice of yoga but she isnt alone, alongside her are other yoga instructors that believe the exact same thing. In a recent study published in the Journal of Strength and conditioning Research, more and more athletes are saying that by practicing yoga their athletic ability had increased over the years. Every aspect of yoga can help an athlete when it comes to their own personal sports, from the stretching which helps the athlete become more limber while also getting to the muscle that are rarely used when your just doing a pre or post game stretch. Yoga instructors have different types of stretches and warms up that could really help an athlete out. Another reason why instructors think yoga is great for athletes is because of the breath work or pranayama (Stiles). Coaches are always telling their athletes to breathe either during training or workouts, this element of yoga helps the athlete stay focused and centered through uncomfortable poses by concentrating on even inhalations and exhalations. Even though yoga instructors love to teach their profession of yoga, they also have to pay special attention to athletic student needs because yoga can leave the athlete strong in some areas and inflexible and even weak in others. In order to be a great yoga instructor you have to be able to understand the athletes body, athletes come in many different shapes and sizes. You have your football players which are usually stout and toned and your basketball players who are normally tall and muscular, you also have your soccer players normally average height with a toned body, baseball players are sort of the same as football, and the list could keep going on.

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More athletes are starting to really getting in the hang of yoga, there taking the stretching and the meditation part of yoga and using it to enhance their game, like Olympic medalist such as Hope Solo who is the goalie for the US womens soccer team. She does yoga because her younger sister got her into, she states that yoga helps her with speed and agility on the field (Stiles). The whole US womens soccer team has even taken classes together as part of their training. Evelyn Stevens who is an Olympic cyclist believes yoga helps her mentally, physically and even helps her strength. Rebeca Soni an Olympic swimmer started doing yoga to improve her flexibility in her shoulder and also to recover from intense training sessions. Ariana Kukors started doing Bikram (a type of yoga) when she was in high school. She says it helps her stay more in tune with her body while in the pool. (Dunham). Rebecca Bross take Hatha yoga classes to improve her handstand on the beam during gymnastics. But athletes are also turning to yoga because of an overused injury. When teachers get these kinds of athletes they have to use a gentle approach towards the athlete. Athletes with tight shoulders and hips are prone to two common yoga injuries which are rotatorcuff problems and damage to the hamstrings attachment to the sitting bones. The thing athletes sometimes dont understand is that yoga isnt a quick fix for injuries, like any other type of recovery program the athlete must allow time for the injury to heal. Not only do instructors and athletes believe that yoga is beneficial to an athletes body, but so does the head coach of the University Of Maryland football team. For about an hour two times a week over the past several months, members of the Maryland football team have gathered together in a tight fit defensive meeting room at the Gossett Team House and were

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asked to release from their minds the numbers that have defined them ever since they concluded a dismal 2009 campaign. Marylands head coaches not only want to work on his players flexibility but he also wants to improve their speed and agility, while helping prevent injury. According to the coach the players are given specific instruction on what to do Legs up the wall, join your ankles, join your knees, feet flat, close your eyes, make the back of your neck long, draw the shoulder blades toward the wall, press your inner thighs to the wall, press up through the heels, join the big toes. . . . At some point you'll start feeling tingling in your legs. It's not loss of sensation. It's hormones. It's healing. . . . I want you to think about one word: gratitude. What does it mean to you? Bring the soles of the feet together. Think about gratitude (Stiles). The coaches always have the players going hard on the field and in the weight room that, when its time to get there weekly yoga sessions in the players find them quite relaxing and easy on the mind. At first the yoga sessions were optionally but now each players had to have two 55- min periods of yoga within the week.

Work Cited
Washington Post. The Washington Post, 03 Aug. 2010. Web. 19 Oct. 2012. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/02/AR2010080203527.html>.

Tara Stiles "Yoga Workout for Athletes." Men's Health Magazine : Men's Guide to Fitness, Health, Weight Loss, Nutrition, Sex, Style and Guy Wisdom. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/yoga-workout-athletes

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Kristy Dunham"Well Good NYC." 5 Awesome Olympic Athletes Who Do Yoga. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://www.wellandgoodnyc.com/2012/07/31/5-awesome-olympic-athletes-whodo-yoga/>.