Yoga and Football – Keeping Your Players on the Field
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By Tim Tobin, Linebackers and Run Coordinator, Tusculum College and
Stella Tobin, Advanced Yoga and Pilates Instructor, Personal Trainer and Nutrition Consultant
Teams spend around 15 minutes or more during practice, and pre-game doing warm ups. By using Yoga, you can have your players ready in a shorter amount of time, saving both your time and energy. Yoga can help in many ways to make weak areas stronger, tight areas more flexible, correct imbalances, help develop coordination and stamina and prevent injuries.
What body parts get hurt the most in football?
Ankles and feet (ligaments, tendons, turf toe and broken bones)
Knees (ligaments and tendons)
Lower back (muscle pull and tightness)
Hamstrings (muscle pull and muscle cramping)
Groin (muscle pull)
Neck/Shoulders (Stingers and after game muscle soreness)
Here are some tips to keep those overall injuries down:
*Run up and down hills
*Balance on one foot with a dumbbell
*Run barefooted
*Use bands to strengthen ankles and feet
Knees – keeping those injuries down
*Bridge
*Sumo Balance on Toes
*Varied Lunges (front, side, behind and ballet Pile movement)
*Varied Step ups (not too high)
*Shorter range of movement on squats and lunges (partial squats and lunges)
*Run during lifting off-season period on uneven ground
*Full range eccentric (return weight to ground on the power clean under controlled)
Lower back – keeping those injuries down
*Half Locust
*Cobra
*Child Pose Upward Facing Bow
*Use resistance for your core
*Reverse hyperextensions
*Russian twists
*Hanging windshield wipers
Weighted planks
*Barbell abs rolls
Hamstrings – keeping those injuries down
*Reclining Leg Pose
*Forward Leaning Hamstring Stretch
*Keep legs balanced - don’t work harder on one part
*Do full movement Olympic lifts controlled to the ground (Power cleans, dead lifts, and high pulls)
*Run sprints in the off-season lifting program
Reduce Muscle Cramps (Hamstring, Calves and Core)
*Acclimate yourself to the environment
*Consume the right amount of fluids for your body to prevent dehydration - water before Gatorade or coconut water afterwards
*Choose salty foods or sodium potassium rich sports products, during and after exercise - electrolytes and natural multivitamins with Vitamin A.
*Prevent carbohydrate depletion by consuming carbohydrates before your workout and during your workout if it is longer than 60-90 minutes.
*Cool down after competition
Groin – Keeping those injuries down
*Reclining Cobbler Toad
*Yoga to warm up for pre-game, practice and at half time
*Sun Salutation: Forward Bend to a Lunge
*To an upward facing dog to a downward facing dog
*Back Bend Lunge
*Weighted plyometric
*Some kind of light whole body lifting regimen
*Walking on toes
*Quick feet ladder work
*Split Leg Downward Facing Dog leg up and over Pigeon Lunge
*Gluteus stretch
*Yoga moves help work butt and hips and getting full potential for speed
*Static stretches are most beneficial post-game or post-workout when the muscles are already warm.
Neck and Shoulders – keeping those injuries down
*Child pose shoulder stretch or standing shoulder stretch
*Child pose neck rotation
*Heavy varied shrugs
*Resistance with neck exercises
Overall body soreness
*Ice Bath
*Mixed hot and cold shower
*Anti-inflammatory medication
*Massage
*Placing elastic clothes under clothes during and after games
*Carb drink before competition and after
*Keep inflammation down during the season
*Fish oils, Omega 3, 6 and 9, green tea, dark chocolate
*(R.I.C.E) Rest Ice Compression and elevation
*Proper hydration
Post-game prevention of soreness
Keep the post-game days of soreness down with some basic ideas. Have a better practice on Monday’s instead of having to deal with sore players. Include the pre-game warm up with some of the others you see in this article.