Yoga is back- 10 am this Sunday! We will be holding Yoga twice a month. Check the blog to stay up to date.
Why CrossFitters Should Do Yoga
Written by Coach Alexa
Over the past couple of months while our Yoga program has been on hold, we received tons of interest in when it would be restarted. This is great news- it means that lots of CFH-ers are already interested in incorporating yoga into their training regimen. For those of you who still may need a little bit of convincing, I’ve written this article! Check out the reasons why you should give yoga a try:
Flexibility:
This one is sort of a no-brainer. Yoga increases flexibility over time! I recently went to an Olympic weightlifting seminar that was focused on the snatch. The very first thing that the coach did was assess each individual’s mobility with a series of stretches and tests. He knew that we were all experienced CrossFit athletes and/or coaches. That didn’t matter to him. He needed to see that our bodies were flexible enough to safely achieve the proper range of motion before he had us pick up an unloaded barbell. If you are rigidly inflexible, you are much more susceptible to injury.
Body Awareness:
In CrossFit, much of what we do combines brute strength with body awareness. If you have one without the other, you will struggle with a lot of movements. Full extension of the hips in the snatch or clean. The kip in just about any gymnastics movement. The balance in a pistol squat. These are all skills that my yoga practice has helped tremendously and the list goes on.
Mental Toughness:
CrossFit provides a pretty clear-cut experience. You know at the beginning of the class what work you are expected to complete. This WOD is almost always uncomfortable, but you generally know what you are getting into. A yoga class is different. You show up and you are in the hands of the teacher. You have no idea what’s coming. When you are instructed to “inhale, high plank” you have no idea if that means for 3 breaths or two minutes. In CrossFit when the work gets hard, we do things like yell, grunt, and make “pain faces.” In yoga, you get comfortable with the uncomfortable. You practice the release of tension, even under under stressful conditions.
Core Strength:
Yoga is where it’s at when it comes to strengthening your core. And by core, I’m talking the whole she-bang, from the deep muscles beneath that flashy six pack, to the group of muscles that run up either side of your spine from the base of your sacrum to your skull. All these muscles work together to stabilize the spine and protect you. Research has shown that athletes with higher core stability suffer lower rates of injury (Just ask our in-house PT’s).
Ready to add some yoga to your life?! Join us this Sunday at 10AM! Check Wodify/ the blog for weekly class schedule.
Strength WOD
WOD
