CITY YOGA

INJURY PREVENTION

Athletes of all disciplines have very repetitive movements usually in one direction and in one plane of motion. This means that sportspeople develop certain muscle groups while ignoring others. Athletes train and perform in these set patterns day after day, which eventually lead to imbalances in the muscles and joints leading to overuse injuries. A classic example is footballers developing tight hamstrings and hip flexors which cause the body to recruit from other joints, joints not intended for bearing extra loads such as the knees and ankles.

The most common overuse injuries among athletes include those involving the iliotibial band (ITB), knee, hamstrings, hip flexors and shoulders. Often, these injuries are directly linked to lack of flexibility, poor core strength and misalignment. Dynamic Balance Yoga helps you alleviate this tightness, builds a strong centre, and an aligned and healthy spine.

Even if athletes stretch before or after a game, they are usually just stretching the muscles in the same direction and plane of motion that replicate movement patterns in their particular sport. Dynamic Yoga goes beyond simple stretching by working the muscles and joints through all ranges of motion-activating the little-used muscles that support the primary movers.

Your body must be worked through all planes of motion in order to remain balanced and healthy. Dynamic Balance Yoga works not just in the sagittal plane but, in the frontal and transverse planes as well, ensuring that you achieve well-rounded development.

The Yoga postures used in Dynamic Balance yoga poses feature twisting motions in the transverse plane, essential to opening up tight obliques and lower backs. Sequences involving balancing postures which is the most effective way to correct muscle imbalances and poor body mechanics. When your body is working more efficiently biomechanically then you begin to realise how much of a distraction and energy drain an inflexible and misaligned body has been.