5 Yoga poses you should be doing after every run

Yoga poses for runners

Calling all runners, from weekly joggers to marathon trainers, you know the feeling: achy hamstrings, tight hips and stiff quads. The mental and physical benefits are the whole reason you run in the first place, so it’s all to waste if your body feels like it’s then rejecting the exercise. Before and after hitting the pavement, making sure your muscles get that essential TLC is what’s going to save you from stiff, achy days.

That’s where yoga comes in. And not just any yoga, these particular poses are designed to give care where it’s needed most on a runners body. Think of your body as a car, food is the petrol and yoga is the oil! To keep our biological machine literally running smoothly, we can’t afford to slack on stretching. If you’re never good at preventative care, then make sure you nip a tight muscle in the bud. It’s the time when we start to feel our muscles getting tight and tired from running that we need to be disciplined enough to aid the body before an injury or painful inflammation occurs.A yoga practice will not only speed up recovery time, it will also help keep the limbs loose and healthy by strengthening and elongating the major muscles.

Yoga poses for runners Nº1

Deep Squat Pose

This is a deepening pose which is ideal at targeting the muscles which store the most tension in your lower body. This stretch will increase overall mobility, and you’ll find sitting down on the ground and getting up will be so much easier. This is also a fantastic pose to anyone who drives or sits at a desk for a living, a simple yet powerful pose.

Yoga poses for runners Nº2

Legs Up The Wall

A personal favourite due to how simple and effortless this is. You can even fall asleep in this pose! Especially if you’re doing it outside in the dappled sunlight on a quiet Sunday afternoon. This supported inversion encourages blood flow to return back to the heart, reduces swelling by draining excess fluid and gives our legs a complete rest from their normal positioning. This is a perfect way for runners to allow their feet and legs to recover. A bonus of this pose is that it relieves pressure from the lower back and relaxes the glutes, which also help to ease lower back stiffness.

Yoga poses for runners Nº3

Half Pigeon

The beautiful and punishing stretch that sometimes feels like it’s ripping your butt off, but really, it’s the best thing for it. This stretch has caused me to curse many-a-time but the relief it brings afterwards is incomparable! The pigeon is perfect for the piriformis muscle, targeting it accurately and effectively. The piriformis is the small muscle, which happens to be one of the deepest ones in aiding your hips, leg and foot to rotate. This makes it almost impossible to work on during massage, and even tough to access when foam-rolling. Due to how deep this muscle is set, the truly best way of working out it’s tension is to stretch it out.

Yoga poses for runners Nº4

Dancer

Requiring absolute focus and concentration so you don’t keep toppling over, the dancer pose is as elegant as it sounds. It dynamically tones the leg muscles whilst strengthening them. In reality, this is a full-body stretch, but it also happens to be one of the best ones that targets the quadriceps. Once you’ve nailed this one, is there really anything you can’t do?

Yoga poses for runners Nº5

Low Lunge With Rotation

Including a lunge and rotation in your post-run recovery is an ideal pose to use for winding down. This stretch opens up the groin area, hips, hip flexors, hamstrings, quadriceps and calves. Running tends to wind the body up, leaving it susceptible to stiffening. A lunge is almost an all-in-one, working not only to lengthen the major muscles but strengthen them too. This will assist you on your next run, just don’t forget to lunge again afterwards!