Yoga for Runners: 7 Best Poses to Increase Stamina

Whether you’re a marathon runner or a regular runner, you need to know your body’s limitations. Running is great for your health, and if you love to run, you probably like to set new goals before putting on your athletic shoes. Running faster than before or covering a greater distance can be some of these goals. But being a regular runner also means knowing your own limitations. You may complain of flexibility issues, quadriceps and calf tightness, or shortness of breath. These limitations can hinder your fitness goals. One solution is to do yoga before running. Since yoga is essential for runners, incorporate these poses into your fitness routine.

Yoga for Runners: Learn Why It Matters

This ancient mind-body practice can help runners in so many ways!

• It can improve your body’s ability to use oxygen to produce energy, as yoga can improve aerobic fitness, according to a study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine in 2013.
• When you run, your core muscles are engaged, along with your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, hamstrings, and calves. “Yoga can help strengthen these muscles,” says yoga expert Yogesh Chavan.
• Yoga improves lung function, which can help improve endurance and running speed. In a 2015 study published in the International Journal Of Yoga, researchers found that lung function improved in participants who practiced yoga for three months.
• If you want to perform better as a runner, you need to focus. “Yoga can help improve attention and focus on goals,” says the expert.

Yoga for Runners: Poses to Do

Start with a warm-up

Before moving on to yoga poses for runners, do Dirga Pranayama, or the three-part breath. “It helps increase lung strength, which is vital for increasing endurance while running,” says Chavan.

• To perform Dirga Pranayama, lie on your back, close your eyes and relax your body.
• Use your nose to inhale and exhale deeply.
• Each time you inhale, fill your belly with your breath and allow it to expand.
• Exhaling, release the air from the abdomen with the help of the nose and pull the navel towards the spine.
• Repeat the deep breathing (the first part of Dirga Pranayama) for five breaths.
• When you’re done, inhale and fill your belly with air.
• If it fills with air, draw in more air. Allow this air to expand into your ribcage.
• Exhale, releasing the air from the chest and then from the abdomen.
• Take this deep belly-chest breath (second part) for about five breaths.
• Inhale and fill your belly and chest with air.
• Take in a little more air so it can reach your upper chest and collarbones. This will cause the area around your heart to expand and rise.
• Exhale and release the air from the upper chest, then the ribcage and finally the abdomen.

This will improve the result of practicing yoga poses that are good for runners. Here are some of the best yoga poses that can help you if you love to run:

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1. Bhujangasana or Cobra Pose

• To perform Cobra Pose, lie on your stomach with your palms on the ground near your chest and keep your body straight.
• Inhale and lift your upper body off the floor, but keep your lower ribs on the yoga mat.
• Let your neck remain neutral and your gaze directed to the floor.
• Exhale, then lower your body down.

2. Uthit Dwipadasana or the pose with both legs raised

• Lie on your back, on an inhale raise both legs together off the ground (up to a foot and a half).
• Exhale and lower your feet just three inches off the ground. You can also move your legs from three inches to a foot and a half and back and forth.

3. Utkatasana or chair pose

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold your hands straight out in front of you at shoulder level with a shoulder-width gap between them.
• Inhale, lift your heels off the ground and slowly squat down, keeping your upper body straight and vertical.
• Lower yourself until your thighs are parallel to the ground.
• Hold this pose as long as you can, breathing normally.

4. Chalit Naukasana (variety of the boat pose)

• To perform this variation of the boat pose, lie on your stomach and extend both arms.
• Raise your arms and legs off the ground.
• Breathe normally and sway your whole body like a swing. Your arms should go up and your legs should go down, and vice versa.

5. Chalit Pavanmuktasana (variation of the pose that releases the wind)

• Lie on your back, while inhaling, lift both legs into the air.
• Now exhale and grab both legs with your hands, pulling them towards your chest.
• Make a swing.

6. Viprit Paschimottanasana (a version of the sitting forward bend pose)

• Sit with your legs extended in front of you and place your palms on the ground slightly behind your body.
• Inhale and raise your body so that only your palms and both heels touch the ground and support your body.

7. Shavasana or corpse pose

• Lie on your back, relax your legs, arms, back and neck.
• Keep your eyes closed and focus on your breathing.

“Dirga pranayama and physical postures can be done before running as they help improve performance. The relaxing part (Shavasana) can be done after running. This is a way of cooling down, which is as important as any warm-up for any physical activity,” says the specialist.

Yoga for runners is important for increasing strength and endurance. Most poses must be done before running. After a run, Shavasana can help cool you down.