30 Sep Yoga for the Injury-prone

When it comes to exercise, everyone has their own preference for achieving that energising rush of endorphins. Whether you’re an avid cyclist, training for a marathon or simply playing in a mixed netball team for some fun, there’s one common burden that ties all branches of exercise together; injury.

Injury. It’s one of the most feared words in the fitness world, and it typically seems to strike at the most inconvenient time. Suffering from an injury is one of the biggest setbacks when you’re attempting to maintain a committed fitness routine. It’s certainly frustrating to experience chronic pain when doing something that you love, or having to take time off from your training in order to recover from an injury. The sad reality is any form of exercise brings a risk of injury, regardless of whether it’s at a professional or recreational level.

At Warrior One we are strong believers that to completely heal a frustrating injury – particularly one that keeps recurring – you must strengthen the areas in your body that are the catalysts for pain. Yoga is truly in a league of it’s own when it comes to rehabilitating your body. The passive and restorative stretches involved in a yoga class will immediately increase your understanding about the blind spots in your body. When you’re trained in a particular sport or form of exercise, you become accustomed to using the same precise muscle groups each training session. Since yoga challenges most major muscle groups in a single class, it actively shines a spotlight on the weak areas that need to improve, especially if you want to combat chronic injuries.

For beginner yogis, particularly trained athletes, yoga can be far more challenging than first expected! Throw a marathon runner on the mat and they’ll quickly find that it’s not all breathing and meditation. However, more and more professionally trained athletes have been turning to the natural remedy of yoga for injury prevention and management. Both the Geelong and Hawthorn AFL clubs have been including yoga in their post-game recovery for several seasons, with players impressed by the recuperative effect that it has for the body. The stress and fatigue accumulated in a single game of footy can create immense fatigue or injury even for the fittest player. Yoga is a therapeutic way for the players to relieve muscle tension, increase flexibility and enhance their own acute body awareness.

Warrior One’s own Dustin is trained competitively in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and hails from a professional surfing background – it’s safe to say he’s had his fair brush with injury! Yoga has unlocked a method to recovery that enhances his performance as an athlete and has strengthened his body to battle injury before it sets in. As one of Australia’s only trained teachers in Yoga Tune Up®, Dustin is a strong advocate for the successful approach YTU® takes in healing the body from chronic pain. The aspect of self-massage in Yoga Tune Up® allows you to roll out the stress points in your muscles to release pain and improve movement in inflamed muscles, joints and tissues. This essentially aids the recovery process for injuries as it increases blood flow in the fatigued, stressed muscle and increases detoxification.

Practicing yoga perfectly compliments your fitness routine and is a strategic addition for getting the most out of your training in any sporting field. Improving breath control, maximising oxygen intake, developing mental focus, relieving muscular pains and providing vital information about bodily movement – yoga is a force to be reckoned with. If you’ve exhausted all avenues of injury treatment with a chiro, physio or myotherapist, then yoga could be the answer. Pop into the WO studio to chat to Dustin about managing your pain with YTU® classes and let us guide you in the right direction to improve your recovery.